Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ Nuintari’s Rules of IT

  @nuintari dubbed this one of their Rule of Networking:

  Problems that mysteriously go away all by themselves, tend to mysteriously reappear all by themselves.

• Ruben Schade ☛ Sometimes nerds just have to explain something

  I mean this with as much love and respect as I can muster, but nerds like us can be insufferable. One behavior I’ve witnessed in us—and yes, that includes me—is the constant need to explain things. I mean, that’s the entirety of this blog.

  I’ve had it happen to me. One time early in my career, a former colleague heard about my late mum’s cancer. He took this as an opportunity to explain how chemotherapy and radiation treatment worked, why cancer was bad, and how the disease and the treatments ravage the body in different ways. I knew absolutely all of this of course; my family had lived it every day for twenty years. I know this is true for many of you too. But I didn’t want to seem rude (though they clearly didn’t care) so I nodded along.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Oyster Blood Could Be Vital in The Fight Against Superbugs

    The killer ingredient.

  • Science Alert ☛ It's Official: Global Survey Confirms The World Trusts Scientists

    We need this.

  • Science Alert ☛ Famous Skull Not Cleopatra's Sister, But Evidence Points to New Burial Mystery

    How did we get it so wrong?

  • Science Alert ☛ Hubble's 2.5-Billion-Pixel Mosaic Reveals Andromeda in Breathtaking Detail

    Worth the decade-long wait!

• Hardware

  • Ruben Schade ☛ M43, and craving the OM System OM-1 Mark II

    I fucking adore OM System (ne. Olympus) cameras. My 2023 post about how camera specs aren’t everything is basically a love story to the Micro Four Thirds system, and specifically the OM-D E-M1 Mark II that I carried around with me everywhere in the late 2010s. It’s mechanical dials and intuitive design made it the most enjoyable piece of consumer electronics I’ve ever owned, something that has become apparent after “upgrading” to a different camera and immediately missing it.

  • CNX Software ☛ Vecow ECX-4000 – defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra 200S-powered fanless Edge Hey Hi (AI) embedded system features up to 9 Ethernet ports [Ed: Merely rebranded with buzzwords: Edge Hey Hi (AI)]

    Taiwan-based company Vecow has recently launched the ECX-4000 series, an defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra 200S-powered fanless Edge Hey Hi (AI) embedded system with up to nine Ethernet ports including two 10G SFP+ cages, five 2.5GbE ports (with 4 supporting PoE+), and a gigabit Ethernet jack, SUMIT (Stackable Unified Module Interconnect Technology) expansion, and a 9V to 50V DC redundant power input.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Lenovo's grenade-styled external SSD looks certain to delay you at airport security

    Lenovo has revealed that it has designed a hand grenade inspired external SSD. It looks very airport-unfriendly.

  • Hackaday ☛ Probably Ruining A Keyboard For Science

    Lubing your keyboard’s switches is definitely a personal preference, though we’re sure that many would call it absolutely necessary. However, people from both camps would probably not suggest is using WD-40 to do so, instead pointing toward Krytox or at least Super Lube. But there are enough people out there who have tried the great water displacer and claim to have experienced no problems that [Sea_Scheme6784] decided to give it a go (so you don’t have to).

  • Hackaday ☛ The Nokia Design Archive Is Open For Viewing

    During the Cambrian Explosion of cellphone form factors at the turn of the millenium, Nokia reigned supreme. If you’d like to see what they were doing behind the scenes to design these wild phones, you’ll love the Nokia Design Archive from Aalto University.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ A Modest Weight Loss Boost Might Be Hiding in Your Glass of Water

    New research weighs in.

  • Science Alert ☛ New Study Links Common Meds to Reduced Dementia Risk

    Could they be protecting your brain?

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • MSN ☛ Microsoft Reportedly Lays Off More Employees

    Microsoft has reportedly laid off even more employees across its gaming, security, and sales divisions. The past few years have been a difficult time for video game employees, with many companies like Microsoft announcing sweeping layoffs in 2024 alone. The included studios include big-name developers and smaller indie companies alike, with some of the most recent cuts being from the likes of Predator: Hunting Grounds developer IllFonic and Outriders studio People Can Fly. Earlier this month, Rocksteady announced another round of layoffs in the wake of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s divisive reception.

  • The Hindu ☛ Microsoft's LinkedIn sued for disclosing customer information to train AI models

    Microsoft's LinkedIn has been sued by Premium customers who said the business-focused social media platform disclosed their private messages to third parties without permission to train generative artificial intelligence models.

  • Amazon Canada says it will close all seven of its warehouses in Quebec

    Amazon Canada says it will close all seven of its Quebec warehouses and lay off staff over the next two months.

    The e-commerce giant positioned the move scuttling 1,700 permanent jobs and 250 temporary ones as a way to provide "even more savings to our customers over the long run" and dismissed concerns that it was linked to a recent unionization push in the province.

    "This is about offering the best service we can to customers in a way that’s efficient and cost effective," Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait said in email on Wednesday, when asked to comment on whether the closures were an attempt at union busting.

  • The Gamer ☛ One In Ten Game Developers Were Laid Off In 2024

    Layoffs have become a distressingly frequent occurrence in the games industry over the past couple of years, with a publisher or studio being hit almost every week. Around 11,000 people were laid off in 2023, and even more in 2024, which saw a whopping estimated total of around 14,600 people losing their jobs. We're already underway in 2025 too, with Suicide Squad developer Rocksteady reportedly hit with layoffs earlier this month.

  • The Verge ☛ New survey reports one in 10 game developers have lost their jobs in 2024

    One in 10 game developers lost their job in 2024. That’s according to the results of the annual Game Developers Conference state of the video game survey. The survey sampled over 3,000 developers and covered a number of topics including industry layoffs and what kind of games developers are working on.

    Prolific layoffs have ravaged the industry over the last two years making the question of their impact on developers one of the most important in the survey. In addition to 10 percent of developers losing their jobs, 41 percent of respondents said they had been impacted by layoffs in some way, either by being laid off directly or seeing coworkers or colleagues in other departments let go. The survey also noted that the number of people impacted is potentially much higher because of the students and graduates who reported having a difficult time simply getting a job in the industry at all.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Payment fraud risks increase as cybercriminals exploit e-skimming and scam e-commerce

      A new report out today from the Insikt Group, the research division of Recorded Future Inc., highlights the growing risk of fraud payments through 2024.

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ U.K. May Change Terrorism Law After Southport Attack, Starmer Says

    After a teenager admitted murdering three girls at a dance class, Keir Starmer said people were being radicalized into violence for its own sake and terrorism laws might need to change.

  • New York Times ☛ States Sued to Stop Convicted Felon’s Birthright Citizenship Order

    Also, Jan. 6 defendants were set free. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.

  • New York Times ☛ Undocumented Women Fear for Unborn Children After Convicted Felon’s Birthright Citizenship Order

    President Convicted Felon’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship is already facing lawsuits, but that has been little comfort to women who expect to give birth after the order goes into effect.

  • Stanford University ☛ ‘Know your rights’: Students advocate for reproductive care into Convicted Felon administration

    During “Sex Week” programming, students and members of Stanford Women in Politics gathered to discuss the future of reproductive care under the Convicted Felon administration.

  • JURIST ☛ Dictator administration sued for executive order restricting birthright citizenship

    The ACLU and several other rights organizations filed a lawsuit on Monday with a New Hampshire District Court which claims that a Convicted Felon administration executive order ending birthright citizenship for babies born in the US to parents who entered the country illegally is unconstitutional.

  • JURIST ☛ Democratic AGs file lawsuit challenging Convicted Felon’s bid to end birthright citizenship

    Attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging US President The Insurrectionist’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship. Central to the lawsuit is the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which grants citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the US.

  • New York Times ☛ Harvard Adopts a Strict Definition of Antisemitism for Discipline Cases

    Many universities have been reluctant to embrace a definition that, among other things, considers some criticisms of Israel as antisemitic. The university’s decision was part of a lawsuit settlement.

  • NYPost ☛ Harvard settles civil rights lawsuits over antisemitism on campus: ‘Upholding the rights of Jewish students’

    The Ivy League school agreed to pay an undisclosed amount, but didn't admit to any wrongdoing or liability.

  • ADF ☛ Ethiopia: Divided TPLF Continues to Pose Threat to Tigray

    The splintered Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) continues to bicker over many issues amid swirling security crises in Ethiopia’s northern region.

  • The Straits Times ☛ UN experts urge Thailand not to deport 48 Uyghurs to China

    United Nations human rights experts have urged Thailand not to send 48 Uyghurs in its custody back to China, warning they are at risk of torture, ill-treatment and "irreparable harm" if returned.

  • France24 ☛ French investigators 'issue new arrest warrant' for Syria's Assad

    France has issued a new arrest warrant for former Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on charges related to war crimes committed in 2017, according to a source close to the case.

  • The Strategist ☛ Darwin is well-placed for an uncrewed systems hub

    Australia often relies on overseas facilities for uncrewed systems’ maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), exposing the country to operational delays, escalating costs and potential security risks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan has no choice but to strengthen defence, foreign minister tells new Convicted Felon administration

    Japan will continue to strengthen its defence capabilities given the security situation in East Asia, Japan's foreign minister told his U.S. counterpart in a meeting on Tuesday, his spokesperson said.

  • France24 ☛ Live: At least five people wounded in Tel Aviv stabbing attack

    A stabbing attack in central Tel Aviv left at least five people injured on Tuesday evening, the Israeli police said, days after a previous stabbing attack in the Israeli capital wounded one person. Earlier, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called on Israel's security forces to exercise "maximum restraint" after they launched a major operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, a spokesman said Tuesday. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.

  • Defence Web ☛ Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa to Highlight Public-Private Defence Collaboration at 2025 Conference

    The upcoming Public-Private Partnerships for Defence & Security Conference 2025, scheduled for 7 March at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria, is poised to be a landmark event for South Africa’s defence sector in 2025.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ How the Gaza war brought Morocco and Israel closer

    Security cooperation between Israel and Morocco is flourishing and has never been stronger, driven by a common Iranian threat and a shared vision for regional integration.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Landslide kills 16 in Indonesia’s Central Java, official says

    The landslide was triggered by heavy rains in the area.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Indonesia resumes search for 13 missing after deadly landslide in Central Java

    Indonesian rescuers on Wednesday were searching for 13 people missing after a landslide in Central Java province which killed at least 17 people, an official said.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • New York Times ☛ Convicted Felon’s Executive Order to End E.V. Subsidies Draws Pushback

      Automakers and even some Republicans may fight to preserve funds, and environmental activists will likely sue, but some experts said that some changes may not survive legal challenges.

    • Hackaday ☛ Making Wire Explode With 4,000 Joules Of Energy

      In lieu of high-explosives, an exploding wire circuit can make for an interesting substitute. As [Hyperspace Pirate] demonstrates in a recent video, the act of pumping a lot of current very fast through a thin piece of metal can make for a rather violent detonation. The basic idea is that by having the metal wire (or equivalent) being subjected to a sufficiently large amount of power, it will not just burn through, but effectively vaporize, creating a very localized stream of plasma for the current to keep travelling through and create a major shockwave in the process.

  • Overpopulation

    • CS Monitor ☛ As China’s population continues to plummet, demographic alarms are ringing

      Once known for its efforts to curtail population growth, China is now facing a demographic crisis that threatens its economy and already-frail social security system.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Pakistan says it has agreed $1 billion loan with two Middle East banks

    DAVOS, Switzerland - Pakistan has agreed terms for a $1 billion loan with two Middle Eastern banks at a 6%-7% interest rate, its Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Reuters on Tuesday, as the South Asian country looks for more financing.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvian coalition still undecided about central bank governor pick

    The three parties forming the coalition government have still not agreed on a single candidate for the position of Governor of the Bank of Latvia.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ The Whole World is Watching, Convicted Felon Edition

    Among the Convicted Felon's new Executive Orders, one it particular is no doubt getting a lot of attention from Intelligence agencies around the world.

  • JURIST ☛ Trump’s DOGE faces lawsuits for lack of transparency and oversight

    Multiple groups brought lawsuits against President The Insurrectionist’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) hours after Monday’s inauguration, urging a federal court to enforce Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) requirements on the newly formed administrative panel.

  • JURIST ☛ US Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Pennsylvania mail-in ballot date requirement

    The US Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a challenge to Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot date requirements. The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit include the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, and local voting organizations.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Vietnam arrests Protestant pastor for ‘anti-state propaganda’

    Nguyen Manh Hung is known for criticizing the government on Facebook.

  • NYPost ☛ Chris Brown files $500 million defamation lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery over docuseries ‘A History of Violence’: report

    Brown is suing after the doc aired claims of rape made against him.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Associated Press finds growing consumer audience for ‘fact-based’ journalism

    AP exec editor Julie Pace says audience has responded to fact-based non-partisan journalism.

  • Meduza ☛ Meduza in Europe Photo highlights from our boldest offline campaign yet — Meduza

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Wanted ex-pollster Chung Kim-wah’s siblings questioned by national security police – reports

    Three siblings of wanted former pollster Chung Kim-wah have been taken in for questioning by national security police, local media has reported.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Five Big Obstacles to Opening Child Care Facilities in Rural Illinois

    Sixty percent of rural Americans live in child care deserts — regions with too few licensed slots for children. In rural Illinois, that number rises to nearly 70%.

    Over the past decade, Illinois has experienced a 33% decline in licensed child care providers, losing nearly 4,300 facilities and about 38,000 licensed slots for children. This loss, driven by years of budget cuts, has outpaced the shrinking child population and hit rural areas the hardest. In 2019, during his first year in office, Gov. JB Pritzker acknowledged that rural providers were closing at an “alarming rate” and vowed to make Illinois the “best state in the nation for families raising young children.”

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Concluding the ICP-2 principles consultation

    Close to 300 responses were received from diverse Internet communities in the feedback period for the proposed ICP-2 principles.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Right to Repair ☛ John Deere Reaps What They Sow

    The recent news that the FTC and AGs from two farm states (IL and MN) have filed litigation against John Deere is a terrific step forward for Right to Repair laws already in effect or underway.  Even the dissenting letters offered by two FTC commissioners support the Right to Repair but don’t like the timing of the filing, which is so close to a new administration in the White House.  We understand the partisanship concerns, but there is no real excuse for a delay.  John Deere has been dodging Right to Repair compliance for a decade in anticipation of actual enforcement being delayed or removed altogether. The FTC just laid down a marker that repair monopolies will be disbanded.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ Gassauer-Fleissner makes headway with generational change [Ed: Marketing spam disguised as "journalism"; how much does one need to pay JUVE for one?]

    Law firm Gassauer-Fleissner is particularly well-known in IP law, with a strong focus on patent monopoly litigation in the life sciences sector. It is traditionally active in national pharmaceutical litigation for originators such as Novartis or Eli Lilly. The pharma and life sciences sector is also one of the focal points of new partner Michaela Petsche.

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Piled High: 17th-Century Dutch Banquet Scenes

    These lavish feast scenes conceal as much as they reveal about what was once the mightiest mercantile powerhouse in Europe.