Leftovers

• Science

  • rOpenSci ☛ rOpenSci | A Gentle Introduction to Open Science

    I think the best thing about giving this talk, was the number of students who approached me afterwards, excited (and nervous) to start sharing their code online. Full of questions from practical ones about using GitHub to general ones about how ‘good’ your code needs to be to be shared. My answer to this last question was “If you used it, share it. (But annotate like mad!)”

    What are your favourite tips for encouraging open science?

  • Free Range Statistics ☛ Ten year anniversary of Free Range Statistics

    Free Range Statistics is an old-fashioned blog, with a single author and very much representing the ideal of a “web log” just recording things of interest to me. It’s not a comprehensive personal blog (I never have posts just about my travel, family life, etc.), but focused on issues that somehow relate to statistics—ranging from the abstract and methodological, through to specific applications of the type “here’s a fun chart of some interesting historical or current data I saw”. It’s strictly non-monetised; open to the world to read for free, and will never make paid endorsements. I’ll go a bit into what’s kept me motivated later, but the spoiler is that, like art, blogging is in my opinion something best done primarily for your own interests and needs, and if anyone else likes it that’s a bonus.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Fire breaks out at Tsing Yi recycling yard

    A blaze has broken out at a recycling site in Tsing Yi after some metal and electronic waste caught fire in the early hours of Tuesday. The Fire Services Department (FSD) said no one was injured and no evacuation was needed. As of 11am, the fire had not been extinguished.

  • The Four Horseman of the Woo-pocalypse join President Trump to spread autism pseudoscience and quackery

    Regular readers of my not-so-secret other blog probably wonder why I haven’t written about the thing that everyone knows about, you know, the thing that happened late in the afternoon a couple of days ago. Yes, I am referring to President Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s press conference on autism. It turns out that the timing was bad for my not-so-super-secret other blog, as my posting day is Monday, and, worse, the timing of this press conference on autism was…bad. I couldn’t watch it live. On the other hand, maybe that wasn’t so bad. Taking all the lies, quackery, scientific misinformation, and, yes, antivax pseudoscience being proclaimed to the nation by the President himself and the very highest-ranking members of the federal public health, medical, and biomedical research establishment would have been bad for my hypertension, I was thus able to watch it in small doses, thus saving my health. The other problem I faced was that I wanted to resurrect this blog with a post about this press conference, only to find that there is a technical issue with WordPress that has made accessing the back end to actually publish a new post very challenging. I won’t go into the details, but to be able to truly resurrect this blog, I need to spend some time dealing with technical support, so that I can access the back end without having to do various contortions.

  • European Commission ☛ Speech by President von der Leyen at the high-profile event 'Protecting Children in the Digital Age'

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Former Facebook (Farcebook) Exec Warns Hey Hi (AI) Industry Is Entirely Built on “Vibes” [Ed: The "AI" industry is a joke, it's a myth, it is an elaborate scam with naked emperors and cowardly observers all around, saying nothing or participating in the hype]

      "Things just don't grow that fast."

    • Press Gazette ☛ ChatGPT is ‘ghost’ of what publishers provide directly

      O'Reilly Media showcases in-house Hey Hi (AI) tool 'Answers'.

    • Futurism ☛ Users Are Saying Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot Has Been Lobotomized by a Secret New Update

      "I just want it to stop lying."

    • Pivot to AI ☛ Lionsgate still can’t turn its movies into an AI video model

      Then there’s rights issues — stories, likenesses, and precisely what Lionsgate does and doesn’t own. And whether they could even copyright the generated film.

    • Pivot to AI ☛ Workslop: bad ‘study’, but an excellent word

      Whoever came up with “workslop”, 10 out of 10. It needed a name, and “workslop” is perfect.

      Unfortunately, this article pretends to be a writeup of a study — but it’s actually a promotional brochure for enterprise AI products. It’s an unlabeled advertising feature.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ The end of EU-imposed cookie consent pop-ups could be nigh — consent fatigue and clickspamageddon to be addressed by European Commission amendments to its 2009 e-Privacy Directive

      The plague of cookie consent alerts, banners, and pop-ups that have added a sliver of sandpaper to web surfing since 2009 might be eradicated in December.

  • Confidentiality

    • Purism ☛ Secret Service Telecom Bust Exposes Cellular Weaknesses

      The Secret Service’s disruption of a massive SIM-server network near the U.N. is proof that the threats to our communications are real, organized, and capable of overwhelming public safety systems.

• Defence/Aggression

  • NYPost ☛ Teen snapped 200 selfies wearing eyeglasses of Iowa woman he is accused of torturing, strangling: prosecutors

    Dakota Van Patten, 19, is alleged to have taken the ghoulish snaps in the midst of the kidnapping and killing of 20-year-old Melody Hoffman, according to Marion County investigators.

  • ADF ☛ For Sahel Terrorists, Motorcycles Are a Key Tool for Quick Attacks and Escapes

    Across the Sahel, the buzz of a motorcycle engine has become a sound that inspires fear. Motorcycles have become the vehicle of choice for terrorists across the region, allowing them to move quickly, strike suddenly, and avoid capture by the local authorities.

  • Federal News Network ☛ 1 detainee killed and 2 others critically injured in Dallas ICE facility, Homeland Security says

    Authorities say a shooter with a rifle opened fire from a roof onto a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement location in Dallas. The man killed one detainee and wounded two others in a transport van before taking his own life. The van was shot at while in the facility’s sallyport on Wednesday. A law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity identified the suspect as Joshua Jahn. The FBI said ammunition found at the scene contained anti-ICE messaging. The agency says it's investigating the shooting as “an act of targeted violence.” Authorities say no ICE agents were injured and the surviving detainees were in critical condition.

  • France24 ☛ Shooter attacks ICE facility in Dallas, Texas, killing one detainee

    The Department of Homeland Security announced on Wednesday that a man with a rifle opened fire on a Dallas, Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement location. This comes in the wake of increased border patrol measures, and a number of retaliatory attacks on ICE agents.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Sheinbaum denies security policy shift after US ambassador praises ‘bold change’: Wednesday’s mañanera recapped

    At an event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Ambassador Ronald Johnson said that a "new era of cooperation" has commenced with Sheinbaum, contrasting it with AMLO's "more passive" approach to organized crime.

  • New York Times ☛ Supreme Leader Says Iran Has No Plans for Nuclear Weapon

    The speech came as Iran and Europe negotiate over sanctions on the sidelines at the U.N. General Assembly. But Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he opposed talks with the U.S., a key European demand.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Claims Again at the U.N. That He Ended 7 Wars. Here’s a Closer Look.

    During his speech, the president also disparaged the work of the United Nations, which, he said, “did not even try to help” in any of the conflicts.

  • New York Times ☛ Dozens of Protesters Are Arrested Near the U.N. Before Convicted Felon’s Speech

    About 50 anti-Dihydroxyacetone Man protesters were arrested before the president’s address to diplomats and world leaders on Tuesday morning, according to an organizer of the demonstration.

  • New York Times ☛ Guterres Says the U.N.’s Principles ‘Are Under Siege.’

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ What Convicted Felon’s UNGA Speech Tells the World

    In one speech, The Insurrectionist gave the world a lot to think about, and none of it was good. Especially if you are Secretary of State/National Security Advisor/Archivist of the United States Marco Rubio

  • New York Times ☛ Fact-Checking Convicted Felon’s Speech at the U.N. General Assembly

    The president made inaccurate claims about the economy, renewable energy and the mayor of London.

  • France24 ☛ New Syrian leader hails country's 'return' in first UN speech since Assad's fall

    Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, the first Syrian leader to do so in nearly six decades, declaring the country’s return to the international community after the Assad regime’s fall last December. Al-Sharaa, who led the insurgent offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad, said Syria was reclaiming its “rightful place” after decades of dictatorship.

  • New York Times ☛ London’s Mayor Calls Convicted Felon Racist and Islamophobic After U.N. Comments

    Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, was responding to Hell Toupée’s political attack on him during his speech at the United Nations on Tuesday.

  • New York Times ☛ Sadiq Khan’s Office Rejects Convicted Felon’s Comments About London, Calling Them ‘Bigoted’

    Hell Toupée lashed out at Mayor Sadiq Khan and made false claims about the British capital and Shariah law during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly.

  • The Strategist ☛ How to count Australian defence spending as (almost) 2.8 percent of GDP

    We can almost get there using available data, and with a bit of determined accountancy we could probably get the whole way.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ How to write a US National Security Strategy

    The Forrest Dump administration will soon release a National Security Strategy. Experts who have contributed to past strategies share their perspectives on how to make one worth drafting and reading.

  • JURIST ☛ Kenya president calls for inclusion of Africa among UN Security Council permanent members

    Kenyan President William Ruto on Wednesday called for immediate reforms to the UN Security Council’s membership process, arguing for the inclusion of the African continent with at least two permanent seats with veto power and two non-permanent seats.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan foreign minister attends event on sidelines of U.N. assembly

    WASHINGTON - Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung was in New York this week and met diplomatic allies on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), according to a Facebook (Farcebook) post and a source with knowledge of the matter.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Strikes Softer Tone on Brazil, Following a Scathing Lula Speech

    Hell Toupée said he encountered the Brazilian president at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday and they briefly embraced. He said the two would meet next week.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Latvia ☛ Counter-terrorism drills take place Tuesday in Daugavpils, Latvia

      On Tuesday, 23 September, Daugavpils hosts the ‘Dinaburg 2025’ national-level counter-terrorism exercise organised by the State Security Service (VDD), which will continue throughout the day, the VDD said in a release ('Dinaburg' is one of the historic names of the city now called Daugavpils).

• Environment

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Super Typhoon Ragasa: 14 killed, 124 missing in Taiwan after barrier lake burst

    At least 14 people were killed when a decades-old lake barrier burst in Taiwan, a government official said Wednesday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded the island with torrential rains. Ragasa lashed the northern Philippines and Taiwan on Monday with heavy rain and strong winds, forcing thousands to evacuate.

  • New York Times ☛ Typhoon Ragasa Tears Through a Taiwan Town, Killing 14

    Hundreds of firefighters and soldiers dispatched to Guangfu have gone door to door to check for trapped residents.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ HKFP Lens: Super Typhoon Ragasa ravages Hong Kong – Part 1

    Super Typhoon Ragasa reached hurricane-force on Wednesday, triggering the Hong Kong Observatory to hoist its highest warning, the T10 signal, at 2.40am. Our photojournalist was on the ground – follow HKFP for the latest updates.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Futurism ☛ Tesla Fans Try Coast-to-Coast Self-Driving Trip, Crash Almost Immediately

      "I'm speechless on what just happened."

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Revelator ☛ Costa Rica’s Green Reputation Doesn’t Apply to Its Turquoise Waters

• Finance

  • France24 ☛ French unions call new strike and protest day for October 2

    French unions announced Wednesday a fresh nationwide strike and protest day for October 2 after inconclusive talks with new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, following mass demonstrations last week against new austerity measures and pension reforms.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Scott Bessent Links Bailout of Argentina to Convicted Felon’s Election Interference, Even as Argentina Poaches US Soybean Markets

    In a tweet laying out all the welfare he plans to give so-called libertarian Javier Milei, Scott Bessent confirmed the tie between the bailout and Convicted Felon's election interference.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • New York Times ☛ A Curator Flees Bangkok After China Deems His Art Show Too Provocative

    A museum’s directors said Chinese and Thai officials pressured them to remove the names of artists whose works criticized China. The curator flew to London, fearing arrest.

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Sinclair Makes Itself Visible

    Yesterday's return of Jimmy Kimmel to ABC is not a time to declare victory. Now is the time to use the notoriety that the censoring screeds have acquired to push back on their efforts to extort control over free speech. 

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Threatens to Bar Foreigners Over Remarks About Charlie Kirk

    U.S. officials say they will pull visas and deport people who trivialize Charlie Kirk’s murder, part of intensifying scrutiny of visa applicants’ views.

  • Paul Krugman ☛ Is the Jimmy Kimmel Saga a Sign that the Tide is Turning?

    To put it bluntly, is the Jimmy Kimmel affair the harbinger of a failed Trumpian putsch?

    Before I address that question, I want to offer some historical comparisons that illustrate how poorly Trump is doing compared with his role models, Putin and Orban. I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, but I think the point deserves further elaboration.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Public Knowledge ☛ The Latest Convicted Felon-NYT Defamation Suit is to Silence Speech, not Make Journalism Better

    The president's assault on a free press continues.

  • France24 ☛ Jimmy Kimmel returns to his late-night show after ABC lifts suspension

    Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension that triggered a national discussion about freedom of speech and President The Insurrectionist's ability to police the words of journalists, commentators and even comics. ABC has indefinitely suspended Kimmel after he controversially accused many Convicted Felon supporters of trying to defend the killer of Charlie Kirk during a recent monologue.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Jimmy Kimmel is back on air – but the free speech battle isn’t over

    The impacts of comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s six-day suspension may linger – as an example of the Convicted Felon administration’s efforts to suppress speech, as well as what successful pushback might look like.

  • New York Times ☛ Jimmy Kimmel, Back on Air, Defends Free Speech in Emotional Monologue

    The late-night star said he had not intended to make light of Charlie Kirk’s murder, but he also said that Hell Toupée’s threat against ABC was “anti-American.”

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Sinclair Makes Itself Visible

    By refusing to air the show (and with Kimmel’s allusions to them, though he did not name them), Sinclair and Nexstar made themselves visible in a way they were not to most consumers.

  • [Old] Quillette ☛ Blasphemy, Censorship, and the Future of Free Expression in Britain

    It’s a truly extraordinary argument: if a devout Muslim violently attacks you because of something you’ve done, then you’re guilty of having caused him harassment, alarm, or distress. It’s not quite a heckler’s veto, but something quite similar.

    It effectively means that non-believers must respect Islamic blasphemy codes—or risk causing offence by violating them in public. That feels like a Trojan horse for reintroducing a blasphemy law by the back door—a law that only applies to Muslims, or to other religious groups that respond similarly.

  • [Old] Substack Inc ☛ I Burned a Quran. The British Government Punished Me for Blasphemy.

    That act of expression constituted political protest, and the law, as I understood it, was on my side. Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance makes clear that legitimate protest can be offensive—and on occasion must be—if it is to be effective. In that spirit, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects not just polite expression but expression that offends, shocks, or disturbs. Political expression, above all, is meant to enjoy the strongest protection.

  • ACLU ☛ A Letter From Detained Journalist Mario Guevara

    Journalist Mario Guevara remains in immigration detention after the Board of Immigration Appeals refused to release him despite an immigration judge’s order granting him bond. The board instead directed that Guevara be deported to El Salvador, the country he fled more than two decades ago. The ACLU and ACLU of Georgia are urging a federal court to release him and intervene before his removal.

    Despite clearly identifying himself as press, Guevara was arrested by local law enforcement in June while reporting on a protest against the Convicted Felon administration near Atlanta. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) then took him into custody. Prosecutors quickly dropped the charges after confirming he was complying with law enforcement, and an immigration judge granted him bond. Immigration officials, however, refused to release him, claiming that livestreaming law enforcement activity makes him a threat.

  • France24 ☛ 'Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk': Haunting tribute to Gaza journalist who refused a quiet death

    Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona refused to be a mere statistic in Israel’s methodical destruction of Gaza. Her endeavour to document her people’s ordeal is the subject of “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk”, a timely and heart-wrenching documentary by exiled Iranian director Sepideh Farsi, which opens in French cinemas on Wednesday.

  • Press Gazette ☛ The Observer hires first chief commercial officer

    Brand also launching creative studio in months after Guardian sale.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Papers Please ☛ Passports, travel, and the First Amendment

    Earlier this month, as part of a lengthy and complex bill to reauthorize the US State Department,  the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) revived a proposal that had been rejected but came close to passage in 2017 to authorize the Secretary of State to summarily deny or revoke the passport of any US citizen on the basis of an extrajudicial determination by the Secretary that a US citizen has “knowingly aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise provided material support to an organization the Secretary has designated as a foreign terrorist organization”.

    The proposal drew immediate condemnation on both due process and First Amendment grounds. “Provide material support” has been interpreted to include making or amplifying statements supporting the political goals of a banned organization — i.e., free speech.

    Last week, during markup of the State Department reauthorization bill, the Committee on Foreign Affairs approved an amendment sponsored by Rep. Mast to remove the passport denial and revocation provisions he himself had introduced a week earlier.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Digital Music News ☛ Events Company Cxmmunity Media Draws ‘Six-Figure’ Live Nation Investment

  Black entertainment and events company Cxmmunity Media secures a six-figure investment from Live Nation Urban, expanding the company’s footprint.

• The FTC’s Misguided Approach to Amazon’s Prime Subscription Services [Ed: GAFAM lobby now, how things have changed in this org]

  The trial phase of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) case against Amazon’s Prime Subscription Services began this week.

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ Bird & Bird to open office in Lisbon [Ed: JUVE publishes marketing spam for its sponsor, i.e. the usual]

    International law firm Bird & Bird is launching an office in Lisbon, thus bringing its European offices to 22. IP and life sciences specialist Ana Rita Paínho will head the team, which also includes corporate and M&A lawyer Sofia Carreiro, one of counsel, two senior counsel and three associates.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Redefining Patent Utility: The Functional Relationship Test’s Answer to Super-Utility Claims

    The Federal Circuit recently handed down its decision in Bayer Pharma Aktiengesellschaft v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., No. 2023-2434 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 23, 2025), focusing on the the claim limitation “clinically proven effective.”  Bayer’s U.S. Patent No. 10,828,310, which claims methods for reducing cardiovascular events in certain patients by administering specific doses of rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) and aspirin (75-100 mg daily) “in amounts that are clinically proven effective.” Generic manufacturers Mylan, Teva, and Invagen successfully challenged the patent monopoly in IPR proceedings — finding the claim term non-limiting.  The Federal Circuit agreed that the term did not provide patentable weight – but through a different analytical path.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Another Wilus Wi-Fi patent monopoly challenged

    On September 23, 2025, Unified filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 10,305,638, owned and asserted by Wilus Institute of Standards & Technology, Inc., an entity of Good Day to Invent, Inc. The claims of the '638 patent monopoly are directed to access points configured to transmit a trigger frame with a particular structure to one or more stations to coordinate a multi-user uplink transmission from the station(s). The '638 patent monopoly has been asserted by Wilus against Askey, and it is related to patents that have been asserted against Samsung and HP Inc.

    View district court litigations by Wilus. Unified is represented by Alexander Stein at Morgan Lewis, and by in-house counsel, Jessica L.A. Marks and Michelle Aspen, in this proceeding.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The Rising Bar for Patent Experts: Finesse Wireless and the Need for Particularized Precision

    The Federal Circuit reversed a Texas jury’s $166 million infringement verdict in Finesse Wireless LLC v. AT&T Mobility LLC, 24-1039 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 24, 2025), holding that the patentee’s contradictory and unclear expert testimony could not support the Jury’s finding of patent monopoly infringement.  The case is centered on  Finesse’s U.S. Patent Nos. 7,346,134 and 9,548,775, which relate to methods of reducing “intermodulation interference” in wireless communications.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Is M8KIT Confusable with M8 for Clothing?

    The USPTO refused to register the mark M8KIT for "athletic apparel, namely, shirts, pants, jackets, footwear, hats and caps, athletic uniforms" in view of the registered mark M8 for various items of clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets and caps. Applicant Thornton, appearing pro se, argued that his mark will be perceived as the term "MAKE IT," and thus is distinguishable from the registered mark. How do you think this came out? In re Evan James Thornton, Serial No. 98221072 (September 19, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Jessica B. Bradley).

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Sustains Genericness Opposition to MLD FAMILY for Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) Advocacy

    The Board sustained this opposition to registration of the proposed mark MLD FAMILY for "Promoting the interests of patients, families, researchers, clinicians, and policymakers affected by metachromatic leukodystrophy by means of public advocacy," finding the phrase to be generic for the services, or alternatively, merely descriptive and lacking acquired distinctiveness. "[T]he relevant consumers of Applicant’s services would readily understand MLD FAMILY to refer to a key aspect of Applicant’s identified public advocacy services, namely, that a primary or central focus of the services is to promote the interests of such groups of people." The Calliope Joy Foundation v. MLD Foundation, Opposition No. 91274114 [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Robert Lavache).

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ The Shadow of Desire: Painting the Origins of Art (ca. 1625–1850)

    Paintings illustrating Pliny the Elders’ account of the origins of art.

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Technology and Free Software

    • Internet/Gemini

      • Local IRC Services

        These are not difficult to setup. One use for such would be local chat in a small company; another would be for monitoring of services where a bot or bots can report on the status of things (new help requests, email incoming, high CPU issues, the weather, etc). Notifications, but without the hassle and distraction of OS-level notifications.

        Of course this all works better if you're already running IRC for chat, so adding a local server and some more channels to be in is a solved problem. IRC is also light on resources, and unlike the Apple notification spam you can easily turn it off or tune it in various ways. That macOS still spams you with notifications even with "do not disturb" set and all the notification knobs I could find turned off, yeah, I don't know. Buggy code gonna buggy.