Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ Chappell Roan: Pink Pony Club

  This is probably the newest song I’ve featured on a Music Monday for a long time. But I overheard it at a restaurant with Clara over the weekend, and the 1980s-style synths and compsition were a lot of fun.

• Pivot to AI ☛ How I make the Pivot to AI YouTube videos

  The Pivot to AI video channel is getting views and subscribers, which is nice! People have asked how I make the videos and what equipment I use.

  It’s currently taking me a couple of hours to write a post and expand it into a script, fifteen minutes to record if nothing breaks or falls over, and another couple of hours to clean up the audio and assemble the video, including screenshots of my sources. Longer videos take longer.

• Crooked Timber ☛ Indiana Jones’ Last Day of Work

  Indy can’t get his microphone to work and is unable to object.

• Tracy Durnell ☛ Slow craft: writing with a noncapitalist mentality (Part 6)

  The capitalist growth mindset is deeply embedded in the American psyche, and has shaped the way we spend our free time and treat our own — and others’ — creative labor. I’ve been working to reshape my attitudes towards my own creative production, excising capitalist expectations, releasing self-judgment, and rebuilding a healthier, more sustainable practice.

• Terence Eden ☛ Why do all my home appliances sound like R2-D2?

  The Star Wars universe obviously has a version of this meme: [...]

• Erin Kissane ☛ ATConf

  This is a reference page for “People in Protocols,” a talk I gave (remotely) on March 23, 2025 at the first ATmosphere Conference in Seattle. Right now, it contains citations and further reading, but I may expand it later with additional material and/or a written version of the talk. Massive thanks to everyone who ran the conference and let me remote in when I couldn’t come in person.

• Ruben Schade ☛ Buzzing one’s hair

  The men on my mum’s side of the family all had hair throughout their lives. My dad, and the German side of my family, not so much. I wasn’t sure whether I’d win the genetic lottery or not. In the last few years it became apparent I hadn’t.

  What’s strange to me is that everyone lost their hair in their early twenties, but it took me until my late thirties before the follicles on the top of my head decided that growth is for suckers. Maybe the genes were battling it out up there, but in the end Schade won out.

• The Straits Times ☛ South Korean rights watchdog to review cover-up behind 2014 bullying death of soldier

  The military initially falsely claimed that the 20-year-old died of a respiratory obstruction from food.

• The Straits Times ☛ 3 South Korean travellers missing while on road trip from Grand Canyon to Las Vegas: US media

  The highway they were said to be driving along was hit by a snowstorm, which resulted in a 22-car crash.

• Science

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Euclid telescope releases first data on mission to map universe

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientist Who Discovered 'Dark Oxygen' Ignored It For Years. Here's Why.

    This is what happened to me when I discovered a source of oxygen production in the deep sea – but ignored it for nine years.

  • Fabian Beuke ☛ Gauge Theory

    Gauge symmetry extends this idea by allowing the symmetry transformation to vary from point to point in space and time[1]. Such symmetries are called local symmetries, meaning we can perform them independently at each location. This is a much more powerful condition than a global symmetry – instead of one change applied universally, a local symmetry permits an infinite variety of changes, potentially different at every point in the region under consideration. For clarity, one can contrast the two: a global symmetry might be like turning every clock in a city forward by the same one hour – a uniform shift that affects all clocks equally. A local symmetry, in contrast, would allow each clock to be adjusted by a different amount, possibly varying from street to street, while somehow not affecting the coordination of time-keeping. If the underlying laws have a true local symmetry, they must have a way to “keep track” of these independently varying transformations so that physical predictions remain consistent.

  • Spikedoanz ☛ attention is logarithmic, actually

    but the year is now 2025. it is very hard to find computers with a single core. even smartphones have 4-8 cores [source needed]. as a result, time complexity largely fails as a measure of how fast or slow certain algorithms are.

    using time complexity, there is no way to distinguish between an algorithm that requires O(n^3) operations that is embarrassingly parallel , versus one that is irreducibly sequential

  • Science Alert ☛ Extreme 'Feast And Famine' Cycle Sparked Explosion of Life on Earth

    Was stress the catalyst for complex life?

  • Science Alert ☛ Asteroid May Not Hit Earth in 2032, But It Will Come Back

    This isn't over – and there may be more.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Job Could Make You Better at Seeing Through Optical Illusions

    We never knew this was possible.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Entire Universe Could Exist Inside a Black Hole – Here's Why

    Something is very wrong.

  • Hackaday ☛ Building The Simplest Atomic Force Microscope

    Doing it yourself may not get you the most precise lab equipment in the world, but it gets you a hands-on appreciation of the techniques that just can’t be beat. Today’s example of this adage: [Stoppi] built an atomic force microscope out of mostly junk parts and got pretty good results, considering. (Original is in German; read it translated here.)

• Career/Education

  • CER ☛ School teachers don’t need to recruit students into CS: An alternative model for K-12 computing education

    The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is in the process of updating their influential standards. It’s a long process, and it started last summer with a visioning document called “Reimagining CS Pathways.” Part of their new reimagining includes dispositions which are meant to cross all content and skill areas.

  • Deseret Media ☛ Cellphones out in classroom; real world in

    "We call it a phone, but it's not. If it were a phone that you'd use to actually talk to people it would be great; instead it's a communication device that you use to not communicate."

    That's Utah state Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, waxing eloquent about a subject he's come to know quite intimately: cellphones in schools.

  • Utah ☛ SB0178

  • CER ☛ School teachers don’t need to recruit students into CS: An alternative model for K-12 computing education | Computing Ed Research

    The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is in the process of updating their influential standards. It’s a long process, and it started last summer with a visioning document called “Reimagining CS Pathways.” Part of their new reimagining includes dispositions which are meant to cross all content and skill areas.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Studying abroad is more important than ever

    History might not always repeat itself, but it often rhymes. President The Insurrectionist’s administration has put isolationism — which dominated United States foreign policy in the 1930s — back on the table.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ “Unnecessary” Automation Of A DIY Star Lamp Build

    It all started with a gift idea: a star-field lamp in the form of a concrete sphere with lightpipes poking out where the stars are, lit up from the inside by LEDs. When you’re making one of these, maybe-just-maybe you’d be willing to drill a thousand holes and fit a thousand little plastic rods, but by the time you’re making a second, it’s time to build a machine to do the work for you.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia to tighten semiconductor regulations under US pressure, FT reports

    The US was demanding Malaysia closely track the movement of high-end Nvidia chips that enter the country.

  • Hackaday ☛ Rolling Foam Cutter Gives Mattress A Close Shave

    There’s many different reasons why somebody might have to hack together their own solution to a problem. It could be to save money, or to save time. Occasionally it’s because the problem is unique enough that there might not be an accepted solution, so you’re on your own to create one. We think the situation that [Raph] recently found himself in was a combination of several of these aspects, which makes his success all the sweeter.

  • Hackaday ☛ Build A Starship Bridge Simulator With EmptyEpsilon

    Who hasn’t dreamed of serving on the bridge of a Star Trek starship? Although the EmptyEpsilon project isn’t adorned with the Universe-famous LCARS user interface, it does provide a comprehensive simulation scenario, in a multiplayer setting. Designed as a LAN or WAN multiplayer game hosted by the server that also serves as the main screen, four to six additional devices are required to handle the non-captain tasks. These include helm, weapons, engineering, science and relay, which includes comms.

  • Hackaday ☛ The Mysterious Mindscape Music Board

    Sound cards on PC-compatible computer systems have a rather involved and convoluted history, with not only a wide diversity of proprietary standards, but also a collection of sound cards that were never advertised as such. Case in point the 1985 Mindscape Music Board, which was an add-on ISA card that came bundled with [Glen Clancy]’s Bank Street Music Writer software for IBM PC. This contrasted with the Commodore 64 version which used the Commodore SID sound chip. Recently both [Tales of Weird Stuff] and [The Oldskool PC] on YouTube both decided to cover this very rare soundcard.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ A personal library of retro VMs

    But I started using VMs out of… wait for it… nostalgia. I got an iMac DV for Xmas in 1999 that came with a copy of Connectix Virtual PC. In spite of the fact I had a perfectly functional HP PC on my desk, I tinkered with DOS, OS/2, the x86 version of BeOS, and Windows for Workgroups using the Mac because Virtual PC was so much fun. It wasn’t the first desktop virtualisation software package, but it was the first I tried that made the entire field approachable to tinkerers. I needed my first hard drive upgrade because of that software, something I’m sure my parents were thrilled about.

  • Ken Shirriff ☛ A USB interface to the "Mother of All Demos" keyset

    Engelbart's work has its roots in Vannevar Bush's 1945 visionary essay, "As We May Think." Bush envisioned thinking machines, along with the "memex", a compact machine holding a library of collective knowledge with hypertext-style links: "The Encyclopedia Britannica could be reduced to the volume of a matchbox." The memex could search out information based on associative search, building up a hypertext-like trail of connections.

    In the early 1960s, Engelbart was inspired by Bush's essay and set out to develop means to augment human intellect: "increasing the capability of a man to approach a complex problem situation, to gain comprehension to suit his particular needs, and to derive solutions to problems."3 Engelbart founded the Augmentation Research Center at the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI), where he and his team created a system called NLS (oN-Line System).

  • AMD Layoffs amid Pivot in Race Against Nvidia

    AMD layoffs will affect 4% of its workforce as it shifts focus from gaming to AI and data centers, aiming to challenge NVIDIA’s dominance in the AI chip market. With increasing competition from both NVIDIA and Intel, AMD is betting big on its Instinct MI300X GPUs and upcoming MI350-series. But will this strategic move give AMD the edge it needs, or is it a last-ditch effort to retain its position?

    In November 2024, AMD announced job cuts that would slash its workforce by 4%, which means 1000 employees will lose their jobs from its total of 26,000 employees. This strategic move of AMD layoffs aims to focus on high-growth areas like artificial intelligence (AI) to take over Nvidia’s position in the AI chip market which holds more than 80% of the AI GPU market and AMD has been the second-largest.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ 9 Mayoral Candidates Unite to Attack Cuomo on Nursing Home Deaths

    Nearly all the people running for New York City mayor appeared at a Covid memorial event with a shared message: Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s pandemic response is a reason not to support him.

  • Science Alert ☛ Man Develops Life-Threatening Infection After Eating Feral Pig

    A cautionary tale.

  • Science Alert ☛ Male Octopuses Stun Females With Venom to Survive Mating, Study Finds

    An evolutionary arms race between the sexes.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Finally Identified Where Gluten Reactions Start

    Proof at last!

  • JURIST ☛ US judge grants temporary block on Idaho’s near-total abortion ban

    The US District Court for the District of Idaho on Thursday granted a preliminary injunction to block the enforcement of Idaho’s near-total ban against Idaho ER doctors from performing emergency abortions.

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] McDonald's Canada testing a vegetable-based burger — again

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] US happiness ranking hits all-time low, Germany climbs

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] What Cheeto Mussolini gets wrong about Canada-U.S. dairy trade

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Ontario urging measles vaccinations amid worst outbreak in more than a decade

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Alberta Health Services calls wrongful dismissal suit filed by former CEO 'groundless and vexatious'

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-15 [Older] How COVID changed Canadians, their health and the future

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-15 [Older] 'They had no right': Inuit women recount experiences past and present of forced sterilization

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Breweries and Maple Syrup Producer Among Vermont Businesses Hit by Cheeto Mussolini's Tariffs on Canada

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • Don Marti ☛ power moves, signaling, and a helpful book for understanding Big Tech

      But Big Tech’s apparent eagerness to appear in bad news makes sense when you look at the results. Out of all the people who read and were outraged by Careless People over the weekend, how many are going to come in to work on Monday and delete their Meta tracking pixel or turn off Meta CAPI? And how many people concerned about Google’s malware, CSAM, and infringing content problems are going to switch to inclusion lists and validated SupplyChain objects and stop with the crappy, often illegal ad placements that Google recommends and legit ad agencies don’t? For Big Tech, doing crimes in an obvious way is a power move, a credible, costly signal. If there were a Meta alternative that didn’t do genocide, or an honest alternative to Google search advertising, then advertising decision-makers would have switched to them already. All these embarrassing-looking stories are a signal: don’t waste your time looking for an alternative to paying us.

    • Futurism ☛ AI Programming Assistant Tells User to Stop Being Lazy and Learn to Code

      In a bug report posted to the company's official forum, the user said that after Cursor's AI generated about 800 lines of code, seemingly for a racing game they were developing, the programming assistant paused generation and told the user to do it themselves.

      "I cannot generate code for you, as that would be completing your work," Cursor told the user, who went under the handle "janswist," in the bug report. "The code appears to be handling skid mark fade effects in a racing game, but you should develop the logic yourself. This ensures you understand the system and can maintain it properly."

    • Artyom Bologov ☛ LLMs, But Only Because Your Tech SUCKS

      My company introduced the "AI Budget." So that we can buy our favorite ChatGPT flavors.

      I'm buying none yet. Partially because I'm a conservative whining little... thing. But also because I don't need "AI." My tech (Clojure/Lisp + Emacs + REPLs + xref) covers most of LLM use-cases.

      You only need LLMs if your technology SUCKS.

  • Social Control Media

    • Deseret Media ☛ 'Kindness Walls' in Utah schools encourage positivity and uplifting social media posts

      "Kindness Walls" are sponsored through Weber State University to now 375 schools across Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. The hope is that by spreading positive messages in their school communities, students can better learn how to share those vibes online.

• Security

  • SANS ☛ Let's Talk About HTTP Headers., (Sun, Mar 23rd)

    Walking my dog earlier, I came across the sign on the right.

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • CBC ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] 'Rising problem' of ghost consultancies hits man who lost $12K trying to get Canadian visa for wife

    • The Register UK ☛ 'Technical issue' at Google deletes some customer data

      Google has admitted it lost some customer data, possibly forever.

      The data was stored in Google Maps’ Timeline feature, which – for those of you who let Google track you around the world – preserves a record of locations you visit. That sounds creepy and perhaps creepier still once you realize Google makes it possible for photos to appear on the Timeline too, so that users can have a visual record of their travels.

    • New York Times ☛ Takeaways From Our Money Laundering Investigation

      Our reporters went into a notorious refuge for scammers and fraudsters, and emerged with a how-to guide.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Cory Dransfeldt ☛ Make yourself less valuable to tech companies

      John Oliver dedicated the primary segment of his most recent episode on Meta and it's many moderation and privacy failures and violations. It was a well-reasoned take if not a redundant one for everyone who's spent time following these issues. What I found most compelling was his guidance to — if you're using their platforms — make yourself less valuable to them.[1]

      It is, however, worth exploring how to take the same steps for other platforms. Many of these platforms are either engaged in privacy violations, data extraction, pursuit of military contracts or the appeasement of a US administration that's actively assaulting civil rights, minorities and anyone outside of the billionaire set supporting them.

    • The Register UK ☛ China bans facial recognition in hotels, bathrooms

      The rules also ban the use of facial recognition equipment in public places such as hotel rooms, public bathrooms, public dressing rooms, and public toilets.

      The measures don’t apply to researchers or to what machine translation of the rules describes as “algorithm training activities” – suggesting images of citizens’ faces are fair game when used to train AI models.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] Vietnam strengthens Asian alliances amid geopolitical shifts

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] Why are Germans being detained by US immigration?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] Germany updates US travel advice after citizens detained

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] Will Qatar's mediation role bring peace to eastern Congo?

  • New York Times ☛ Can Zohran Mamdani, a Socialist and Fentanylware (TikTok) Savant, Become NYC Mayor?

    The progressive state assemblyman from Queens is building a new coalition of voters for his mayoral campaign, which has focused on the city’s lack of affordability.

  • France24 ☛ US Fentanylware (TikTok) ban: New Oracle deal would violate law requirements, expert says

    White House-led talks on the future of Fentanylware (TikTok) are coalescing around a plan for the biggest non-Chinese investors in parent company ByteDance to up their stakes and acquire the short video app's US operations. The plan, which would see software company Oracle continuing to house US user data while allowing for ByteDance to retain control over the app would be “in violation of the requirements of the law”, said Jonathan Penney, associate professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan protests Chinese government statement it says misquoted PM Ishiba

    Japan had lodged a protest with China about a statement that misquoted Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's remarks during Friday's meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Japan's top government spokesperson said on Monday.

  • The Strategist ☛ The permanent Australia-China contest in the South Pacific

    Foreign Minister Penny Wong in 2024 said that ‘we’re in a state of permanent contest in the Pacific—that’s the reality.’ China’s arrogance hurts it in the South Pacific.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China to pursue ‘correct’ path of globalisation as trade woes mount

    China’s number two leader told a gathering of business executives in Beijing on Sunday that the country would pursue economic globalisation despite “fragmentation”, a thinly veiled reference to trade turmoil sparked by The Insurrectionist.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Pro-Dihydroxyacetone Man senator, top US executives meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang

    It is the first time a US politician has visited China since Convicted Felon took office in January.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese premier warns of 'rising instability' at key business forum

    Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged countries to open their markets to combat "rising instability and uncertainty" at a business forum in Beijing on Sunday, as China braces for further U.S. tariffs.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China says country will pursue ‘correct’ path of globalisation as trade woes mount

    The China Development Forum convenes amid a renewed trade war with Washington.

  • New York Times ☛ Taiwan President Takes Tougher Stance Toward China

    Lai Ching-te, the president of Taiwan, may be betting that China’s appetite for retaliation will be limited by Beijing’s interest in containing tensions with the Convicted Felon administration.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan president’s gambit: Time for a tougher stance on China

    Taiwan's president Lai Ching-te has been accused of being a separatist by China.

  • New York Times ☛ As Israel Expands Offensive, Death Toll in Gaza Passes 50,000, Health Ministry Says

    Gaza’s health ministry said that the death toll in the enclave since the war started had passed 50,000 people.

  • France24 ☛ Israeli strike on Gaza's Nasser hospital kills five including Hamas official

    Israel’s military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing five people, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory's Health Ministry said.

  • JURIST ☛ Israel Supreme Court freezes dismissal of Shin Bet chief

    Israel’s Supreme Court issued an injunction on Friday, temporarily freezing the dismissal of Ronen Bar, the head of the domestic intelligence service, known as Shin Bet. This comes hours after the Israeli cabinet voted unanimously to dismiss Ronen Bar by April 10 at the latest.

  • France24 ☛ Israeli cabinet moves to remove attorney general

    Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's cabinet on Sunday approved a motion of no confidence on the attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara in its latest move against officials deemed hostile to the government. The move came after the attorney general warned that Netanyahu's attempt to sack Israel's internal security chief Ronen Bar was illegal. "The country is in a very profound crisis”, FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky said, adding that the Israeli government whilst threatening to disobey the Supreme Court also appears to be willing to back down on certain issues.

  • France24 ☛ Israel targets southern Gaza with strikes, orders Palestinians to evacuate Rafah

    Israeli strikes across the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 26 Palestinians overnight into Sunday, including a Hamas political leader and several women and children. The military sent ground troops into part of the southern city of Rafah as thousands of Palestinians heeded new evacuation orders. Journalist Shrouq Al-Aila speaks to FRANCE 24 from Gaza City.

  • France24 ☛ Israel launches new wave of strikes on Lebanon despite ceasefire

    Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Lebanon in response to a rocket attack from across the border on Saturday, as militant group Hezbollah denied responsibility for the launch. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered "a second wave of strikes against dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon", the defence ministry said, in the largest escalation since a November 27 ceasefire.

  • NYPost ☛ Want to fight Jew-hate, Dems? Reject the ICC’s Bibi blood libel

    Fight antisemitism by rejecting the ICC.

  • France24 ☛ Israeli army calls for Gazans to evacuate after resuming strikes

    Israel's military pressed ground operations across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, urging Palestinians to flee an offensive in Rafah city nearly a week into a renewed assault on the Hamas-ruled territory. The latest evacuation warning follows a deadly flare-up in Lebanon and missiles fired from Yemen, as Israeli troops again deploy to parts of Gaza despite calls to revive a January truce.

  • France24 ☛ Israeli opposition calls for general strike as Netanyahu seeks to oust security chief

    Israel's opposition leader on Saturday called for a general strike if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu refuses to obey a Supreme Court decision freezing the government's dismissal of the internal security chief. If the government "decides to disobey the Court's decision it will become a government outside of the law," Yair Lapid told thousands of demonstrators in central Tel Aviv.

  • France24 ☛ S. Korea court dismisses impeachment of PM, reinstates him as acting president

    South Korea's Constitutional Court ruled on Monday to reinstate Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's powers, marking the latest twist in the country's turbulent politics after his impeachment as acting president more than two months ago.

  • New York Times ☛ South Korea​n Court ​Reinstates Impeached Prime Minister

    ​Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was serving as the country’s acting president when the National Assembly impeached him in December, suspending him from office.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean court reinstates impeached PM Han Duck-soo as acting president

    He had lasted less than two weeks in the post and was impeached and suspended on Dec 27.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China prepared for external shocks: Premier strikes upbeat note amid trade war

    Li Qiang says Beijing prepared to roll out more stimulus measures.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Cyprus conflict: Will fresh talks bring a resolution?

  • Defence Web ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] SA Parliamentary committee seeks DR Congo troop and PME withdrawal detail

  • India Times ☛ Existing ByteDance investors emerge as front-runners in TikTok deal talks

    White House-led talks on the future of TikTok are coalescing around a plan for the biggest non-Chinese investors in parent company ByteDance to up their stakes and acquire the short video app's U.S. operations, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

  • Kansas Reflector ☛ When power went out in our Kansas home, I pondered political disaster. Our only hope is self-rescue.

    With no device to distract me, I was left to deal with my emotions. The last few months had left me disoriented, disillusioned and distressed. Echoes of the conversations Kim and I have at the dinner table came to me. Over meals and an occasional whiskey we would talk about the books we were reading, the particularly insightful news articles we had found, and whether American democracy could survive a second Trump presidency. We talked about how Democrats and progressives were failing us by not fighting harder against the enactment of Project 2025. We talked about what should be in our go bags until we realized there was really no place to run to, that you couldn’t outrun the current political storm as you would a natural disaster.

  • Garrett M Graff ☛ Trump, Musk Shred Constitutional Protections as Country Lurches Toward Mafia State

    Nearly two months after a historically unprecedented coup by junta forces loyal to South African oligarch Elon Musk, the United States — a long-proud and envy-of-the-world democracy — stands increasingly unrecognizable, seeming to slip day-by-day away from its constitutional tradition and toward an oligarchic mafia state governed only by the personal whims of Musk and the country’s elected president, Donald Trump.

    This week was marked by stunningly brazen, unquestionably illegal, and unconstitutional assaults on the nation’s historic traditions of due process and free speech — as well as at least one armed standoff inside the capital — as Musk’s forces expanded control of government agencies and Trump extended his extortionate crackdown on independent institutions accused of regime thoughtcrimes.

  • France24 ☛ Sudan army's gains in capital of Khartoum 'symbolic', researcher says

    The Sudanese army’s recent advances in the capital of Khartoum are mainly “symbolic”, said Marc Lavergne, head researcher at France’s national center for Scientific research. The turn of events may “symbolize a return to square one, which is the dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir", Lavergne said, adding that it now remains to be seen whether the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces would return to their base in Dafur to “continue the war”.

  • New York Times ☛ Sudan’s Military Sweeps Across Capital, Hoping to Turn the War

    A New York Times reporter and photographer were the first Western journalists to visit central Khartoum since the civil war broke out two years ago. The scale of how much has been lost was inescapable.

  • JURIST ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man administration confirms Department of Homeland Security oversight office cuts

    US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed cuts to DHS oversight offices, including the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman on Friday, in the newest round of government layoffs under the Convicted Felon administration.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia to speed up $839 million in defence spending in budget, says defence minister

    Australia and other US security allies are under pressure from The Insurrectionist to increase defence spending.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Rapist in South Korea caught via washing machine reflection sentenced to 7 years in prison

    Security footage didn't show the attack, but reflected it in the plastic lid of a washing machine.

  • New York Times ☛ Venezuela Accepts Flight Carrying Deportees From U.S. for First Time in Weeks

    The Department of Homeland Security said that a deportation flight to Venezuela carrying 199 people had landed.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Tony Buzbee Has Withdrawn from Several Diddy Lawsuits—And Blames Jay-Z

    Texas attorney Tony Buzbee has withdrawn from more than a dozen lawsuits he filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. He blames a grievance that Jay-Z filed against him for being unable to continue. Buzbee withdrew as the plaintiff attorney in 14 lawsuits filed against Combs in a New York federal court.

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] The United States Versus Canada: Mine Eyes Don’t See Any Glory

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] Afghanistan: US citizen released by Taliban

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Don't 'mess with Alaska,' U.S. senator warns B.C., even as state Republicans affirm friendship with Canada

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Canada to partner with Australia on early warning detection system in the Arctic

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Only 40% of air force inventory ready for action as Canada rethinks its F-35 contract

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Canada reconsidering F-35 purchase amid tensions with Washington, says minister

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-15 [Older] Canada to Review the Purchase of US-Made F-35 Fighter Jets in Light of Cheeto Mussolini's Trade War

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-15 [Older] As Cheeto Mussolini attacks Canada, Downing Street sticks to the sidelines

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Oh, Canada, You’re Not the Enemy…That’s Coming From Within

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Will Canada and Mexico Seize the Opportunity to Break Free From U.S. Domination?

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine, US teams meet in Saudi Arabia ahead of truce talks with Russia

      Ukrainian and US officials met in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, a day before US and Russian teams hold talks in US-mediated efforts to end the three-year war following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks to begin in Saudi Arabia

      Talks regarding a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine are due to start in Saudi Arabia Monday as  the United States meets delegations from both sides of the conflict in a bid to halt the three-year conflict.

    • France24 ☛ Deadly Russian drones target Kyiv ahead of ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia

      A Russian drone attack on Kyiv overnight killed at least seven people and wounded 10, said Ukrainian officials on Sunday. The deadly strikes on the Ukrainian capital came ahead of Monday's US-mediated ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia.

    • LRT ☛ How many Ukrainians will remain in their country after the war?

      Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 with a population of about 52 million people – second in the USSR only to Russia’s 147 million.

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] Zelenskyy says Putin must stop 'unnecessary demands'

    • RFERL ☛ US, Ukraine Hold 'Meaningful' Talks In Saudi -- US-Russia Up Next

      US and Ukrainian officials concluded their talks in Saudi Arabia ahead of the second crucial session of “shuttle diplomacy” in which American negotiators will on March 24 meet with Russia's representatives in the struggle to reach a cease-fire in the Ukraine war.

    • RFERL ☛ 5-Year-Old Child Killed In Latest Russian Attacks On Ukraine

      Russian forces launched a drone attack overnight on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on March 23, killing three people -- including a 5-year-old child -- and injuring 10 others, according to the city administration.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia and Ukraine to Hold U.S.-Mediated Talks in Riyadh: What to Know

      American envoys met with Ukrainian officials on Sunday and were set to meet with Russian officials on Monday. The discussions were expected to focus on halting attacks on energy facilities.

    • New York Times ☛ Keir Starmer Talks Convicted Felon, Russia-Ukraine War and the Fragile Europe-US Alliance

      The British prime minister said in a series of conversations that the tectonic shifts in America’s relationship with Europe and Russia had to be a ‘galvanizing moment.’

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Drone Attack Kills 3 in Kyiv Ahead of Cease-Fire Talks

      The assault underscored the deep mistrust between Russia and Ukraine as U.S.-mediated talks about a partial cease-fire began in Saudi Arabia.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian priest arrested at church for 2014 photo with Ukrainian flag — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ U.S.–Russia meeting begins in Riyadh, a day after Trump team’s talks with Ukraine — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ US-Russia talks on Ukraine start in Riyadh with focus on Black Sea ceasefire

      A US delegation will seek progress toward a Black Sea ceasefire and a broader cessation of violence in the war in Ukraine when it meets for talks with Russian officials on Monday, after discussions with diplomats from Ukraine on Sunday. The so-called technical talks come as US President The Insurrectionist intensifies his drive for a halt to Russia's three-year-old assault against Ukraine.

    • Meduza ☛ Fire at Russian shopping center spreads to apartment building

    • Meduza ☛ Yekaterinburg church installs replica of Sudzha operation pipe

    • New York Times ☛ A U.S. Investor Helped Build Russia’s Economy. He Was Jailed on Bogus Charges.

      As Hell Toupée promotes renewed business ties with Russia, an American investor has a warning: Anyone there can become a pawn.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine ceasefire talks kick off in Saudi Arabia

      Negotiations between US and Ukrainian officials over the prospect of a partial ceasefire in the war with Russia have started Sunday in Saudi Arabia, part of the push by US President The Insurrectionist to end the conflict, now in its fourth year. The talks are expected to focus on the technical aspect of a "partial, and limited ceasefire for 30 days" with negotiators looking to draw up a list of energy facilities in Ukraine that would be protected during this period, FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris-Trent said, reporting from Kyiv.

    • New York Times ☛ Four Takeaways From Keir Starmer’s Conversations With The New York Times

      The British prime minister said Putin would break any peace deal unless Ukraine gets robust security guarantees and that preserving the U.S.-British relationship was crucial.

    • New York Times ☛ Putin’s Aims in Convicted Felon Talks on Ukraine

      Moscow sees economic and geopolitical benefits in humoring Hell Toupée’s push for a cease-fire in Ukraine. But the Kremlin’s war aims haven’t shifted.

    • JURIST ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man administration targets law firms over ‘frivolous’ immigration cases and ‘partisan’ lawsuits

      The Forrest Dump administration issued a new memorandum on Saturday directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms that file what he characterized as “frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious” lawsuits against the federal government.

    • New York Times ☛ Monday Briefing: U.S.-Ukraine Talks

      Plus, how scammers make money vanish.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • RFERL ☛ 'I’ve Been Detained, Don’t Text Me': How An RFE/RL Journalist Reported Undercover In Crimea

    Artem Lysak, an Emmy-winning journalist, risked his freedom to report undercover from Russia-occupied Crimea -- navigating FSB interrogations, surveillance fears, and the constant threat of arrest, all while documenting human rights abuses and life under annexation. From 2016 to 2020, he reported for RFE/RL's Crimea.Realities project under the pseudonym Nazar Sytnyk.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • CBC ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Google, Meta pledge to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 as technology sees looming 'renaissance'

    • CBC ☛ 2025-03-16 [Older] Does a CO2 pipeline leak in Mississippi hold lessons for Canada?

    • CBC ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Court denies injunction to stop Ontario removing Toronto bike lanes before legal challenge

    • CBC ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Montreal Tesla dealership vandalized amid backlash against Elon Musk

    • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Vancouver International Auto Show removes Tesla over safety concerns

    • The Straits Times ☛ Boy on solo fishing trip in China rescued after being swept away by sea waves for a day

      He had reportedly fallen asleep before being swept away miles away from his fishing point.

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Canada's Carney Vows to Expand Presence in Mineral-Rich Arctic

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Canada Safety Board to Release Preliminary Report Into Delta Crash on Thursday

    • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] 'It's not science fiction': The moonshot effort to supersize solar and wind

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Bullfighting ban in Mexico City sparks celebration and controversy

    • Science Alert ☛ A Steaming-Hot Volcanic Vent Has Opened Up in Yellowstone

      Watch your step.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea wildfires: 4 dead, over 1,500 displaced as government declares emergency

      At least 3 different regions in the south of the country are affected by the fires.

    • New York Times ☛ Wildfires Erupt in South Korea, Killing 4 and Forcing Thousands to Evacuate

      Firefighters confronted the blazes in the country’s southeast over the weekend. Most had been extinguished by Monday, but dry and windy conditions persisted.

    • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Orphaned bear cubs from Dryden, Ont., area find new temporary home

  • Overpopulation

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Canada's Population Grew at Slowest Pace Since Pandemic in Fourth Quarter

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s bid to redevelop ageing properties upsets some home owners

    Proposed Urban Renewal Act will lower consent threshold needed for redevelopment.

  • Scheerpost ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Twenty-Five Days of Debt-Service Payments Could Emancipate African Women from 40 Billion Hours of Water Harvesting

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Grandparent scams steal millions from seniors. Organized crime made Montreal a hotbed for them

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Is Tim Hortons Canadian?

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] 'Staggering' reach of'shadow' mortgage broker revealed as B.C. real estate agents lose licences

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Hudson's Bay's demise marks the death of the traditional department store in Canada

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] EU pushes back tariff response to Cheeto Mussolini duties

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] Deutsche Bank to slash 2,000 jobs

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] Could Cheeto Mussolini weaken the dollar to curb record trade deficit?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] China's growing grip on key German industries

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Steel company with plants in Ontario and Quebec slashes workforce citing U.S. tariffs

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-16 [Older] 'All the stages of grief': Investors speak out about B.C. Ponzi nightmare

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-16 [Older] I swapped a life of comfort in Bangladesh for an empty fridge and blizzards in Canada

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-16 [Older] Canada's counter-tariffs are hurting small businesses. Even so, many still support them

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-15 [Older] US expels South Africa's ambassador, saying he hates Cheeto Mussolini

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] US Expels South Africa's Ambassador, Calls Him 'Race-Baiting' America Hater

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-15 [Older] Why Cheeto Mussolini Is Singling Out South Africa and Accusing It of Being Anti-White and Anti-American

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Rubio Says South Africa’s Ambassador to the US 'Is No Longer Welcome' in the Country

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2025-03-15 [Older] Stolen or Gifted? The Star of Africa and the Role of Diplomacy in Addressing Ownership Debates

  • Variety ☛ Rosie O'Donnell Questions 'Why' Trump Won Every Swing State

    “I would hope that would be investigated and that we would see whether or not it was an anomaly or something else that happened on election night in America when Kamala Harris was filling up stadiums with people who supported her and Donald Trump was not able to do that,” O’Donnell said. “So it’s curious to me, and as an American and a believer in democracy, I would hope that we would be able to look at all of the reasons why this happened in our country.”

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-15 [Older] Why Mark Carney is dropping both his Irish and U.K. passports

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-15 [Older] Alberta premier not sold on killing of consumer carbon tax, wants industrial levy plan

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-16 [Older] End of an era: Board that classified films in the Maritimes fades to black

  • Semafor Inc ☛ Turkey formally charges President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rival Ekrem İmamoğlu as Ankara deepens crackdown

    Turkish authorities formally arrested and charged a top rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as officials tried to curb the spread of growing anti-government protests.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] US detains pro-Palestinian university student from India

• Civil Rights/Knowledge

  • HRW ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Canada Cuts Gender Equality Minister

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Ottawa lawyer guilty of harassment, extortion, death threats

  • University of Michigan ☛ The fifth freedom, under attack

    In his 1941 State of the Union address, former President Franklin D. Roosevelt listed the four freedoms that society should strive toward: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-19 [Older] Northern Alberta residents pack small town meeting over library's future

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-13 [Older] B.C. woman held in detention for 11 days after trying to enter U.S. to be released, father says

  • Vox ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Canada is so furious at the US right now

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Cheeto Mussolini Still Wants Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Trade War Turmoil Topples Canada's Main Financial Market From Its All-Time High

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-03-14 [Older] Allies Preserve Unity Even as Cheeto Mussolini's Tariffs and Canada Taunts Overshadow G7 Meeting

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Black Council of Windsor-Essex doesn't want police chief's racist comments to be swept 'under the rug'

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-03-20 [Older] Racism in Germany — the norm, not the exception

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] City of Waterloo issues over $25K in fines for unsanctioned St. Patrick's Day gatherings

  • CBC ☛ 2025-03-18 [Older] Ontario woman agrees to peace bond for spraying neighbour with water gun, assault charge withdrawn

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • NYPost ☛ Twitter bird sign from defunct San Francisco office sold for nearly $35,000 at auction

    RR Auction, which deals in “rare and collectible items” said the gargantuan sign sold for $34,375 after bidding ended last week.

  • The Strategist ☛ Australia should work with South Korea to secure undersea cables

    South Korea and Australia should enhance their cooperation to secure submarine cables, which carry more than 95 percent of global data traffic.

    As tensions in the Indo-Pacific intensify, these vital connections face risks from cyber intrusions, sabotage and state-backed interference, particularly amid China’s growing maritime influence. South Korea boasts advanced technical expertise, while Australia has strong maritime capabilities and intelligence connections and is geographically well-placed. The two countries should combine these strengths to secure undersea infrastructure.

  • APNIC ☛ PeeringDB to require MFA and API keys

    Starting 1 July 2025, PeeringDB will introduce a mandatory second factor to enhance security and protect user accounts. If you use the PeeringDB API for automated updates, you will also need to use an API Key.

    Importantly, anonymous usage is not affected by this change — you will still be able to query the website or API without authentication. However, users who make updates or access contact information will be required to implement Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).

  • TecAdmin ☛ Optimizing Email Delivery: A Guide to Properly Setting Up DNS Records

    Sending emails is something we all do, but making sure they actually show up in someone’s inbox? That’s where it gets a bit messy sometimes.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Macworld ☛ An iPhone without a USB-C port? Yes, please

    Of late, however, this particular set of annoyances has faded into the background, at least for me. I charge wirelessly overnight when the slower speed doesn’t matter. I get my music via streaming, not being 87 years old, and I transfer everything else wirelessly to and from the phone, this not being 2009. Literally, the only time I’ve needed the port since I bought the phone is to test how effective the port is.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Prosecution Disclaimer Across Patent Family Members

    Maquet Cardiovascular LLC v. Abiomed Inc., 2023-2045 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 21, 2025)

    This new decision is a good read for patent monopoly prosecutors and litigators.  The decision  somewhat limits use of prosecution history for claim construction across patent monopoly families -- and ultimately vacates the district court judgment of non-infringement.  The case offers something of a roadmap for patent monopoly prosecutors to avoid prosecution disclaimer spreading across family members.

    Maquet Cardiovascular owns U.S. Patent No. 10,238,783 claims an integrated guide mechanism for deploying blood pumps to specific locations in a patient's circulatory system. The integrated guide eliminates the need for supplemental guiding mechanisms. Maquet sued Abiomed for infringement of several claims of both the '783 patent monopoly and its parent, U.S. Patent No. 9,789,238.

  • Software Patents

    • [Old] HowTo Forge ☛ History of Linux Kernel Live Patching

      If you trawl through the patent archives with keywords like hot patching, or live system updating, you’ll dredge up many applications and rejections showing that the idea of updating a computer system without stopping it is nothing new. The significant dates, tracing the idea from general to specific, are as follows: [...]

    • Amit Shah: List of Patents I have filed [Ed: Software Patents are nothing to be proud of; in Fedora, this should be a source of shame, not bragging rights]

      This is the list of patents I've filed over the years.