Leftovers

• Latvia ☛ Youth photo contest winners chosen by Saeima jury

  The winners of the photo contest for young people "My Latvia. My responsibility”, run by the Latvian Saeima (parliament) have been announced.

• Hackaday ☛ Word Of The Day Calendar Is Great Use Of E-Paper

  If you’re trying to learn a new language, there are always a lot of words to learn. A word-of-the-day calendar can help, and they’re often readily available off the shelf. Or, you can grab some hardware and build your own, as [daedal-tech] did!

• Hackaday ☛ The Woodworker’s Cyberdeck

  Computers were supposed to be personal, customizable, and cool. At times, in this cold modern world, we forget that. However, the cyberdeck scene is chock full of people building creative, original computers that suit their own tastes, aesthetics, and needs. [DIY Tinkerer] is one such individual, and he made the most of his woodworking skills when it came time to build his own cyberdeck!

• Hackaday ☛ Turning A Quansheng Handheld Into A Neat Desktop Transceiver

  The Quansheng UV-K5 is a popular handheld radio. It’s useful out of the box, but also cherished for its modification potential. [OM0ET] purchased one of these capable VHF/UHF radios, but got to hacking—as he wanted to use it as a desktop radio instead!

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Why Do People Love Horror Movies? These 6 Reasons Explain The Paradox

    We ordinarily avoid fear, don't we?

  • Science Alert ☛ Greenhouse Gas Levels Hit Record Highs as Scientists Sound The Alarm

    CO2 is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mysterious Craters Appearing in Siberia Might Finally Be Explained

    We first noticed them in 2014.

  • Science Alert ☛ Watch This Mysterious Octopus Boing Across The Ocean Floor

    What is it doing?

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Exceptional': Intense Rainfall Has Transformed The Sahara Desert

    But experts are concerned.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Skeleton Is The First Person Ever Found From a Norse Saga

    The legend was true after all.

• Education

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s private tutoring firms emerge from the shadows after crackdown

    There has been no formal acknowledgement of a change in policy.

  • Chronicle Of Higher Education ☛ Sharp Decrease in Visas to Indian Students Alarms U.S. Colleges

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China tightens export controls on rare earth metals used for chipmaking — country now requires exporters to detail how they use restricted materials

    China imposes new rules for exporters of rare earth metals, consolidating its dominance in the market.

  • New York Times ☛ China Tightens Its Hold on Minerals Needed to Make Computer Chips

    Already the dominant producer of rare minerals, Beijing is using export restrictions and its power over state-owned companies to further control access.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Latvia ☛ Hospital head says hospitals should bypass medicine wholesalers

    It is time to allow hospitals to buy medicines bypassing wholesalers, Normunds Stanevičs, Chairman of the Board of Riga East Clinical University Hospital (RAKUS), said on the Latvian Radio program "Good Morning" on October 28.

  • Science Alert ☛ Brain Scans Show Neuron Structures Look Different in Kids With Autism

    A distinct pattern has been revealed.

  • Science Alert ☛ Amazing 30-Year Experiment Shows Evolution Unfolding in Slow Motion

    Darwin would've been proud.

  • Science Alert ☛ McDonald's Contamination Outbreak Spreads to 13 States as Cases Mount

    Investigators have yet to confirm the toxic ingredient.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Seoul aims to halve current suicide rate by 2030

    It looks to shift its current suicide prevention policy to addressing the broader public.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong concern group slams scholar for ‘stigmatising’ student suicide

    A Hong Kong scholar has apologised for his remarks on student suicide, after a concern group said describing the act as “doing something stupid” laid blame on the students and stigmatised mental health issues.

  • University of Michigan ☛ The real cost of an apple: Cheap food comes at a price

    In Ann Arbor, an apple at a local supermarket costs, on average, less than a dollar. At Kroger, you can purchase a standard Gala apple for just 70 cents — 90 cents if you choose to go organic. We have come to view food, like apples, merely as commodities with a price tag. 

• Games

  • [Old] Daniel Holden ☛ DeltaTime is a frame behind

    Here is something I didn't realize until embarrassingly long into my gamedev career: when programming animation, physics or gameplay systems, the DeltaTime that gets passed through the game engine is a frame behind the actual DeltaTime we should be using.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Gaming firms look for love from recast Creative Economy Ministry

    In Indonesia, app and game development is expected to see annual revenue growth of 13.3 per cent incoming years.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Lenovo Legion Go now down to just $499 — 8.8-inch behemoth undercuts Asus ROG Ally X and Valve Steam Deck OLED

    Lenovo Legion Go is now seen for as low as $499.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • JURIST ☛ Philadelphia district attorney sues Elon Musk for PAC money giveaways for illegal lottery

      Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed a civil lawsuit against Elon Musk and America PAC on Monday. The lawsuit alleges that the petition, with an offer to pay Pennsylvania registered voters, amounts to illegal lottery. In the complaint, Krasner argues that this petition violates the State Lottery Law by organizing an unauthorized lottery.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Michael Geist ☛ The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 217: David Fraser on the Privacy Implications of the Federal Court of Appeal’s Facebook (Farcebook) Ruling

      It has been many years since the Facebook (Farcebook) and Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal captured headlines. The services at the heart of the case no longer exist, but the legal case in Canada continues to march on. Last month, the Federal Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision that had largely sided with Facebook. In its place, it released a new decision that includes and analysis of reasonableness under the Canadian privacy law and engages with the notion of a potential trust but verify standard in some cases when data is transferred to third parties.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese hackers target US presidential candidate Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance

    Chinese hackers have targeted phones used by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, US media reported Friday. The New York Times, quoting people familiar with the matter, said the hacking attempt appeared to be part of a wide-ranging intelligence collection effort by Chinese hackers.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Beijing stabbing wounds five in rare knife assault, Chinese police say

    A knife attack in China's capital Beijing wounded five people including three minors on Monday, state television CCTV reported, citing local police.

  • New York Times ☛ Bullied by China at Sea, With the Broken Bones to Prove It

    A violent attack on a Vietnamese fishing boat tests Hanoi’s muted but resolute approach to China’s aggression in the South China Sea.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Israeli strikes inside Iran cross a threshold. How will Iran respond?

    In over a year of conflict between Israel and Iran’s militia allies, a key brake on a regional war has been each side’s fear of what the other could do. Does Israel’s latest strike mean that brake is failing?

  • New York Times ☛ Under Trump or Harris, U.S. Asylum Curbs Are Likely to Endure

    As administrations of both parties have failed to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, a reckoning for the asylum system, which some say is overdue, seems inevitable.

  • France24 ☛ Israel approves two bills that could halt UNRWA's aid delivery to Gaza

    Israel's parliament has passed two laws that could prevent the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, a main provider of aid to Gaza, from being able to continue its work. The laws ban the agency, UNRWA, from operating in Israel, designate it a terror organization, and cut all ties between the agency and the Israeli government.

  • France24 ☛ Sudan: Rapid support forces attack in sudanese state of Al-Jazira

    The UN Security Council met in New York on Monday to discuss the violence in Sudan. Civilians are increasingly affected. This is particularly the case since last Friday in the state of Al-Jazira, until now relatively spared from the killings of civilians.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippines confident in US security policy continuity regardless of election

    Philippine-US ties would remain strong regardless of the US election's outcome, said Teodoro.

  • Bruce Schneier ☛ Criminals Are Blowing up ATMs in Germany

    It’s low tech, but effective.

    Why Germany? It has more ATMs than other European countries, and—if I read the article right—they have more money in them.

  • [Repeat] The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian pharmacist found dead in Melbourne; homeless man charged with murder

    The suspect is believed to suffer from schizophrenia.

  • The Strategist ☛ Mitigating Australia’s cloud-computing risks is still work in progress

    The appeal of clown computing is undeniable.

  • JURIST ☛ UNICEF official calls for attention towards humanitarian crisis in Sudan amid civil war

    Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF Ted Chaiban on Friday called for more international attention directed towards the “forgotten crisis” in Sudan amid the country’s civil war. In a joint statement along with UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Raouf Mazou, Chaiban noted the huge amount of displacement and damage caused by the war...

  • New York Times ☛ Israeli Forces Withdraw From Northern Gaza Hospital After 3-Day Raid

    The Gaza health ministry said the staff of the facility, Kamal Adwan Hospital, had been expelled or detained and urged people in Gaza with surgical skills to go there to save those patients they could.

  • New York Times ☛ Gérard Depardieu’s Sexual Assault Trial Is Postponed Until March

    The French movie star’s lawyer said poor health kept his client from court on Monday.

  • France24 ☛ Sexual assault trial of French film star Depardieu opens in his absence

    French actor Gérard Depardieu said on Monday that he would not be appearing before a criminal court in Paris due to health reasons. Depardieu is facing charges of sexual assault that allegedly occurred during a 2021 film shoot. The names of the two women accusing him have not been made public.

  • France24 ☛ 'Altar of great art': French cinema granted film veterans 'transcendent permission to be above law'

    The trial of French actor Gerard Depardieu on sexual assault charges has opened in the absence of the celebrity who had declared himself to be ill. His lawyer had said earlier that Depardieu was "extremely affected" by ill health, and that he had asked for proceedings to be delayed until he could attend in person. As the trial thrusts the entire film industry into the spotlight, known to be a hotbed for widespread sexual assault over many decades, FRANCE 24's Annette Young is joined by Dr Mary Harrod, Professor of French and Screen Studies at the University of Warwick.

  • CS Monitor ☛ How Trump’s abortion policies could be felt around the world

    Health practitioners in developing countries fear a reelected Donald Trump would cut U.S. funds, whatever their purpose, to any group promoting abortion.

  • RFERL ☛ U.S. Warns Iran Of 'Severe Consequences' For Any New Attacks

    The United States warned Iran at the UN Security Council on October 28 of "severe consequences" if it undertakes any further aggressive acts against Israel or U.S. personnel in the Middle East.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong activist Chow Hang-tung barred from calling on overseas witnesses in national security case

    A Hong Kong court has barred activist Chow Hang-tung from calling on overseas witnesses to testify virtually in her national security trial.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Georgia's crucial vote was marred by intimidation, European monitors say

      European observers said Sunday that Georgia's election took place in a "climate of hatred and intimidation” with multiple election violations and cases of violence, undermining the outcome of the vote that could decide the country's future in Europe. further analysis with FRANCE 24's Andrew Hilliar.

    • LRT ☛ First North Korean troops killed in Russia, says Lithuanian source

      The first clashes between Ukrainian forces and North Korean troops took place in the Kyiv-controlled Kursk region in Russia on October 25, according to sources available to Jonas Ohman, head of the prominent Lithuanian Blue/Yellow NGO.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy In Iceland For Talks On 'Victory Plan' To End War In Ukraine

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Iceland to attend a summit with leaders of the Nordic countries.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea's Yoon says North Korean troops' Ukraine war deployment may come sooner than expected

      Yoon says South Korea hopes to seek "practical countermeasures" with the EU and member states.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean delegation to brief Nato on North Korean troops for Russia

      Ukrainian military intelligence said on Oct 24 that 12,000 North Korean troops were in Russia.

    • Defence Web ☛ Ramaphosa explains Putin “friendship”

      Elaborating on South Africa’s foreign policy at the weekend, President Cyril Ramaphosa made it clear he was not projecting “any particular country or bloc of countries as the enemy” when he declared Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin and his countrymen “valuable friends and allies”.

    • France24 ☛ Back to Russia's orbit? Georgia's EU bid on hold amid claims of 'stolen' elections

      Could the nation that back in 2008 fought a war against Vladimir Putin be giving up on its EU dream?

      Packed crowds outside Georgia’s parliament to protest what the pro-Western president calls a stolen election. We will scrutinize Saturday’s vote which gave another outright majority to the Georgia Dream party of billionaire former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

    • France24 ☛ NATO chief Rutte confirms North Korean troops deployed to Russia

      NATO chief Mark Rutte on Monday confirmed the presence of North Korean troops in Russia, calling their deployment a "threat to security" and a "significant escalation" of the war in Ukraine. Rutte hinted the troops may be a sign of the "growing desperation" of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who did not deny the arrival of the troops in Russia.

    • RFERL ☛ NATO Confirms North Korean Troops In Russia, Says It Shows Putin's 'Desperation'

      NATO chief Mark Rutte confirms that North Korean troops are in the Russian region of Kursk, calling it a "significant escalation" of the war in Ukraine.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian basketball player Timma agrees to play in Russia

      Latvian basketball player Jānis Timma confirmed October 28 he intends to play at a tournament in Russia despite that country's invasion of Ukraine, reported the LETA newswire.

    • Latvia ☛ Should Ukrainian children be required to attend Latvian schools?

      Latvia's kindergartens and schools currently accommodate 3,829 children who have arrived from Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale plague war. Latvia does not have data on how many Ukrainian children are out of school and why. According to the Latvian Television's De Facto, the biggest difficulties for the children are learning in Latvian.

    • Stanford University ☛ Former ambassador: Russia has the momentum but may not win in Ukraine

      Former ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer expressed concern that a Trump presidency would end American assistance to Ukraine.

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Suspected Russian hacking, influence operations take aim at Ukrainian military recruiting

      Google’s Threat Analysis Group and Mandiant said one group is behind the hybrid campaign that takes aim at both recruits and broader recruiting efforts.

    • France24 ☛ North Korean troops deployed to eastern Russia for training, US says

      North Korea has reportedly sent 10,000 troops to Russia for training, tripling prior estimates. NATO and the EU warned of an escalating Ukraine conflict, with President Volodymyr Zelensky speculating Pyongyang may soon deploy 12,000 soldiers. Joe Biden condemned the move as "very dangerous."

    • France24 ☛ Bidzina Ivanishvili - the shadowy billionaire behind Georgia’s ruling party

      Who is the shadowy billionaire, Bidzina Ivanishvili, behind the ruling Georgian Dream party - which claimed victory in Saturday's contested election? Emerald Maxwell takes a look at Georgia's richest man and one-time pro-Western Prime Minister, whose party has drifted towards Russia since the war in Ukraine, while becoming increasingly authoritarian.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Braces for Russian Assault in Kursk Using North Korean Troops

      Several thousand North Korean soldiers have arrived in Russia’s western Kursk region, where they are expected to support Moscow’s efforts to dislodge invading Ukrainian forces.

    • New York Times ☛ Rally Backlash Puts Trump on the Defensive

      Also, North Korean troops were deployed to help Russian forces. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.

    • New York Times ☛ As Russian Forces Turn to Glide Bombs, Ukrainian Civilians Fear a New Threat From the Skies

      Cities in eastern and southern Ukraine are increasingly being hit by Russian glide bombs, converted gravity bombs that can be guided to targets, often landing without detection, residents and officials say.

    • Meduza ☛ Photos show Russian troops with Western military equipment, captured in Ukraine — Meduza

    • Atlantic Council ☛ How the US can counter Russian and Chinese nuclear threats in space

      As China and Russia bolster their counterspace capabilities, the United States must modernize its space-based nuclear command.

    • France24 ☛ Georgia declared result 'would have been impossible without blatant vote-rigging': analyst

      Tens of thousands of Georgians massed outside parliament Monday night, demanding the annulment of the weekend parliamentary election that the president has alleged was rigged with the help of Russia. FRANCE 24's Mark Owen speaks to Tinatin Japaridze, Eurasian Political Risk Analyst at Eurasia Group. She says that the declared result would have been impossible without manipulation and blatant vote-rigging.

    • JURIST ☛ Georgia opposition and international observers challenge parliament election as ‘illegitimate’

      Georgia President Salome Zurabishvili and opposition parties questioned the results of the country’s parliamentary election on Saturday. The election declared the pro-Russia ruling party Georgia Dream (GD) as the winner with opponents labelling the election illegitimate amid criticism from international observers that alleges violence, voter intimidation, breach of vote secrecy and obstruction of vote observers.

    • JURIST ☛ EU Commission President denounces Russia misinformation against democracies

      European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen denounced Russia’s alleged hybrid cyberattacks attacks against European democracies on Saturday, stating that the EU is constantly fighting misinformation. The statement comes a week after von der Leyen accused Russia of interfering with Moldova’s narrowly approved vote on joining the EU.

    • LRT ☛ NATO must respond ‘not just with statements’ to North Koreans in Kursk – Lithuanian rep

      NATO must respond with concrete actions to the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, says Deividas Matulionis, permanent representative of Lithuania to NATO.

    • RFERL ☛ 'They Stole Your Vote,' Georgian President Says, As Tens Of Thousands Rally To Protest Elections

      Tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets on October 28 after President Salome Zurabishvili accused the country’s ruling party of employing Russian-style tactics in parliamentary elections whose official results she refuses to recognize.

    • RFERL ☛ Bulgaria's GERB Poised To Win Vote, But Tricky Coalition Talks Ahead

      Partial official results show that Bulgaria's center-right GERB party is poised to win the country’s parliamentary elections, but without enough support to break a prolonged political stalemate.

    • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s foreign minister leaves for Russia amid troop dispatch

      A delegation led by Ms Choe Son Hui left on Oct 28 for an official visit to Russia.

    • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea blames South’s military for drone intrusion

      Pyongyang said it was an infringement upon its sovereignty.

    • European Commission ☛ Read out of the phone call between President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol

      European Commission Read-out Brussels, 28 Oct 2024 President von der Leyen just spoke with President Yoon on the phone.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Press Gazette ☛ Secrecy around UK gun police threatens open justice say editors and reporters

    The Society of Editors and Crime Reporters Association sought assurances the plan will not set a new precedent.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s veggie farmers ready for monsoon

    Farmers have taken steps to safeguard their crops and maintain a steady supply of fresh produce for consumers.

  • DeSmog ☛ Mapped: How Big Ag, Pharma, Pesticides and Other Industries Hope to Sway the UN Biodiversity Talks

  • DeSmog ☛ The Friendly New Face of Dark Money: How Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard helped wealthy donors pour $171 million of dark money into Project 2025

  • Energy/Transportation

    • JURIST ☛ Guadeloupe government extends curfew following strike at power plant

      The government of the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe extended a territory-wide curfew on Saturday which applied from 7PM until 6AM Sunday for public safety reasons after a strike by workers at the EDF-PEI power plant shut down the island’s electricity supply on Friday.

    • [Repeat] France24 ☛ Authorities extend curfew in French Guadeloupe after a strike prompted a blackout

      The government of the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe ordered a curfew on Saturday, a day after a strike by workers left 370,000 people in darkness for nearly 24 hours. Story by France 2 and Siobhán Silke.

    • DeSmog ☛ Norway’s Equinor Admits It “Over-Reported” Amount of Carbon Captured At Flagship Project for Years

    • DeSmog ☛ Fracking Pioneer Gwyn Morgan Gave $530K to Anti-Climate Website ‘True North’

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ China looks to spur births, aid families in fight on shrinking population [Ed: Overpopulation needs to be tackled, not worsened]

      BEIJING - China outlined steps on Monday to improve family planning and parenting measures in an effort to boost the number of births, a statement from the state council, or cabinet, showed, after two consecutive years of a shrinking population.

• Finance

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Drop in China orders sees Dutch medical device maker Philips lower sales outlook

    Dutch medical device maker Philips lowered Monday its full year sales target, blaming drop in demand from Chinese hospitals as it released third quarter results. Markets reacted negatively to the announcement with Philips’s share price dropping by more than 11 percent in morning trading on the Amsterdam stock exchange’s blue-chip AEX index.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ The Rebellious Scientist Who Made Kamala Harris

    The presidential candidate’s mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, was a breast cancer researcher whose egalitarian politics often bucked a patriarchal lab culture.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japanese government in flux after voter anger leads to major defeat for Ishiba’s LDP

    The LDP-Komeito coalition fell short of the 233 seats needed for a Lower House majority

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s NS 3.0: Parents and potential trainees fret over safety, academics and bullying

    One interviewee expressed her fear of being drafted, due to past reports of bullying and fatalities.

  • New York Times ☛ Missing From the 2024 Presidential Election: Feminist Media

    The robust feminist blogosphere of 2016 is all but gone. Some of the creators are missing its perspective.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Videos Reveal Trump Adviser’s “Shadow” Plan for Second Administration

    A key ally to former President Donald Trump detailed plans to deploy the military in response to domestic unrest, defund the Environmental Protection Agency and put career civil servants “in trauma” in a series of previously unreported speeches that provide a sweeping vision for a second Trump term.

    In private speeches delivered in 2023 and 2024, Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, described his work crafting legal justifications so that military leaders or government lawyers would not stop Trump’s executive actions.

  • Stanford University ☛ ‘Civil War’ warns us against defying democracy

    The 2024 movie follows a group of photojournalists traveling through a war-torn U.S. to interview the president.

  • Unicorn Media ☛ Supply Chain Focused Startup, Stacklok, Donates Minder Platform to OpenSSF [Ed: OpenSSF does not pursue real security, it lobbies or fronts for GAFAM]

    StackloK's founders say that security software designed to help with open source issues should also be open source.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ CISA sees elimination of ‘bad practices’ as next secure-by-design step

    Officials at the cyber agency are doubling down on shifting the security onus to software makers.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • The Straits Times ☛ 4 students in S. Korea arrested for making, having deepfake porn content of classmates

      More than 1,700 digital sex offences in South Korean schools have been reported since 2021.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean adoptee sisters meet for the first time in 39 years

    The sisters were adopted as infants and discovered each other through a MyHeritage DNA test.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Rescued cows inspire S. Korean village’s vegan move to draw younger residents

    The project has received government funding and has seen an increase in visitor numbers.

  • Federal News Network ☛ How to keep employees with disabilities from leaving your agency

    "To have a good program for accommodating persons with disabilities, you need leadership buy in," said Karren Brummond.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s Incheon Airport scraps celebrity security lanes amid favouritism dispute

    This came after backlash from lawmakers and members of the public.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Science Alert ☛ There Are 3 Different Kinds of Wikipedia User. Which Are You?

    Time for a Wikipedia deep dive...

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Bryan Lunduke ☛ No, Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Did Not Fire Employees for Holding "Vigil for Palestinians"

  Microsoft fired 2 Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Microsoft trap Azure employees who boycotted Abusive Monopolist Microsoft -- and organized anti-Microsoft protests (while being wildly antisemitic).

• The Straits Times ☛ iPhone 16 allowed into Indonesia for personal use, not to be sold, says govt

  The phones cannot be sold in Indonesia as Fashion Company Apple has not met the country's local investment targets.

• Silicon Angle ☛ Apple releases first batch of Fashion Company Apple Intelligence features, debuts new iMac

  Apple Inc. today made more than a half-dozen Fashion Company Apple Intelligence features generally available on recent iPhones, iPads and Macs. The company also debuted a refreshed version of its iMac desktop, which combines a computer with a monitor.

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for Querytron Heggem search patent monopoly prior art

    Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 8,849,707, asserted by Querytron Heggem LLC, an NPE and entity of Eric Zautner.

  • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Patent case: Pharmathen Global B.V. vs. Novartis AG, Netherlands

    After Novartis had obtained a preliminary injunction against Pharmathen, it observed that there were still infringing acts being performed. In the first instance, the provisions judge sided with Novartis and ordered that Pharmathen had to pay EUR 7,500,000 as a penalty.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Text vs Precedent: Celanese and the Secret Process On-Sale Bar

    In a pending petition for certiorari, the Maltese company Celanese Int'l is poised to ask the Supreme Court to resolve an important question about the scope of the AIA's on-sale bar: whether sales of products made using a secret process can bar later patent monopoly protection for that process. The issue arises from a Federal Circuit decision upholding the ITC's invalidation of Celanese's patents covering methods for manufacturing the artificial sweetener Ace-K. Celanese Int'l Corp. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n, 67 F.4th 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2024).  The court recently granted Celanese with an extension of time to file its formal petition for writ of certiorari, due December 10, 2024.  As is typical, the petitioner used its request for extension as a first opportunity to highlight the importance of the case and preview its primary arguments.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Trade Secrets vs. Patents: Pioneer’s Plant Patent Strategy Raises Thorny Issues (Corny Issues?)

    The ongoing dispute between Inari Agriculture and Pioneer Hi-Bred over utility plant patents has taken its next step, with Inari seeking Director Review of the PTAB's denial of institution in PGR2024-00020 -- arguing that a patentee's reliance on its own trade secret information when developing its invention (here a maize variety) is directly relevant to the question of obviousness. The case raises interesting and fundamental questions about the intersection of trade secrets and patent monopoly law in the context of plant breeding. Inari Agriculture, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., PGR2024-00020, Paper 19 (P.T.A.B. Oct. 24, 2024).

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ “Germany’s patent monopoly market is converging” [Ed: UPC is illegal, but this site got paid to promote this illegality]

      Many law firms in Germany are currently transitioning between falling national case numbers and rising cases at the UPC. Our latest JUVE Patent ranking Germany 2024 shows law firms with very different set-ups, such as Maikowski & Ninnemann, Bardehle Pagenberg and Taylor Wessing, are particularly affected by this shift.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Finds Energy Drinks Related to Nutritional Supplements and Pickles

    Beverage behemoth PepsiCo knocked the stuffing out of Defendant Rockstar Industries in this consolidated opposition and cancellation proceeding. The Board granted PepsiCo's petitions for cancellation of three registrations for the mark ROCKSTAR for nutritional supplements and related products, and sustained an opposition to two applications for snack items and pickles, finding confusion likely with PepsiCo's identical mark for energy drinks. This blog post will attempt to hit the "highlights." PepsiCo, Inc. v. Rockstar Industries LLC, Opposition No. 91247241 and Cancellations Nos. 92075918 and 92076204 (October 25, 2024) [not precedential].

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ ‘Pink Pony Club’ vs. Generic LoFi Beats: Activaire’s Co-Founder Explains Why the Right In-Store Music Transforms the Customer Experience

    If you’re not obsessively thinking about the music inside your store, Activaire is. The behind-the-scenes science is impressive – as told by Adesh Deosaran, CEO and Co-Founder of Activaire. The following comes from Activaire, a company DMN is partnered with.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Keir Starmer: Hey Hi (AI) companies should pay publishers for content

    Starmer also claimed the government will take action over SLAPP lawsuits designed to intimidate journalists.