Leftovers

• Standards/Consortia

  • [Repeat]

    Ruben Schade ☛ Offline music, and MP3s and/or FLACs

    I love having an offline music collection, for reasons that I’ve flogged a dead horse over on this blog. Whipped a llama’s arse, so to speak. But I’ll state them again anyway for anyone new, or if you need a refresher:

    The discs, tapes, carts, and files are mine, to do with as I wish. That means, in the words of computer scientist Shakira, I can listen to them whenever, wherever, even without an Internet connection to validate with some horrid DRM that, yes, I paid for these.

  • Amos Wenger ☛ All color is best-effort

    I do not come to you with answers today, but rather some observations and a lot of questions.

  • Tyler Thorsted ☛ SCP

    This sorry page is usually found when the owner of a URL has asked specifically for their domain to be excluded from the web archive. This worries me as I have found many specifications have been lost to time. I would love to know why the owner has chosen to do this, but it is available now, so lets dive in. The versions appear to have started in 2014, but the page is copyright 2012, so I assume the format was created around this time. It was last updated in February of 2024, so is pretty up-to-date. One important update was made in 2021: [...]

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ 4-Billion-Year-Old Stripey Rocks in Canada May Be The Oldest on Earth

    A window into Earth's infancy.

  • Science Alert ☛ Spider With No Venom Has a Deadly Trick to Poison Its Prey

    Its web is worse than its bite.

  • Science Alert ☛ Tinnitus Seems Somehow Linked to a Crucial Bodily Function

    We need to know more.

• Career/Education

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Man under post-jail supervision order files legal challenge after being blocked from leaving city to study abroad

    A Hong Kong man under a post-prison supervision order after being convicted of 2019 protest offences has filed a legal challenge against authorities for barring him from leaving the city to study abroad.

  • Chronicle Of Higher Education ☛ Chinese Students' Vulnerable Status Has a History — and an Impact on the Future

    They have been used as political pawns before. The damage may be long-lasting.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ BentoIO AMH2 Pro audio/MIDI HAT for Raspberry Pi features 24-bit DAC, headphone amplifier

    The BentoIO AMH2 Pro is an Audio/MIDI HAT compatible with both Raspberry Pi 4 and Pi 5. It features high-quality stereo audio output and MIDI input/output in a compact “wing” form factor. The board features stereo line-in and line-out through 3.5mm TRS jacks using PCM1863 ADC and PCM5242 24-bit DAC. Additionally, there is a headphone out and a set of MIDI I/Os via TRS-A jacks.

  • CNX Software ☛ Yxk S15 UItra – A thin fanless mini PC with defective chip maker Intel N100, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD selling for $119.99

    The Yxk S15 Ultra is a low-cost, fanless defective chip maker Intel N100 mini PC with an ultra-thin design similar to the MeLE Quieter4C, MeLE QuieterDL, or MeLE Quieter4C. What makes this product interesting is its significantly lower price of $119.99 on Amazon compared to similar products. The mini PC comes with 16GB DDR4 RAM and a 512GB SSD (expandable up to 2TB), an HDMI port, a DisplayPort, a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones, and another for mic input. Additionally, it features two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and a USB Type-C port. Networking interfaces include WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and a GbE port.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Top semiconductor toolmaker launches talent competition in China — ASML is looking for 16 skilled lithography engineers

    ASML launches an online competition in China to boost lithography awareness and recruit talented engineers for its operations in the country.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China to pivot $50 billion chip fund to fighting U.S. squeeze as trade war escalates — country to back local companies and projects to overcome export controls

    China's Big Fund III is refocusing on building local lithography equipment and chip design software after U.S. export bans blocked access to advanced tools, pushing managers to prioritize filling these critical gaps over supporting already strong areas.

  • ZDNet ☛ Can this $200 Windows mini PC replace my Linux system for a week? Here's the verdict [Ed: Bribed-for 'review' of Microsoft Windows crap that stole the brand "Minix"]

    First off, the Neo Z97 shipped with Windows 11, and I decided against installing Linux over it. Since Windows 11 is a resource hog, I thought it would be best to see how well the hardware handled the OS first. Sure, I could install a Linux distribution on the PC, knowing it would vastly outperform Windows, but this time around I wanted to experience the default.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Latvia ☛ Don't try to win champignonships in the forest, urges mushroom expert

    This year, the new mushroom season began in late May and early June. Mushroom pickers have flooded social control media with photos of baskets, buckets and even bags full of mushrooms. People are proud of their forest bounty, but often the mushrooms they pick are very small and clearly need to be left to grow. Mycologist Inita Dāniele urges people to be thoughtful when picking mushrooms.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ We’re learning more about what weight-loss drugs do to the body

    Weight-loss drugs are this decade’s blockbuster medicines. Drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro help people with diabetes get their blood sugar under control and help overweight and obese people reach a healthier weight. And they’re fast becoming a trendy must-have for celebrities and other figure-conscious individuals looking to trim down.

  • France24 ☛ Heatwave across the Med sparks health and fire warnings

    In a cluster of small coastal towns near Athens, wildfires have destroyed homes and forced both residents and tourists to evacuate. As temperatures continue to rise, such disasters are becoming increasingly frequent in Greece, placing growing pressure on emergency services and local authorities, who are struggling to keep pace with the scale and frequency of these climate-driven crises. Caroline Baum reports.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Changes brewing: Global coffee chains struggle to adapt to South Korea’s cafe culture

    The number of coffee shops in South Korea dipped to 95,337 in the first quarter, down 743 from the year 2024.

  • Science Alert ☛ Caffeine Flips a Cellular Switch That May Slow Aging, Scientists Discover

    Live long and prosper, at a cellular level.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Zombie' Fungus Caught Bursting From Host Bodies 99 Million Years Ago

    A dinosaur-era version of The Last of Us.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientific First: Mice With Two Fathers Now Have Offspring

    A complicated family tree.

  • Science Alert ☛ An Early Warning Sign of Dementia Risk May Be Keeping You Up at Night, Study Says

    Sleep tight.

  • Science Alert ☛ Your Ear Wax Might Hold Clues to Early Parkinson's, Study Finds

    "Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial."

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s pineapple industry reaches billion-ringgit milestone

    The agriculture and food security minister said the nation recorded RM1.3 billion in pineapple output value in 2024.

• Proprietary

  • Games ☛ Looming Xbox layoffs threaten Microsoft's reputation on acquisitions | Opinion

    The games industry has seen round after crushing round of layoffs over the past few years – a consequence largely of an over-extended industry recoiling from dramatically higher interest rates, though some terrible strategic decisions and even some fairly misguided notions about the likely productivity impacts of generative AI have also played a role in some cases.

    Regardless of the underlying causes, these layoffs have been brutal. Above all, the human cost and disruption for workers and their families has been awful, but companies carrying out the layoffs don't emerge unscathed either. Large-scale layoffs crater morale and undermine workers' confidence in the company, usually resulting in a steady stream of top employees (the people the company absolutely didn't want to lay off) departing over subsequent months as they seek to leave what feels like a sinking ship.

  • Reports of coming layoffs swirl at Microsoft as workers worry they’re next

  • Social Control Media

    • The Straits Times ☛ Japan executes ‘Twitter killer’ who murdered 9 people

      Takahiro Shiraishi's victims were aged 15 to 26.

    • New York Times ☛ She Ripped German Conservatives on Social Media. They Didn’t Forget.

      Heidi Reichinnek, a leader of the far-left Die Linke, was denied a seat on the parliamentary committee that oversees German intelligence agencies.

    • New York Times ☛ Mark Kapo-berg Ramps Up Meta’s Hey Hi (AI) Spending as Competition Heats Up

      Unhappy with his company’s artificial intelligence efforts, Meta’s C.E.O. is on a spending spree as he reconsiders his strategy in the contest to invent a hypothetical “superintelligence.”

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • NYPost ☛ Jim Harbaugh added to lawsuit in Matt Weiss phone hacking scandal

      Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was named as one of multiple defendants in an ongoing lawsuit against the University of Michigan.

  • Confidentiality

    • Privacy International ☛ What the app? What will WhatsApp's pursuit of revenue mean for no-strings encryption

    • Federal News Network ☛ New Social Security commissioner faces pointed questions about staffing, privacy

      Frank Bisignano told lawmakers he intends to improve accuracy in payments and and raise morale at the agency, which has already lost 7,000 workers.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea arrests 6 Americans trying to send Bibles to North

    They were arrested on Ganghwa Island, a popular site among anti-North Korean groups.

  • France24 ☛ 'There are no winners or losers in war. Only sadness': Nagasaki A-bomb survivor appeals for peace

    Recent conflicts have brought the threat of nuclear war to the forefront of many minds. Experts warn that the current geopolitical tensions have likely hardened North Korea's resolve to retain its nuclear capabilities. Against this backdrop, Yuka Royer speaks with Seiichiro Mise, who survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki at the age of 10. He shares his story and urges the world to take action towards eliminating nuclear weapons and to "spread the seeds of peace".

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man says he will ‘get the conflict solved with North Korea’

    The US leader and North Korea's leader Kim held 3 summits during Convicted Felon’s 2017-2021 first term.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia Airlines passenger fined $200 for bomb joke at Vietnam airport

    The man said his inappropriate joke stemmed from a lack of awareness.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Man jailed 20 years in Malaysia for causing death of pregnant wife during violent sex

    The victim was a medical officer who was six months’ pregnant when she died.

  • Science Alert ☛ Not All Uranium Can Be Used in Weapons. Here's What 'Enrichment' Means.

    A chemist explains.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Is Iran’s nuclear program ‘obliterated’? What US officials are trying to determine.

    The Insurrectionist says Iran’s nuclear site was destroyed, but early intelligence reports say otherwise. The key to understanding what is left is determining where Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium is and the state of the centrifuges that enrich the fuel.

  • France24 ☛ At least six summary execution, score arrested

    Though the war at least temporarily appeared to unite Iranians, the government has embarked upon an internal crakdown. At least six people have been executed with scores of others believed to have been arrested on allegations of spying for Israel or cooperating in other ways with its Intelligence services. Azadeh POURZAND, Human Rights Researcher and Spokesperson at Impact Iran, Senior Fellow and Head of the State Society Relations Research Unit at the Center for Middle East and Global Order joins us for more.

  • New York Times ☛ London Man Who Killed a Boy With a Samurai Sword Receives Life Sentence

    Prosecutors said Marcos Arduini Monzo experienced a drug-induced psychosis before going on a 20-minute rampage through the residential streets of northeast London.

  • JURIST ☛ Human rights group calls for Syria to extend support to torture victims

    On Thursday, Amnesty International called upon the new regime in Syria to provide support to people who were detained and subjected to torture in its military prisons. Survivors of Syria’s detention system face severe mental and physical consequences due to the torture they experienced and lack adequate support.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Slavery, torture, human trafficking discovered at 53 Cambodian online scamming compounds

    Pig butchering scams were the most common activity carried out at the facilities identified in the Amnesty International investigation.

  • France24 ☛ Hungary's Pride march ban a 'serious breach' of EU values: Sweden's EU minister

    At a jam-packed EU summit in Brussels, we caught up with Sweden's EU Affairs Minister, Jessica Rosencrantz. Bouncing off Slovakia's and Hungary's opposition to a potential new round of Russia sanctions, she touches on the Hungarian government's ban on this Saturday's Pride march, insisting that the EU must be prepared to use "all the tools in its toolbox" to make sure that the rule of law is respected.

  • European Commission ☛ Press Remarks by Commissioner Lahbib at Budapest Pride

    The eyes of Europe are on Budapest this weekend. You are in the spotlight. And your city is shining in all its diversity.

  • Latvia ☛ Transgender and nonbinary Latvians face a struggle for recognition

    Up three sets of winding stairs and through a maze of chilly hallways, a lofty studio in the Latvian city of Rēzekne houses dozens of drawings and paintings. Eren, a 25-year-old art student originally from a small village in Russia, nervously collects his colored-pencil sketches.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India seeks ‘permanent solution’ to border dispute with China

    The nuclear-armed neighbours reached a pact in October after a four-year military stand-off.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China ousts top general from elite military body as purge grows

    Admiral Miao Hua had been under investigation for alleged corruption.

  • France24 ☛ Iran arrests 700 'Israeli agents', but where are the weapons?

    Iranian state media announced on Wednesday that Iran’s security forces have arrested more than 700 people on suspicion of belonging to an "Israeli spy network" since Israel’s June 13 attack.

  • Defence Web ☛ AUSSOM in action – retakes Lower Shabelle villages

    Ahead of its official operationalisation on 1 July, the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) together with the Somali army have reclaimed strategic villages from al-Shabaab.

  • Defence Web ☛ Mounting maritime security threat in Strait of Hormuz

    The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical shipping chokepoints, is facing renewed instability amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

  • NYPost ☛ Iranian construction crews working at Fordow nuclear site after US strikes, satellite images show

    Satellite images show crews of bulldozers and excavators on site at the uranium enrichment site at Fordow which was bombed by the United States last Saturday.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Suggests It Could Strike Iran Again to Counter New Threats

    The country’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said Israel would try to prevent Iran from rebuilding its missile and nuclear programs, despite a truce.

  • CS Monitor ☛ For Iranian diaspora in Europe, the war back home is a dilemma

    Iranian expats in Europe are torn over the conflict between Iran and Israel. While they despise Iran’s regime, they fear for loved ones back home.

  • New Yorker ☛ What the Iran Strikes Reveal About MAGA

    The movement has survived all sorts of political stress tests, but there’s one schism that could actually pose a problem.

  • France24 ☛ Did Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile survive the US-Israeli strikes?

    President The Insurrectionist claimed that US strikes on Monday “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, but questions remain over the location of the 408.6 kilos of enriched uranium Tehran is known to have amassed. US and European intelligence suggest the stockpile could have survived the attacks, meaning Iran remains, in theory, just a few steps away from being capable of producing nuclear weapons.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian restaurant chain Gan Bei denies rumours about branch in Belarus

      A social control media blogger has recently shared their experience at a Gan Bei restaurant in Minsk, saying that the company's employees are proud to work for a Latvian chain. The company denies that the restaurants opened in Minsk belong to the Latvian group of companies, Latvian Television reported on 27 June.

    • New York Times ☛ U.S. Charges 11 in Russia-Based Scheme to Bilk Medicare of $10.6 Billion

      In what is potentially among the largest frauds in Medicare history, prosecutors say hundreds of thousands of people were billed for medical equipment they didn’t ask for.

    • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea eyeing Russian tourists for new beach resort: Seoul

      Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone is set to open first to domestic travellers in July.

    • LRT ☛ EU’s proposed 18th Russia sanctions package ‘strongest yet’ – Lithuanian president

      The European Union's proposed 18th package of sanctions against Russia would be one of the strongest the bloc has imposed in more than eighteen months, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania needs ‘3 million drones’ to defend against Russia, says EU commissioner

      Lithuania and Europe need to build a drone army to defend against Russia, Lithuania’s European Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told Sky News on Thursday.

    • France24 ☛ EU leaders discuss new US trade proposal

      European Union leaders considered new US trade proposals ahead of the July 9 deadline for US President The Insurrectionist's tariffs at a Brussels summit on Thursday. They also addressed the Mercosur trade agreement, Russia sanctions, and restructuring the World Trade Organization. Dave Keating reports from Brussels.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Seizes Key Lithium Field in Challenge for U.S.-Ukraine Minerals Deal

      The capture highlights a core problem in the agreement: The more territory Moscow grabs, the fewer resources Kyiv can offer to Washington.

    • CS Monitor ☛ A digital iron curtain in Russia?

      A new state-controlled app is being pushed on Russians, perhaps to end their access to the truth of the war. Ukrainians, meanwhile, are winning in truth-telling.

    • RFERL ☛ Four Dead As Russia Launches New Wave Of Strikes On Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk

      Four people were killed in the Ukrainian industrial region of Dnipropetrovsk amid a massive wave of Russia air strikes on Ukraine in the second deadly attack on the area this week amid a push by Moscow to take territory as the peace process stalls.

    • JURIST ☛ Pope Leo XIV condemns overpowering of international law

      Pope Leo XIV denounced what he called the recent violations of international and humanitarian law occurring in Gaza and Ukraine, in a statement made in front of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches on Thursday.

    • France24 ☛ Moscow launched hundreds of drones and 8 missiles overnight

      As the EU continues to voice strong support for Ukraine—despite growing divisions within the bloc—there has been little tangible progress on the battlefield. Overnight, Russian forces launched hundreds of drones and eight missiles at Ukrainian targets, while Russia’s defense ministry claimed it had intercepted dozens of Ukrainian drones across multiple regions. In recent months, long-range drone strikes have become a defining feature of the war, now entering its fourth year. Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts remain stalled, despite earlier pressure from the Convicted Felon administration to revive negotiations. Caroline Baum reports.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s approach to Russia and its war on Ukraine is evolving, not in one big leap, but in several smaller steps

      Both Convicted Felon’s strikes on Iran and his statements at the NATO Summit signaled an evolution toward a tougher line on Moscow.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Four fundamental questions the NATO Summit did not answer

      Over the coming months, NATO allies will have to wrestle with questions about the US commitment to Europe, their shared approach to China, and more.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian lawmakers question dismissal of military intelligence chief

      The Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK) on Friday raised concerns about the legality of the recent dismissal of Col. Elegijus Paulavičius, head of Lithuania’s military intelligence service, and requested all related documentation from the Ministry of Defence.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea asks North to alert before releasing dam water

      Six South Koreans reportedly died in 2009 after Pyongyang released water without prior notice.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Power Africa can help boost American energy dominance

      Power Africa was recently paused by the Convicted Felon administration as it undergoes review to determine its alignment with US national interests. To promote US energy dominance, the administration should reinstate Power Africa to boost US supply chain resilience, reduce dependence on China, and create opportunities for American companies.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Strong currents, stronger alliances: Reinforcing the EU’s Black Sea energy strategy through transatlantic collaboration

      The EU's recently released Black Sea strategy will thrive only with robust transatlantic collaboration. This relationship will be crucial to stabilizing the region’s energy security, facilitating its energy transition, and ensuring that initiatives align with geopolitical and national security objectives.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China bans uncertified and recalled power banks on planes

      Several leading power bank manufacturers in China have recently recalled batches of battery products.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Singapore-bound Biman Bangladesh flight makes emergency landing in Dhaka after bird strike

      All 154 passengers and seven crew members on board were safe and unharmed.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Science Alert ☛ Dolphins Got Giant Testicles. We Got a Chin. Only One Makes Sense.

      Thanks, evolution!

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s Revenge On Gold Diggers video game fuels sexism debate

    It is now among China's top 10 best-selling titles on Steam.

  • BIA Net ☛ EU denies Turkish minister’s claim of misused funds in İstanbul metro project

    The union's delegation to Turkey did not address the minister but the newspapers that published his statements.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia to exempt beauty services from expanded sales tax after public feedback

    Services such as manicures, pedicures, facials, and haircuts will remain exempt under the revised tax regime.

  • New York Times ☛ China Confirms Trade Framework With U.S. to Lift Export Controls

    The deal involves loosening exports of rare earths to the United States and the lifting of some restrictions on U.S. goods to China, China’s Ministry of Commerce said.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong’s League of Social Democrats to announce disbandment on Sunday

    The League of Social Democrats (LSD), one of Hong Kong’s last remaining pro-democracy groups, will announce its disbandment on Sunday. “Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the League of Social Democrats. However, we will not survive to see that day and will announce our disbandment,” the LSD said in a statement.

  • Hong Kong pro-democracy party to disband under pressure from Beijing

    One of Hong Kong's last opposition parties, the League of Social Democrats protested pro-China moves.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan to slap anti-dumping duties on Chinese beer, steel for 4 months

    Taiwan said Friday it will slap anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made beer and hot-rolled steel for four months from July 3, claiming “substantial damage” to its industry.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Ready for blast-off: Can China’s commercial space firms replicate SpaceX magic?

    In 2024, the Chinese government listed the commercial space sector as a “new engine of economic growth” .

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s top diplomat to visit Europe for talks with EU, Germany, France next week

    By Mary Yang. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will head to Europe next week for talks with counterparts from the European Union, Germany and France, Beijing said on Friday as it seeks to shore up fraught ties with the bloc. Beijing has sought to improve relations with Europe as a counterweight to superpower rival United […]

  • New Yorker ☛ Bret Baier on Convicted Felon’s Love-Hate Relationship with Fox News

    The Fox News anchor discusses the channel’s nightly news show, his role in the current media ecosystem, and what liberal outlets have got wrong about covering Convicted Felon.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong gov’t slams top US diplomat in city over ‘biased remarks’ about national security law, Jimmy Lai

    The Hong Kong government has slammed the top US diplomat in the city for making “untrue and biased remarks” about the Beijing-imposed national security law and jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai.

  • BIA Net ☛ Cartoonist acquitted over ‘pandemic sex’ strip after five years

    Zehra Ömeroğlu had depicted a man performing oral sex on his partner, which makes him convinced that he doesn't have any loss of taste or smell, one of the most common symptoms of Covid-19.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ BBC News targets news avoiders with ‘inspiring and uplifting’ stories

    The Upbeat newsletter is sent to about 160,000 people in the UK.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Gov’t will not intervene in press union chief Selina Cheng’s unlawful termination suit against Wall St Journal

    The Department of Justice will not intervene in Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) chairperson Selina Cheng’s lawsuit against her ex-employer the Wall Street Journal over her alleged unlawful termination after taking on the union’s leadership role.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Canada confirms Hongkongers applying for permanent residence via ‘lifeboat’ scheme can await results abroad

    Canada’s immigration office has confirmed that Hongkongers applying for permanent residence via a “lifeboat” scheme created in response to Beijing’s national security law may await the result of their application abroad.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Teachers’ arrests over sharing upskirt photos shock Japan

    Police sources said they believed the group had “nearly 10” teacher members, reported NHK.

  • CS Monitor ☛ First lawsuit including children challenges ICE arrest policy at courthouses

    A Honduran mother and her two children are suing the United States over their courthouse arrest, calling it unconstitutional despite entering legally through a Biden-era asylum app. The lawsuit is believed to be the first involving children.

  • JURIST ☛ US DOJ sues federal court and all its judges over immigration order

    The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the US District Court for the District of Maryland and all 15 of its judges Tuesday over an order issued last month that automatically blocks for two business days the deportation of migrants in the state who file a new lawsuit challenging their detention.

  • NYPost ☛ Socialist NYC mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani wants to hike property taxes for ‘richer and whiter neighborhoods’

    Socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wants to hike property taxes for “richer and whiter neighborhoods" in an eyebrow-raising proposal that aims to ease the burden on homeowners in the outer boroughs.

  • New York Times ☛ Authorities Rescue Girl Whose Mother Livestreamed Her Sexual Abuse

    The 9-year-old from Vietnam was abused by her mother for customers watching on smartphone apps in the U.S. and elsewhere. The mother said she needed the money.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • New York Times ☛ The Internet Needs Sex

    And an internet without it is one that offers a pale shadow of human potential and possibility.

  • APNIC ☛ Statement from the Number Resource Organization regarding AFRINIC elections

    Guest Post: The NRO fully supports ICANN's efforts to bring transparency and accountability to the AFRINIC election process.

  • APNIC ☛ Resource delegation audit update: Q2 2025

    APNIC's resource delegation audit program continued to progress as planned.

  • AccessNow ☛ Joint statement on protecting human rights online and preventing internet shutdowns in times of armed conflict

  • AccessNow ☛ Tell MENA authorities: #NoExamShutdown

    Year after year, the MENA region has led the world in exam-related shutdowns. It's time to take action and demand change! #NoExamShutdown

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Public Knowledge ☛ Update: The FTC’s Consent Order in the Omnicom Ad Agency Merger Misses the Point

  As predicted, the FTC has issued a consent order requiring advertising agencies not to “boycott” digital publishers as the condition for granting approval for a merger. But the order ignores the far more likely impacts of an ad agency merger on competition.

• Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Welcomes Supreme Court Decision as a Win for Broadband Access, Calls for Further Reform

  The Supreme Court ruled in FCC v. Consumers' Research, affirming the constitutionality of the FCC’s Universal Service contribution system.

• Digital Music News ☛ Apple Debuts Major Changes to App Store in EU for Digital Markets Act Compliance

  Apple has unveiled significant changes to its App Store policies in the European Union, responding to regulatory pressure from the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The company was recently fined €500 million for its anti-competitive practices in the EU, prompting the change.

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ Mesa Digital smartphone patent monopoly challenge instituted

    On June 24, 2025, five weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 9,031,537, owned and asserted by Mesa Digital LLC, an NPE and entity associated with Ortiz & Lopez, PLLC (d/b/a OL PATENTS).

  • Unified Patents ☛ Polaris PowerLED circuit power management patent monopoly challenge instituted

    On June 20, 2025, less than one month after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding a substantial new question of patentability for claims of U.S. Patent 8,181,042, owned by Polaris PowerLED Technologies, LLC, an NPE.

  • JUVE ☛ Amsterdam court enforces Cathay’s Chinese patent monopoly rights [sic] against Dutch importer Wego

    For over a decade, Cathay Biotech has been battling Chinese competitor Hilead Biotechnology over patented technology for producing long chain dicarboxylic acid (LCDA).

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ All Eyez on PMAC: Can Alternative Justice Be More Than a Dream? [Ed: Unified Patent Court (UPC) is illegal and must be shut down as soon as possible, as it merely complements massive corruption at the EPO and it exists to serve foreign monopolies and litigators, not science]

      A New Kind of Justice? In the often adversarial landscape of European patent monopoly litigation, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has introduced a lesser-known, but potentially transformative institution: the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (PMAC).

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Is "USNA" Merely Descriptive of Cosmetics?

    The USPTO refused to register the proposed mark KECA’S USNA for “Cosmetics" because the applicant failed to disclaim the word USNA. There was no dispute between the applicant and Examining Attorney Michael FitzSimons that USNA is a Croation word meaning "lips," but there was a dispute as to whether "Croatian is a common, modern language and whether other West Balkan languages in the standardized Serbian-Croatian language family . . . translate 'USNA' as 'lip,' broadening the number of people in the United States that understand USNA as 'lip' in English." Whether consumers would "stop and translate" the term, and whether the term is merely descriptive of the goods were the remaining issues. How do you think this came out?

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Denmark Cracking Down on Deepfakes by Allowing People to Copyright Their Own Features

    The Danish government is changing copyright monopoly law to ensure everybody has the right to their own features in an effort to combat deepfakes. On Thursday, the Danish government said it would strengthen protections against the creation and propagation of deepfakes—digital imitations of people’s identities—with what it believes to be the first law of its kind. […]