Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Film, As You Have Never Had It Explained Before

  For all the advances in digital photography, there remains a mystique for photographers and filmmakers about chemical film. Using it presents an artistic and technical challenge, and it lends an aesthetic to your work which is difficult to find in other ways. But particularly when it comes to moving pictures, how many of us have ever ventured beyond the Super 8 cartridge? If you’re not lucky enough to have a Spielberg budget, [Stand-Up Maths] is here with a video taking the viewer through the various movie film formats. He claims it’s the first video shot for YouTube in 35mm, and given that his first point is about the costs involved, we can see why.

• Carl Svensson ☛ Cosy Computing

  Nobody is talking about "monetizing side projects", "keeping up with the latest framework" or "deploying to a Kubernetes cluster". Everyone is going with the flow, working in their own pace without having to care about stakeholders, feature requests or maintainability. All the while, floppy drives are churning merrily and thick old monitors flicker with a fairytale glow. The campfire analogy suddenly feels very close to reality.

  With any luck, these endeavours will lead to something that someone else, somewhere else, can enjoy during their own excursions into the world of cosy computing. In any case, a good amount of fun is sure to be had.

• Cory Dransfeldt ☛ A personal website is a bit like a quilt

  Is this site a quilt? No, not really — but I'm stitching things together.

• Science

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-30 [Older] Four breakthroughs that are changing our understanding of dreams

  • Vintage Everyday ☛ The First Ever X-Ray Image Was Taken in 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen

    This might be one of the most famous images in photographic history. The first ever X-ray image was taken on December 22, 1895 by Wilhelm Röntgen (1845-1923), who was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. The original radiograph is at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany.

  • Science Alert ☛ That Beautiful Antique Book You Found Might Be Poisoning You

    Handle with care.

  • Science Alert ☛ Weight Loss Drug Reduces Diabetes Risk by 94 Percent in Clinical Trial

    This could be a huge help.

  • Science Alert ☛ NASA Reveals Incredible Image of Star Cluster Shining in Ultraviolet

    Breathtaking!

  • Science Alert ☛ A New Look at The Dodo Changes Our View of This Iconic, Unique Creature

    Don't believe what you've heard.

• Hardware

  • Tedium ☛ Control Freaks

    An analysis of how three weird-but-widespread game controllers shaped the way we play.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-28 [Older] DNA reveals secrets of cave-dwelling medieval community that survived conquest and epidemics

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] We’ve unlocked exotic new beer flavours using genetics

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] Why seagulls don’t want your chips as much as you might think

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ California lawmakers call for further study of paraquat

    California lawmakers have approved a bill that could help strengthen regulations on the use of paraquat, a powerful weedkiller associated with Parkinson’s disease and other serious health issues.

    Assembly Bill 1963 was introduced in January by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), and originally sought to sunset the use of paraquat in California beginning in January 2026.

  • Science Alert ☛ That Beautiful Antique Book You Found Might Be Poisoning You

    The result was more than a few unpleasant deaths, especially for factory workers. Victorian-era costuming is no longer common attire, and we have since learned not to dye our clothes and books with substances that will slowly poison us. Still, other vintage objects may not be quite so safe.

    In 2019, art conservationists Melissa Tedone and Rosie Grayburn of the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in the US noticed a book whose cloth cover was dyed with a pigment known to contain arsenic. Since then, the Poison Book Project has identified many books around the world dyed with the same toxic pigment.

  • New York Times ☛ In Race Against Polio, Gaza Begins Vaccination Drive

    Israel and Hamas agreed to pause the war to permit the vaccination of 640,000 children in Gaza, a daunting effort for health workers.

  • JURIST ☛ Israeli strikes continue as UN launches polio vaccination campaign in Gaza

    The Gaza Health Ministry reported Saturday that Israeli strikes have killed 89 Palestinians over the past two days in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The attacks occurred amidst clashes in central and southern areas of the enclave, ahead of the planned start of a polio vaccination campaign.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Health officials say increase in measles cases highlights need for vaccination

    The Minnesota Vaccines for Children program provides free or low-cost vaccines for children in Minnesota who are uninsured.

  • New York Times ☛ Dialysis May Prolong Life for Older Patients. But Not by Much.

    In one recent study, the challenging regimen added 77 days of life after three years. Often, kidney disease can be managed in other ways.

  • New York Times ☛ Preventive Medicine Is Toothless Without Mental Health Care

    Physical health and mental health are inextricably tied to each other. We need to devote the same care to both parts of ourselves.

  • New York Times ☛ How a Leading Chain of Psychiatric Hospitals Traps Patients

    Acadia Healthcare is holding people against their will to maximize insurance payouts, a Times investigation found.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Phone Arena ☛ For a company known for minimal layoffs, Apple sure is laying off a lot of people

    The past couple of years have seen a terrible trend of layoffs and “downsizing” hit a lot of major and smaller companies. Google, Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet and Tesla are just some of the major companies that have let go of thousands of people since 2023 began. But now it seems like Apple is keen to be featured on that list as well.

  • Neowin ☛ Until Dawn remake studio Ballistic Moon faces layoffs ahead of October release

    Ballistic Moon, the studio of the upcoming Until Dawn remake for PlayStation 5 and PC, have apparently laid off an unspecified number of employees. While Ballistic Moon has not publicly commented on the staff cuts, two former developers have confirmed their redundancies on LinkedIn.

    Junior game designer Cassy Cornish said they were sadly being made redundant after over a year working on Until Dawn. Technical designer Harry Williams also announced he had lost his job, having spent two years at Ballistic Moon helping to develop the Until Dawn remake. Both expressed thanks for their time at the studio and hopes to work with former colleagues again.

  • Howard Oakley ☛ A brief history of Clarus the Dogcow

    There aren’t many mythical animals in operating systems, and the most famous of those is probably Tux the penguin who appeared in Linux around 1996. The Mac’s first mythical animal predates that by more than a decade, and is the distinctive dogcow named Clarus, who appeared in every version of Mac OS until Mac OS X.

  • India Times ☛ Meta faces $3.6 million fine in Brazil for allowing bogus ads

    Meta faces a fine of up to 20 million reais ($3.62 million) after losing a lawsuit in Brazil, by a department store that accused the company of accepting paid advertisements that fraudulently used the retailer’s name to deceive consumers.

  • Futurism ☛ Chinese Company Busted Showing Off Humanoid Robots That Actually Have Humans Inside

    But instead of showing off the latest and greatest in humanoid robotics, two of the "robots" turned out to be human women cosplaying as futuristic gynoids, presumably hired by animatronics company Ex-Robots.

  • The Washington Post ☛ How much Twitter’s top investors have lost on Musk’s deal

    When Elon Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X, he didn’t do it alone. Though the billionaire tapped his vast wealth to cover the lion’s share of the $44 billion purchase price in 2022, he also relied on bank loans and a long list of investors, the full extent of which was only recently revealed.

  • Nick Heer ☛ I Think the iPhone Is Getting a Little Bit Harder to Use Because of a Few Small Decisions

    These are all little things but they are a cumulative irritation. I do not think my motor skills have substantially changed in the past seventeen years of iOS device use, though I concede they have perhaps deteriorated a little. I do notice more things behaving unexpectedly. I think part of the reason is this two-dimensional slab of glass is being asked to interpret a bunch of gestures in some pretty small areas.

  • RTL ☛ Critical and uncensored: After Telegram founder arrest, Russians fear loss of 'main information [sic] source'

    In that climate, Telegram -- which was itself blocked for a period by the Kremlin for refusing to cooperate with Russian law enforcement agencies -- has become one of the last bastions of free speech and uncensored information [sic].

  • CBC ☛ Who is Pavel Durov — and why is his arrest over Telegram so significant?

    French authorities had been investigating Durov and Telegram for months. But his arrest came as a surprise and, critics say, could serve as a warning to the heads of other tech companies who are seen as being too soft on moderating objectionable content and activity on their platforms.

    "I can't think of a prior precedent for this, where something similar has happened to someone in the tech industry in such a significant position of power," British tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker told CBC's Front Burner this week.

  • Hindustan Times ☛ AI is too 'sociopathic' to give financial advice, MIT researchers say

    While human financial advisors give clients recommendations using a behavioral lens, since people don't always make rational or unbiased financial decisions, AI can easily argue on both sides of an argument because neither side has any weight to it.

  • Business Insider ☛ MIT researchers say that AI is 'inherently sociopathic' — but that it can be trained to give ethical financial advice | Business Insider India

    But the glaring problem with publicly available AI tools is that they're "inherently sociopathic," Lo and his coauthor wrote in a research report exploring the challenges of widespread adoption of AI-powered financial advice.

  • India Times ☛ Brazil President Lula says Musk must respect country's top court as X braces for shutdown

    X was still working normally in Brazil on Friday morning, but the platform said on Thursday that it expected Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to order a shutdown "soon," after a court-imposed deadline for the company to identify a legal representative in Brazil expired.

    Amid the underlying feud over X, the court also blocked the local bank accounts of Musk's Starlink satellite [Internet] firm, which a source told Reuters was a response to the lack of legal representatives in Brazil for the social media platform.

  • India Times ☛ How Brazil's experiment fighting fake news led to a ban on X

    Brazil's yearslong fight against the [Internet]'s destructive effect on politics, culminating in the current blackout of X, shows the pitfalls of a nation deciding what can be said online. Do too little and allow online chatter to undermine democracy; do too much and restrict citizens' legitimate speech.

  • The Korea Times ☛ X braces for Brazil shutdown as legal spat between Musk, judge intensifies

    Social media giant X said it expected Brazil's top court to order it to shut down late Thursday, as a pitched legal battle played out over compliance with local laws and owner Elon Musk's insistence the platform is being punished for resisting censorship.

  • VOA News ☛ X platform suspended in Brazil amid Brazilian judge's feud with Musk

    Justice Alexandre de Moraes had warned Musk on Wednesday night that X could be blocked in Brazil if he failed to comply with his order to name a representative. He set a 24-hour deadline. The company hasn't had a representative in the country since earlier this month.

    In his decision, de Moraes gave [Internet] service providers and app stores five days to block access to X, and said the platform will remain blocked until it complies with his orders. He also said people or companies who use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access X will be subject to daily fines of 50,000 reais ($8,900).

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • Ars Technica ☛ A long, weird FOSS circle ends as Microsoft donates Mono to Wine project [Ed: Openwashing propaganda by Conde Nasty]

      What does this mean for Mono and Wine? Not much at first. Wine, a compatibility layer for Windows apps on POSIX-compliant systems, has already made use of Mono code in fixes and has its own Mono engine. By donating Mono to Wine, Microsoft has, at a minimum, erased the last bit of concern anyone might have had about the company's control of the project. It's a very different, open-source-conversant Microsoft making this move, of course, but regardless, it's a good gesture.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Futurism ☛ In Leak, Facebook Partner Brags About Listening to Your Phone’s Microphone to Serve Ads for Stuff You Mention

      In a pitch deck to prospective customers, one of Facebook's alleged marketing partners explained how it listens to users' smartphone microphones and advertises to them accordingly.

    • 404 Media ☛ Here’s the Pitch Deck for ‘Active Listening’ Ad Targeting

      The slide deck provides more information, and raises more questions, about CMG’s advertised capability which it calls Active Listening. In December, 404 Media first reported on Active Listening’s existence using pitches from CMG’s website before the company deleted that information. The presentation, which the company has sent to at least one company it was courting to buy its Active Listening services, shows how CMG was marketing the product to companies who may want to target potential customers based on data allegedly sourced from device microphones. Google has kicked CMG from its advertising Partners Program after 404 Media asked Google for comment on the slide deck.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-30 [Older] TikTok craze leads to cucumber shortage in Iceland

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] TikTok trend makes Icelanders lose their cool over cucumbers

  • Gizmodo ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] Court Says Section 230 Doesn’t Shield TikTok From ‘Blackout’ Challenge Lawsuit

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-30 [Older] A Palestinian TikTok Star Who Shared Details of Gaza Life Under Siege Is Killed by Israeli Airstrike

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-28 [Older] Raise ages for drinking, TikTok, German drug official says

  • Vox ☛ How the US military started running short on recruitments

    America did away with the draft 51 years ago, waging its many wars and interventions since with the All-Volunteer Force (AVF). But “all-volunteer” is a misnomer. Americans aren’t lining up to serve, and the AVF is really an all-recruited force. Its previous annual recruitment of about 150,000 mostly young Americans, who are individually located, pitched, and incentivized to serve, comes at considerable effort and expense.

  • The Strategist ☛ The danger of AI in war: it doesn’t care about self-preservation

    To put it bluntly, whereas human wargames and war itself entail the deliberate use of force to compel an enemy to our will, AI is not bound to the core of human instincts, self-preservation. The human desire for survival opens the door for diplomacy and conflict resolution, but whether and to what extent AI models can be trusted to handle the nuances of negotiation that align with human values is unknown.

    The potential for catastrophic harm from advanced AI is real, as underscored by the Bletchley Declaration on AI, signed by nearly 30 countries, including Australia, China, the US and Britain. The declaration emphasises the need for responsible AI development and control over the tools of war we create.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ Germany: Far-right AfD to win first state vote since WWII

    Several business associations have expressed concern after the far-right AfD and the left-wing, anti-immigrant BSW scored huge gains in the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia.

  • VOA News ☛ German far-right party wins its first state election, is very close in a second

    The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won 32.8% of the vote in Thuringia — well ahead of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, the main national opposition party, with 23.6%.

  • VOA News ☛ Poland marks 85 years since WWII outbreak 

    The remembrance ceremony on Sunday was traditionally held in Westerplatte, on Poland's Baltic coast, where a Nazi German battleship had opened fire on a Polish fort 85 years ago to the day.

  • Brattleboro Reformer, Vermont ☛ Poland marks 85 years since WWII outbreak

    "This war is coming again from the east," he said.

    He urged NATO member states to be "fully devoted to defence... against the aggression that we are witnessing today on the battlefields of Ukraine".

    Adolf Hitler's attacks on Poland led Britain and France to declare war on Nazi Germany. On September 17, the Soviet Union in turn invaded Poland.

  • VOA News ☛ 5 key Chinese 'Belt and Road' projects underway in Africa

    Africa is already a key Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) region, with Chinese companies signing contracts there worth more than $700 billion between 2013 and 2023, according to Beijing's commerce ministry.

    However, China's investment in the continent has been slammed by critics who accuse the BRI of saddling countries with exorbitant debt or funding projects that damage the environment.

  • NPR ☛ Israel recovers bodies of 6 hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin

    “According to preliminary information, they were cruelly murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” Hagari told reporters Sunday.

  • CS Monitor ☛ American among 6 more dead hostages; in grief and anger, Israelis fill streets

    The body of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin was among those found in a tunnel under the Gaza city of Rafah, half a mile from where another hostage was rescued alive last week. A general strike was called for Monday in Israel to demand a cease-fire.

  • France24 ☛ Protests, calls for general strike in Israel after the deaths of six hostages

    Tens of thousands of grieving and angry Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night in nationwide demonstrations against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, urging his government to reach a deal for the immediate return of hostages still being held in Gaza after the bodies of six hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 were recovered from the enclave overnight.

  • France24 ☛ Israel's largest union calls for general strike on Monday in support of Gaza hostages

    The head of Israel's largest trade union called for a general strike in support of Gaza hostages on Monday after the announcement Sunday that six had been found dead. The head of the Histadrut union, Arnon Bar-David, said in a statement on Sunday that "political considerations" were hindering a deal to free the remaining hostages held by Hamas, adding that "the entire Israeli economy" would be halted by a strike, including the country's main airport.

  • New York Times ☛ Live Updates: Thousands Protest in Israel After Recovery of 6 Hostages Killed in Gaza

    Demonstrators lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of torpedoing efforts to secure a cease-fire in exchange for the hostages’ release. The country’s largest labor union said it would go on strike on Monday.

  • New York Times ☛ East Germans Lean Toward Extremes in State Elections

    The Alternative for Germany party was on course to win in Thuringia, according to projections, in what was seen as a worrying sign of the health of German democracy.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] Ukraine's Incursion Into Russia's Kursk Region Is Legitimate, Says NATO's Stoltenberg

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] Russia's best friends in Germany: AfD and BSW

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] 7 Killed by Russian Attacks as Moscow Pushes Ahead in Ukraine's East

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] Helicopter Goes Missing in Russia's Far East With 22 People Believed Onboard

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] Russian Bomb Kills Two, Injures 10 in Ukraine's Kharkiv Region, Governor Says

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] Russian Helicopter With 22 on Board Goes Missing in Far East

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] Russia Says Five Killed, 46 Injured in Ukraine Strike on Belgorod

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] Russia Says Its Forces Seize Another Settlement in Ukraine's Donetsk Region

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] Ukrainian Air Defence Downs 24 Russian Drones, Kyiv Says

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-30 [Older] Ukraine updates: Russian strikes on Kharkiv kill 6

    • ANF News ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] People protest against Turkish-Russian patrol in Cizîrê Canton

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] EU divided over axing Russian diplomats' Schengen privileges

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] After Years of Pressure on Durov, Russia Suddenly Rallies Behind Him

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-28 [Older] Russia Bans 92 More Americans From the Country, Including Journalists

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] Ukraine updates: Air defense repel another Russian attack

    • The Local SE ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] Swedish intelligence warns of increasing risk of Russian sabotage

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] Russian Shelling Kills One in East Ukraine, Governor Says

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] Ukraine F-16 Crashes, Pilot Dies During Russian Airstrikes, Kyiv Says

    • Scheerpost ☛ 2024-08-28 [Older] Russia Warns US Will Face ‘Much Harsher’ Consequences for Backing Kursk Invasion

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-08-28 [Older] Russia airspace ban on Western airlines helps Chinese rivals

    • Vox ☛ 2024-08-28 [Older] Zelenskyy’s new plan to end the war, explained

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Key Ukrainian front line city evacuates as Russian offensive gains pace

      Evacuation efforts are accelerating in Pokrovsk as Russian troops draw closer amid fears the city will soon become the latest in a growing list of Ukrainian urban centers reduced to rubble by Putin’s invading army, writes Maria Avdeeva.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine launches more than 150 drones toward Moscow and border regions, Russia says

      Russia downed 158 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and surrounding areas as well as the Belgorod and Kursk border regions overnight, the defence ministry said on Sunday. Amid ongoing fighting in east Ukraine, Russia said its forces had captured two more Ukrainian settlements. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.

    • France24 ☛ Poland marks 85 years since Nazi Germany invaded, sparking WWII

      Poland on Sunday held a commemoration ceremony marking 85 years since Nazi Germany launched its first attacks on a Polish fort and sparked the start of World War II. Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the lessons of the world war were "not an abstraction" and drew parallels with the ongoing war in neighbouring Ukraine.

    • JURIST ☛ Russia publisher sentenced to 8 years for reporting ‘false information’ about army

      A court in Russia’s Altai Republic sentenced journalist Sergei Mikhailov to 8 years in prison for spreading “false information” about the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine. The journalist was initially detained in the spring of 2022 in Lyubertsy, near Moscow.

    • RFERL ☛ Moscow Industrial Sites Hit By Drones, While Russia Blasts Kharkiv Again

      Ukrainian officials said dozens of people were injured when Russian missiles struck a shopping and entertainment complex in the battered northeastern city of Kharkiv, while authorities in Moscow reported damage to industrial sites following a massive drone strike on the Russian capital.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Ukraine shelling kills one, injures more than a dozen in Russia's Belgorod region

      Ukrainian forces shelled Russia's southern Belgorod region on Sunday, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen, including two children who were seriously hurt, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

    • New York Times ☛ With Russia on Its Doorstep, a Ukrainian Town Packs Its Bags

      Ukraine gambled that its move into Russia would draw Moscow’s forces away from the town of Pokrovsk. It didn’t happen. And now resigned residents are evacuating daily.

    • New York Times ☛ Russians Bomb Kharkiv, Ukraine Says, After Russia Reports Wave of Attacks

      Ukraine said Russia struck the country’s second-largest city with missiles and bombs. Russian state media and local officials earlier reported that Ukraine attacked power plants and refineries with drones.

    • LRT ☛ Should EU scrap Russian diplomats’ Schengen privileges?

      Czechs press the EU to suspend Schengen travel privileges and use of non-biometric passports for Russian diplomats. But observers see little chance that Prague will succeed.

    • RFERL ☛ Bodies Of 17 Dead Found Amid Wreckage Of Russian Helicopter in Kamchatka

      The bodies of 17 dead were recovered on September 1 amid the wreckage of a civilian Mi-8 helicopter that disappeared the previous day in Russia’s Kamchatka region with 22 aboard.

    • New York Times ☛ Helicopter Crash Near Volcano in Russia’s Far East Kills at Least 17

      The helicopter was flying tourists in Russia’s Kamchatka region. No survivors were expected among the 22 people on board, state news agencies said.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-29 [Older] Stranded Boeing Starliner astronauts to stay six more months in space – what this means for the future of commercial spaceflight

    • TMZ ☛ Johnny Gaudreau's Wife Shares Heartbreaking Message Following His Death

      As TMZ previously reported ... the NHL star and his little brother, Matthew, were hit and killed while riding their bikes. The suspect in the case has since been charged with their deaths.

  • Overpopulation

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ Namibia to cull wild animals amid drought

      Now, the Namibian government has controversially decided to help the country's rural population by allowing more than 700 wild animals to be hunted — animals that should be under special protection in the country's national parks. The animals include elephants, antelopes, buffaloes, zebras and wildebeests, most of which will now be shot by professional hunters. Namibia's Ministry of the Environment says around half of Namibia's population, some 1.4 million people, are acutely threatened by food and water shortages.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ Meandering? Off-Script? Trump Insists His ‘Weave’ Is Oratorical Genius.

    Former President Donald J. Trump’s speeches often wander from topic to topic. He insists there is an art to stitching them all together.

  • France24 ☛ Harris says Trump 'disrespected sacred ground' by posing at Arlington National Cemetery

    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.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Scheerpost ☛ 2024-08-31 [Older] TikTok Censors Accurate Criticism Of Kamala Video By Chris Hedges!

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Don Marti ☛ journalist-owned news sites (Sunday Internet optimism, part 2)

    Congratulations to 404 Media, which celebrated its successful first year on August 22. They link to other next-generation news sites, owned by the people who write for them. I checked for ads.txt files and advertiser pages to see which are participating in the conventional RTB ad system and which are doing something else. (404 Media does have an ads.txt file managed by BuySellAds.)

  • JURIST ☛ Hong Kong court convicts two former Stand News journalists of sedition

    The Hong Kong District Court on Thursday found Best Pencil (Hong Kong Limited), the parent company of Stand News, along with former chief editor Chung Pui-kuen and former acting chief editor Patrick Lam, guilty of “conspiracy to publish and/or reproduce seditious publications” under the now-repealed section 10(1)(c) of the Crimes Ordinance. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 26.

  • Nicolas Magand ☛ Maybe news websites can stop embedding tweets now

    Where most of the media websites have become lazy is not only in the apparent refusal of their journalists to let go of Twitter as users, but also in the fact that they don’t even question their habit of “embedding tweets” into articles. Sometimes it makes sense, sure. But sometimes, it feels like this is done automatically, to a point of ridiculousness: not to accompany the content, but as a substitute for it.

    Where most of the media websites have become lazy is not only in the apparent refusal of their journalists to let go of Twitter as users, but also in the fact that they don’t even question their habit of “embedding tweets” into articles. Sometimes it makes sense, sure. But sometimes, it feels like this is done automatically, to a point of ridiculousness: not to accompany the content, but as a substitute for it.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • New York Times ☛ About 10,000 Hotel Workers Walk Off the Job on Labor Day Weekend

    The union representing the workers, UNITE HERE, has planned a rolling strike for several days in cities like Boston, San Francisco and Seattle after contract negotiations stalled.

  • The Conversation ☛ 2024-08-28 [Older] Middle-class British people are talking more alike than ever

  • Truthdig ☛ On Labor Day Weekend, Support for Unions Hits 70-Year High

    The annual Gallup Labor Day poll revealed that 70% of Americans approve of labor unions, while 23% disapprove. That’s up from last year’s 67% approval rate. Two years ago, 71% of survey respondents said they were pro-union, but 26% disapproved, meaning this year’s 47-point approval margin was slightly wider than in 2022.

  • Futurism ☛ Cops Say Hallucinating AIs Are Ready to Write Police Reports That Could Send People to Prison

    But as far as paperwork goes, police reports are more sensitive than your average email, and generative AI is a technology prone to what those in the industry call "hallucination" — in short, a catch-all term for the common errors like fabricated facts or otherwise incorrect information often found in synthetic text.

    Even so, American police departments in states including Colorado, Indiana, and Oklahoma are starting to test the Draft One waters, with some departments even allowing officers to use the tool for any kind of case, as opposed to only minor incident reports. And experts, unsurprisingly, are worrying about the consequences. After all, a police report has a foundational role in investigative and legal processes; is it wise — or even ethical — to outsource it?

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Irish Examiner ☛ What is dynamic pricing and how does it work? 

  Ahead of ticket sales after the tour was announced this week, promoter MCD on its website said that the tickets for both of the gigs would start at €86.50 without booking fees.

  However, according to social media users and snapshots from the Ticketmaster Ireland website on Saturday morning, these lower-priced tickets were unavailable for those waiting in queues. Instead, they were offered demand standing tickets which cost €415.60 each.

• NME Networks ☛ Oasis fans react to Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing

  One fan also shared their attempt to get tickets to Dublin’s Croke Park show, writing: “In demand standing ticket” is just a standard standing ticket except double the price. No difference between Ticketmaster and touts.” When ticket prices were revealed by pre-sale for Ireland, tickets started at €86.50. However, this fan shared a screenshot showing the tickets were going for €415.50 each.

• Rolling Stone ☛ Oasis Fans Face Crashes, Dynamic Pricing as Reunion Tickets Go On Sale

  Fans soon noticed that there was no difference between the general admission tickets and the “In Demand Standing” ticket other than the cost, one that Ticketmaster wrote was “dynamically priced.” “Based on demand the prices on these tickets may change,” they added.

  The “In Demand Standing” tickets even caused fans to put a Community Note on Oasis’ tweet about tickets: “Oasis published ticket prices which put Standing tickets in most of their venues at ~£150. Thats face value. Oasis have allowed for Ticketmaster to sell via dynamic pricing which has those exact same £150 face value tickets listed for £350+.”

• Deadline ☛ Oasis Fans Complain Of Ticketmaster Issues, Price Surges

  “Ticketmaster isn’t fit for purpose,” another Oasis fan wrote. “Eight hours queuing, numerous times in the checkout, been suspected as bot, session suspended, website crashed as placing order, put to back of queue many times, price jumps of over 300% how does this s—ty website have a monopoly?!”

• Manchester Evening News ☛ Oasis fans' fury over 'in demand' tickets as prices rocket - as Ticketmaster issues statement

  It comes as tickets have been listed on secondary ticket sites for in some cases, several thousands pounds. Oasis have warned fans not to use these sites and only use their designated, face value re-sale sites Twickets and Ticketmaster itself.

  A tweet from the band's account said: "Please note, Oasis Live ‘25 tickets can only be resold at face value via @TicketmasterUK and @Twickets! Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be cancelled by the promoters."

• Copyrights

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Fmovies & Aniwave: Will The Masters of Pirate Resurrection Rise Again?

    The spectacular demise of Fmovies, Aniwave, and a dozen or more related big-brand pirate sites, has former users asking the same question: Are they really gone forever? With many resurrections and Dr. Who-like regenerations over recent years, some seem optimistic. Government records suggests that business bridges are being built from Hollywood to Vietnam, and back again. It seems unlikely that the resurrection of pirate sites would help in any way.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ TorrentGalaxy Spooks Users with More 'Downtime'

    Popular torrent site TorrentGalaxy once again confuses users with a mysterious message. Instead of the usual list of downloads, it simply shows an image from the film Logan and the brief message "TG Forever". This is similar to a notice that appeared on the site a few weeks ago, after which it eventually resumed business as usual.