Leftovers

• Digital Camera World ☛ How to take stunning photographs of caves | Digital Camera World

  The premise of this article is that you’re taking a tour around a commercial cave system, so tripods and using a flashgun aren’t allowed. It goes without saying that the low light level is going to be challenging throughout, but that’s not quite your biggest one.

• Carl Svensson ☛ The Hamburger Menu Is No Longer a Hamburger Menu

  Well, it was a menu alright, but there was no option for hiding the side panel. Bummer. But then I noticed that all the way on the left hand side of the UI there was another - actual - hamburger icon. Its short but promising tooltip was, simply, "Menu".

• Press Gazette ☛ Vic Chapple, 'the complete reporter', dies aged 93

  For more than 30 years he was said to be a dominating presence in one of the most tumultuous newsrooms in Fleet Street’s history.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Space Cargo of Human Remains And Cannabis Lost at Sea Following Mission Failure

    "Partial success (partial failure)."

  • Science Alert ☛ Zapping Volunteers' Brains With Electricity Boosted Their Maths Skills

    File under 'shocking but true'.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Simple Change To Your Evening Routine Could Help You Exercise More

    Goodnight.

  • Science Alert ☛ Ozempic Alternative Ditches The Needle And One Major Side Effect

    This looks promising.

  • Science Alert ☛ There's a Critical Thing We Can All Do to Hold Alzheimer's Symptoms at Bay

    Start tonight.

  • Science Alert ☛ BMI Is an Awful Predictor of Early Death. We've Had a Better Option For Decades.

    Out with the old.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Secret to Better Sleep Could Be As Simple As Eating More Fruit And Veggies

    And the effects are fast.

  • Matt Wedel ☛ Baffled by diplodocoids? Need a comprehensive introduction? You’re in luck!

    I’m pleased that this paper is at Palaeontologia Electronica — the original open-access palaeontology journal. Despite my annoyance at their low-resolution illustrations (but see the unofficial supplementary information for the full-resolution versions), it’s an important journal not just in our scholarly field but in the history of open access. I’m glad to finally have this notch on my bedpost, after at least one failed attempt.

  • The New Stack ☛ Sharded vs. Distributed: The Math Behind Resilience and High Availability

    Probability is the branch of mathematics that deals with uncertainty. It helps us understand the likelihood of different outcomes occurring. Below, we consider two alternative architecture options for scaling a database horizontally and employ probability theory to show that one architecture is more reliable than the other by a factor of 60,000.

  • El País ☛ Hannah Cairo : A 17-year-old teen refutes a mathematical conjecture proposed 40 years ago

    She was right—and with that, Cairo solved the so-called Mizohata-Takeuchi conjecture, a problem first proposed in the 1980s that had kept the harmonic analysis community had been working on for decades. The conjecture was widely believed to be true — if so, it would have automatically validated several other important results in the field — but the community greeted the new development with both enthusiasm and surprise: the author was a 17-year-old who hadn’t yet finished high school.

  • Federal News Network ☛ NOAA seeks 17% cut to workforce next year, after firing hundreds of probationary employees

    NOAA is also looking to cut more than $1.8 billion from its current budget. The agency’s FY 2026 proposal would eliminate Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), and transfer some of its functions to the National Ocean Service and National Weather Service.

• Career/Education

  • The Straits Times ☛ 7 in 10 foreign students in South Korea eager to stay on: Survey

    The survey polled 356 foreign students and 88 companies.

  • New York Times ☛ Columbia Will Pay $9 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over U.S. News Ranking

    Students said they had been overcharged for their educations as a result of incorrect data that they said the school had used to artificially inflate its ranking.

• Hardware

  • Linux Links ☛ TEAMGROUP PD20 Mini External SSD Review

    I'm testing the 2TB PD20 Mini External SSD which provides plenty of capacity for backing up a computer or holding a good chunk of data.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Singapore Hey Hi (AI) chip court case adjourned until August — trio accused of illegally smuggling Nvidia chips to China for use by Hey Hi (AI) firm DeepSeek

    Prosecutors are asking for more time to study documents and get responses from international third parties.

  • Linux Links ☛ Best Free and Open Source Software: June 2025 Updates

    June 2025 updates to the largest compilation of recommended free and open source software available for Linux.

    The post Best Free and Open Source Software: June 2025 Updates appeared first on LinuxLinks.

  • Hackaday ☛ One Laptop Manufacturer Had To Stop Janet Jackson Crashing Laptops

    There are all manner of musical myths, covering tones and melodies that have effects ranging from the profound to the supernatural. The Pied Piper, for example, or the infamous “brown note.”

  • Hackaday ☛ DIY Book Lamp Is A Different Take On The Illuminated Manuscript

    People have been coming up with clever ways to bring light to the darkness since we lived in caves, so it’s no surprise we still love finding interesting ways to illuminate our world. [Michael] designed a simple, but beautiful, book lamp that’s easy to assemble yourself.

  • Hackaday ☛ Are Service Loops A Good Idea?

    Well, here’s an interesting idea: the service loop. Ever heard of it? We haven’t!

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia calls for infectious disease tests of 1,200 children after man charged with sex offences

    The man's identity was revealed in order to notify parents with children in childcare.

  • New Yorker ☛ What Therapists Treating Immigrants Hear

    Some mental-health-care providers are trying new approaches to treat patients whose worst fears have come true.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Senate passes Convicted Felon’s big tax and spending cuts bill as Vance breaks a 50-50 tie

    Senate Majority Leader John Thune says Republicans “got the job done” in passing President The Insurrectionist’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts. Vice President JD Vance broke a 50-50 tie for Republicans on Tuesday after a tense overnight session. The bill goes back to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson had against big revisions from his chamber’s version. But senators did make changes, particularly to Medicaid health care.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘Lovebugs’ are swarming Seoul as South Korea warms, and residents aren’t happy

    Originally from warm climates, the bugs’ numbers during summer in Seoul have surged in recent years.

  • Science Alert ☛ Nightmares Could Make You 3 Times More Likely Die Before 75

    More than just bad dreams.

  • Pro Publica ☛ MN Child Abuse Specialist Dr. Nancy Harper’s Diagnoses Have Sometimes Been Called Into Question

    In court, Dr. Nancy Harper comes across as professional and authoritative. Often she begins her testimony by explaining her subspeciality: child abuse pediatrics, which focuses on the diagnosis and documentation of signs of child abuse. Her role, she often reminds judges and juries, is solely medical. Whether or not to remove a child from their home, terminate the parent’s rights or, in the most serious cases, charge a caregiver criminally is not up to her.

    According to Harper’s testimony, she and her team at the Otto Bremer Trust Center for Safe and Healthy Children in Minneapolis handle about 700 cases of suspected abuse each year. She has testified that 10% to 20% of those wind up confirmed for physical abuse, although it is difficult to determine if these figures are accurate since child protection cases are not public.

  • New York Times ☛ The Disaster That Just Passed the Senate

    Dihydroxyacetone Man’s “big beautiful bill” would gut Medicaid, nutrition assistance and clean energy credits. All for what?

• Proprietary

  • Gamer Network Limited ☛ Rare's mysterious nature sim Everwild has been cancelled as part of Xbox mass layoffs, according to reports

    Microsoft have cancelled Rare's wistful bucolic ramble Everwild as part of wider layoffs at the company this month, according to a report. Microsoft themselves have yet to comment, but the news wouldn't be unexpected given that Everwild has been in development for around a decade, including its prototype phase, yet remains something of a mystery.

    The story comes from VGC, who cite "people with knowledge of the project". The same sources claim that team members are likely to lose their jobs in the process.

  • Everwild canceled amid Microsoft Gaming layoffs

    Rare‘s November 2019-announced original intellectual property Everwild has been canceled amid mass layoffs at Microsoft Gaming, according to reports by VGC and Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.

    According to developers who worked on the project, via VGC, Everwild has been in development in some form for over 10 years, but struggled to nail down a clear direction, even after a recent reboot.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Don Marti ☛ Don Marti: how to write less like a bot

      Wikipedia has a page of AI catchphrases, which are phrases and formatting conventions typical of Hey Hi (AI) chatbots, such as ChatGPT.

      The list isn’t just useful for trying to spot if some text was generated by AI. (That’s a hard task that’s probably a bad idea to do because you end up blaming too many innocent people. As a large language model, I cannot advise you to rely on automated AI detection services.) What’s really valuable about this list is the examples of ways to improve human-written text.

    • New York Times ☛ Senate Votes to Allow State Hey Hi (AI) Laws, a Blow to Tech Companies

      All but a handful of states have some laws regulating artificial intelligence.

    • Security Week ☛ Clownflare Puts a Default Block on Hey Hi (AI) Web Scraping

      The move could reshape how LLM developers gather information — and force new deals between creators and Hey Hi (AI) companies.

  • Social Control Media

    • Press Gazette ☛ Top UK online publishers: X plummets, Reddit surges, news publishers ranked

      Reach has largest monthly audience reach among commercial UK news publishers.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Who’s Gonna Buy TikTok? Familiar Names Resurface: Oracle, Blackstone, Andreessen Horowitz

      Dihydroxyacetone Man says a group of wealthy people are interested in buying TikTok. Bloomberg says it’s the same group that came close to reaching a deal before.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • OpenRightsGroup ☛ Profiling by Proxy: How Meta’s Data Driven Ads Fuel Discrimination

      Data profiling, or behavioural profiling, is one of the most powerful tools in digital advertising, and generates billions of dollars of revenue for the sites that host ads. In 2024, Meta earned over $160 billion from advertising revenue, over 95% of its total global revenue.

    • OpenRightsGroup ☛ Meta Requires More Transparency About Anti-Gambling Ads Than Gambling Ads

      A new report by digital rights campaigners Open Rights Group (ORG) has highlighted that Meta requires more transparency about adverts that highlight the harms of gambling than about adverts that promote gambling. Profiling by Proxy: How Meta’s Data Driven Ads Fuel Discrimination examines the harms caused by Meta’s intrusive profiling of its users.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China military says aircraft carriers conduct combat training in Pacific

    Two Chinese aircraft carrier groups conducted combat drills in the western Pacific Ocean, Beijing said Monday, as its honing of its military capacity unsettles some regional neighbours. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said its Liaoning and Shandong carrier formations “recently… completed combat training on the high seas and returned to their home ports safely”.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hong Kong rights record under fire as it marks China handover anniversary

    Critics said repression has eroded Hong Kong's international reputation.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ In Pictures: Hong Kong celebrates 28th Handover anniversary

    Hong Kong celebrated the 28th anniversary of the city’s return from British colonial rule to China on Tuesday, with the food and beverage sector offering July 1 promotions and discounts to mark the Handover. About 4,100 restaurants and shops participated in offering customers discounts, according to the government.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong activist Lui Yuk-lin stages solo protest on Handover anniversary

    Activist Lui Yuk-lin staged a one-person protest in Causeway Bay on Tuesday, as Hong Kong marked the 28th anniversary of its Handover to China with celebrations across the city. Arriving at Victoria Park at around 3.45pm, the activist wore a Chinese sign reading, “Hong Kong people are very sad.”

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dalai Lama to meet senior Buddhist monks before likely reincarnation statement

    The Dalai Lama has said his successor will be born outside China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Under China’s threat, Taiwan needs its own power sources more than ever

    As Taiwan’s demand for energy has increased, so does its efforts to add more clean energy sources.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ The US must enforce sanctions to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program

    To ensure that Tehran cannot get its hands on the financial resources it would need to rebuild its nuclear program, Iran sanctions enforcement should start with China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Israel urges China to pressure Iran to rein in nuclear ambitions

    There’s little evidence China would be able to sway Iran significantly with regards to military and nuclear strategy.

  • The Strategist ☛ As China expands resource control in Myanmar, Australia-India collaboration matters

    Myanmar’s rare earth sector has become a geopolitical flashpoint where critical minerals, armed conflict and strategic competition intersect.

  • JURIST ☛ US federal appellate court expands immunity for CIA contractors, rules no jurisdiction over Guantanamo detainee case

    The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday ruled that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractors who designed enhanced interrogation techniques do not fall under jurisdiction of US federal courts in civil claims.

  • The Legacy of Barbara Marx Hubbard and the Conscious Evolution of Psychological Operations

    After 3 years of sleuthing, John Klyczek has completed the final installment in his investigative series on the legacy of Barbara Marx Hubbard.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol defies summons in martial law probe

    He said he needed to prepare for a later hearing.

  • The Straits Times ☛ S. Korea’s ex-PM Han accused of belatedly endorsing martial law decree, then destroying document

    He reportedly requested the papers be destroyed, according to an ongoing probe.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China sanctions former Philippine senator on maritime claims

    Mr Francis Tolentino is prohibited from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.

  • New York Times ☛ Ali Shamkhani, Top Iran Official, Survived Israeli Strike

    Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani was seen struggling to walk with a cane at a funeral procession this weekend for military commanders killed in the 12-day war.

  • France24 ☛ Israel is 'strong and powerful': Netanyahu push for regime change in Iran is 'childish and immature'

    Prime Minister Netanyahu has said regime change “could certainly be the result” of Israel’s recent sustained military campaign, with the aim of neutralising both nuclear and missile threats. Official messaging continues to emphasise the dismantling of Iran's nuclear and ballistic capabilities, not overthrowing the government. But observers detect a link between Israeli strikes and long-term regime destabilisation. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, FRANCE 24's Gavin Lee welcomes former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania sends officers to Latvia to help deal with irregular migration

      Lithuania is sending officers to Latvia to help the neighbouring country deal with irregular migration from Belarus, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian border guards report sharp rise in secondary migration via Latvia

      A total of 352 irregular migrants who entered Latvia from Belarus and then attempted to reach Western Europe via Lithuania and Poland were detained in the first half of 2025, according to data released on Tuesday by the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (VSAT).

    • Meduza ☛ Russia to raise utility rates starting July 1, with hikes nearing 40 percent in some cities — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Ivanov Gets 13 Years On Corruption Charges

      In a landmark case highlighting a deepening purge within Russia's defense and security establishment, a court in Moscow sentenced former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov to 13 years in prison.

    • New York Times ☛ Top Russian General Convicted in High-Profile Corruption Case

      Timur Ivanov, a longtime deputy defense minister, was sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.

    • New York Times ☛ Denmark Begins Drafting Women as Russian Threat Looms

      The Nordic country for the first time has extended a lottery for compulsory military service to women in its latest move to expand its armed forces.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Land mine ban was a global triumph. Here’s why Finland is leaving.

      Finland is withdrawing from an international treaty banning land mines, putting its fear of neighboring Russia above its commitment to humanitarian law.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Brothers arrested by Russia were tortured and beaten to death, says Azerbaijan

      The issue threatens to severely damage relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.

    • RFERL ☛ Deaths Of Azerbaijanis After Russian Police Raid Fuel Diplomatic Row With Baku

      The deaths of two ethnic Azerbaijanis amid allegations of torture during a police raid last week in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg has quickly escalated into a diplomatic confrontation highlighting difficulties in Moscow's relations with its former Soviet republics.

    • Meduza ☛ Azerbaijan opens torture investigation after autopsy shows brothers arrested in Russia died from severe injuries — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘I don’t want this exchange anymore’: After their release, Russian POWs are being sent back to war instead of home to their families — Meduza

    • NYPost ☛ ‘Siberian Jesus’ sentenced to Russian prison after harming followers in bizarre cult

      Former traffic cop Sergei Torop commanded followers to stop using money while extracting funds from them through psychological pressure.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘We’re back in the early 2000s’: Mobile Internet blackouts are now routine in many Russian regions. We asked readers how it’s upending their lives. — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Tit-for-tat arrests: Two Azerbaijani suspects died in Russian police custody, triggering reciprocal arrests and escalating tensions between Moscow and Baku — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Trump envoy calls Kremlin statement blaming U.S. and Ukraine for stalled peace talks ‘Orwellian’ — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Hunted in Kherson: What Russia’s deliberate drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians say about the future of war crimes — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Ukrainian drones strike Russian defense plant in Izhevsk, killing three and injuring dozens — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Under a Drone-Swarmed Sky: Surviving in Eastern Ukraine

      Towns and troops long accustomed to merciless bombardment are adjusting to an even denser pattern of attacks.

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Pauses Some Weapons Transfers to Ukraine

      The White House cited Pentagon concerns that some American arms stockpiles were dwindling too low. Among the affected weapons were air defense systems, bombs, missiles and artillery rounds.

    • RFERL ☛ Some US Weapons Won’t Be Sent To Ukraine Following Pentagon Review

      The United States is halting some shipments of weapons previously promised to Ukraine after a Pentagon review determined that US stockpiles have declined too much.

    • France24 ☛ Pentagon halts key weapons shipment to Ukraine amid US stockpile worries

      The United States is pausing some weapons shipments to Ukraine over concerns about declining US stockpiles, officials said Tuesday, marking a setback for Kyiv as it faces intensifying Russian attacks. The pause, affecting munitions promised under Biden, reflects new priorities under Hell Toupée after a Pentagon review of reserves.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Ukraine’s spiritual culture on the front lines

      A Russian strike on a cathedral sacred to Ukrainian identity results in quick restoration – and a message that “evil ... will not prevail.”

    • RFERL ☛ Ukrainian Drone Strike Hits Russian Defense Plant In Izhevsk, Killing 3

      A Ukrainian drone strike hit a facility overnight in Russia’s industrial city of Izhevsk, more than 1,000 kilometers east of Moscow, killing three people and seriously injuring 35, according to Udmurtia's regional governor.

    • The Strategist ☛ If this is the Convicted Felon Doctrine, Australia had better pay attention

      What a week. Swiftly and decisively, and in uniquely Convicted Felonian style, US President The Insurrectionist has restored US military credibility and deterrence with global repercussions.

    • The Strategist ☛ Not just drones, but massed swarms of them. Defences can’t cope

      A new and sophisticated phase of aerial warfare has emerged from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East over the past month, defined by the systematic use of massed drone saturation attacks.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia to send 42 Patria vehicles to Ukraine

      On Tuesday, 1 July, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the transfer of 42 Patria 6x6 armoured personnel carriers and other military equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces to support Ukraine's fight against Russian aggression.

    • European Commission ☛ €30 million pilot launched to support Finnish SMEs' exports to Ukraine

      Finnish SMEs and midcaps will benefit from a new EU-backed export guarantee scheme helping them trade with Ukraine despite wartime risks.

    • Meduza ☛ Putin and Macron hold first phone call in nearly three years — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Macron urges Putin to accept Ukraine ceasefire in first phone call since 2022

      French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine "as soon as possible" in the first phone call between the two leaders since 2022, the Élysée presidential palace said.

    • New York Times ☛ Macron and Putin Discuss Iran and Ukraine in Rare Call

      It was the two leaders’ first call since 2022, and the Russian president’s first with any major European leader since last year.

    • Meduza ☛ The Kadyrov succession plan A 17-year-old son’s lavish wedding and rapid promotions signal an heir apparent for Chechnya’s ailing strongman — Meduza

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Putin’s escalating air offensive is overwhelming Ukraine’s defenses

      Russian aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities are expanding rapidly and killing growing numbers of civilians. Kyiv must urgently find technological solutions to defend against Putin's escalating air offensive, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

• Environment

  • New York Times ☛ Video Shows Drone Rescuing Man During Flood in China

    Unmanned aerial vehicles are playing an increasing role in transporting supplies, and even people.

  • The Straits Times ☛ 2 killed, 6 missing after heavy rains in central China

    The local authorities launched a full-scale search-and-rescue mission in the stricken area, said Xinhua.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Central Chinese cities fight floods unleashed by record rain

    A record summer downpour in China's central province of Hubei dumped more than a month's worth of rain in just 12 hours on the city of Xianfeng, prompting authorities on Tuesday to move 18,000 people to safety, shut schools, and suspend bus services.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia mulls extending mandatory seatbelt ruling to cover more bus categories

      Seat belts had been made mandatory for passengers on express and tourist buses from July 1.

    • New York Times ☛ China Bans Some Portable Batteries From Flights as Safety Concerns Grow

      Airlines and governments around the world have tightened restrictions on the devices after a series of accidents. The ban in China has caught some travelers off guard.

    • Hackaday ☛ Challenge: Square A Voltage

      Your design task, should you decide to accept it: given an input voltage, square it. Ok, that’s too hard since squaring 8 volts would give you 64 volts, so let’s say the output should be 10% of the square, so 8 volts in would result in 6.4V. How do you do it? [Engineering Prof.] knows how and will show you what you can do in the video below.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Tesla shares slump after Convicted Felon threatens MElon with DOGE and entertains deportation

      Shares of Tesla Inc. plunged more than 7% today after Hell Toupée again targeted his former ally and the world’s richest man, MElon.

    • France24 ☛ France asks airlines to reduce flights due to planned air traffic controller strike

      France's civil aviation authority on Tuesday asked commercial airlines to reduce flights at Paris airports due to a planned July 3 strike by air traffic controllers, which comes just as the summer holiday season begins.

    • Hackaday ☛ A Crypto Miner Takes The Straight And Narrow

      As it stands, cryptocurrency largely seems to be a fad of the previous decade, at least as far as technology goes. During that time, many PC users couldn’t get reasonably priced graphics cards since most of them were going into these miners. In contrast, nowadays any shortages are because they’re being used to turn the Internet into an AI-fueled wasteland. But nonetheless, there is a lot of leftover mining hardware from the previous decade and unlike the modern AI tools getting crammed into everything we own, this dated hardware is actually still useful. [Zendrael] demonstrates this by turning an old mining rig into a media server.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • France24 ☛ Turkey: Intense wildfires sweep through Izmir region

      More than 50,000 people have been evacuated from western Turkey due to rapidly spreading wildfires fueled by strong winds. Many evacuees, especially from forested coastal areas near Izmir, were relocated to safer zones. While some have experienced smoke-related health issues, authorities continue efforts to protect residents and contain the fires.

    • New York Times ☛ The U.S. Sends Lots of Plastic Trash Overseas. Malaysia Just Said No Thanks.

      No country receives more discarded plastic from wealthy countries, but shipments from the United States are no longer welcome.

    • Science Alert ☛ Microbe 'Flavors' Tell Octopuses Which Babies Deserve Their Care

      Good egg or bad egg?

• Finance

  • New York Times ☛ Poorest Americans Would Be Hurt By Convicted Felon’s Big Bill

    Small improvements in taxes are overshadowed by cuts to health insurance and other federal aid, resulting in a package favoring the wealthy.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Loansharks in Malaysia hold ‘funerals’ for debtors

    They are holding “elaborate funerals” for the defaulters and posting their actions on social control media.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘No hope on my salary’: Young South Koreans turn to early investing

    More young South Koreans are turning to aggressive investment tactics, seeking financial stability.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ ADB acting on US concerns over China, bank chief says

    The Asian Development Bank was trying “very hard” to accommodate US concerns over lending to China, the bank’s president told AFP, including by slashing loans to the world’s second-largest economy. Global development institutions are in Spain this week for a UN summit on financial aid for the world’s poorest overshadowed by Washington’s gutting of poverty […]

  • New York Times ☛ Social Security Backs Off Listing Living Migrants as Dead

    Instead, the agency is flagging as “unverified” the Social Security numbers of thousands of people who lost their temporary legal status.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Handover Day: Nat. security will safeguard city’s development amid global uncertainty, leader John Lee says

    Hong Kong will use national security to safeguard its development amid geopolitical uncertainty, leader John Lee has said as the city celebrated the 28th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule on Tuesday. “High-level security will safeguard high-quality development,” Lee said in a Cantonese speech delivered to mark the Handover anniversary.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea to have 118 days off in 2026

    The longest holiday will be the five-day Lunar New Year set from Feb 14 to 18.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Bangladeshis cling to protest dreams a year after revolution

    Fixing a “completely broken down” system both promises hope and entails risks.

  • New York Times ☛ China Used to Emulate America. Now the Reverse Is True.

    In the great dance between the two rivals, it’s getting harder to tell which of them is leading and which is following.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China appoints ethnic affairs head as Xinjiang Communist Party chief

    China's ruling Communist Party has appointed the head of an ethnic affairs panel as its new party secretary in the vast northwestern region of Xinjiang, the official news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Falsely Claims Mamdani Is an Illegal Immigrant and Threatens to Arrest Him

    Hell Toupée claimed that the New York mayoral candidate, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was “here illegally,” his latest effort to promote false conspiracy theories about political opponents.

  • Federal News Network ☛ House appropriators slam DHS for ‘egregious’ ICE overspending

    The House Appropriations Committee says DHS has been "especially egregious" this year with its reliance on reprogramming and transfers to fund ICE operations.

  • CS Monitor ☛ His USAID career over, one worker wonders if he can still serve his country

    Most fired USAID workers were officially taken off the payroll this week. One employee grapples with the abrupt loss of a 17-year career – and tries to figure out what’s next.

  • Site36 ☛ Maja T. transferred to prison hospital in Hungary, decision on immunity of MEP Ilaria Salis postponed

    Maja T.’s hunger strike entered its fifth week on Friday and they are now been hospitalised. The father of the non-binary person is drawing attention to this with a march to Berlin. Maja T. has now been starving in prison in Budapest for four weeks.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Iranian Blackout Affected Misinformation Campaigns

      Dozens of accounts on X that promoted Scottish independence went dark during an internet blackout in Iran.

      Well, that’s one way to identify fake accounts and misinformation campaigns.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • JURIST ☛ Last major pro-democracy party in Hong Kong announces dissolution

    The chair of Hong Kong’s League of Social Democrats (LSD) announced Sunday that the pro-democracy party will disband, marking the dissolution of the last remaining active pro-democracy group in Hong Kong. Chairperson Chan Po-ying cited “immense political pressure” as a key factor behind the decision and voiced concerns about the potential consequences for group members.

  • JURIST ☛ Research suggests majority of Hong Kong national security convictions wrongfully issued

    Amnesty International research released on Monday concluded that more than 80 percent of those convicted under the Hong Kong national security law have been “wrongly criminalized” in the five years since the law was introduced.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Protecting Kids Shouldn’t Mean Weakening the First Amendment

    The SCOTUS ruling in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton opens the door to vague, privacy-invasive restrictions justified under a banner of child protection – even when those laws restrict access to lawful adult speech.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Government warned cuts to journalism training ‘weaken civic fabric’

    Government has removed extra funding support for journalism courses.

  • CS Monitor ☛ ‘Fresh brewed news’: Community café offers locals a chance to sip with reporters

    It’s no surprise that news outlets are struggling for both dollars and trust. In Camden, Maine, a local newspaper opened a café to welcome in the community.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong delivery workers’ rights group ceases operations

    A labour rights group for delivery workers has ceased operations after local media reported that Hong Kong lawmakers had been cautioned against discussing platform workers’ rights. Without providing a reason, the Riders’ Rights Concern Group announced on Monday evening that it would cease operations effective immediately.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Miscarriage Is Increasingly Dangerous for Women in Texas, ProPublica Analysis Shows

  • Pro Publica ☛ Under Texas’ Abortion Ban, More Women Nearly Bled to Death During Miscarriage

  • Pro Publica ☛ These 5 Charts Show How Hotels Became New York’s Response to Homelessness

    Hotels have long been considered a last resort for sheltering people who’ve lost their housing. But over the past few years, they’ve become New York’s predominant response to homelessness outside New York City, a recent investigation by New York Focus and ProPublica found.

    Social services agencies across the state now place nearly half of all individuals and families seeking shelter in hotels. Yet those placed in hotels often go without services that they’re supposed to receive in shelters, such as meals, help finding housing and sometimes child care so they can look for work.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Internet Society ☛ How Educators Run the Internet

    Different roles in the Internet ecosystem require different skills, and educators who share their expertise help ensure that the Internet truly is for everyone.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ How Hell Toupée’s Budget Bill Jeopardizes Wi-Fi, and How We Got Here

    Sen. Cruz is working to lower your Wi-Fi quality at home by selling off our public airwaves to the highest bidders. It's not too late to stop him.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Opposes Senate Budget Bill Risking Nation’s Wi-Fi

    Today, the U.S. Senate voted 51-50 to pass Hell Toupée’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act to fund the government, including efforts to auction off public spectrum.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Case Note: FCC v. Consumers’ Research, No. 24-354 (S. Ct.)

  FCC v. Consumers’ Research asks whether the USF system is an improper grant of legislative authority to the executive branch, especially given the role played by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), a private corporation that administers the fund as to both collection and distribution of funds. 

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ Simmons & Simmons partner joins Carpmaels & Ransford in London [Ed: This is spam. Marketing spam. One person changing a job is not really news.]

    Carpmaels & Ransford is one of the few UK firms to have made a successful start at the UPC. The mixed outfit is now expanding its litigation capabilities specifically with a view to the new court.

  • No, IPRs and PGRs Aren’t Interchangeable

    In his recent responses to Questions for the Record (QFRs) following his Senate confirmation hearing, USPTO Director-nominee John Squires reaffirmed the value of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), specifically inter partes reviews (IPRs) and post-grant reviews (PGRs), which he said...

  • Don’t Get it Twisted: New Discretionary Denials Process Hurts American Inventors

    Following March’s announcement of a new interim, bifurcated review process for America Invents Act (AIA) petitions, the USPTO Acting Director has given herself largely unchecked authority to discretionarily deny patent monopoly validity challenges prior to their consideration on the merits.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Unified files amicus in support of Motorola's mandamus petition in Fed. Cir.

    On June 27, 2025, Unified filed an amicus in support of Motorola's mandamus petition challenging the Office's retroactive application of new rules related to discretionary denial. The brief urged the court to review the Office's use of ad hoc decisions to set its discretionary denial framework in lieu of formal rulemaking and its inconsistent application of its rules to similar facts.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Quarterly Index: April - June 2025

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Posts July 2025 Hearing Schedule

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Tee-Tee-Ā-Bee) has scheduled two oral hearings for the month of July 2025. Both will be held virtually. Briefs and other papers for each case may be found at TTABVUE via the links provided.

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Ticket Scalpers Are Driving O2 London Ticket Prices Up to 490%—Industry Calls for Urgent Cap

    Music’s biggest acts are drawing more than just crowds to London’s O2 this summer—they’re attracting scalpers who are inflating ticket prices by up to five times their original value.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Perspiration, Bilocation, and Plagiarisation: “The Heat Wave” (1929)

    Time travel and murder during a New York heat wave.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Supreme Court Grants Cert in First (and only) IP Case of 2024: Billion-Dollar ISP Copyright Contributory Liability Case

    This week the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment, No. 24-171, while denying the competing petition in Sony Music Entertainment v. Cox Communications, No. 24-181. This grant/deny pair follows the Convicted Felon Administration’s Solicitor General recommendation and sets up another major Supreme Court battle over the scope of contributory copyright monopoly infringement–this one focusing on how internet service providers handle allegations of user piracy.

  • Digital Music News ☛ America’s Creative Edge—New Copyright Alliance Campaign Rallies Music Pros to Shape Hey Hi (AI) Policy

    The Copyright Alliance has launched a nationwide initiative mobilizing creators to influence upcoming U.S. policies on artificial intelligence. Their campaign urges lawmakers to adopt approaches that protect creative works used in Hey Hi (AI) development. The organization wants to ensure that American artists and professionals retain control over their output and receive fair compensation for its use.

  • Software Freedom Conservancy ☛ Copyleft-next Relaunched

    SFC Provides Infrastructure for License Drafting Project

    Software Freedom Conservancy is pleased to announce its logistical and Fontana's original launch of copyleft-next this week.