GNU/Linux

• Beta News ☛ Waiting for Microsoft Windows 12 is a mistake when you can upgrade to Linux today [Ed: Borderline SEO junk to shove "Windows 12" into circulation?]

  The tech world is full of rumors about Windows 12, the supposed savior of Microsoft’s operating system lineup. The company has been tight-lipped about details, but leaks suggest it’s aiming to be a more cloud-focused, AI-driven operating system. That all sounds fancy, but here’s the truth -- waiting for Windows 12 might not be the smart play. If you’re tired of the bloat, the constant updates, and the never-ending resource demands, there’s an alternative you can embrace today: Linux.

Leftovers

• CBC ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Is letter-writing a lost art? As the practice plummets, some say we're losing more than mail

• Unmitigated Risk ☛ Technology bias—we all have it—but it often gets in the way.

  An old saying goes, “When you’re a plumber, you fix everything with a wrench.” It highlights a truth: we naturally gravitate toward the tools, people, and methods we know and trust most. This tendency stems from cognitive biases like anchoring—our reliance on initial information—and confirmation bias, which pushes us to favor ideas that align with our existing beliefs. While these biases help us make quick decisions, they can also blind us to better alternatives.

• Ruben Schade ☛ The rule of least client-side complexity

  I read this section on Alex Russell’s recent post on web “frameworkism”, and thought it was brilliant: [...]

• Terence Eden ☛ Long term technologies, waiting in the background

  Amateur radio is one of those things I'm only vaguely aware of. It chugs along in the background unnoticed. It doesn't follow the fashion of today's industry, nor does it chase growth at all costs. It is an open standard, run by a decentralised group of people rather than a corporation, and it favours relentless practicality rather than KPIs.

  I love technologies like this.

• Manuel Moreale ☛ Personal philosophy

  Last week, Carl and Kevin both published posts related to their life philosophy. Both are excellent and you should read both if you’re interested in this type of content. Carl has also told me I should write a similar post myself and so here we are.

• Science

  • The Revelator ☛ Advice for U.S. Government Scientists: Lessons Learned From the ‘Muzzling’ of Their Canadian Counterparts

  • Racket ☛ Category Theory in Programming

    Category theory, a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract structures and relationships, may seem esoteric at first glance. However, its principles are deeply intertwined with the concepts and patterns we encounter in programming. Through this tutorial, we aim to bridge the gap between these two worlds, offering a unique perspective that enriches the programmer’s toolkit with new ways of thinking, problem-solving, and system design.

• Career/Education

  • Facundo Olano ☛ A Pixel Parable | olano.dev

    So he shows up to the convention on Friday. Someone notices his work—his pencil landscapes that look hand-painted—, they invite him to join in the art show, he does, two days later he wins first place. That’s his first lucky break. The second is this guy, Gary, coming over to him, praising his work, asking him to ‘audition’ for a video game job.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ Why California schools are struggling to enforce the cell phone ban

    Educators agree that schools should limit cellphones but disagree on how.

  • Doc Searls ☛ How communities without one can build a local library

    World Librarians is a socio-technical system for solving the information access problem in remote offline schools and libraries. In this salon, Charlie, Theresa and Mia will describe a system, developed over the last eight years, for establishing solar-powered computer labs in remote schools and libraries in Malawi. It’s a model that can be replicated easily for other offline rural locations across the globe.

  • Hazel Weakly ☛ You Have One Voice | Hazel Weakly

    That article had quite the impact on me, to say the least. Not necessarily because of its main point, but because of two larger hidden points behind it.

    The first point. Tech is not a vacuum, nor is it apolitical; regardless of how objective we might want to make an analysis of technology, the people who build it and use it and think about it remain. Those people are going to find part of their identity in the tech that they use, and that is a feature of humanity, not a bug. We should lean into that! It’s awesome! But it also means that when we belittle and attack technology, we are inevitably attacking groups of identities that choose to associate with that technology.

    The second point. When we declare the legitimacy of something, as a society, we often do so at the expense of another thing. Likewise, when we declare the illegitimacy of something, as a society, we often do so in order to belittle or ostracize or otherwise hurt a particular group associated with it. Whether intentional or not, that is a profound and inescapable result. It doesn’t “have” to be that way; there’s definitely ways to say “this tech is legitimate” without criticizing another tech choice, but be real, how many times have you actually seen that happen? Yeah, I thought so. So, as a person in technology that people look up to, I have a choice: I can spend my energy putting groups of people down, or I can spend my energy lifting them up.

• Hardware

  • The Register UK ☛ Apple's design error and the reversed capacitor

    The problem looks to be with whoever came up with the design. The mounting of the capacitor – C22 – matches the markings on the PCB. However, rather than a positive voltage, the positive marked terminal is connected to -5V from the power connector, meaning that a negative voltage is across the capacitor.

    That's bad, but not necessarily catastrophic. The capacitor is rated for 16V, and while pushing -5V across it will damage the component, it's unlikely to cause the dreaded puff of magical white smoke. In addition, according to Brown, "it is only involved with the -5V rail, which is only needed for the RS-422 serial ports. The capacitor might not have been doing its job properly if it was installed backward, but it didn't seem to really be hurting anything."

  • Silicon Angle ☛ AI chip startup Tenstorrent raises $693M, deepening rivalry with Nvidia

    Artificial intelligence chip making startup Tenstorrent with ambitions of taking on Nvidia Corp. today announced it closed over $693 million in late-stage funding at a pre-money valuation of $2 billion.

  • Herman Õunapuu ☛ What I've learned running Linux and Windows off of USB flash drives

    I’ve always liked the idea of USB sticks. They’re small and the good ones are actually surprisingly fast, especially compared to hard drives. This is why I started installing operating systems on them. It’s really handy to have a USB stick around with a full operating system on it for testing purposes, and I’m too cheap to buy an IODD device.1

    What I’ve learned is that Linux installed on a USB stick is a much nicer experience compared to a Windows To Go installation, even on the cheaper and crappier ones.

  • [Old] OnlyKey ☛ Securing the Future: Comparing YubiKey and OnlyKey in the Evolving Multifactor Authentication Landscape

    The philosophy behind not allowing firmware updates on devices like YubiKeys stems from a security concern: that updating could potentially be compromised. However, this stance inadvertently creates a different security flaw. By not allowing updates, manufacturers are essentially leaving users with devices that, once compromised in design or implementation, can never be fully secured against known vulnerabilities. All security-critical devices require the ability to adapt and address emerging threats.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Hill ☛ Seaweed pellets reduce methane emissions from grazing cattle: Study

    The seaweed pellets led to this plunge in emissions without affecting the health or weight of the cows, according to the study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

  • Task And Purpose ☛ Navy sailors who ace fitness test can skip body fat "tape test"

    The Navy will allow sailors who score high on their annual fitness test but might be carrying a few extra pounds to forgo extra physical training requirements as the services change their understanding of what being “fit” actually looks like.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ Opinion: Why we're so obsessed with clearing out our stuff

    The idea of döstädning (and the fact that my aunt clearly didn’t get around to it) made me think about all the stuff I’ve collected over the years. When I moved from New York to Los Angeles more than 20 years ago, I couldn’t afford to ship most of my books, so I sent only the most precious, signed editions I had. I also sent the journals I’d written in for years, stuffed with the small details of my life in New York City. What I wore on a first date. A promotion. An unrequited crush. I was moving to Los Angeles for love, but I couldn’t part with these chronicles of all my previous relationships.

  • Griffith University ☛ Simple secret to a longer life

    Physical activity has long been known to be good for health, however estimates have varied regarding how much benefit could be gained from a defined amount of activity, both for individuals and for populations.

    This latest study used US-based accelerometry data to gain an accurate view of a population’s physical activity levels instead of relying on survey responses as per other studies, and found the benefits were around twice as strong as previous estimates.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] Can a global treaty clean up the plastics mess?

  • CBC ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] Rising threat of nitazenes joins fentanyl in Canada's toxic drug supply

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-24 [Older] Asia's chronic air pollution has chronic health costs

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Laos: Government mourns death of six tourists in methanol poisoning incident

  • CBC ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Manitoba detects 1st confirmed case of recently identified mpox strain in Canada

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Germany begins major reform of its hospital sector

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Fat cell memories: Why it's hard to maintain healthy weight

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Asia: How smog, air pollution cause long-term health issues

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • CBC ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Why family doctors across Canada are turning to AI scribes, and what it means for patients [Ed: Those are not "AI"; that's cheating with spam that kills people ]

  • The Korea Times ☛ Deepfake crisis at South Korean schools: Crimes stoke distrust, fear

    This article is the first in a three-part series on deepfake sex crimes at schools. The crimes, involving the manipulation of photos and videos to create explicit content, cause distrust and strain relationships between students, and sometimes between pupils and teachers. The series has been produced in collaboration with Excellence Lab, a team dedicated to investigative journalism at The Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times. All the names of people involved in the actual deepfake cases in the article are aliases. — ED.

  • The Korea Times ☛ South Korea adds Telegram to list of partners in combating illicit content

    Korea's media regulator said Monday it has put Telegram on the list of foreign platform partners it is cooperating with to block the distribution of illicit content online.

    The list now consists of 12 platforms, including Google, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, according to the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC).

  • Techdirt ☛ Professor Apologizes For Using Fake AI-Generated Citations In Defense of Minnesota’s Unconstitutional Deepfake Law

    But, I was even more shocked a couple weeks ago when Eugene Volokh noted that it appeared that Hancock’s declaration included “hallucinated” non-existent citations to two pieces of research. There is, of course, some amount of irony in a declaration about misinformation and AI to include… misinformation generated by AI.

    I had emailed Hancock asking for a comment, which he promised was coming soon. Last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, he filed a new declaration in support of amending the original declaration, with an explanation of what happened. His explanation is understandable, though I would argue not acceptable.

    This wasn’t a case like the infamous lawyer who used ChatGPT and had no idea what he was doing. According to Hancock, the likely mistake had to do with his workflow, which did involve a combination of direct writing in Word, but also using both Google Scholar and GPT-4o to augment both his research and writing.

  • Futurism ☛ It Sounds an Awful Lot Like OpenAI Is Adding Ads to ChatGPT

    If it did start to put ads into ChatGPT, the formerly nonprofit OpenAI would be crossing a Rubicon of sleaziness; the obvious integration would be to jump on users asking things like "best air fryer" and then pointing them toward companies paying OpenAI for publicity, undermining the entire premise of an intelligent and objective AI-powered assistant.

  • The Register UK ☛ OpenAI denies it is building ad biz model into its platform

    OpenAI has ruled out running adverts on its platforms, for now at least, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has told The Register.

    While distasteful for users accustomed to the lofty ideals espoused by OpenAI during its early years, the move would make sense, considering reports the AI developer is trying to restructure as a for-profit entity.

  • The Register UK ☛ Bluesky facing fakers, harmful content as growth skyrockets

    It's undoubtedly a good time to be upstart social media network Bluesky given its rapid growth in the wake of the US presidential election, but questions of moderation and compliance matters are growing along with the influx of humans seeking bluer pastures.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ What the departing White House chief tech advisor has to say on AI

    However, complicating that narrative will be Elon Musk, who for years has expressed fears about doomsday AI scenarios, and has been supportive of some regulations aiming to promote AI safety.

    As she prepares for the end of the administration, I sat down with Prabhakar and asked her to reflect on President Biden’s AI accomplishments, and how AI risks, immigration policies, the CHIPS Act and more could change under Trump.

  • Wired ☛ The Pressure Is on for Big Tech to Regulate the Broken Digital Advertising Industry

    Currently, if a brand wants to advertise a product, Google facilitates the ad placement based on desired ad reach and metrics. It may technically follow through on the agreement by delivering views and clicks, but does not provide transparent data about how and where the ad views came from. It is possible that the ad was shown on unsavory websites diametrically opposed to the brand’s values. For example, in 2024, Google was found to be profiting by placing product ads on websites that promoted hardcore pornography, disinformation, and even hate speech, against the brands’ wishes.

  • Wired ☛ Malicious Ads in Search Results Are Driving New Generations of Scams

    Instances of malvertising in the US were up 42 percent month-over-month in fall 2023 and increased another 41 percent from July to September of this year, according to data from the security firm Malwarebytes. The company says that scammers typically cycle through the advertising accounts used for malvertising quickly, and 77 percent of the accounts are only used once. The bulk of the activity, though, traces back to South Asia and Southeast Asia, Malwarebytes says, with 90 percent of the ad fraud coming from Pakistan and Vietnam, according to the researchers' telemetry. But as with many components of the digital crime ecosystem, malvertising is often offered as a service where cybercriminals from around the world can purchase ads that distribute their malware or lead potential victims to a malicious website of their choosing.

  • Ars Technica ☛ Certain names make ChatGPT grind to a halt, and we know why - Ars Technica

    OpenAI's ChatGPT is more than just an AI language model with a fancy interface. It's a system consisting of a stack of AI models and content filters that make sure its outputs don't embarrass OpenAI or get the company into legal trouble when its bot occasionally makes up potentially harmful facts [sic] about people.

  • Seth Godin ☛ Speed, creativity and AI

    Just as email isn’t as humane or thoughtful or memorable as a hand-written letter, these faster alternatives aren’t better… they’re simply different. And, as the market often does, it prizes convenience and speed.

  • The Telegraph UK ☛ 'Five minutes to pay' parking rule leaves woman facing £1,906 bill

    She said poor signal on her mobile phone meant she had to use Wi-Fi at her place of work to purchase tickets on an app, paying £3.30 each day starting in February 2023.

    But she has since been sent 10 penalty charge notices (PCNs) worth £100 each for not paying for parking within five minutes.

    Excel Parking, which runs the Copeland Street car park, is demanding Miss Hudson pay £1,905.76 to clear nine outstanding PCNs, which includes a £70 “debt recovery” charge for each one, eight per cent annual interest and £195 in court costs.

  • Sean Conner ☛ Still more email for Sean Conner, and a disturbing warning from Gmail

    Gee, thanks Gmail. How long until you start outright rejecting email to or from anyone not using Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo or Gmail? Or am I just too cynical?

  • The Register UK ☛ Claims of 'open' AIs are often open lies, research argues

    Rhetoric around "open" AI concentrates power in the AI sector rather than making it more open to competition and scrutiny, according to a research paper published in Nature.

    The research sets out how the often-promoted concept of "open" AI can mislead the public and policy-makers, leading to a false sense of security.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Techdirt ☛ Christian Nationalists And Bigots Stump For Ken Paxton In SCOTUS Age Verification Case

      Scores of organizations from across the anti-pornography movement have filed amicus briefs supporting the state of Texas and Attorney General Ken Paxton in a U.S. Supreme Court case dealing with his state’s draconian age verification law. In 2023, members of the Texas legislature adopted House Bill (HB) 1181, which explicitly singles out online adult platforms by requiring age-gating measures and health “warning labels.”

    • Semafor Inc ☛ Employee lawsuit accuses Apple of spying on its workers

      The suit, filed Sunday evening in California state court, alleges Apple employees are required to give up the right to personal privacy, and that the company says it can “engage in physical, video and electronic surveillance of them” even when they are at home and after they stop working for Apple.

      Those requirements are part of a long list of Apple employment policies that the suit contends violate California law.

    • India Times ☛ Apple accused of silencing workers, spying on personal devices

      Apple faces a lawsuit accusing it of illegally monitoring employees' personal devices and iCloud accounts while restricting discussions about pay and working conditions. Filed by Amar Bhakta, the suit claims Apple requires software installation on personal devices, enabling access to private data. Apple denies the allegations and asserts its commitment to employee rights.

    • The Register UK ☛ Employee sues claiming Apple spies on staff

      Suing your employer while remaining employed is a risky play, but one Apple ad tech manager is trying it – claiming that the iGiant is forcing staff to expose their personal data and threatening them with pay clawbacks over non-compliance.

    • Los Angeles Times ☛ Apple hit with employee lawsuit alleging privacy violations and speech restrictions

      While Apple provides employees with iPhones and other equipment, it is common for employees to use their own devices or to link company-issued products to their personal iCloud accounts, according to the lawsuit. When they do so, the lawsuit alleges, Apple demands as part of its terms of employment that employees allow the company to install software that makes it possible to search a device or iCloud account. In addition, the company “actively discourages” the use of work-only iCloud accounts, the lawsuit said.

    • Wired ☛ This Website Shows How Much Google’s AI Can Glean From Your Photos

      Software engineer Vishnu Mohandas decided he would quit Google in more ways than one when he learned that the tech giant had briefly helped the US military develop AI to study drone footage. In 2020 he left his job working on Google Assistant and also stopped backing up all of his images to Google Photos. He feared that his content could be used to train AI systems, even if they weren’t specifically ones tied to the Pentagon project. “I don't control any of the future outcomes that this will enable,” Mohandas thought. “So now, shouldn't I be more responsible?”

  • Defence/Aggression

    • CBC ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] 'Switches' are turning handguns into machine guns on GTA streets

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Police conduct controlled explosion near US Embassy,London

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] MMA fighter Conor McGregor to pay damages for assault

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Middle East: Orban to defy ICC arrest warrant, invite Netanyahu

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Nicaragua: President Ortega, wife to be granted new powers

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Haiti slams Macron's 'unfriendly and inappropriate' remarks

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] US, Fiji move to strengthen military ties

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Bombs in Lebanon ending lives, dreams and football

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Brazil police indict ex-president Bolsonaro over coup plot

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Egypt: New asylum law could badly impact refugee rights

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Canada's Top Military Commander Calls Out US Senator for Questioning a Woman's Role in Combat

    • CBC ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Canada's 1st female defence chief 'can't believe' U.S. senator would question a woman's role in combat

    • International Business Times ☛ Who Is Jihadi Jack: British-Canadian Muslim Convert in Syrian Camp Begs 'To Rot in a Canadian Prison'

      Jack Letts, known infamously as "Jihadi Jack," has become one of the most contentious figures in recent history due to his journey from a quiet life in Oxfordshire to a prison cell in Syria. Detained for over seven years, Letts has now made a desperate plea to be repatriated to Canada, even if it means spending the rest of his life in prison.

    • The Local SE ☛ Sweden charges alleged Islamic State trio with terror plot

      Among the four were two brothers aged 23 and 25, who converted to Islam shortly before their arrest.

      The eldest received instructions from IS in Somalia to "kill as many infidels as possible, with Jewish targets as the main targets", according to the indictment.

    • US News And World Report ☛ Three Persons Charged in Sweden With Preparation of IS-Linked Terrorist Crime

      Swedish prosecutors have charged three persons with preparation of terrorist crime with links to Islamic State (IS), they said on Monday.

  • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

    • New Yorker ☛ Pete Hegseth’s Secret History

      But Hegseth’s record before becoming a full-time Fox News TV host, in 2017, raises additional questions about his suitability to run the world’s largest and most lethal military force. A trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran—Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America—in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.

      A previously undisclosed whistle-blower report on Hegseth’s tenure as the president of Concerned Veterans for America, from 2013 until 2016, describes him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity—to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization’s events. The detailed seven-page report—which was compiled by multiple former C.V.A. employees and sent to the organization’s senior management in February, 2015—states that, [...]

    • The Hill ☛ Pete Hegseth forced out of vets groups over misconduct: Report

      Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran due to mismanagement of funds, sexual impropriety and reports of intoxicated behavior, The New Yorker reported on Sunday.

    • US Navy Times ☛ Pentagon-funded study on extremism in the military relied on old data

      But The Associated Press has found that the study, “Prohibited Extremist Activities in the U.S. Department of Defense” conducted by the Institute for Defense Analyses, relied on old data, misleading analyses and ignored evidence that pointed to the opposite conclusion.

      In fact, the AP found that the IDA report’s authors did not use newer data that was offered to it, and instead based one of its foundational conclusions on Jan. 6 arrest figures that were more than two years out of date by the time of the report’s public release.

      As a result, the report grossly undercounted the number of military and veterans arrested for the Jan. 6 attack and provided a misleading picture of the severity of the growing problem, the AP has found.

  • Environment

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] COP29: World agrees to $300bn deal for developing countries

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Latest COP29 draft text called a "slap in the face" for developing countries

    • CBC ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Heavy snowfall expected through weekend across Alberta

    • The Korea Times ☛ Over 100 countries back plastic treaty caps as talks reach fierce finish

      Negotiators aiming for an international treaty to curb plastic pollution are set for fierce debate on the last day of scheduled talks, as over 100 countries supportive of a pact that would cap plastic production face off against a handful of oil-producing countries who want it focused just on waste.

      The fifth and final UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting to yield a legally binding international treaty is set to wrap up in Busan on Sunday, but as of Sunday morning, a final plenary session has not been set.

    • The Hill ☛ Vanuatu calls on ICJ to recognize climate change's harm

      Representatives for the island nation of Vanuatu called on the International Court of Justice this week to recognize the harm caused by climate change, the first remarks the United Nations court heard as it considers international obligations to address climate impacts.

    • Jacobin Magazine ☛ No, the Fight for the Climate Isn’t “Over”

      The conclusion is understandable. On our current course, we’re already set for about 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) of heating in the coming decades. That will kill tens of millions of people from heat stroke, starvation, and disease. Vast portions of the globe will be made uninhabitable while chaos spreads everywhere else.

      With the fossil fuel barons now retaking the helm of the world’s most powerful government, changing course becomes harder. In addition to the carbon they’ll add to the atmosphere, their evisceration of laws governing air quality, water contamination, and toxic chemicals will kill tens of thousands in just the next few years.

    • France24 ☛ UN environment chief says plastic pollution talks 'did not fail' despite collapse

      The UN environment chief insisted Monday that talks on a landmark plastic pollution treaty were not a failure, saying important progress was made despite negotiations collapsing without agreement.

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ Plastic pollution ban fails, time needed says chair

      Diplomats from nearly 200 countries gathered in Busan, South Korea, but failed in an attempt to agree on a landmark global treaty aimed at curbing plastic pollution.

    • Energy/Transportation

      • H2 View ☛ Scandinavian Steel secures exclusive European marketing rights for GreenIron products | Power | H2 View

        “Offering fossil-free iron to our customers is not only important – it is essential,” claimed Peter Witz, Chief Operating Officer at Scandinavian Steel. “We are proud to be the first distributor in the world to deliver this groundbreaking product to the market.”

      • The Verge ☛ Jaguar’s bizarre rebranding continues with the Type 00 concept electric car

        There are plenty of details, like its 23-inch wheels, oval steering wheel, three brass bars running through the cabin, butterfly doors, and a stone plinth separating the seats. We also can’t miss the Lincoln Nautilus-like thin display along the inside of its windshield that remains when the main interior screens fold away and out of sight.

      • The Independent UK ☛ Jaguar Design Vision Concep electric cart: Release date, price and what we know so far

        The first production car as part of Jaguar’s rebrand – a four-door GT model – will be revealed at the end of 2025, with first cars set to go on sale at the end of 2026. That car has already been spotted on test in the UK and will be built in Britain at JLR’s much-revised factory in Solihull, West Midlands.

      • CBC ☛ 2024-11-19 [Older] Tens of thousands without power, ferries cancelled after 'bomb cyclone' batters B.C. coast

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] Deadly 'bomb cyclone' lashes US Northwest

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] DHL cargo plane crashes near Vilnius airport in Lithuania

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-24 [Older] Volkswagen stands by German factory closure plan

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-24 [Older] Unidentified drones seen over British airbases says US Air Force

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Canadian 'Freedom Convoy' leader found guilty over trucker protest

      • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Prominent Figure From Canada's Trucker Protests Against COVID-19 Restrictions Found Guilty

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] What is 'peak oil' and when will we reach it?

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Serbian train station collapse prompts wave of arrests

    • Wildlife/Nature

      • CBC ☛ 2024-11-20 [Older] 2-year-old gorilla Eyare died after hydraulic door mistakenly activated, Calgary Zoo confirms

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Decreased Amazon deforestation decreases hospitalizations

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Stopping Amazon deforestation leads to lower hospital cases

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Storm Bert wreaks havoc across UK and Ireland

      • CBC ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Saskatchewan's 1st fossil specimens of horned centrosaurus discovered

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] EU recalls its envoy from Niger over flood fund distribution

      • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Gus the penguin sets sail in the Southern Ocean

      • ACM ☛ Play That Trunky Music: Development of an Auditory Enrichment Device for Elephants in Zoos

        We designed and deployed an instrumented enrichment device for African elephants (Loxodonta africana) at Zoo Atlanta, augmenting their existing food-based environmental enrichment with audio cognitive enrichment. To gauge elephant interest in our device, we compared usage of the existing food-based enrichment before and after augmentation with audio. The device was installed for 7 days and 10 hours and had a positive impact on frequency and retention time with the existing enrichment, increasing frequency of usage by 81 instances and retention time by 3 hours, 28 minutes, and 23 seconds.

  • Finance

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Afraid of Losing the US-Canada Trade Pact, Mexico Alters Its Laws and Removes Chinese Parts

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] German economy grows slower than expected in third quarter

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Will EU finally rein in Chinese online retailer Temu?

    • CBC ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] Northvolt's bankruptcy filing won't affect Quebec battery plant, says economy minister

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] Trudeau to Cut Sales Tax and Send Checks to Millions of Canadians as Election Looms

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] Immigrants and recruiters get together at Berlin job fair

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] Canada's Irving Tissue Plans a $600 Million Factory Expansion in Georgia, Hiring 100 More Workers

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] German steel giant ThyssenKrupp to slash 11,000 jobs

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] German business confidence falls more than expected

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-11-20 [Older] Canada's Provincial Leaders Want a Free Trade Deal With the US That Excludes Mexico

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] Has Congo’s cobalt boom caught Europe off guard?

    • CBC ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Will the Canadian dollar slip below 70 cents US?

  • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

    • India Times ☛ SpaceX valuation: SpaceX weighs tender offer at roughly $350 billion valuation

      The potential valuation surge underscores the enormous gains that Musk’s empire has seen since the US presidential election. Tesla Inc.’s shares are up 42% since Nov. 5, while Musk’s own wealth has soared to about $353 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index

    • The Washington Post ☛ Elon Musk’s $56 billion Tesla pay package rejected by Delaware judge

      Delaware Court of Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick originally struck down the controversial compensation deal — the highest CEO pay package in history — in January, ruling in a case brought by a group of Tesla shareholders that the company’s board was too heavily influenced by Musk when it adopted the package in 2018.

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] Abstinence as political act: 4B feminism's 'four nos'

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] Did Brazil's G20 summit deliver on its promises?

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] EU Commission deal puts center-right in driver's seat

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] Germany: How three old men hope to save the Left Party

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Xi Jinping visits Morocco, meets crown prince

    • CBC ☛ 2024-11-19 [Older] Service Canada holding 85,000 passports as Canada Post strike continues

    • CBC ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Canada Post says it lost $315M pre-tax in 3rd quarter

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] Czechia raises pensions for former communist-era dissidents

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-21 [Older] Australia launches bill banning social media for under 16s

    • CBC ☛ 2024-11-19 [Older] Pic Mobert First Nation in northwestern Ontario declares state of emergency over gang activity

    • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

      • Axios ☛ What "debanking" is and why tech execs say they were debanked

        Zoom out: Andreessen didn't provide evidence for his claim, and it's not clear what actually happened to whom, or when.

        • Elon Musk amplified the claim on X.

  • Censorship/Free Speech

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Indian activist tests a terror law used to silence dissent

    • India Times ☛ 'Un-Islamic VPNs': How Pakistan is turning into 'Bannistan'

      Pakistan is rolling out a China-style internet firewall, enabling extensive government surveillance and control over online content. Claimed as a cybersecurity measure, it has caused internet disruptions and restrictions on VPNs, vital for businesses and freelancers. Critics argue it threatens online freedom, economic growth, and political expression, amidst already charged political tensions.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Tbilisi protests decry Georgian government's shift toward Russia

      Georgian citizens’ protests against their pro-Russian government entered a fourth day after the ruling Georgian Dream party canceled negotiations to join the European Union. Tensions around a disputed election result have been simmering for months.

  • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

    • Semafor Inc ☛ Media braces for consolidation in 2025, as investors chase Bari Weiss’ Free Press

      Since the election, the Free Press founder Bari Weiss has been inundated with offers and interest in investment in her independent digital publication. As rumors circulated about the publication’s future, Weiss told Semafor that while the FP didn’t have any immediate plans for acquisition or investment, she felt that the increased interest in the Free Press was a vindication of the outlet’s worldview — contrarian, skeptical of progressivism — and demonstrated some of the tectonic shifts occurring in the US media business.

    • Nebraska Examiner ☛ When presses go silent, we all lose

      Why small town newspapers close their doors varies, but similar stories of newsrooms going dark have emerged in many places. At the Ainsworth Star-Journal and Valentine Midland News papers, losing key personnel, mailing costs and impending retirement are factors. But their situation also mirrors what many newspapers, small and large, face today including the price of production. After some relief, newsprint costs surged again in July, increasing nearly 8% according to exchange4media, a website providing data for marketing, advertising and media industries.

      Of all the challenges for newspapers since the advent of the internet, however, perhaps none captures what publications are up against as much as the loss of advertisers to online sources. When production costs rise and advertisers leave — especially in classifieds, where the world of online “lists” (Craig, Angie, etc.) replaced agate type on newsprint — the combination can be debilitating and sometimes deadly. That is true for any newspaper but especially for small weeklies serving rural communities.

    • Press Gazette ☛ Chelsea Citizen launched with crowdfunding campaign

      Veteran national press freelance Rob McGibbon is launching a new local news title targeting one of the most affluent parts of the UK.

      McGibbon has launched a Kickstarter campaign to get The Chelsea Citizen off the ground, mimicking the initial funding strategy of Tortoise Media which raised £710,000 this way in 2019. He hopes to hit his funding target of £60,000 in 20 days.

  • Civil Rights/Policing

    • Jacobin Magazine ☛ Economic Inequality Is Even Worse Than You Think

      Thanks in part to movements like Occupy and Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaigns, it’s no secret that the United States, and the world, are grossly unequal in wealth and income. But many people may be unaware of just how bad inequality has gotten, both in the United States and globally, or what it might mean for humanity’s future.

      In his new book, Mastering the Universe: The Obscene Wealth of the Ruling Class, What They Do with Their Money, and Why You Should Hate Them Even More, economist and Jacobin contributor Rob Larson provides an up-to-date primer on the scope and scale of the widening gap between the very rich and everyone else. Jacobin’s Sara Wexler recently caught up with Larson to discuss the uberrich, their grotesquely lavish lifestyles, and the pernicious threats extreme inequality poses to human freedom, a livable planet, and more.

    • Wired ☛ Are You Being Tracked by an AirTag? Here’s How to Check

      The warnings were prescient; multiple women reported frightening encounters where AirTags were used as stalking devices that could be slipped in a purse or taped to a car. Police departments across the United States issued warnings about the potential criminal uses of AirTags. Newer AirPods have tracking abilities similar to AirTags, but the higher cost of Apple’s earbuds limits their disposability as a tracking device.

    • NPR ☛ Belgium becomes first country to give sex workers robust labor rights and protections

      The new law also guarantees fundamental rights for sex workers, including the ability to refuse clients, set the conditions of an act, and stop an act at any moment.

      Lawmakers passed the law in May but it officially took effect on Sunday.

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] RECOMMENDED — Japanese society is famously polite but rising numbers of rude, abusive, even violent customers is changing that

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] South Korea to shun Sado mine memorial in Japan

    • Counter Punch ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Canada Reinvents the Xenophobic Wheel

    • CBC ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] 3 arrested after Montreal protest turns violent

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Canada's Trudeau Condemns Violent Protests as NATO Meets in Montreal

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] Germany records rise in violence against women

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] Is China headed for new White Paper protests?

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-24 [Older] Pakistan: Islamabad on lockdown as Khan supporters rally

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-23 [Older] Pakistan: Dozens killed in sectarian violence

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] Pakistan: Imran Khan supporters march on Islamabad

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-25 [Older] India: Mosque survey dispute erupts into deadly clashes

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Sexism in football: Calls for punitive sanctions grow

    • EFF ☛ Amazon and Google Must Keep Their Promises on Project Nimbus

      It’s a reasonable thing to ask if these promises are being kept. And it’s especially important since Amazon and Google have been increasingly implicated by reports that their technologies, specifically their joint cloud computing initiative called Project Nimbus, are being used to facilitate mass surveillance and human rights violations of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. This was the basis of our public call in August 2024 for the companies to come clean about their involvement.   

      But we didn’t just make a public call. We sent letters directly to the Global Head of Public Policy at Amazon and to Google’s Global Head of Human Rights in late September. We detailed what these companies have promised and asked them to tell us by November 1, 2024 how they were complying. We hoped that they could clear up the confusion, or at least explain where we, or the reporting we were relying on, were wrong.  

      But instead, they failed to respond. This is unfortunate, since it leads us to question how serious they were in their promises. And it should lead you to question that too.

    • Papers Please ☛ DEA pays airline staff to target innocent travelers

      In response to a scathing report by its Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the US Department of Justice has directed the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to suspend most of its suspicionless “consensual” questioning and searches of travelers at airports and in other transportation facilities, pending an internal review of these practices.

      For years, DEA agents, sometimes in partnership with local law enforcement task forces, have been searching travelers in ways that make travelers think that they are being detained and are legally required to submit to searches and answer questions.

      The OIG report stops short of calling for an end to these “consensual” searches and interrogations, but is pausing them indefinitely. According to the report, “the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) issued a memorandum directing the DEA to suspend the program until an assessment is completed, identified concerns addressed, and the DAG approves resumption of tbe program.”

  • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-11-22 [Older] Hybrid warfare on the seabed?

    • Federal News Network ☛ Has the time come for a new approach to spectrum allocation?

      Electromagnetic spectrum which enables wireless communications is both scarce and in high demand. Until now, deciding who can use a particular frequency has been a zero sum game. The government auctions it off, and the winner has it for keeps. My next guest says the current spectrum management process is unsustainable. She led a major MITRE Corporation study, which suggests what it calls a dynamic approach to spectrum management. MITRE’s chief spectrum economist Carolyn Kahn joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss more.

  • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

    • The Verge ☛ GOG’s preservation program lets you keep playing games after they’re delisted

      GOG has announced that even if games in its recently launched preservation program are delisted from its store, it will maintain compatibility with those games and offer players “a seamless experience and tech support for those titles.” The first games covered are Warcraft I and II, scheduled for delisting on December 13th.

      That promise extends to Windows changes that affect how playable a game is, GOG says.

  Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • TechCrunch ☛ FTC reportedly opens antitrust investigation into Microsoft | TechCrunch

    The agency is said to be looking into whether Microsoft violated antitrust law in multiple segments of its business, including its public cloud, AI, and cybersecurity product lines. Of particular interest to the FTC is the way Microsoft bundles its cloud products with its office and security tools, says The New York Times.

  • Patents

    • Software Patents

      • Macworld ☛ Wild Apple patent hints at an iPhone with multiple customizable action buttons

        Patent application 20240393933 was filed by Apple back in May but was only published (and promptly spotted by Patently Apple) at the end of November. It covers what it cryptically refers to as “Devices, methods, and graphical user interfaces for configuring configurable input region,” but it becomes apparent upon further investigation that this means customizable handset buttons.

  • Copyrights

    • Torrent Freak ☛ AnimeFenix Shuts Down & GogoAnime/Anitaku Freezes in Time

      Trouble continues for some of the largest pirate sites specializing in Asian entertainment. Coinciding with the shutdown of Dramacool, GogoAnime and Anitaku stopped uploading new content. This weekend, AnimeFenix added to the trouble with a 'voluntary' shutdown citing more copyright pressure. "Piracy will never go away as long as there are companies with more greed than heart," the AnimeFenix team notes in its farewell message.

    • Public Domain Review ☛ What Will Enter the Public Domain in 2025? — The Public Domain Review

      In our advent-style calendar below, find our top pick of what lies in store for 2025. Each day, as we move through December, we’ll open a new window to reveal our highlights! By public domain day on January 1st they will all be unveiled — look out for a special blogpost from us on that day. (And, of course, if you want to dive straight in and explore the vast swathe of new entrants for yourself, just visit the links above).

    • Techdirt ☛ It’s Time To Get Ready For The Public Domain Game Jam

      Yes, it’s that time of year again! We’re gearing up for the latest edition of our annual public domain game jam, Gaming Like It’s 1929! We’ve been running these game jams ever since 2019, when new works began entering the public domain in the US for the first time in over two decades, as a way to highlight the creativity that comes from a robust and growing public domain. Starting on January 1st, 2025, we’ll be doing it again to celebrate works from 1929 that are finally losing their copyright protection after nearly a century.