Leftovers

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Bad Omen': An Ancient Pyramid in Mexico Collapsed Into A Pile of Rubble

    Extreme weather triggered a tragedy.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mysterious 2,500-Year-Old 'Gift to The Gods' Finally Identified

    It's still enjoyed today.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Potent Psychedelic Mysteriously Echoes Near-Death Experiences

    Fascinating similarities, but differences too.

  • Science Alert ☛ Engineers Weigh Up Returning to Ancient Roman Concrete Recipes

    The ancients might have been onto something.

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Reveals The Shocking Amount of Plastic We Breathe in Every Day

    It's a lot.

• Career/Education

  • JURIST ☛ UCLA reaches $6.13 million settlement with Jewish plaintiffs

    The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) announced on Tuesday that it has reached a settlement agreement in a lawsuit brought by a Jewish faculty member and students. The initial complaint, filed in June 2024, emphasized that Jewish students were unlawfully prevented from “accessing the heart of campus,” including classroom buildings and the main library.

  • NYPost ☛ Brown University strikes deal with Convicted Felon administration to restore half a billion dollars in federal funding

    “The Forrest Dump Administration is successfully reversing the decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Idaho Schools Are Breaking Special Education Laws, Failing Students With Disabilities

    Kali Larsen sat at her desk at Fruitland Elementary School in Idaho earlier this year, trying to read the test questions as her classmates silently worked around her. Her anxiety climbed as she stared at the paper. She asked to use the bathroom and left the room.

    Her mother, Jessica Larsen, had been substitute teaching that day when she received a call from the front office, notifying her that her 9-year-old daughter was having a panic attack. Kali, now 10, has dyslexia and struggles with reading and writing, Larsen said.

• Hardware

  • Atlantic Council ☛ To secure reprogrammable chips, the US must address supply chain risks

    This policy brief analyzes the FPGA supply chain for US firms and the trade-offs these companies make among risks to cost, availability, and security; assesses how those trade-offs will change given a shifting global environment; and recommends policy interventions for the US government.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Chinese CPUs are closing the gap on AMD — next-gen Zhaoxin chips feature 96 cores, 12-channel DDR5 memory, and 128 PCIe 5.0 Lanes

    Zhaoxin has announced the new KaiXian KX-7000N and Kaisheng KH-50000 processors at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2025.

  • Hackaday ☛ The LumenPnP Pasting Utility: Never Buy Solder Stencils Again?

    Over on his YouTube channel the vivacious [Stephen Hawes] tells us that we never need to buy solder stencils again!

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Federal News Network ☛ NIH director talks grant terminations controversy, Bethesda Declaration, making America healthy

    "We haven't yet achieved the mission of the NIH, which is research that improves the health and longevity of the American people," Jay Bhattacharya said.

  • New York Times ☛ Canada’s Measles Cases Surpass U.S., Alberta Officials Push for State of Emergency

    Some doctors in Alberta have criticized officials for not declaring a health emergency in the western province where measles infections are surging.

  • Federal News Network ☛ How Healthcare.gov’s botched rollout led to a digital services revolution in government

    The botched rollout of a federal website 12 years ago became a turning point for digital services across government.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man administration is launching a new private health tracking system with Big Tech’s help

    The Forrest Dump administration is pushing for Americans to upload personal health data to new apps run by private tech companies.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Security Week ☛ Flaw in Vibe Coding Platform Base44 Exposed Private Enterprise Applications

      Base44 owner Wix quickly patched a critical authentication bypass vulnerability discovered by researchers at Wiz.

    • Zimbabwe ☛ You’ve Seen These Hey Hi (AI) Features Before, Now Google’s Putting Them in Search [Ed: Slop is not Hey Hi (AI)]

  • Social Control Media

    • France24 ☛ Australia widens teen social control media ban to YouTube, scraps exemption

      Australia said on Wednesday it will add YouTube to sites covered by its world-first ban on social control media for teenagers, reversing an earlier decision to exempt the Alphabet-owned video-sharing site and potentially setting up a legal challenge.

    • New Yorker ☛ Getting in Marc Maron’s Head

      The podcast host recommends three recent favorites—about the gentrification of punk, what makes a great actor, and the corrosive influence of social-media platforms.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Purism ☛ AI Puts Your Personal Privacy at Risk

      For government agencies and enterprise systems, the implications are even more grave. When models trained on third-party datasets begin interfacing with federal workflows, without strict compartmentalization, they become backdoors to national infrastructure. If private contractors or cloud-hosted models absorb classified or sensitive personal data, the exposure isn’t hypothetical—it’s systemic. Just like we saw with large platforms failing to wall off classified systems, AI introduces another vector for data leakage and manipulation. The challenge isn’t simply technical; it’s philosophical.

  • Confidentiality

    • Michael Geist ☛ Commentary: Ensuring the Sovereignty and Security of Canadian Health Data

      Following on our earlier Globe and Mail op-ed and Law Bytes podcast, I am pleased to co-author a commentary on health data sovereignty and security with Kumanan Wilson and Mari Teitelbaum in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Palestinian activist Owdeh Hathaleen killed by Israeli settler in West Bank, witness says

    Palestinian activist and teacher Owdeh Hathaleen was killed during an attack by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank village of Umm al-Khair and several witnesses say that settler Yinon Levi is responsible for his death. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to Mattan Berner-Kadish, a friend of the victim who was present during the incident on July 28.

  • Bruce Schneier ☛ Measuring the Attack/Defense Balance

    “Who’s winning on the internet, the attackers or the defenders?”

    I’m asked this all the time, and I can only ever give a qualitative hand-wavy answer. But Jason Healey and Tarang Jain’s latest Lawfare piece has amassed data.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Venezuelan Men Sent to CECOT on What They Endured and Reuniting With Their Families

    Now that he’s free, Leonardo José Colmenares Solórzano, a 31-year-old Venezuelan, wants the world to know that he was tortured over four months in a Salvadoran prison. He said guards stomped on his hands, poured filthy water into his ears and threatened to beat him if he didn’t kneel alongside other inmates and lick their backs.

    Now that he’s free, Juan José Ramos Ramos, 39, insists he’s not who President Donald Trump says he is. He’s not a member of a gang or an international terrorist, just a man with tattoos whom immigration agents spotted riding in a car with a Venezuela sticker on the back.

  • The Strategist ☛ The case for South Korea-Australia defence industrial cooperation

    Strategic convergence between South Korea and Australia is accelerating, but defence industrial cooperation remains underdeveloped.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Administration Told Taiwan’s President to Avoid U.S. Stopover

    The Taiwanese leader canceled U.S. transit visits after being urged to change his plans, two officials said. Washington has been in talks with Beijing over trade and a possible summit.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China calls for more engagement with US, warns against confrontation

    China-US relations exert a “profound impact” on international dynamics, said Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

  • New York Times ☛ A Seaside Refuge in Gaza, Torn Apart by an Israeli Strike

    The Israeli military said it killed at least three Hamas operatives at Al-Baqa Cafe. It also killed a journalist, an artist and two best friends reconciling after a fight.

  • JURIST ☛ Drone strikes on Iraq oil fields threaten essential public services

    Drone strikes that have damaged oil fields in the Kurdistan region of Iraq potentially threaten public services that impact human rights including healthcare and education, according to a Tuesday release from Human Rights Watch. They also risk escalating an ongoing dispute between the regional and national government over oil revenues, the organization said.

  • France24 ☛ At least 22 killed in Angola fuel hike unrest

    Unrest in Angola following protests against a fuel price hike has killed 22 people since Monday, the interior minister said, as calm returned to the capital. Sporadic gunfire was heard across Luanda and several other cities on Monday and Tuesday as people looted shops and clashed with police when violence erupted during a taxi strike.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania is not considering easing sanctions against Belarus, quite the contrary – FM

      Lithuania’s government is not looking into easing sanctions on Belarus, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys has stated, amid a proposal from Birių Krovinių Terminalas (BKT), a Klaipėda-based bulk cargo terminal controlled by Igor Udovickij, to withdraw its lawsuit filed at the EU Court if the government allows Belarusian fertiliser shipments to resume through Lithuania.

    • JURIST ☛ Russian journalist sentenced to 12 years for ties to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation

      A Russian court sentenced journalist Olga Komleva to 12 years in prison on Tuesday for cooperation with the Anti-Corruption Foundation and the dissemination of false information about the Russian military’s actions.

    • Meduza ☛ Russia adds Navalny’s posthumous memoir to list of banned ‘extremist’ materials — Meduza

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine’s democracy is the key to the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration

      While Ukraine currently faces a range of unique challenges, this cannot justify neglecting democratic principles. On the contrary, defending the democratic gains of recent decades is vital if further progress toward Euro-Atlantic integration is to be achieved, writes Alyona Getmanchuk.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Says US Arms Deal Set As Parliament Prepares To Hear Key Anti-Graft Bill

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had approved key principles of "large-scale" US weapons agreements, while Ukrainian lawmakers geared up for a crucial vote on a bill designed to restore the independence of two agencies that fight graft.

    • Meduza ☛ A political crisis that could weaken the war effort itself What Zelensky’s anti-corruption U-turn means at a ‘precarious moment’ for Ukraine — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine will 'fix' controversial anti-graft law, FM says on eve of vote

      Ukraine's government will "fix" anti-graft legislation that ignited rare mass protests in the war-ravaged country after critics accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of trying to meddle with corruption probes against senior government officials, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Wednesday. Parliament will vote on an amended bill on Thursday.

    • RFERL ☛ Kolomoyskiy, Once Powerful Ukraine Tycoon, Loses $1.9 Billion Fraud Case

      The High Court of Justice in London has ruled against two of Ukraine's former tycoons in a landmark case involving the siphoning of nearly $2 billion from Privatbank, the country’s largest lender.

    • NYPost ☛ Senate Majority Leader John Thune readying Russia sanctions as deadline for Ukraine cease-fire shortens to 10 days

      "He's somebody who is animated largely by trying to get to a peaceful solution," the Republican leader said of Convicted Felon. "We want to be a good partner in that and so like I said, we've been, I made it clear we're available to move on that whenever they're ready to have us do it."

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man imposes 25% tariff, 'penalty' on India over Russia ties

      US President The Insurrectionist on Wednesday hit India with a 25 percent tariff on its imports, as well as a flurry of other duty hikes and an undefined "penalty" for its dealings with Russia, as the US ramps up its efforts to force an end to Moscow's war on Ukraine.

    • Meduza ☛ Trump announces ‘penalty’ tariff on India over purchases of Russian energy resources and weapons — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia claims capture of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Russia, Pacific Coastlines Appear To Avoid Major Damage After Massive Earthquake

      A powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula early on July 30, triggering tsunami waves, widespread evacuations, and emergency declarations around the Pacific Rim, although the regions appeared to avoid major casualties or damages.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘We just kept doing our job’: Doctors in Russia’s Kamchatka steady patient mid-surgery as earthquake hits, complete operation safely — Meduza

    • The Straits Times ☛ Huge earthquake rocks Russia’s far east, triggering tsunami warnings around Pacific

      Several people were injured in the remote Russian Kamchatka region, while much of Japan’s eastern seaboard was ordered to evacuate.

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Threatens India With Steep Tariffs, Including Penalty Over Russian Oil

      The president said Wednesday that imports from India would be subject to a 25 percent tariff as of Friday, as trade talks between the countries hit a stumbling block.

    • New York Times ☛ Brennan and Clapper: The Forrest Dump Administration Is Rewriting History of Russia and 2016

      We want to set the record straight and also sound a warning.

    • New York Times ☛ Why Did Such a Powerful Earthquake Generate Such a Weak Tsunami?

      The quake in Russia on Wednesday was among the strongest ever recorded — but in many places, the resulting wave was small.

    • New York Times ☛ Powerful Earthquake Rattles Russia’s Far East But Causes Little Damage

      A 8.8-magnitude earthquake shook the remote, sparsely populated Kamchatka region and set off tsunami waves. No serious injuries were reported, officials said.

    • New York Times ☛ In Kamchatka, Epicenter of the Russian Earthquake, Seismic Activity Is Common

      Tremors are regularly reported in this remote Russian peninsula dotted with volcanoes, some of which erupt every year.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia’s Far East Suffers Some Damage From Earthquake and Tsunami

      Regional authorities in one region declared an emergency after a tsunami hit the Kuril Islands, and the Kamchatka Peninsula was watching for volcanic activity.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘An extraordinary event’ Tsunami waves hit Kamchatka after historic earthquake strikes off Russian coast — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Volcano erupts in Russia’s Kamchatka, hours after massive earthquake triggers tsunami — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian overnight strike on Kyiv kills at least six, including child — Meduza

• Environment

  • Science Alert ☛ Giant Earthquake Off Russian Coast Triggers Mass Evacuations as Far as Hawaii

    One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded.

  • France24 ☛ Tsunami alerts due to Russian quake downgraded in several nations

    A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on July 30, 2025, triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific rim—including Japan, Hawaii, Alaska, and several Central and South American countries. While initial alerts led to evacuations, many were later downgraded after no major damage was reported. Monitoring continues due to potential aftershocks.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ No damages reported from tsunami effects; 8 ports remain closed

    The president ruled out damages but warned of rising sea levels along Mexico’s Pacific coast after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Russia prompted a tsunami warning on Wednesday morning.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Hackaday ☛ One Man’s Trash… Bicycle Edition

      [Remy van Elst] found an obsolete bike navigation system, the Navman Bike 1000, in a thrift store for €10. The device was a rebadged Mio Cyclo 200 from 2015. Can a decade-old GPS be useful? Well, the answer depends on a little reverse engineering.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • BIA Net ☛ Court case reveals security, oil-driven deforestation in Şırnak

      Commenting on the findings revealed through the legal process led by the Lawyers for Freedom Association, lawyer İpek Sarıca said, “It is clear that this deforestation is also harming the peace process.”

  • Overpopulation

    • Meduza ☛ ‘You’ll want to do it again!’ On Pregnant Women’s Day, Russia reframes childbearing as a patriotic duty — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russian convent hands out plastic fetuses to women in anti-abortion campaign — Meduza

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man says US will impose 15% tariff on South Korean imports

    South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will visit the White House “within the next two weeks”, Convicted Felon said.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China earmarks $16 billion budget for 2025 childcare subsidies

    It is reported to be 3,600 yuan per year for every child, until they reach the age of three.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China and US are still key trade partners: Chinese commerce minister

    US and Chinese officials agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce on July 29.

  • France24 ☛ Angola: Deadly protests erupt over fuel price hikes

    Deadly protests have swept across Angola following a sharp rise in fuel prices. Demonstrators took to the streets of Luanda and other cities in July to protest soaring costs and worsening living conditions. Police responded with force, leaving at least four dead and over 500 arrested. Human rights groups have condemned the crackdown and called for respect of peaceful assembly. An internet blackout during the protests raised further concerns over repression.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia and 17 other countries ask for loan from European Security Action Fund

    Latvia and 17 other European Union (EU) Member States have requested €127 billion in loans from the newly created Security Action Fund for Europe (SAFE), the European Commission (EC) announced on Wednesday.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Senate Democrats call Convicted Felon admin’s focus on state voter rolls a pretext for disenfranchisement

    Sen. Alex Padilla and other Democrats say the GOP is pressing inflated concerns about noncitizen voting to justify legal and legislative challenges to eligible voters. 

  • JURIST ☛ US lawmakers sue Convicted Felon over detention facility visit restrictions

    US lawmakers initiated a lawsuit against the Convicted Felon administration on Wednesday, challenging the administration’s new policy regarding visitation procedures for members of Congress visiting detention facilities. Representative Joe Neguse announced that he would be leading a group of lawmakers in challenging this policy on Wednesday.

  • France24 ☛ France prepares law to fast-track return of art looted during imperial conquests

    France's government on Wednesday discussed a bill that would streamline the process of returning artworks and cultural artefacts looted from the country's former colonies over more than a century of imperial rule. Under current laws, the return of each item in France's extensive national collection must be voted on individually.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • New York Times ☛ Pro-Palestinian Group Can Appeal U.K. Ban, Judge Rules, Citing Free Speech

    A High Court judge in London said that Palestine Action had the right to challenge the British government’s decision to ban it as a terrorist group.

  • RFERL ☛ Iran Withdraws 'Fake News' Bill After Public Outcry

    The Iranian government has withdrawn a controversial legislation meant to counter fake news after critics charged that it would gut the already restricted freedom of expression in Iran.

  • JURIST ☛ Russia warned of escalating state control over internet and digital repression

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday released a report highlighting the alarming extent of the Russian government’s increasing technological control over internet infrastructure and digital communication across the country.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • ACLU ☛ Your Questions Answered: The Supreme Court's Impact On Our Rights

    The Supreme Court's most recent term reshaped the legal landscape on immigration, transgender rights, and free speech. But behind the decisions, procedural shifts like limits on nationwide injunctions and expanded use of the emergency docket signal a court increasingly driven by politics.

    At the ACLU we believe that information is power, and that informed opinions make a more perfect union. That’s why we’ve taken a hard look inside this Supreme Court term and analyzed what the court’s cases reveal about its values, and how its direction and influence impacts our civil liberties.

    To help us all better understand the civil rights and civil liberties issues at hand this Supreme Court term, our series, “Your Questions Answered,” brings your questions directly to ACLU experts for informed answers. In this installment, our legal director, Cecillia Wang, answers your most pressing questions on the Supreme Court.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Hackaday ☛ Legally Distinct Space Invaders Display WiFi Info

    In the early 00s there was a tiny moment before the widespread adoption of mobile broadband, after the adoption of home WiFi, and yet before the widespread use of encryption. For this brief time a unique practice arose called wardriving — where people would drive around, document, and use these open wireless networks.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Federal Circuit Steps Into Apple-Fintiv Discovery Fight Days Before August 4 Trial

    In an unusual move, the Federal Circuit on July 29, 2025, ordered Fashion Company Apple to respond to Fintiv's petition for writ of mandamus seeking to halt the upcoming August 4 trial date over unresolved discovery disputes. In re Fintiv, Inc., Docket No. 25-00142 (Fed. Cir. July 29, 2025).  Fintiv Petition.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Malikie MPEG-DASH related patent monopoly challenged

    On July 28, 2025, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 8,392,598, owned and asserted by Malikie Innovations Limited, an NPE and entity of Key Patent Innovations Limited. The '598 patent monopoly is generally directed to streaming media content to user devices, and allowing the user devices to control the format of the media downloaded based on conditions such as available bandwidth.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Dominion Harbor entity, Arlington Technologies, Wi-Fi patent monopoly challenged

    On July 28, 2025, continuing in the ongoing efforts in the new SEP Wi-Fi Zone, Unified filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 7,193,986, owned and asserted by Arlington Technologies LLC, an NPE and entity of the Dominion Harbor Group. The ‘986 patent monopoly is generally directed to communications between a master wireless network device and one or more slave network devices using a medium access protocol such as the MAC protocol.

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ IFPI, CISAC, and Many More Call Out Hey Hi (AI) Act Implementation Measures: ‘A Missed Opportunity to Provide Meaningful Protection of Intellectual Property Rights’

    The IFPI, CISAC, IMPALA, and others are taking aim at the EU’s Hey Hi (AI) Act implementation, which they’re criticizing as “a missed opportunity to provide meaningful protection of intellectual property rights.” Those entities, besides United Voice Artists, the European Federation of Journalists, and many more, voiced their qualms in a release that was emailed to DMN.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Breaking the Celestial Ceiling: Now and Then #4

    Female astronomical first, in 2025 and 1787.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Flowers of Fealty: Wilhelm Dilich’s Commemoration of the Christening of Elisabeth of Hesse (1598)

    Commemorative featuring illustrations of pageants, costumes, and fireworks, later further illustrated by a separate artist, with floral motifs.