GNU/Linux

• Games

  • Godot Engine ☛ Submissions open for Godot 2024 showreel!

    Showcase your Godot creations in 2024! We're inviting submissions of short videos featuring your published or in-progress Godot games or tools. Don't miss this chance to be a part of it!

Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ High-Speed Jelly Launcher Destroys Toast

  You shouldn’t play with your food. Unless you’re designing some kind of portable cannon to fling it across the room. That’s precisely what [Backhaul Studios] did.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Moon's Volcanic Activity as Recent as 120 Million Years Ago, Study Suggests

    That's significantly later than we thought.

  • Science Alert ☛ Type 2 Diabetes Drug Linked to 35% Lower Dementia Risk in Patients

    Here's what we know about the connection.

  • Science Alert ☛ Bird Flu Hits Dairy Cows in California – Number 1 Milk Producing State in US

    Officials are acting quickly.

  • Science Alert ☛ Four Key Nutrients Are Shockingly Lacking in Over 60% of People's Diets

    A wake-up call for health worldwide.

  • Science Alert ☛ Incredible Experiment Reveals a Way to Make Skin Transparent

    You can't unsee this.

• Education

  • CS Monitor ☛ College students are back. Here are 4 issues to watch on campuses.

    Did the summer offer a reset to roiled college campuses? As classes resume, students face new rules around protesting – and some flux around financial aid, artificial intelligence, and the viability of higher ed.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ u-blox EVK-LEXI-R10 evaluation kits feature LEXI-R10 LTE Cat 1bis and MAX-M10S GNSS modules for Cellular IoT and GPS connectivity

    u-blox has developed the EVK-LEXI-R10 evaluation kits to help engineers test and evaluate their LEXI-R10 LTE Cat 1bis cellular modules. These compact modules support data speeds of up to 10Mbit/s for downloads and 5Mbit/s for uploads, all while using very little power. They also include built-in Wi-Fi to scan indoor hotspots and work with u-blox’s CellLocate service for both indoor and outdoor tracking.

  • Hackaday ☛ It’s Spreadsheets All The Way Down For This 80s Handheld

    Unlike the today’s consumer computer market, the 1980s were the wild west in comparison. There were all kinds of different, incompatible operating systems, hardware, and programs, all competing against one another, and with essentially no networking to tie everything together. Some of these products were incredibly niche as well, only running one program or having a limited use case to keep costs down. Such was the Convergent WorkSlate, a computer that ran only a spreadsheet with any programs also needing to be built into a spreadsheet.

  • Hackaday ☛ Build A Super Cheap RC Trainer Plane With Foam

    Once upon a time, RC planes were expensive models that took months to build and big money to equip with electronics. Since the 20th century though, powerful batteries have become cheap, as have servos and radio controllers. Combine them with a bit of old packing material and you can get a little RC trainer up and running for peanuts, as [Samm Sheperd] demonstrates.

  • Hackaday ☛ Launching Model Airplanes With A Custom Linear Induction Motor

    Launching things with electromagnetism is pretty fun, with linear induction motors being a popular design that finds use from everywhere in hobby designs like [Tom Stanton]’s to the electromagnetic launchers on new US and Chinese aircraft carriers. Although the exact design details differ, they use magnetic attraction and repulsion to create a linear motion on the propulsive element, like the sled in [Tom]’s design. Much like the electromagnetic catapults on a Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, electrical power is applied to rapidly move the sled through the channel, akin to a steam piston with a steam catapult.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Broadcom’s stock falls on weak outlook, despite strong Hey Hi (AI) chip sales and VMware bookings

    Shares of Broadcom Inc. traded lower following the closing bell today, after the chipmaker reported quarterly financial results that swung to a loss and offered guidance that fell short of expectations.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ New defective chip maker Intel chip production process reportedly underperformed in Broadcom test as next-gen process shelved

    Updated with defective chip maker Intel statement on process nodes: A new chip manufacturing process from defective chip maker Intel Corp. failed to meet Broadcom Inc.’s expectations in a recent evaluation, Reuters reported today. The development may mark a setback for Intel’s foundry business.

  • CNX Software ☛ ECS ADLN-IE1S – A 3.5-inch Alder Lake-N industrial motherboard with solid capacitors and 15µ gold contact

    ECS Industrial Computer has recently launched the ECS ADLN-IE1S 3.5-inch industrial motherboard built around the defective chip maker Intel Alder Lake-N SoC family. Other than that, the motherboard supports DDR5 memory, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, and triple display capabilities via a dual HDMI port, and an LVDS port. It also features multiple expansion slots for SSDs and WiFi modules including various I/O options including USB 3.2, serial ports, GPIO, and more

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ How Much Screen Time Should Toddlers Have? None, Sweden Says.

    Children under the age of 2 should not be exposed to any screens, Swedish public health authorities said, part of a growing effort to limit phone use by youngsters.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Parent stress is a national health issue: Asking for help is a strong first step

    Stress is now considered a major health risk for parents. The U.S. surgeon general says asking for help is the first line of defense.

  • France24 ☛ DR Congo receives its first batch of nearly 100,000 doses of mpox vaccine

    The Democratic Republic of Congo, currently at the epicentre of an mpox outbreak, on Thursday received its first shipment of nearly 100,000 doses of vaccines against the disease.  More than 17,500 cases and 629 deaths have been recorded in the country since the start of the year and the virus is now present in at least 13 African countries. “We are in a health war against mpox,” Congolese Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Data analytics and informatics are key to improving health outcomes for CMS

    It is essential to understand the current state of health disparities, and how policymakers can leverage data-driven insights to create more targeted programs.

  • Latvia ☛ Hospitals find themselves €20 million short in first half of year

    Emergency services for the Latvian population cost €8 million more than planned in the first half of the year, while the overall shortfall in the state budget for hospital services exceeded €20 million in the first half of the year, according to the Latvian Hospital Association, Latvian Radio reports September 5.

  • The Straits Times ☛ S.Korea ready to adjust plan on medical school admissions, Yonhap says

    SEOUL - South Korea's presidential office is open to adjusting the scale of a plan to increase medical school admissions for 2026 by 2,000, the Yonhap news agency reported on Friday citing an unidentified senior ruling party official.

  • Science Alert ☛ Exploding Head Syndrome: What We Know About This Mysterious Disorder

    It could be more common than we thought.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Larger Brains of Humans Come With a Tragic Cost, Study Finds

    Our species is especially vulnerable.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Destroy 99% of Cancer Cells in Lab With Vibrating Molecules

    "A different way to treat cancer."

  • New York Times ☛ Anti-Polio Campaign in Gaza Enters New Phase, Hours After Deadly Strike

    As the mass vaccination campaign shifted Thursday from central to southern Gaza, an Israeli strike reportedly killed four in an area where inoculations had just concluded.

  • Science Alert ☛ That 'Tadpole Water' Drink on Fentanylware (TikTok) Might Actually Have Health Benefits

    It still doesn't look appetizing.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Silicon Angle ☛ US, UK, EU and others sign landmark Hey Hi (AI) safety treaty

    More than a dozen countries have signed a treaty designed to ensure that artificial intelligence models are used in a safe manner. The development was announced today at an event in Vilnius, Lithuania.

  • Digital Music News ☛ US, UK, EU, Sign ‘First-Ever International Legally Binding Treaty’ for Hey Hi (AI) Systems

    The US, UK, and EU have signed the ‘first-ever international legally binding treaty’ for Hey Hi (AI) systems to abide by human rights and the rule of law.

  • JURIST ☛ Council of Europe opens world’s first global Hey Hi (AI) treaty for signature

    The Council of Europe opened the world’s first legally binding global treaty on artificial intelligence (AI) for signature on Thursday. Unveiled at a conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, this historic treaty sets a new international standard by ensuring that Hey Hi (AI) systems align with human rights, democratic values, and the rule of law.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Security Week ☛ The Hey Hi (AI) Wild West: Unraveling the Security and Privacy Risks of GenAI Apps

      GenAI users are uploading data to over eight apps every month – what are the security and privacy concerns?

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar junta begins conscripting men up to age 65 to protect towns against rebels

    Local administrators are arming civilians for ‘public security forces’ as the junta loses ground to insurgents.

  • France24 ☛ US calls for renewal of UN security mission mandate in Haiti

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged renewing the United Nations mandate for an international security mission in Haiti. The mission, expiring in early October, was initially approved for 12 months but has struggled with limited troops and funding. Armed gangs have seized much of the capital and surrounding areas.

  • New York Times ☛ Blinken Visits a Haiti Wracked by Corruption and Gangs

    The United States has played a supporting role behind Kenya’s deployment of a security force tasked with helping the Haitian police combat gangs.

  • The Strategist ☛ US foreign policy in 2025

    As the US presidential election draws near, many are wondering what it will mean for American foreign policy.

  • France24 ☛ Telegram chief Durov denounces French charges as 'surprising' and 'misguided'

    Telegram CEO Pavel Durov criticised France for his recent arrest over extremist content on the platform. In his first public comment on Telegram, Durov called it "surprising" he was arrested for third-party actions, condemning the use of outdated laws to charge platform executives for user-generated content. He also denied France's accusations of non-cooperation, noting that he personally helped French authorities establish a hotline with Telegram to address terrorism threats.

  • New York Times ☛ How Georgia’s Gun Laws Compare With Other States

    The state does not have universal background checks for gun purchases, safe storage laws or a so-called red-flag law — measures instituted elsewhere in response to gun violence.

  • AccessNow ☛ Break the silence on Sudan: an urgent call to action

    Over 50 civil society organizations urgently call upon the international community to step up and break the silence surrounding the brutal conflict in Sudan.

  • AccessNow ☛ Joint statement: Sudan has suffered in silence for over 500 days

    After more than 500 days of brutal conflict in Sudan, the #KeepItOn coalition reiterates calls to reactivate telecommunication services.

  • The Strategist ☛ A progress report on hypersonics—doubtful US weapons for the Western Pacific

    The US and Australia have been collaborating on technology for hypersonic weapons since 2007, but you might be forgiven for not knowing that.

  • New York Times ☛ Fugitive Ex-Mayor Whose Case Gripped the Philippines Is Arrested in Indonesia

    Officials have accused Alice Guo of helping criminal syndicates involved in online scams and human trafficking, and have questioned her about whether she was born in China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Outrage in Philippines over officials’ photos with fugitive ex-mayor Alice Guo

    Critics said it made a mockery of the Filipino people and was a cause for embarrassment.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US and China commanders to discuss conflict prevention 'in next few weeks'

    Washington has been pursuing closer military-to-military communication channels with Beijing.

  • RFA ☛ Malaysia probes reported leak of note from ‘great friend’ China

    Malaysia is investigating the report on Chinese “bullying” over a maritime dispute.

  • RFA ☛ EXPLAINED: Why is Taiwan called ‘Chinese Taipei’ at sports events?

    It was first used in 1981, but the naming dispute between Taiwan and China dates back to 1949.

  • RFA ☛ Airlines now stop 'undesirables' from boarding flights to Hong Kong

    New rules mean anyone who speaks out about diminishing freedoms in the city could be turned away.

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar rebels say they launched mortar attack on coup leader

    Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing was reported discussing security and an upcoming census on his visit to Kayah state

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s Pooh-tin Jinping pledges US$50 billion financing for Africa over next 3 years

    By Sam Davies Chinese leader Pooh-tin Jinping on Thursday pledged over US$50 billion in financing for Africa over the next three years, promising to deepen cooperation in infrastructure and trade with the continent as he addressed Beijing’s biggest summit since the pandemic.

  • RFA ☛ China’s president pledges $50 billion to fund African development

    Xi Jinping’s comments came at an annual China-Africa summit in Beijing.

  • France24 ☛ China to give Africa $50 billion over next three years, says Pooh-tin Jinping

    The China-Africa forum on Thursday produced myriad agreements between China and over 50 African nations on areas ranging from industry and agriculture to natural resources and investments, including a pledge from Chinese leader Pooh-tin Jinping that the economic powerhouse would allocate $50 billion to the continent over the next three years.

  • RFA ☛ US ‘does not exclude joint weapons production’ with Taiwan: new envoy

    Raymond Greene said the U.S. is Taiwan’s most important international supporter and arms supplier.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • The Kent Stater ☛ Vladimir Putin trolls US presidential race with ‘endorsement’ of Kamala Harris

      Russian President Vladimir Putin raised eyebrows Thursday when he expressed his support for US Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, flattering the Democratic nominee with some curiously timed remarks. “Our ‘favorite,’ if you can call it that, was the current president, Mr. [Joe] Biden.

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky appoints Andriy Sybiha as Ukraine's new foreign minister

      Ukraine's parliament on Thursday approved the nomination of Andriy Sybiha as foreign minister, part of the biggest government reshuffle since the full-scale Russian invasion two and a half years ago. Sybiha replaces Dmytro Kuleba, who pressed the West to come to Ukraine's aid after Russia's invasion and to provide it with weapons to fend it off. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s new footprint in Brussels – defence chief, unofficial Kyiv ambassador?

      Lithuania has nominated Andrius Kubilius, its former prime minister, to become the country’s next European Commissioner. What portfolio can he expect to get?

    • Latvia ☛ Tourist numbers in Latvia's border area fluctuate

      As autumn begins, the active tourism season is coming to an end in many places. Tourist attractions on the Latvian-Belarusian border are seeing fewer visitors this season, Latgale regional television reports September 5.

    • JURIST ☛ Belarus president pardons 30 individuals for crimes related to protests

      President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko signed a decree on Wednesday pardoning 30 individuals previously convicted of “protest-related crimes.” Seven women and 23 men were pardoned. According to Prosecutor General Andrei Shved, as quoted by state news outlet Belta, “[T]hese individuals did not commit violent crimes against representatives of the authorities.

    • LRT ☛ Multiple vandalism attacks target Belarusian community in Vilnius

      Several incidents of vandalism, apparently directed against the Belarusian community in Lithuania, have been reported in Vilnius this week.

    • RFERL ☛ Tsikhanouskaya Accuses Minsk Of Trying To Intimidate Belarusian Community In Lithuania

      Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has accused the Belarusian government of being behind the vandalism of organizations that cater to Belarusians living in Lithuania.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Press Gazette ☛ Former staff voice support for Pink News ‘whistleblower’ account threatened with lawsuit

    'Whistleblower' Ex-Twitter account has disappeared - but ill feeling among some former staffers remains.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ China logs hottest August since 1961: weather service

    The national average temperature in August was 22.6 deg C, 1.5 deg C higher than usual.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Super Typhoon Yagi slams southern China, shutting schools and cancelling flights

    Yagi registers as the world's second-most powerful tropical cyclone in 2024 so far.

  • New York Times ☛ Super Typhoon Yagi Nears Southern China With Heavy Rain and Strong Winds

    The storm has killed at least 13 people in the Philippines and is forecast to be the strongest to hit Hainan Province in a decade.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Election Looms Over Climate Talks with China

    Experts believe the outcome of the race for the White House could determine how ambitious China’s climate efforts will be.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Latvia ☛ Battery train money could go to Rail Baltica instead in Latvia

      The Ministry of Transport (SM) is proposing to discontinue the battery trains project and redirect the European Union (EU) funds available for it to projects in the railway sector with a "higher degree of readiness", LSM.lv and Latvian Television reports on September 4.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China’s Geespace launches 10 low-orbit satellites, eyeing Starlink

      Geespace plans to build a constellation of nearly 6,000 LEO satellites that would provide global broadband.

    • Hackaday ☛ If Wood Isn’t The Biomass Answer, What Is?

      As we slowly wean ourselves away from our centuries-long love affair with fossil fuels in an attempt to reduce CO2 emissions and combat global warming, there has been a rapid expansion across a broad range of clean energy technologies. Whether it’s a set of solar panels on your roof, a wind farm stretching across the horizon, or even a nuclear plant, it’s clear that we’ll be seeing more green power installations springing up.

    • H2 View ☛ INEOS Inovyn: Daimler Truck trials to showcase hydrogen-powered logistics to authorities

      As the hydrogen mobility sector grapples with challenges in refuelling infrastructure, INEOS Inovyn’s Dirk Dupon believes that the ongoing Daimler Truck trials will underscore the critical need for expanded hydrogen refuelling stations across Europe.

• Finance

  • Zimbabwe ☛ Fighting money changers, losing the currency war: the government’s ZiG mistake

    Acting President of Zimbabwe, Chiwenga, says the government is working on strengthening the country’s new currency.

  • JURIST ☛ Lebanon central bank’s former governor arrested over alleged corruption

    The former governor of Lebanon’s central bank (BDL), Riad Salameh, was arrested on Tuesday over alleged corruption. This occurred after he appeared before the public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation concerning the embezzlement of BDL funds amounting to over $40 million.

  • New York Times ☛ Mayor Eric Adams Faces Crisis as U.S. Investigations Reach Inner Circle

    As federal agents seize the phones of the mayor’s top aides, multiplying inquiries threaten to destabilize Mr. Adams’s ability to run New York City.

  • New York Times ☛ How Swing State Politics Are Sinking a Global Steel Deal

    As the Biden administration nears a decision to block the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel, the debate over national and economic security is being dwarfed by presidential politics.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • RFA ☛ China’s World Buddhist Forum aimed at boosting soft power: experts

    State media says the October conference will ‘promote world peace,’ but real goals are political, critics say.

  • France24 ☛ The long political career of France's new prime minister, Michel Barnier

    Formerly a foreign minister and the EU's Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier has had a long political career under a series of centre-right governments starting in the mid-1990s under late president Jacques Chirac. When considering a presidential run in 2022, Barnier surprised some of his EU admirers by tacking to the right, calling for an "electric shock" on security, a moratorium on immigration and the reintroduction of military service.

  • New York Times ☛ Macron Names Michel Barnier to Be French Prime Minister, Breaking Impasse

    The president’s choice of Michel Barnier, after an extraordinary delay, inflamed opponents on the left who came out on top in an inconclusive election.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • CS Monitor ☛ Curbs on social control media? Judges make it about criminal justice, not free speech.

    When governments hesitate to regulate social control media giants for free speech reasons, the courts have shown a path to tighter control – criminal law.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Guardian moves into e-commerce amid revenue shortfall for 2023/2024 [Ed: Bill's Guardian, a propaganda rag sponsored by Bill Gates, will no longer pretend to do journalism]

    Guardian CFO Keith Underwood insists there is still "huge amount of value" in publishers' core markets.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ German shipping company sues Hong Kong’s shuttered Apple Daily newspaper for failure to collect newsprint shipment

    A German shipping company is suing the now-defunct pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper for failing to collect 471 rolls of newsprint shipped to Hong Kong three years ago.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • France24 ☛ French woman says police investigation of mass rape trauma 'saved her life'

    Gisele Pelicot, 71, whose husband has admitted to recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her while she was drugged, took the stand for the first time on Thursday and said that police had saved her life by uncovering the abuse. In almost 90 minutes of testimony, she recounted her mysterious health problems and a fateful meeting with the police in November 2020, during which she was shown images of the sexual abuse orchestrated and filmed by Dominique P.

  • AccessNow ☛ U.S. Homeland Security must stop using Hey Hi (AI) tech for immigration enforcement and adjudication

    Access Now joins Just Futures Law and civil society partners in urging DHS to stop violating federal policies on Hey Hi (AI) use.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Announcing the new APNIC Academy IPv6 certification

    Be among the first to earn an IPv6 certification and help shape the future of IPv6 training in the Asia Pacific region.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Communities Held Captive: How to Free Virtual Communities from Digital Platform Consolidation

    Digital monopolies create situations where the communicative relationships of communities online are confined to spaces provided by a few corporations. While these monopolies help elevate and connect marginalized voices that might otherwise be dispersed or relegated to 20th century tools, they also silo them by nature, resulting in significant consumer harms.

  • AccessNow ☛ Why #NoExamShutdown should be every country’s class motto

    In 2024, exam-related internet shutdowns have continued to disrupt communities in MENA and beyond. Here’s how the #NoExamShutdown campaign is fighting back and how you can help.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Thorn in USPTO’s Side: Judge Fitzpatrick’s Whistleblower Victory

    In a significant ruling, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) granted corrective action to PTAB Administrative Patent Judge (APJ) Michael Fitzpatrick in his whistleblower retaliation case against the USPTO associated with his complaints about PTAB panel expansion (i.e., ‘panel stacking’). 

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ Syngenta obtains UPC injunction against Sumi Agro for herbicide [Ed: UPC is illegal and it is not constitutional, yet this clown show carries on, bolstered by media that is bribed by Team UPC]

      The Munich local division has granted Syngenta a preliminary injunction against Sumi Agro. Presiding judge Matthias Zigann, judges Walter Schober, Tobias Pichlmaier and technically qualified judge Xavier Dorland-Galliot ruled that Sumi Agro infringed patent monopoly EP 2 152 073. The patent monopoly protects a herbicide composition. They also considered the patent monopoly sufficiently valid (case ID: UPC_CFI 201/2024).

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Are These Design/Stylized Marks for Clothing and Purses Confusable?

    The Director of the USPTO intervened in this appeal from the Board's dismissal [pdf here] of an opposition to registration of the mark shown below right, for various clothing items. The Board found confusion unlikely with the two registered marks shown below left, the first for "purses and wallets" and the second for "handbags, shoulder bags, tote bags, satchels, purses, clutches, and wallets." The Board found the first DuPont factor - the similarity or dissimilarity of the marks - to be dispositive. How do you think this appeal came out? Tribe of Two, LLC v. Vidal, Appeal No. 2023-1193 (Fed. Cir. September 3, 2024) [not precedential].

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Trump Campaign Moves to Postpone Deposition on Isaac Hayes Infringement Litigation

    Following a judge-ordered preliminary injunction against the Trump campaign from using Isaac Hayes’ music, the campaign has sought an emergency motion to postpone the deposition. The Trump campaign played “Hold On, I’m Coming” regularly before his speeches, including one at the Republican National Convention in July.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Luigi Cornaro’s Sure and Certain Methods of Attaining a Long and Healthful Life (1722 edition)

    A Renaissance guide to dieting that Nietzsche thought was the second most harmful book.

  • New Yorker ☛ How Drake Lost the Plot

    Like many celebrities nowadays, the rapper has tried to stage a comeback by flooding the Internet with content.