Leftovers

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ This May Be The World's Oldest Human Fingerprint, And That's Not All

    It's so much more than that.

  • Science Alert ☛ Sound of Earth's Flipping Magnetic Field Is an Unforgettable Horror

    Just listen to it.

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Reveals How Your Cat Remembers Who You Are

    It's probably not your face.

  • Science Alert ☛ Sexual Activity Before Bed Can Help You Sleep Better

    Science says so.

• Career/Education

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China condemns US President The Insurrectionist’s ‘discriminatory’ plan to revoke student visas

    By Mary Yang, Shaun Tandon and Gregory Walton Beijing reacted in fury Thursday at the US government’s vow to revoke Chinese students’ visas, condemning President The Insurrectionist’s crackdown on international scholars as “political and discriminatory”.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Chattanooga School Agreed to Pay $100,000 to Family of Student Arrested Under School Threats Law

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s move to revoke Chinese student visas could undermine US-China trade talks

    As at 2024, there were about 277,000 Chinese students in the US – the highest of any country besides India.

  • New York Times ☛ Chinese Students Are Frustrated With Convicted Felon’s Visa Bans: ‘What Now?’

    As applicants in Beijing wait to see how sweeping the new action might be, one says the United States is making people too scared.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ You Can Make Your Own Ribbon Mic With A Gum Wrapper

    There are lots of different types of microphone, with the ribbon microphone being one of the rarer ones. Commercial versions are often prized for their tone and frequency response. You can make your own too, as [Something Physical] demonstrates using a packet of chewing gum.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China's first 6nm domestic GPU with purported RTX 4060-like performance has powered on

    Chinese GPU startup Lisuan Technology has announced via its official WeChat account that its G100 6nm graphics card has been powered on.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China to ease rare earth export restrictions to benefit domestic and European semiconductor firms

    China will ease rare earth export restrictions for domestic and European semiconductor firms, according to state media.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ 1-year-old in critical condition after Covid-19 infection

    A one-year-old girl infected with Covid-19 is in critical condition, Hong Kong’s health authorities have said, amid an increase in infections that began in mid-March.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Discover Molecule That Blocks Aging And Dementia in Mice

    A protein that can reverse cognitive decline?

  • Science Alert ☛ Your Coffee May Not Even Need Caffeine to Wake You Up

    Surprise!

  • Science Alert ☛ Parasite Infecting Up to 50% of People Can Decapitate Human Sperm

    Could this explain plummeting male fertility?

  • Hackaday ☛ Researchers Are Slowly Finding Ways To Stem The Tide Of PFAS Contamination

    If you’ve been following environmental news over the past couple of decades, you’ve probably heard about PFAS – those pesky “forever chemicals” that seem to turn up everywhere from drinking water to polar bear blood. They’re bad for us, and we know it, but they’ve been leeching into the environment for decades, often as a result of military or industrial activity. What’s worse is that these contaminants just don’t seem to break down—they stick around in the environment causing harm on an ongoing basis.

• Proprietary

  • Bloomberg ☛ US Prosecutors Sought Builder.ai Data After Sales Overstated

    US prosecutors demanded that Builder.ai hand over financial statements and other documents, signaling that the artificial intelligence company was facing legal scrutiny in the weeks before it went bust.

  • Net Media Europe ☛ Builder.ai Collapsed After Finding Sales ‘Inflated By 300 Percent’

    Builder.ai, one of the UK’s best-funded technology start-ups, collapsed after an internal investigation found evidence of potentially fraudulent sales and the company revised 2024 sales to only a quarter of previous estimates, the Financial Times reported.

  • Hackaday ☛ Forced E-Waste PCs And The Case Of Windows 11’s Trusted Platform

    Until the release of Windows 11, the upgrade proposition for Windows operating systems was rather straightforward: you considered whether the current version of Windows on your system still fulfilled your needs and if the answer was ‘no’, you’d buy an upgrade disc. Although system requirements slowly crept up over time, it was likely that your PC could still run the newest-and-greatest Windows version. Even Windows 7 had a graphical fallback mode, just in case your PC’s video card was a potato incapable of handling the GPU-accelerated Aero Glass UI.

• Security

  • Confidentiality

    • Federal Trade Commission ☛ 2025-05-23 [Older] FTC Finalizes Order with GoDaddy over Data Security Failures

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man aims to exceed first term's weapons sales to Taiwan, officials say

    The United States plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taipei to a level exceeding President The Insurrectionist's first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the democratic island, according to two U.S. officials.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man aims to exceed first term’s weapons sales to Taiwan, officials say

    If US arms sales to Taiwan do accelerate, it would add new friction to the tense US-China relationship.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China sets up international mediation body in Hong Kong

    The mediation body aims to cement Hong Kong's presence as a top centre to resolve disputes between countries.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Makes a New Push to ‘Decouple’ U.S. From China

    Dihydroxyacetone Man administration officials are getting a second chance to try to sever ties with China by starting a trade war, imposing export controls and revoking student visas.

  • New York Times ☛ Four Killed as South Korean Navy Airplane Crashes Into Hillside

    The authorities are investigating what caused the accident involving a turboprop patrol plane.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean navy patrol aircraft crashes killing 4 crew

    Four people were on board the aircraft when it crashed in the southern city of Pohang.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim Jong Un leads meeting on strengthening military, inspects artillery drill

    Mr Kim said it is very important to frequently organise firing contests close to the actual warfare environment.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Koreans vote early in record numbers in poll triggered by martial law

    All major polls have placed liberal Lee Jae-myung as the clear front runner in the presidential race.

  • Pro Publica ☛ How Trump Has Left the Fight Against Extremist Violence to the States

    Under the watchful gaze of security guards, dozens of people streamed through metal detectors to enter Temple Israel one evening this month for a town hall meeting on hate crimes and domestic terrorism.

    The cavernous synagogue outside of Detroit, one of several houses of worship along a suburban strip nicknamed “God Row,” was on high alert. Police cars formed a zigzag in the driveway. Only registered guests were admitted; no purses or backpacks were allowed. Attendees had been informed of the location just 48 hours in advance.

  • Chinese students face uncertain future as US imposes visa crackdown

    China says the U.S. is using national security as a pretext to “aggressively” revoke visas of Chinese students.

  • Stanford University ☛ Arraignment of 12 pro-Palestine protestors draws demonstrators, police presence

    Protestors gathered outside the Palo Alto Courthouse Thursday following the arraignment of 12 pro-Palestine protesters facing felony charges. The 12 defendants were arrested after breaking into the University president's office last June.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippines says China has no right to interfere with its ‘lawful’ activities in the South China Sea

    China and the Philippines traded accusations last week after a confrontation between two of their vessels.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China will not send its defence minister to Shangri-La Dialogue for the first time since 2019

    China will send a People’s Liberation Army National Defence University delegation instead.

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-05-23 [Older] White House Slashing Staff in Major Overhaul of National Security Council, Officials Say

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-05-23 [Older] White House National Security Council Slashes Staff in Dramatic Restructuring, Sources Say

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-05-23 [Older] After Shootings, Washington's Shaken Jewish Community Looks to Bolster Security

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ Russia accuses Serbia of supplying weapons to Ukraine, 'profiting from the blood of their fellow Slavs' — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ China has stopped selling drones to Ukraine while increasing component shipments to Russia — Bloomberg — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘We could not influence the list’: In Russia and Ukraine’s biggest prisoner swap of the war, Moscow returned a defector and prisoners already slated for deportation — Meduza

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-05-28 [Older] EU Proposes Black Sea Maritime Security Hub

• Environment

  • Pro Publica ☛ What Went Wrong With the Climate Relocation of Newtok, Alaska?

    NEWTOK, Alaska — A jumble of shipping containers hold all that remains of the demolished public school in Newtok, Alaska, where on a recent visit, a few stray dogs and a lone ermine prowled among the ruins.

    Late last year, the final residents of this sinking village near the Bering Sea left behind the waterlogged tundra of their former home, part of a fraught, federally funded effort to resettle communities threatened by climate change.

  • New York Times ☛ Will Charleston’s Climate Lawsuit Survive the Week?

    The city is suing oil companies over global warming. Convicted Felon says lawsuits like these threaten national security. The judge wants to hear what both sides think.

  • NYPost ☛ ‘Army of orange’ inmates with chainsaws rescue mother, 3 children who were stranded after destructive Oklahoma tornado

    "It's an army of orange."

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ US sanctions Philippines digital infrastructure provider linked to virtual currency scams

      The U.S. Treasury is placing under sanctions a Philippines-based company accused of providing internet infrastructure to a swathe of virtual currency investment scams, better known as "pig butchering." 

    • New York Times ☛ British Man Faces 7 Charges Over Liverpool Parade Car Crash

      Paul Doyle, 53, was accused of dangerous driving and other assault charges after almost 80 people were injured when a vehicle plowed into a crowd at a soccer parade.

    • Latvia ☛ State Audit: Latvia has not monitored airBaltic enough

      The state has not been on top of its game when it comes to the recovery of investments made in the airline airBaltic during Covid-19. This was concluded by the State Audit Office when reviewing the implementation of recommendations made in its 2021 audit, the Audit Office announced on 29 May.

    • Green Party UK ☛ 2025-05-23 [Older] “Clean, green, renewable power not tied to the old fossil gas market is what we need to bring down bills sustainably.”

    • Green Party UK ☛ 2025-05-21 [Older] Greens welcome apparent U-turn from government on winter fuel payments

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Conversation ☛ 2025-05-23 [Older] What’s it like being a raven or a crow?

    • The Conversation ☛ 2025-05-27 [Older] What the hidden rhythms of orangutan calls can tell us about language – new research

    • The Conversation ☛ 2025-05-28 [Older] Is the bar higher for scientific claims of alien life?

• Finance

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ One Explanation for MElon’s Claimed DOGE Departure that Gossip-Mongers Missed

    There's a better explanation for MElon's claimed departure from DOGE than the Convicted Felon-Musk drama some outlets are portraying. This looks like another attempt to retcon what DOGE did in an effort to defeat a lawsuit.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ U.S. Trade Court blocks Hell Toupée's sweeping tariffs on countries including China

    A U.S. trade court has blocked Hell Toupée's sweeping tariffs.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Korean Regulators Investigating BTS Mastermind Bang Si-hyuk Over Alleged Big Hit Entertainment IPO Fraud

    Hybe chairman Bang Si-hyuk, the mastermind behind BTS, is under investigation by South Korea’s financial watchdog for allegedly fraudulent trading. South Korean outlets report that the country’s Financial Supervisory Service has been looking into claims that Hybe chairman Bang Si-hyuk misled investors during Hybe’s pre-IPO phase in 2019.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan says its nationals detained in Cambodia in joint battle on fraud

    Japan is looking into the numbers and whereabouts of those detained, said a spokesman.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Nurses in Malaysia decry increase in weekly working hours from 42 to 45

    The Malayan Nurses Union said nurses in countries such as Singapore and the Philippines work 40 hours a week.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea's presidential election set to reshape policies for key US ally

    North Korea is one area where Lee may see eye-to-eye with Mr Convicted Felon.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Parties behind 2024 Biden Hey Hi (AI) robocall reach deal in lawsuit

       The defendants will increase reporting on spoofing, create a compliance team or Hey Hi (AI) and conduct regular training for staff on how to identify deceptive messages and the dangers of misinformation in U.S. elections.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Relatives of exiled Hong Kong actor-turned-activist questioned

    Cousins of Canada-based Joe Tay are the latest family of wanted activists to be detained in the city.

  • Michael Geist ☛ Here We Go Again: Internet Age Verification and Website Blocking Bill Reintroduced in the Senate (With Some Changes)

    The last Parliament featured debate over several contentious Internet-related bills, notably streaming and news laws (Bills C-11 and C-18), online harms (Bill C-63) and Internet age verification and website blocking (Bill S-210). Bill S-210 fell below the radar screen for many months as it started in the Senate and received only cursory review in the House. The bill faced only a final vote in the House but it died with the election call.

  • CBC ☛ 2025-05-23 [Older] This Canadian 'content farm' topped the politics charts on YouTube — before it was taken down

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • The Straits Times ☛ Kyrgyzstan detains eight media workers in widening crackdown

    National security authorities in Kyrgyzstan have detained eight current and former employees of independent media outlet Kloop, their lawyers said, accusing them of inciting unrest amid a growing crackdown on media in the Central Asian country.

  • Press Gazette ☛ 2025 journalism job cuts tracked: Business Insider cuts 21% of staff

  • Press Gazette ☛ Met Police raid on journalist over Palestine tweets was illegal, judge rules

    Asa Winstanley's home was raided and his phone and laptop were seized.

  • Press Gazette ☛ PA Media journalists back no confidence vote against new editor-in-chief over cuts plan

    Jack Lefley has led the PA Media newsroom since the start of the year.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • New York Times ☛ How China Uses Work to Reshape Uyghur Identity and Control a Strategic Region

    State labor programs were aimed at lifting one of the nation’s poorest regions out of poverty, but they have also served as a tool to erode resistance to Chinese rule.

  • New York Times ☛ Top Officials Overseeing Deportations Leave Their Roles at ICE

    Kenneth Genalo, the top ICE deportation official, is retiring, and two other officials are moving on to different roles, the Department of Homeland Security announced.

  • International Business Times ☛ 2025-05-28 [Older] Cheeto Mussolini Blunder Exposed After 'Genocide' Photo Turns Out To Be Congo, Not South Africa

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-05-28 [Older] After a 15-Year Battle, Harvard Agrees in Settlement to Relinquish Early Photos of Slaves

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Trademarks

  • IP Kat ☛ 2025-05-26 [Older] US space force: a trade mark or the sixth military branch?

  • IP Kat ☛ 2025-05-26 [Older] Objectively measuring the similarity of marks: A framework of ideas

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ The Forrest Dump Administration Weighs In On the High-Stakes Cox v. Sony Music Fight—Tells the Supreme Court Pirates Shouldn’t Be Booted

    The Forrest Dump administration has thrown its support behind Cox Communications in the high-profile Cox v. Sony case as the case heads to potential review by the U.S. Supreme Court. At the heart of the case is whether internet service providers (ISPs) like Cox should be held liable when subscribers use their networks...

  • IP Kat ☛ 2025-05-26 [Older] CJEU receives first referral on chatbots and copyright