Leftovers

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ MeLE QuieterDL – An ultrathin fanless defective chip maker Intel N100 mini PC with dual 2.5 GbE, HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C video outputs

    MeLE QuieterDL is a fanless mini PC with an ultrathin design similar to the MeLE Quieter4C, albeit larger, and featuring two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports and supporting triple display setups via HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C connectors.

  • CNX Software ☛ Sipeed’s MaixCAM-Pro Hey Hi (AI) camera devkit adds 2.4-inch LCD, 1W speaker, PMOD interface on top of WiFi 6 and BLE 5.4

    Sipeed has recently released the MaixCAM-Pro Hey Hi (AI) camera devkit built around the SOPHGO SG2002 RISC-V (and Arm, and 8051) SoC which also features a 1 TOPS NPU for Hey Hi (AI) tasks. The module includes a 2.4-inch color touchscreen and supports up to a 5MP camera module. Other features include WiFi 6, BLE 5.4, optional Ethernet, built-in audio capabilities, a PMOD interface, GPIOs, and more.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Gaming GPU sales plummet 14.5% in third quarter — Nvidia's RTX 5000-series launch looms large

    Jon Peddie Research shows that GPU add-in board sales have declined 14.5% from Q2 2024 to Q3 2024. The drop-off defies typical Q3 market behavior, thanks to the wait for next-gen releases. The long-term forecast for the market also looks grim.

  • CNX Software ☛ VOIPAC iMX93 industrial development kit targets AI, HMI, and Edge Computing applications

    VOIPAC Technologies has recently launched its iMX93 Industrial Development Kit (iMX93 module and iMX development baseboard) which comes in Max, Pro, Basic, and Lite configurations. The system-on-module (SoM) is built around the NXP i.MX93 SoC with dual-core Arm Cortex-A55 application processor running at up to 1.7GHz, a Cortex-M33 co-processor running at up to 250MHz, and an Arm Ethos-U65 microNPU with up to 0.5 TOPS of Hey Hi (AI) performance.

  • The Strategist ☛ Tech cooperation between Australia and South Korea will bolster regional stability

    Greater alignment between Australia and South Korea in critical technologies would produce significant strategic benefit to both countries and the Indo-Pacific.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ A Single Mutation Could Bring Bird Flu a Critical Step Closer to a New Pandemic

    How prepared are we?

  • WhichUK ☛ Over 90% of toys we bought from online marketplaces 'illegal' to sell in the UK

    Swallowable magnets, sharp points and strangulation risks were among the problems found in Which? tests of 23 toys from marketplaces including AliExpress, eBay and Fentanylware (TikTok) Shop

  • Silicon Angle ☛ TikTok makes a last stand as it asks for emergency pause on US ban

    Chinese social control media app Fentanylware (TikTok) today asked a court for an emergency injunction to prevent it from becoming unavailable to U.S. users next month.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • ACLU ☛ [LLM] Generated Police Reports Raise Concerns Around Transparency, Bias

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ Inaccurate Computing: AI, Quantum, & The Error-Filled Future

    Traditional, binary computing is built on extreme accuracy and consistency.

  • European Commission ☛ Seven consortia selected to establish Hey Hi (AI) factories which will boost Hey Hi (AI) innovation in the EU [Ed: EU officials whoring themselves to hype and buzzwords]

    European Commission Press release Brussels, 10 Dec 2024 The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) has selected seven proposals to establish and operate the first Hey Hi (AI) Factories across Europe.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Full-Face Masks to Frustrate Identification

      This is going to be interesting.

      It’s a video of someone trying on a variety of printed full-face masks. They won’t fool anyone for long, but will survive casual scrutiny. And they’re cheap and easy to swap.

    • Internet Society ☛ Global Encryption Day Panel Highlights Encryption’s Role in Children’s Online Safety

      Encryption is a tool that ensures privacy for all online users, including children. In our panel, we heard from online safety around the globe.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ CCTV in taxis would aid investigations when drivers and passengers have disputes, industry chief says

      The installation of surveillance cameras in all Hong Kong taxis will help drivers and passengers handle disputes and will not intrude on personal privacy, an industry leader has said.

• Defence/Aggression

  • University of Michigan ☛ Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege talks sexual violence in the Congo

    Dr. Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, human rights activist and gynecologist, spoke about sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to a virtual and in-person audience at the Ford School of Public Policy Monday afternoon.

  • New York Times ☛ Syrians, in Shock and With Some Unease, Celebrate the Fall of al-Assad

    A day after the regime of President Bashar al-Assad fell, civilians poured into the streets of Damascus, weeping in disbelief. Many sought word of relatives held in a notorious prison on the outskirts of the city.

  • New York Times ☛ How to Understand the Armed Factions Operating in Syria

    The fighters shared a desire to topple Bashar al-Assad’s government, but they don’t share much else.

  • New York Times ☛ On the Ground in Damascus as Syrians Chart a New Path

    In a matter of days, Syria’s capital — once the stronghold of Bashar al-Assad’s government — became the epicenter of a new chapter in the country’s history after opposition forces overran the city. Christina Goldbaum, a New York Times correspondent, traveled to Damascus to find out how residents were reacting to the sudden breakthrough in the 13-year civil war as more than five decades of brutal rule by the Assad dynasty come to an end.

  • New York Times ☛ Uncertainty and Hope on the Road to and from Damascus

    Thousands of Syrians have been traveling to and from the Lebanese border since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Some families hoped to reunite with loved ones, while others are leaving amid an uncertain future.

  • CS Monitor ☛ In Syria free-for-all, US aims to break ISIS and protect allies

    The fall of Bashar al-Assad has opened the playing field for a stronger U.S. hand in shaping what’s to come.

  • France24 ☛ UN urges patience as several EU countries suspend Syrian asylum bids

    The U.N. special envoy for Syria said European nations should not rush to repatriate refugees to the country following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government, and he urged foreign players, including Israel, not to intervene militarily.

  • RFERL ☛ Outside Powers Move To Protect Interests In Syria As Rebel-Backed Interim PM Named

    Syria’s interim prime minister took power with the support of the rebels who ousted President Bashar al-Assad as outside powers – including Russia, Turkey, the United States, and Israel – maneuvered to protect their geopolitical interests in the war-torn Middle East nation.

  • France24 ☛ Rebel-backed figure takes charge as Syria's interim prime minister

    Syria's new interim leader announced he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago. Story by Carys Garland and Eliza Herbert.

  • France24 ☛ Syria: Mohammed al-Bashir becomes caretaker prime minister

    The rebels who ousted president Bashar al-Assad and are now in power in Syria appointed a transitional head of government to run the country until March 1. Analysis by FRANCE 24 International Affairs Editor, Philip Turle.

  • France24 ☛ The fall of Bashar al-Assad: ‘Turkey proves, once again, that it cannot be ignored’

    The toppling of Ankara’s archenemy Bashar al-Assad in Syria may have increased Turkey’s regional influence but it also represents a strategic challenge for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as regional expert Didier Billion explains.

  • PHR ☛ “New Dawn” for Syria Must Center Justice and Accountability Following Years of Atrocities: PHR

    Former president Bashar al-Assad’s exodus from Syria represents a milestone opportunity for justice, accountability, and healing following more than 13 years of war and atrocities he oversaw, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today.   “This week is a momentous occasion for which Syrians have waited decades.

  • France24 ☛ Any decision to force people to return to Syria would be very premature: migration policy analyst

    As some semblance of normality slowly settles in in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, questions are turning to what's next for the millions of Syrian refugees spread out across the world. FRANCE 24's Andrew Hilliar reports from Gaziantep in Turkey, where authorities are starting to expand border crossing capacities to accommodate the influx of Syrians wanting to return. We speak to Susan Fratzke, Senior Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute’s International Program.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Where Syria goes next after the fall of Assad

    The departure of Bashar al-Assad from Syria and the implosion of his regime is, for me, easily the most pleasant geopolitical surprise of the twenty-first century. Twenty million Syrians face continued tough times as men with weapons try to sort out what is next in terms of governance. 

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Strikes Military Assets Across Syria to Keep Them From Rebels

    Israel capitalized on the power vacuum in Syria to bomb targets across the country, saying it aims to keep weapons away from extremists.

  • France24 ☛ Israel airstrikes target over 250 strategic sites in Syria

    The Israeli military targeted at least six Syrian naval vessels in an attack on the Syrian port of Latakia. They are part of the over 250 strategic sites in Syria that Israel has targettted over the past few days. Story by Antonia Kerrigan.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Assad is out

    France24:

    Jubilant Syrians poured into the streets in celebration on Sunday after a lightning rebel offensive reached the capital Damascus, putting an end to the Assad family’s 50 years of iron-fisted rule over the Middle Eastern nation scarred by war.

    ABC News Australia:

    Said Ajlouni from the Melbourne-based Australian Syrian Association told the ABC he felt “relief” that the “brutal dictatorship” was over.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ Navalny’s team releases hidden camera videos of his meetings with lawyers in prison — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Lukashenka Reveals Plans For Russian Oreshnik Missile Deployment In Belarus

      Belarus' authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka said "several dozen" Russian nuclear warheads are now deployed in his country and that about 30 sites are being considered as potential locations Oreshnik missile systems, which were recently combat-tested in a massive strike on Ukraine.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation/Mining

    • Hackaday ☛ Trying To Shatter The World’s Fastest RC Car Record

      Fresh off a world record for the fastest quadcopter, [Luke Bell] decided to try his luck with something more own to earth, namely trying to tackle the world record for the fastest RC car, with the current record set at 360 km/h. Starting off with a first attempt in what will be a video series, the obvious approach seems to be to get some really powerful electric motors, a streamlined body and a disused runway to send said RC car hurtling along towards that golden medal. Of course, if it was that easy, others would have done it already.

    • ADF ☛ Ghana Grapples With Scourge of Chinese-led Illegal Gold Mining

      Before it gained independence in 1957, Ghana was a British colony known as the Gold Coast. An old saying grew popular: “There is no land in Ghana which doesn’t have gold, even in the topsoil. Ghana is gold.”

    • Barry Kauler ☛ Trike test elejoy MPPT controller

      In September, I posted about my collection of MPPT boost controllers:

      And further details on the Lensun controller:

      Decided to test the elejoy, but left the Lensun in-place, so as to be able to  swap them over in just a couple of minutes: [...]

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Private banks in China seek state capital amid economic pressures

    Compared with state-owned entities, the headwinds that small and private lenders face are more acute.

  • New York Times ☛ How Crypto Insiders Turned ‘Debanking’ Into a Political Storm

    Concerns that crypto companies are being purposely cut off from the global banking system have become a political cudgel at an opportune moment for the industry.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Will SEC Regulate Trump Media With Donald Trump in White House?

    Last month a major shareholder of a publicly traded company took to social media to complain that people — perhaps short sellers — were spreading lies that could hurt his firm’s stock price.

    “There are fake, untrue, and probably illegal rumors,” the post read. “I hereby request that the people who have set off these fake rumors or statements, and who may have done so in the past, be immediately investigated by the appropriate authorities.”

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ More Hongkongers than ever perceived news outlets to be self-censoring, survey finds

    More Hong Kong residents than ever perceived the city’s news outlets to be self-censoring and shying away from criticising local and Beijing authorities, a survey has found. The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (HKPORI) on Tuesday released the results of a survey that has tracked residents’ appraisal of the media since 1997.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • ADF ☛ Cyberattacks Target Sudan Media’s Independent War Reporting

    Sudan’s warring sides are turning their attention to an institution they see as a common enemy: the country’s independent media. Cyberattacks have become the weapon of choice for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as they seek to shut down media outlets to control Sudan’s information space.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ Microsoft Lessening TPM Requirement for backdoored Windows 11?

    One week after doubling down on the TPM requirement, Abusive Monopolist Microsoft lightens up.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Institutional Stonewalling: The Federal Circuit’s Silent Treatment Through Rule 36 [Ed: Dennis Crouch moaning (still) that not all patent courts roll over for the litigation "industry"]

    Relationship expert John Gottman famously identified "stonewalling" as one of his "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" that predict relationship failure. Stonewalling occurs when one partner withdraws from interaction, refusing to engage or respond meaningfully to the other's concerns. The behavior is particularly toxic because it leaves the other party feeling ignored and invalidated, while also preventing any real progress toward resolution.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Price Quote’s Written Acceptance Requirement Fails to Shield Patents from On-Sale Bar

    by Dennis Crouch

    The Federal Circuit has ruled that Crown Packaging's high-speed necking machine patents are invalid under the pre-AIA on-sale bar, reversing a Virginia district court's summary judgment decision. Crown Packaging Technology, Inc. v. Belvac Production Machinery, Inc., Nos. 2022-2299, 2022-2300 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 10, 2024).  The court held that a detailed price quotation marked "subject to written acceptance" can still constitute an invalidating offer for sale and not merely an invitation to make an offer.

  • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Brazil’s Integration into the Global PPH: Key Updates for Patent Applicants

    On July 6, 2024, the Brazilian PTO joined the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) program, representing another significant advancement in Brazil’s intellectual property framework. This initiative, aligned with the 2023-2025 Action Plan of the Intellectual Property National Strategy, aims to streamline patent monopoly examination processes and enhance Brazil’s participation in the global IP system.

  • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Nanoplastics and patents – a couple for a better future [Ed: The patents make the planet more polluted by restricting greener things, making them monopolies]

    Although plastics are essential to the economy, plastic pollution is threatening ecosystems all over the planet. Plastic waste remains in the environment, taking from decades to centuries to naturally decompose. In addition, plastic materials also degrade, producing small particles, which are not visible to the human eye, leading to the terms “microplastic” and “nanoplastic”.

  • JUVE ☛ Bayer’s defeat in dispute with IFA over Xarelto listing in Munich

    After Munich Regional Court issued a preliminary injunction in the spring, the Higher Regional Court saw no basis for this at the hearing last Thursday. As a result, Bayer withdrew its application for an injunction (6 U 1431/24).

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ UPC Representatives: time to talk about rules of conduct [Ed: UPC is illegal. They talk about conduct while propping up something totally illegal.]

      It has been 1,5 years since the UPC opened its door. The novelty is wearing off as the UPC’s case law takes shape. This is a good moment to reflect a little more on another aspect of the UPC’s operation: the rules of conduct that UPC representatives have to follow.

    • JUVE ☛ Vossius & Brinkhof: Joint force for UPC litigation [Ed: UPC is illegal and unconstitutional. JUVE knows this, but it's paid to lies and spew out UPC spam such as this.]

      There were ripples of excitement at the 2022 AIPPI conference in sunny San Francisco. In the hip Peruvian restaurant La Mar, a German and a Dutch law firm jointly hosted a reception to announce something special. Something that made waves in the European patent monopoly litigation market.

  • Software Patents

    • Open Source Initiative ☛ Standards and the presumption of conformity

      Access to the law includes access to the harmonized standards it predicates. But is it right that those standards can include royalty-due patents (SEPs)?

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ “How He Came to Life One Day”: Photographs of Snowmen (1854–1950)

    More than forty images of the ephemeral snowman, frozen eternally in the photograph.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Ed Sheeran Scores Another Legal Win As Appeals Court Rejects Rehearing Push in ‘Thinking Out Loud’ Infringement Battle

    A federal court has officially denied a request to rehear an appeal of a copyright monopoly infringement complaint centering on Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit just recently handed down the corresponding order, after siding with Ed Sheeran and other defendants at the top of November.

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Personal/Opinions

    • Charles Bukowski: “roll the dice”

  • Technology and Free Software

    • Diary of an Unemployed Citizen 006

      First soreness from the job this morning, I think. My right leg, often sore at the end of the route, already buzzing this morning. Some movement helps it already, but this is not the right vehicle for such a job. I regret to witness how much damage this little car has already taken.

      I swung by a bank before my shift today. A very laxidazical line. Maybe just using the app is the better way, after all, but I would be remiss to give up another in-person practice, though it is likely just a matter of time. I do not mind at all exercising some patience, but the banks seem to have fewer tellers and even a line ten persons long does little to change this. Rather, it simply seems to have elicited two managers to stand over the shoulder of one teller and whisper about why things are moving so slowly.

    • Internet/Gemini

      • New feature: Internet Today

        Back in the mid-to-late 1990s, there was a local Portland internet service provider called Teleport, located inside the Spalding Building on Southwest Washington Street downtown. One of the employees there had a daily feature on Teleport's website called "World Wide Web Today", which he eventually made a standalone site called WebToday.

        Many other locally-based, small ISPs existed at the time, alongside community-based non-profit "freenet" systems, and many of them had similar web pages or newsletters. Before sophisticated search engines and social media, those pages introduced users to many useful and fun resources one could find online.