Leftovers

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Earth's Crust May Be Peeling Away Deep Beneath California

    Decades of data reveal a monumental separation.

  • Science Alert ☛ We Might Finally Know How The Brain Refreshes Itself at Night

    Sleep, wash, rinse, repeat.

  • Science Alert ☛ Listen to The Eerie 'Sounds' From A Black Hole, Captured by NASA

    This is creepy!

• Hardware

  • Adriaan de Groot ☛ That is how E-Waste is made

    I have an Android phone. The phone is 5 years old, functions perfectly for me, and is now E-Waste.

    I can tell by the pictures on the phone that I bought it just after conf.kde.in in 2020 because it’s full of pictures of my visit to Colombia (where I met Maui Toolkit developer Camilo). It’s a Motorola G7 Power. It came with Android 9. It was updated to Android 10. It’s been a fine phone for 5 years, the battery life is still measured in days, it makes calls and does Matrix and Mastodon and whatnot. I personally have no reason to replace it at all.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Offloading Lossless Scaling Frame-Gen to secondary GPU eliminates overhead

    Should you have the appropriate hardware configuration, a YouTuber finds a logical method for getting a Lossless Scaling Frame Gen without performance loss in any game.

  • Hackaday ☛ Building The Feynman Motor That Fits Through A Sewing Needle’s Eye

    How small can an electric motor be without resorting to manufacturing methods like lithography? In a recent video, [Chronova Engineering] on YouTube tries to replicate the 1960 McLellan motor that fulfilled [Richard Feynman]’s challenge requirements. This challenge was part of [Feynman]’s 1959 lecture titled There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom, on the possibilities of miniaturization. A $1,000 reward was offered for anyone who could build an electric motor that was no larger than 1/64th inch cubed (~0.0625 mm3), with the expectation that new manufacturing methods would be required to manufacture a motor this small.

  • CNX Software ☛ Infineon PSOC Control C3x real-time Cortex-M33 MCUs are designed for motor control and HVAC systems

    Infineon recently launched the PSOC Control C3x family of Arm Cortex-M33 MCUs for real-time control applications in motor control and power conversion systems. The family includes 18 MCUs categorized into two lines, the Entry Line (C3P2, C3M3) and the Main Line (C3P5, C3M5). These MCUs can be used for various applications including home appliances, industrial drives, robots, light electric vehicles (LEVs), solar systems, and HVAC systems.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Singaporean in vegetative state after botched procedure in S. Korea returns in time for CNY

    The mother of two young children had suffered a cardiac arrest during a botched gastroscopy.

  • Science Alert ☛ Expert Reveals Why The FDA Finally Banned 'Red 3' Dye

    Decades of evidence led to this.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Forever Chemicals' in US Drinking Water Linked to Cancer, Scientists Find

    Yet more evidence surfaces.

  • Hackaday ☛ Contrails Are A Hot Topic, But What Is To Be Done?

    Most of us first spot them as children—the white lines in the blue sky that are the telltale sign of a flight overhead. Contrails are an instant visual reminder of air travel, and a source of much controversy in recent decades. Put aside the overblown conspiracies, though, and there are some genuine scientific concerns to explore.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China to prioritise physical education in schools as obesity rates rise

    Physical education teachers will receive equal compensation to their peers in other subjects.

  • New York Times ☛ Dictator Administration Halts H.I.V. Drug Distribution in Poor Countries

    PEPFAR’s computer systems also are being taken offline, a sign that the program may not return, as Republican critics had hoped.

  • Federal News Network ☛ VA reinstates job offers to health care hires, but some still in limbo amid hiring freeze

    Some prospective VA hires are relieved to have their job offers reinstated amid a governmentwide hiring freeze. Others are wary about job stability.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China bans livestock product imports from numerous countries on disease worries

    The ban from the world's largest meat importer affects countries like Ghana, Qatar, Congo and Egypt.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • Cloudbooklet ☛ DeepSeek Overtakes ChatGPT, Steals #1 on App Store

      See how DeepSeek overtakes Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot to lead the App Store rankings, providing users with a more intuitive and dynamic Hey Hi (AI) experience.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ DeepSeek faces malicious attacks after surging in popularity

      On a day that American equities markets took a hammering after investors started to pay attention to its latest artificial intelligence models, Chinese Hey Hi (AI) startup DeepSeek experienced “large-scale malicious attacks” on its services, forcing the company to limit signups temporarily. The company has not disclosed the exact form of the attack.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Tech stocks tank as Chinese startup DeepSeek stuns Hey Hi (AI) world with low-cost model rivaling US firms’ best

      Technology stocks were hammered in early Monday trading on news that a Chinese startup has built and released to open source a chatbot based on an artificial intelligence model that rivals the performance of the most capable models built by U.S. companies but at a fraction of the cost.

    • Cloudbooklet ☛ Kimi AI: Is China’s New Chatbot Beating ChatGPT?

      Looking for an advanced Hey Hi (AI) chatbot? Kimi Hey Hi (AI) offers ChatGPT-like features, pushing the envelope on Hey Hi (AI) interaction with Chinese innovation

    • Scoop News Group ☛ DeepSeek Hey Hi (AI) claims services are facing ‘large-scale malicious attacks’

      As its low-cost Hey Hi (AI) model receives accolades, the Chinese company says ongoing attacks on its services are making it harder for new users to sign up. 

    • China’s DeepSeek Hey Hi (AI) tops app charts in US, Europe

      Some are calling it a ‘Sputnik moment’ amid tech rivalry with the United States.

    • France24 ☛ Chinese startup DeepSeek threatens ChatGPT’s dominance of Hey Hi (AI) sector

      Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has overtaken rivals including OpenAI's Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot to become the most downloaded free application in the United States. The results sent a shock wave through the Hey Hi (AI) sector worldwide and cast doubt on whether US technology firms could sustain their leadership position.

    • New York Times ☛ What is DeepSeek? And How Is It Upending A.I.?

      How did a little-known Chinese start-up cause the markets and U.S. tech giants to quake? Here’s what to know.

    • New York Times ☛ How Does DeepSeek’s Hey Hi (AI) Chatbot Compare to Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot and Other Competitors?

      The chatbot from China appears to perform a number of tasks as well as its American competitors do, but it censors topics such as Tiananmen Square.

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • Web Pro News ☛ Linux Foundation Launches ‘Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers’ [Ed: Thwarting antitrust with openwashing]

      The Linux Foundation has launched the “Supporters of Chromium-Based Browsers,” an effort to further the development of Chromium-based web browsers.

      Chromium is the open-source web browser that serves as the basis for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Brave, and others. While it may be the most popular and widely-used browser code base, Google still accounts for the vast majority of development, as the company says in a blog post.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • BIA Net ☛ Turkish intelligence leads operation targeting illegal access to citizenship data

      Concerns over large-scale data breaches involving Turkish citizens’ information have surfaced multiple times in recent years.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Lao police stop 3 women from boarding flight to China in trafficking case

    A police officer says authorities believe their families had agreed to ‘sham marriages’ for the women in China.

  • Blast in Chinese city 3 days after Pooh-tin visit

    News of the incident is suppressed by Beijing.

  • Dalai Lama chronicles 70-year struggle with China in new book

    ‘Voice for the Voiceless’ will be released on March 11.

  • China will accept return of its migrants from the US

    Beijing says it opposes ‘illegal migration’ as asylum-seeking is banned under Convicted Felon.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China promises to take back illegal migrants after Convicted Felon’s Colombia threats

    Beijing said it firmly opposes any form of illegal migration.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China signals willingness to accept Chinese nationals repatriated from the US

    US officials are frustrated by what they say is Beijing’s refusal to cooperate on repatriation.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India, China agree to resume flights 5 years after stoppage

    The announcement heralds the latest signs of a thaw in the frosty ties between the world’s two most populous nations.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China and India should commit to mutual understanding, Chinese foreign minister says

    Relations between China and India have improved over the past four months with several high-level meetings.

  • North Korea tests cruise missile; warns US, South Korea on ‘provocation’

    The return of The Insurrectionist as US president has raised speculation about an improvement in ties.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Wife of Chinese national held in Philippines denies he is a spy

    China's embassy in Manila has said the allegations were "baseless". 

  • The Strategist ☛ In Pacific island countries, Convicted Felon should pursue embassy transformation

    The Biden administration struggled with adequately advancing US national security and foreign policy interests in the Pacific islands.

  • JURIST ☛ UN Security Council holds emergency meeting over violence in DRC

    The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the violence occurring in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as M23 forces supported by Rwanda advance through the border towards the city of Goma.

  • Defence Web ☛ MONUSCO operational status raised to counter M23 in eastern DRC as rebels claim Goma

    The M23 advance on North Kivu capital Goma, first reported last week, saw the United Nations (UN) mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) activate a quick reaction force (QRF), two battalions, a Special Forces platoon and an artillery battery to counter the offensive.

  • France24 ☛ Fighting ongoing across DRC's Goma

    In tonight's edition, the Congolese army fights to hold off M23 forces from the besieged city of Goma as fierce battling kills scores and sends thousands fleeing to safety.

    Also, the African Union's peace and security council has called an emergency meeting about the crisis.

    And host nation Morocco will face Comoros in Rabat for the opening match of the men’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan hopes to expand overseas security aid scheme in Asean, says senior official

    The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are set to be beneficiaries of the scheme.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Q&A: A look at transportation insecurity in Detroit and beyond

    More than a third of Detroit residents can't get from place to place in a safe or timely manner, according to a new study led by Alexandra Murphy of U-M's Mcity and Poverty Solutions, and Lydia Wileden of the University of Connecticut.

  • CS Monitor ☛ John Bolton says he’s faced Convicted Felon’s retribution. He worries what Kash Patel might do.

    John Bolton, President Convicted Felon’s former national security adviser, says Mr. Convicted Felon pulled his security detail out of vengeance. Now, he worries that Kash Patel could help a retribution campaign if confirmed to head the FBI.

  • LRT ☛ Never again: Remembering the Holocaust and fighting indifference – opinion

    On the Auschwitz liberation commemoration day, Dutch Ambassador to Lithuania Jack R. Twiss Quarles van Ufford draws some lessons of the Holocaust for today.

  • New York Times ☛ Dictator Argues That His Immunity Extends to E. Jean Carroll’s Lawsuits

    The president, who was found liable for sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll, is contending that he doesn’t have to pay the $83 million he owes for defaming her.

  • New York Times ☛ Germany’s Likely Leader Flirts With a Taboo: Working With the Far Right

    Responding to the killing of a child, the poll-leading Christian Democrats are pushing to overhaul migration laws — possibly with votes from the Alternative for Germany.

  • France24 ☛ Denmark launches $2 billion Arctic security plan, seeks EU unity on Greenland

    Denmark on Monday announced a $2 billion security plan for the Arctic ahead of a visit by the country's prime minister to Berlin, Paris and Brussels to shore up "European unity" on Greenland. The announcement came after US President The Insurrectionist said Greenland was needed for US "national security".

  • New York Times ☛ They Fled a Rebel Advance. Then the Rebels Marched on Their Refuge.

    People who fled M23 rebels around Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have found themselves with nowhere left to go.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ Suzanne Massie, former Reagan advisor known as ‘the woman who ended the Cold War,’ dies at 94 — Meduza

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • H2 View ☛ Plug Power sells $30m tax credit from Georgia hydrogen plant

      Plug Power “boosted its liquidity through the transfer of the Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC)” to an unnamed major investor, despite funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) being suspended under the Convicted Felon administration.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Duck DNA in both engines of Jeju Air plane that crashed, report says [Ed: But the landing gear also failed (on another plane a day later), so there's more to it than "Wall" or "Bird"]

      But it gave no initial conclusions on what may have caused the jet to land without its landing gear deployed.

    • New York Times ☛ China’s Tibet Dam Project Has Its Neighbors Worried

      The hydropower dam, in quake-prone Tibet, is set to be the world’s biggest. But China has said little about the project, which could affect nearby countries.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong fashion trade show urged to ‘celebrate Year of the Snake’ by banning snakeskin

      An animal rights organisation has called for snakeskin to be banned from a Hong Kong fashion trade show ahead of the Year of the Snake. In a statement last Friday, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said it had released new footage showing snakes being “beaten, beheaded, impaled, and inflated,” at slaughterhouses...

• Finance

  • New York Times ☛ Rising Prices Dashed Trudeau’s Promise to Canada’s Middle Class

    While many issues turned Canadians away from their prime minister, the high cost of groceries and homes has become a chief grievance.

  • NYPost ☛ ‘Freaking out’: Texts reveal woman’s nightmare with bank account scammer

    A Brisbane woman was bombarded with 25 calls in just over half an hour as a scammer who had already stolen thousands from her bank accounts became increasingly desperate to keep her on the hook.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Marshall Sells to Hong Kong’s HSG in $920 Million+ Deal, Plans to Unlock Its ‘Full Potential Across the World’

    Marshall Group officially has a new owner: HongShan Capital Group (HSG), which has acquired a majority interest in the “audio, tech and design powerhouse” at a $1.16 billion (€1.1 billion) valuation. Stockholm-based Marshall and Hong Kong-headquartered HongShan (formerly Sequoia China) quietly announced the acquisition in a brief release.

  • New York Times ☛ Trump’s Colombia Tariff Threat Startled Companies Trying to Rely Less on China

    By declaring he’d put tariffs on goods from the South American country, the president imperiled a growing influx of foreign investment there.

  • The Strategist ☛ Trump’s trade and economic security agenda: what we know so far

    President The Insurrectionist’s trade and economic security team is united and ready to use tariffs, export controls and enhanced sanctions to strengthen the US economy and achieve geostrategic outcomes against US adversaries.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia launches Hey Hi (AI) chatbot to combat fake news [Ed: Hey Hi (AI) chatbots are themselves a source of fake news]

      AIFA uses algorithms and machine learning to match information with reliable sources.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Media events for 2025: Awards, conferences and networking

    Details of Press Gazette's awards, conferences and networking events in UK and USA this year.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Middlesbrough’s last freelance court reporter retires after 69 years in journalism

    Court reporting was once a good living for Peter Holbert but demand from publishers has now gone.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Harassment of journalists revived after student reporters’ investigation into gov’t ‘care teams,’ press group says

    A new wave of online harassment that followed a journalism students’ investigation into government “care teams” echoed an “organised attack” last year that saw dozens of reporters targeted, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) has said.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ HRW: Libya laws against activists violate freedom of assembly and association

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Monday that Libyan authorities have used a “litany of overbroad and draconian legacy laws” to suppress civil rights activists and organizations. The group said the threats, harassment and arbitrary detention under these laws amount to an infringement of freedom of assembly and association under international law.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong pollster taken in by national security police for 2nd time to assist investigation – reports

    Hong Kong pollster Robert Chung has been taken in by national security police to assist with an investigation for the second time in two weeks, according to local media.

  • New York Times ☛ Whole Foods Workers Form First Union in Amazon’s Grocery Chain

    The union win, at a Philadelphia store where workers are seeking higher wages, comes as Amazon is also fighting organizing efforts among some warehouse employees and delivery drivers.

  • Chronicle Of Higher Education ☛ What Some Colleges Say They'll Do if Immigration Authorities Come to Campus

    As the Convicted Felon administration expands enforcement, prompting concern about raids targeting undocumented students, institutions are grappling with how to respond.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • CNX Software ☛ Importing a single router in Thailand now requires an NBTC license

    We’ve been reviewing routers sent to us from China from time to time including Xiaomi Mi AX6000, GL.iNet GL-MT6000, NanoPi R5S, and others. In late 2024, I was offered to review the OpenWrt One and GL.iNet GL-X2000 “Spitz Plus” WiFi 6 and 4G LTE routers, but neither review will happen due to changes in regulations, or rather enforcement, that now makes it more complicated and expensive to import a router in Thailand since an NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) license is now required.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Roc Nation Teams Up with South Korea’s Musicow to Launch First Music Equity Service Provider in the U.S.

    Roc Nation has announced a partnership with South Korean fintech company Musicow to launch the first Music Equity Service Provider (MESP) in the United States. The partnership embodies a shared vision of empowering superfans to earn revenue alongside their favorite artists by introducing music royalties as an alternative asset class.