Leftovers

• Chris ☛ Incident Inference From Symptoms

• Science

  • Hackaday ☛ Pushing The Plasma Limits With A Custom Flyback Transformer

    For serious high-voltage plasma, you need a serious transformer. [Jay Bowles] from Plasma Channel is taking his projects to the next level, so he built a beefy 6000:1 flyback transformer.

  • Hackaday ☛ The 2024 Hackaday Supercon SAO Badge Reveal

    We’ve been hinting at it for a few months now, running a series of articles on SAOs, then a Supercon Add-On Challenge. We even let on that the badge would have space for multiple SAOs this year, but would you believe six?

  • Science Alert ☛ The Human Mind Isn't Meant to Be Awake After Midnight, Scientists Warn

    Dangerous things can happen.

  • Science Alert ☛ Cats Can Learn Words Faster Than Human Babies, Study Suggests

    They might just be as clever as they look.

  • Science Alert ☛ Colossal Impact 3 Billion Years Ago May Have Boosted Life on Earth

    "These impacts might have actually allowed life to flourish."

  • Science Alert ☛ Injecting Diamonds Into The Sky Could Cool The Planet, Study Says

    But at an incredible cost.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Large Satellite Mysteriously Broke Up in Space, But Why?

    This is a big problem.

  • New Yorker ☛ What Can You Learn from Photographing Your Life?

    Pictures of the mundane can capture much more.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China domestic gaming GPUs receive up to 40% performance uplift — new Moore Threads driver update improves S80 and S70 gaming performance

    Moore Threads has published a new driver update that features up to a 40% performance improvement for its S80 and S70 gaming GPUs.

  • Zimbabwe ☛ Your phone probably isn’t compatible but this is what the recently launched Android 15 packs

    Who out there is still holding on to a phone running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)?

  • CNX Software ☛ EBL MP1000 Review – A 1000W portable AC/DC power station with solar panels

    Hey, Karl here and I am getting old. I guess middle age is more accurate. Two wonderful kids and I want to stick around for a while. I have not been feeling well and as a result, I picked up strength training as a form of exercise. I started with an adjustable bench and a set of adjustable dumbbells. I trained with them for about 3 months in my office. I had just enough space. I was hooked. I dove in and learned as much as I could on current best practices, and developed a spreadsheet for tracking progress. I started to outgrow the 55lb/25kg adjustable dumbbells with several exercises and the next step was a squat rack, bar, and Olympic weights. My problem was the lack of space. I had a building that was poorly organized.

  • Stuart Langridge: Two Plumbers

    In a land far away, there were two brothers, two plumbers. To preserve their anonymity, we'll call them... Mario and Luigi. Their mother, a kind and friendly woman, and their father, a man with (by the laws of averages and genetics) a truly gargantuan moustache, raised them both to be kind and friendly (and moustachioed) in their turn. There was enough work in the town to keep both the plumbers busy, and they each grew through apprentice to journeyman to experience and everyone liked them. They both cared about the job, about their clients, and they each did good work, always going the extra mile, doing more than was necessarily asked for, putting in an extra hour to tighten that pipe or fit a better S-bend or clean up the poor workmanship of lesser craftsmen and cowboys. They were happy. Even their rivalry for each job was good-humoured, a friendly source of amusement to them and to the town. Sometimes people would flip a coin to choose which to ring, having no way to choose between them, and Mario would laugh and suggest that he should have two-headed coins made, or Luigi would laugh and say that that ought to make it his turn next.

  • Hackaday ☛ Give Your SMD Components A Lift

    When you are troubleshooting, it is sometimes useful to disconnect a part of your circuit to see what happens. If your new PCB isn’t perfect, you might also need to add some extra wires or components — not that any of us will ever admit to doing that, of course. When ICs were in sockets, it was easy to do that. [MrSolderFix] shows his technique for lifting pins on SMD devices in the video below.

  • Hackaday ☛ A Wobble Disk Air Motor With One Moving Part

    In general, the simpler a thing is, the better. That doesn’t appear to apply to engines, though, at least not how we’ve been building them. Pistons, cranks, valves, and seals, all operating in a synchronized mechanical ballet to extract useful work out of some fossilized plankton.

  • Hackaday ☛ For Desalination, Follow The Sun

    It’s easy to use electricity — solar-generated or otherwise — to desalinate water. However, traditional systems require a steady source of power. Since solar panels don’t always produce electricity, these methods require some way to store or acquire power when the solar cells are in the dark or shaded. But MIT engineers have a fresh idea for solar-powered desalination plants: modify the workload to account for the amount of solar energy available.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Indian doctors call off protest hunger strike over medic’s murder

    The victim’s parents have expressed their worries about the fasting junior doctors’ health.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s Sarawak state aims to be regional green energy powerhouse, boost talent pool

    The state government can consider easing the employment pass rule to draw talent, said an expert.

  • Science Alert ☛ Unexpected Link Between Menthol And Alzheimer's Discovered in Mice

    Could inhaling menthol help fight the disease?

  • Science Alert ☛ 1 Dead as McDonald's Food Poisoning Outbreak Spreads to 10 States

    Almost 50 cases so far.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Revived a Pig's Brain Nearly a Whole Hour After It Died

    Could it work on humans?

  • Science Alert ☛ Cats Can Have a Profound Effect on Your Physical And Mental Health

    Some surprising results!

  • Science Alert ☛ New Vaccine Can Temporarily Neuter Dogs For a Single Year

    "Everything is blocked."

  • France24 ☛ How Egypt eradicated malaria after century-long effort

    The World Health Organization has announced that malaria has been completely eradicated in Egypt, calling the result "truly historic". The country has been pursuing this public health goal for nearly a century.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Mexico seeks to ban junk food and caffeinated drinks in schools

    According to the National Health Survey, 98% of public schools sell junk food, 95% sell sugary drinks and 77% sell soda on their premises.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Health and Human Services updates regulations for research misconduct

    "Integrity could be lacking in how research is performed. The definition of research misconduct is fabrication falsification or plagiarism," said Sheila Garrity

  • Latvia ☛ State-funded flu vaccines running out for some doctors

    Some GP practices have received up to 100 doses less flu vaccine than ordered, according to an electronic survey conducted by the Latvian Association of Rural General Practitioners, LETA reports October 22.

  • Latvia ☛ People with disabilities find it harder to make ends meet across EU

    In 2023, 25.5% of people aged 16 years and over with a disability (having some or severe activity limitations) in the EU lived in households that reported having difficulties in making ends meet; in other words, their financial resources did not cover their usual necessary expenses, according to Eurostat data published October 22.

  • Latvia ☛ Massive queues for many state-paid health services in Latvia

    Currently, the national quotas are exhausted for oncology and for patients with other diagnoses. This year, there are no longer any appointments available with a number of specialists at university-level hospitals. The main reason is insufficient public funding, i.e. there are more patients than publicly funded appointment slots, Latvian Television reported on October 22.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea to supply stocks of kimchi cabbage to market after hot weather damages crop

    Cabbage used in kimchi, or napa cabbage, thrives in cooler climates.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ How fasting helps and harms the gut

    Intermittent fasting can delay the onset of some age-related diseases and lengthen lifespan. In part, MIT researchers have found, that’s because it boosts intestinal stem cells’ ability to regenerate, which helps the intestine recover from injuries or inflammation.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Mayo Clinic pursues healthcare automation while maintaining the human touch

    The Mayo Clinic is highly ranked in a long list of medical specialties, and it has embarked on a journey to use healthcare automation as a key resource in maintaining its world-renowned reputation for patient treatment and care.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia has big plans for Hey Hi (AI) development [Ed: Well, buzzwords and bubbles are really terrible plans]

    The Ministry of Economics said in a release October 22 that it has high hopes for the implementation of a Latvian Artificial Intelligence Center (LMIC) to attract hundreds of millions investment.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Restrictions on Hong Kong civil servants’ access to WhatsApp, WeChat on work computers to take effect this month

      New restrictions barring the use of clown storage and instant messaging services including WhatsApp Web, WeChat, and Surveillance Giant Google Drive on Hong Kong civil servants’ work computers will take effect by the end of October.

    • EDRI ☛ Webinar: Data protection in immigration and asylum: Rights and opportunities for redress

      Do you work with people in immigration or asylum proceedings? Do they face problems of secrecy and lack of access to information about their case? Would you like to know more about how data protection law can be used in migration and asylum cases? Join us for an online workshop on 6 November.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Focus on the Sahel: Terrorism, NGOs and the Fulani communities

    Abuses by various jihadist groups, local militias and the Wagner Group are on the rise in the Sahel. The worsening security situation has forced the NGO Doctors Without Borders to suspend its operations. FRANCE 24’s Terrorism Expert Wassim Nasr corresponded with jihadist leader Amadou Koufa, the second-in-command of al-Qaeda-affiliated group JNIM, about the increasingly bloody conflict in the African region.

  • ADF ☛ Statistics Suggest Sharp Increase in Sahel Drug Trafficking

    The Sahel region has emerged as a new drug trafficking epicenter in recent years. According to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, authorities seized 41 kilograms of cocaine in 2021. The number spiked to 1,466 kilograms the next year — an increase of 3,476%.

  • ADF ☛ Armed Fighters, Stalled DDR Threaten War-Torn Tigray Region

    Nearly two years after the signing of the Pretoria Agreement that was intended to end the war in Ethiopia, fighters in Tigray remain armed and the threat of violence looms.

  • ADF ☛ Darfur’s Joint Force Helps Sudan’s Army Retake Key Areas

    After nearly a year under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), West Darfur has become a new front in the conflict between Sudan’s warring generals. In recent weeks, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and regional militias have scored important victories against RSF fighters, most recently retaking the community of Kulbus.

  • ADF ☛ Zambian Military Strives to Halt Gender-Based Violence

    A regional office for innovative gender-based violence solutions in Southern Africa is in the works, according to the Zambian Defense Force (ZDF). That was just one product of a workshop in Lusaka from September 23 to October 2 that sought to boost ZDF and regional capabilities to combat gender-based violence (GBV).

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korean leader Kim inspects missile bases, ballistic weapons

    Mr Kim hailed the country’s missile force for its “pivotal role” in war deterrence.

  • France24 ☛ UN agency head calls for temporary truce in northern Gaza

    The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency called on Tuesday for a temporary truce to allow people to leave areas of northern Gaza as health officials said they were running out of supplies to treat patients hurt in a three-week-old Israeli offensive. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UNRWA relief agency, said the humanitarian situation had reached a dire point, with bodies abandoned by roadsides or buried under rubble.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia charges 22 people linked to Islamic firm GISB with organised crime

    Malaysia charged 22 people linked to an Islamic conglomerate, including its chief executive, on Wednesday for organised crime, according to court documents and the company's lawyer.

  • The Straits Times ☛ GISB CEO, wife among 22 charged in Malaysia with being organised crime group members

    The trial is set to take place at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, with Dec 23 set for the case’s mention date.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese aircraft carrier group sails through Taiwan Strait after Beijing hold live-fire exercise near self-ruled island

    By Joy Chiang and Amber Wang A Chinese aircraft carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, Taiwan’s defence minister said, a day after Beijing held a live-fire exercise near the self-ruled island.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China says it reached ‘resolution’ with India on contested border issues

    The two nations have regularly accused each other of trying to seize territory along their disputed border.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India’s Modi to meet China’s Pooh-tin on sidelines of Brics summit

    It will be their first meeting since 2020, when their forces clashed on their disputed frontier.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China-India border deal a positive step ahead of Xi-Modi meeting, but trust issues remain

    Analysts say other tension points are harder to resolve.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India to retain investment curbs on border nations

    India will retain curbs on investment from nations with which it shares a land border, the finance minister said days after the South Asian country struck a pact with China on patrolling their disputed Himalayan frontier.

  • RFA ☛ China holds live-fire drills around island closest to Taiwan

    Taiwan said it was closely monitoring the exercise and would ‘respond appropriately.’

  • The Straits Times ☛ West blasts China on human rights in Xinjiang, Tibet; Beijing responds, what about Gaza?

    China’s UN Ambassador denounced the West for ignoring the "living hell" in the Gaza Strip. 

  • The Straits Times ☛ Germany bets on India to reduce reliance on China

    Chancellor Olaf Scholz leads a high-level delegation to New Delhi this week, betting that greater access to the vast Indian market can reduce Germany's reliance on Beijing even if India does not turn out to be the "new China".

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar rebels seize major border gate near China

    Junta soldiers are still defending hundreds of acres of poppy fields, residents said.

  • RFA ☛ China’s ‘little pink’ nationalists slam Feihe over Japanese ties

    The company hits back with a warning of legal action, while state media weigh in against the tide of hate.

  • RFA ☛ Condemned Uyghur official dies in prison in China’s Xinjiang region

    Shirzat Bawudun, once a senior government official, was sentenced to death in 2021.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China to extend deal with Vatican on bishop appointments for 4 more years

    China said Tuesday it had agreed to extend for four years a deal with the Vatican concerning the appointment of bishops. The Vatican and Beijing’s Communist leadership signed the secretive agreement on the thorny issue in 2018, giving both sides a say in the naming of bishops in China.

  • ADF ☛ Sudan Chaos Could Create Terrorism Haven, Experts Warn

    The chaos that has engulfed Sudan since war broke out in April 2023 could make the country a nexus for terrorism that connects violent extremists in the Sahel with terror groups in Somalia and even Yemen, observers say.

  • Defence Web ☛ Are Rwandan troops becoming Cabo Delgado’s main security provider?

    In three years, the Rwandan contingent in Mozambique has grown dramatically and expanded its operations across five districts. In July 2021, around 1 000 personnel from the Rwanda Defence Force and Rwanda National Police arrived in the terrorist-hit Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s won’t have military division in time with current conditions – aide

    Lithuania will not create an army division by 2030 under the current conditions and resources of the defence industry, the presidential chief security adviser says after the State Defence Council (VGT) meeting on Tuesday.

  • CS Monitor ☛ In Arizona, voters want tighter borders. Will this issue swing the election?

    Arizona's voters are more united around border security than you might think, as Trump and Harris vie for the upper hand in this key swing state.

  • ADF ☛ Data Shows Burkina Faso’s Security Continues to Deteriorate Post-Coup

    New data is shedding light on how Burkina Faso’s security has deteriorated in the two years since the military took power in a coup. Burkina Faso is now the most terrorism-affected country in the world, according to the Global Terrorism Index.

  • Defence Web ☛ Separation of SSA is “underway”, but still no National Security Strategy

    “The process to establish the new South African Intelligence Service (Foreign Service) and South African Intelligence Agency (Domestic Service) is well under way,” says Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, in a response to a question posed by Nicholas George Myburgh, Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US warns of attack threat in Sri Lanka surf hotspot

    The island nation’s police have pledged more security for tourists.

  • France24 ☛ On the ground: Four children among 18 killed after Israeli strike near Beirut hospital

    Israel kept up its bombing of Lebanon Tuesday after a late night strike near a Beirut hospital. At least 18 people were killed, including four children, and 60 were wounded, the health ministry said on Tuesday. FRANCE 24’s Senior Reporter Catherine Norris Trent visited the site.

  • France24 ☛ Israel says more strikes are coming against a Hezbollah-run financial institution

    Israel said late Monday it planned to carry out more strikes in Lebanon against a Hezbollah-run financial institution that it targeted the night before and which it says uses customers' deposits to finance attacks against Israel. FRANCE 24's Mark Owen speaks to Ahron Bregman, senior teaching fellow, Department of War, King's College, London. He says that Israel is trying to drive a wedge between Hezbollah and its operatives by cutting access to financial assets.

  • France24 ☛ 🔴Israel says it has killed Hashem Safieddine, heir apparent to Hezbollah’s Nasrallah

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Axis of Autocrats: North Korea’s escalating role in Russia’s Ukraine War

      North Korean troops are reportedly set to join the Russian invasion of Ukraine. If confirmed, this would represent the latest escalation in North Korea's support for Vladimir Putin's imperial aggression, writes Olena Tregub.

    • France24 ☛ Russia's attempt to end dollar dominance and bypass Western sanctions

      At this year's BRICS summit, one of the main issues on the agenda is Vladimir Putin's idea for a payment system to rival SWIFT and bypass Western sanctions. A UN report shows the impact of war has set back development in Gaza by 69 years. In the US, Kamala Harris is far ahead of Donald Trump when it comes to fundraising. The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch has been arrested and charged with running a prostitution and international sex trafficking business.

    • France24 ☛ Ton of BRICS? Putin defies West with global summit

      Not too shabby a week so far for Russia’s leader of twenty-four years. Sandwiched between a Moldova referendum where the pro-EU camp underwhelmed and a crucial general election in fellow Soviet state Georgia.

    • RFA ☛ Xi meets Putin at BRICS summit in Russia

      The Ukraine war to get top billing as Russia seeks to avoid isolation, yet Beijing has its own agenda.

    • Meduza ☛ How Dagestan called Kadyrov’s bluff after his ‘blood feud’ threat against a billionaire lawmaker — Meduza

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • JURIST ☛ Brazil dam collapse class action lawsuit against Anglo-Australian mining company begins in England

      The trial for a class action lawsuit against Anglo-Australian multinational mining company BHP began on Monday in England, with 620,000 claimants seeking damages for the collapse of a tailings pond dam in Brazil that killed 19 and released 50 million cubic meters of toxic waste into the environment.

  • Overpopulation

    • France24 ☛ South Korea sets world record with fertility rate dropping to new low [Ed: It's not about fertility, it's about people choosing not to have kids]

      South Korea has set a new world record. However, it’s not celebrating. The country now has the lowest birth rate in the world – an average of just 0.7 children per woman in 2023, standing alone among major economies in having a fertility rate below one. The crisis is threatening South Korea’s economy and putting its future in jeopardy. If the trend continues, its population will plunge by almost half by the century’s end. FRANCE 24’s Chloé Borgnon, Alexis Bregere, Justin McCurry and Mélodie Sforza report.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia Edition: Budget 2025 takes ‘ultra-rich’ to task | Stigma hinders mental health help

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Mexico and US present semiconductor industry roadmap to double exports and jobs

    The Finance Ministry is also designing a program of tax incentives similar to those established by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPs Act.

  • India Times ☛ Tech layoffs continue to climb in 2024 as Intel plans 1,300 job cuts: Why are tech jobs vanishing across the US?

    Intel is set to lay off 1,300 employees in Oregon as part of cost-cutting strategies. The layoffs will occur at four offices and will begin on November 15, lasting two weeks. Affected employees will not have the opportunity to transfer roles internally, as reported by TOI.

  • SenseTime Restructures: Layoffs and Business Adjustments

    On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the artificial intelligence enterprise SenseTime, Xu Li, Chairman and CEO of SenseTime, recently issued an internal letter to all employees, mentioning for the first time the company’s newly established “SCO – LM – CNI” integrated strategy. At the same time, it was announced that around this strategy and core resources, a more centralized and efficient organizational structure will be built to accelerate the process of making organization and management more agile.

    After the all-staff email was sent out, SenseTime immediately began organizational restructuring and layoffs. Currently, the layoffs are still ongoing, with the scale of the layoffs unspecified.

  • Zimbabwe ☛ ‘Local startup’ Jamboo launches fundraising campaign on UK’s biggest crowdfunding platform

    We’ve discussed Jamboo several times. Jamboo is a digital bank that targets the African diaspora, initially offering banking services, with plans to expand into investment services.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ What’s in a name? How Koreans faked their way to Kim, Lee and Park

    Each surname is associated with a clan name, which indicates the name’s regional origin.

  • France24 ☛ From absentee ballots to drop boxes: How do Americans vote?

    With an absentee ballot in hand, we take a look at some of the different laws that govern the way Americans vote. Often decided by states and jurisdictions, the plethora of such rules can easily confuse voters, or, worse, disenfranchise them.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Cloudbooklet ☛ UK Online Safety Group Calls to Ban Deepfake Nude Apps

      A UK safety group urges a Ban Deepfake Nude Apps, citing privacy concerns and the growing misuse of Hey Hi (AI) to create non-consensual explicit images.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • CS Monitor ☛ Campus protests face new restrictions this year. Professors are pushing back.

    Last year’s campus protests prompted new rules across the nation’s universities. But faculty are raising the alarm, saying students’ freedom of speech is being restricted.

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ Twitch Bans All of Israel, Un-Bans Anti-Jewish Terrorists

    In response to the Oct 7 attacks on Israel, the Amazon company (with moderators in Egypt) took an anti-Israel stance.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • RFERL ☛ Journalist Detained in Belarus Amid Political Crackdown

    Belarusian journalist and political commentator Ihar Ilyash has been detained, according to Vyasna human rights group.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Daily Mail publisher invests in CBD drinks and cacao ‘upcycling’ companies

    It comes as DMG Media's venture capital arm launches two new £25m funds.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Denial of early release from prison ‘unfair,’ Hong Kong man argues in first legal challenge of new security law

    The first person denied early release from jail under Hong Kong’s new security law has argued in court that the treatment was unfair as he was not properly informed about the decision by the city’s corrections authorities.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • The Strategist ☛ Romance and radicalisation: an overlooked concern for young Australian women

    Radicalisation of vulnerable women in romantic relationships is a poorly recognised threat in Australian domestic security. This issue isn’t just a passing concern; it’s a persistent one can devastate lives and communities.

  • France24 ☛ Roman Polanski lawsuit over alleged 1973 rape of minor dismissed, says lawyer

    French-Polish director Roman Polanski, who fled the US after admitting to statutory rape, reached a settlement in a civil case over a 1973 sexual assault allegation. The case, scheduled for trial in Los Angeles next August, has now been withdrawn, Polanski's US attorney confirmed Tuesday.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Chevron decision already leaving Congress, agencies puzzled

    The new ruling means that courts will now only defer to agencies when laws explicitly state the agency can make its own interpretation.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ Like the Library of Alexandria, the Internet Archive Will Burn.

    Hackers, Poor Infrastructure, & Lawsuits. One of those will bring down Archive.org.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Navigating Unexpected Results: PTAB Decision Outlines Key Requirements for Rule 132 Declarations

    by Dennis Crouch

    In a recent decision, the PTAB affirmed an examiner's obviousness rejection of claims related to an anodizing process for aluminum and magnesium alloys. Ex parte Eidschun, Appeal 2023-003437 (PTAB Oct. 16, 2024). The case offers an example of a R132 declaration from the inventors that was deemed insufficient to provide evidence of unexpected results in order to rebut obviousness arguments.  To be more precise, the declaration appears to have overcome the examiner's obviousness rejection, but the Board provided new reasoning (based on the same references) and so sustained the rejection based upon these new grounds.

  • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Split poly(A) tail mRNA patents invalid for insufficiency and obviousness

    On 8 October 2024, Mr Justice Meade handed down judgment in BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc., (together, BioNTech/Pfizer) v CureVac SE. Meade J found CureVac’s patents, relating to split poly(A) tails in mRNA, invalid for obviousness and insufficiency due to (i) lack of plausibility [...]

  • Unified Patents ☛ SLS Manager Tech router patent monopoly found invalid

    On October 18, 2024, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) entered a notice of intent to issue a reexamination certificate canceling the challenged claims 1-2, 8-13, and 16-19 of U.S. Patent 9,763,084, owned and asserted by SLS Manager Technologies LLC, an NPE and AiPi Solutions entity.

  • JUVE ☛ Court of Appeal confirms jurisdiction in Hutchinson vs Tyron Runflat

    In a recent decision, the Paris Court of Appeal asserted its jurisdiction to rule on an infringement of Hutchinson’s patent monopoly in the UK and Germany (case ID: 22/16203). The judges, led by presiding judge Véronique Renard, thus followed a judgment of the Supreme Court.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Is saisie-contrefaçon dead? Long live saisie-contrefaçon? [Ed: The UPC is totally illegal and must not even exist; this is ongoing corruption in the EU, inherited from the EPO and lobbyists]

      The king is dead! Long live the king! An expression traditionally uttered at the death of a monarch to acclaim a new king on the death of his predecessor. Could it be applied to our traditional French saisie-contrefaçon at the advent of saisie-contrefaçon before the UPC?

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ Intellectual Ventures open source/Apache patent monopoly challenge instituted [Ed: Microsoft proxy]

      On October 18, 2024, one month after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 8,407,722, owned by Intellectual Ventures I LLC, an NPE.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Must "Pop! Popcorn" Be Disclaimed in "Harry & David Pop! Popcorn" for Popcorn?

    In its application to register the mark HARRY & DAVID POP! POPCORN for popcorn, Harry and David, LLC disclaimed the word POPCORN but declined to disclaim the term POP! POPCORN, arguing that POP! does not merely describe a feature of the "applied-for" goods. The USPTO refused to register the mark because of that failure to disclaim. How do you think Harry and David's appeal came out? In re Harry and David, LLC, Serial No. 97680254 (October 17, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Catherine Dugan O'Connor).

  • Right of Publicity

    • The Straits Times ☛ S. Korean I.T. giant Kakao unveils Hey Hi (AI) service, allows texts to be voiced by K-pop idols

      The company aims to make Kanana not just a conversational Hey Hi (AI) service, but also a user’s closest friend.

• Copyrights

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Thousands of creatives join forces to combat Hey Hi (AI) data scraping

    Some of the biggest names in the creative arts have added their names to a letter addressing what for them is the growing problem of the unlicensed use of creative works for Hey Hi (AI) training.

  • Digital Music News ☛ What Major Label Infringement Battle? Hey Hi (AI) Music Startup Suno Scores Exclusive Timbaland Pre-Release Under Broader Partnership Deal

    What major label copyright monopoly infringement battle? Hey Hi (AI) music startup Suno has inked a partnership deal with Timbaland – including an exclusive pre-release of the 52-year-old’s latest single. Suno, still engaged in a high-stakes legal showdown with Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music, unveiled its far-reaching Timbaland tie-up today.

  • Digital Music News ☛ NBA Teams Fire Back Against Publishers’ Infringement Claims, Accuse Kobalt, Prescription Songs, and More of Copyright Misuse

    NBA teams including the Minnesota Timberwolves are firing back against the copyright monopoly infringement actions they’re facing from music publishers. The Timberwolves are among the more than dozen NBA teams grappling with the substantially similar suits, which were filed separately in July but, for the time being, remain unconsolidated.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Thom Yorke, Björn Ulvaeus, Max Richter, Billy Bragg Among 11,500+ Creatives Demanding ‘AI Training Guardrails’

    With multiple ongoing lawsuits against several Hey Hi (AI) companies in the United States alone, creatives are taking a stance against their works being used as training data for large language models (LLMs) and more.

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Personal/Opinions

    • On Terms and Nuance

      We occultists, priests, and spiritual folk are outright notorious for using elaborate technical terminology and other forms of jargon. To a large degree, it makes sense: we often require a sort of specialized language in order to make sense of our ritual practices and draw fine, nuanced shades of meaning. While we should all strive to make ourselves understood by each other (which is the fundamental purpose of language in general), we have to remember that jargon is always, crucially and critically, context-dependent. Without context, such words can easily be misunderstood. Besides, given the sheer number and variation in the spiritual, religious, magical, and occult contexts we get up to, some terms might mean radically different things for different people, even within the same tradition across history. It's just natural linguistic progression!

    • An empty pub

      ~ew just passed me with nothing but a grim expression on their face. No drink or snack in their hands. Entering this place myself and I quickly notice the cold air making my body shiver. There are... leftovers from someone having declared this pub their second home which have been on the floor and tables for weeks, radiating a disgusting smell that forces me to cover half of my face. One patron, unaware of the vomit, has finished a poem, whereas another... huh, that's a wolf.

      No ~bartender in sight. The bar itself appears to haven't been stocked in quite some time. A bottle of rum catches my eye and I want to take it. Guilt overcomes me and I search for the cash register to put some money in it, only to realize the part in which the money gets stored missing. I leave a note telling ~bartender to put the bottle on my tab.

    • 45th looked pretty this morning

    • Empowering Educators with Accessibility Workshops — A Personal Reflection

      I created a series of workshops this summer intended to help faculty make their courses more accessible. They were extremely effective, well beyond our expectations, so I wanted to share what made them different from our typical accessibility initiatives, and how I plan to scale them going forward.