Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Avoid Missed Connections With The Connectorbook’s Web Tool

  Connectors are wonderful and terrible things. Wonderful, in that splicing wires every time you need to disassemble something is really, really annoying. Terrible in that it can be just such an incredible pain-in-the-assets to find the right one if you’re stuck with just a male or a female for some unfortunate reason. We’ve all been there, and all spent time growing increasingly frustrated pouring over the DigiKey catalog (or its local equivalent) trying to figure out what the heck we were dealing with. That’s why [Davide Andrea]’s The Connectorbook exists–and even better, the free web service they call Identiconn.

• New York Times ☛ Cherish the Last World Series Where Humans Rule Supreme

  A new system next season will help perfect decisions around balls and strikes. But baseball’s charm has always been tied to its imperfections.

• Jim Nielsen ☛ Everything Is Broken

  Chris Coyier wrote about it.

  Now it’s my turn.

  Last week I’m flying home.

  My flight gets delayed in air, then lands late so I miss my connecting flight…

  [Skip over all the stuff about airline customer support, getting rebooked, etc.]

  It’s ~10pm and I’m stranded overnight. I need a last-minute hotel room.

• Licensing / Legal

  • I Read the Terms of Service for My Smart TV and Now I Sleep with One Eye Open

    It was a beautiful moment. The delivery team, like two benevolent angels in matching polo shirts, had just mounted my new MegaCorp Glimmer-Screen 9000 to the wall. It was a sleek, obsidian monolith of pure 8K resolution, so thin it seemed to defy the laws of physics. It promised a world of seamless streaming, voice-activated convenience, and a picture so clear I could count the pores on a news anchor's face from across the room.

  • US Navy Times ☛ Thousands of vets saddled with false criminal histories, lawsuit says

    Rosales’ saga is the result of a perplexing record-keeping process the military justice system calls “titling”—and it’s one that’s left potentially thousands of veterans saddled with false criminal histories, according to a lawsuit against the Army and Department of Defense.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ DNA Identifies 2 Bacterial Killers That Stalked Napoleon’s Army

    Genetic material pulled from 13 teeth found in a grave in Lithuania revealed infectious diseases that felled the French emperor’s troops as they withdrew from Russia.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Just Found a Super-Earth Exoplanet Only 18 Light-Years Away

    "Cosmically speaking, it's practically next door."

  • Science Alert ☛ Listen to The Creepy 'Sounds' From A Black Hole, Captured by NASA

    This is eerie!

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel has cut 35,500 jobs in less than two years — more than 20,000 let go in in recent months as Lip-Bu Tan continues drastic recovery journey [Ed: Many people quit Intel on their own, so Intel won't count them]

    Intel cut 20,500 jobs under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan — totaling 35,500 in two years — and reduced R&D spending by over $800 million per quarter as it streamlines operations, cancels lower-priority projects, and concentrates investment on strategic projects.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ TSMC says China's rare-earth export restrictions will have limited short-term impact on company — concern lies in transitioning away from China supply

    TSMC says that it has about a year or two of rare-earth supplies, but transitioning to other non-China sources will take time.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ In Fight Against Malaria, an Unexpected — and Snuggly — Shield

    Treating baby wraps with a mosquito repellent shows promising protection against a top killer of children.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Michigan health care woes: Insurers leaving, rates rising, subsidies in limbo

    Regulators say some providers are leaving the state and dropping coverage in the individual market amid major shifts in health care policy. Meantime, expect to pay more.

  • Futurism ☛ Women Are Getting on Testosterone and They Say It’s Absolutely Awesome

    “It’s changed my marriage.”

  • Science Alert ☛ New Breakthrough Treatment Safely Kills Cancer Cells With Light

    Photothermal therapy.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Superager' Brains Defy Cognitive Decline. We Finally Know Their Secret.

    "Earth-shattering."

  • New York Times ☛ After Teen Suicide, Character.AI Lawsuit Raises Questions Over Free Speech Protections

    A mother in Florida filed a lawsuit against an Hey Hi (AI) start-up, alleging its product led to her son’s death. The company’s defense raises a thorny legal question.

  • Science Alert ☛ Fecal Transplants Can Help Alleviate Depression, Evidence Shows

    Just the thing to cheer you up.

  • Science Alert ☛ Your 'Gluten Sensitivity' May Be a Completely Different Problem, Study Says

    It's not as common as it seems.

• Proprietary

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ AWS outage post-mortem fingers DNS as the culprit that took out a chunk of the internet and services for days — automation systems race and crash

    Massive Amazon Web Service outage that took out a chunk of the internet and services for days was due to DNS.

  • Aftermath Site LLC ☛ What The Hell Is Microsoft Doing?

    Another week, another baffling headline out of Microsoft. The latest is at least illustrative: According to Bloomberg, the company has set an across-the-board goal of 30 percent “accountability margins” – Microsoft’s weird, somehow-worse-sounding term for profit margins – which explains why its gaming division has been rampantly laying off employees, canceling games, and closing studios. So now we know the directive that informed numerous questionable decisions, but why keep doing it? On the latest Aftermath Hours, we wonder if Microsoft will ever find a way to right the ship.

    This time around, we discuss the aforementioned recent revelation that Microsoft has been seeking a 30 percent profit margin from its gaming division since 2023. This borders on ludicrous compared to what the rest of the industry typically achieves and fully clears that bar in the case of Xbox, which managed a 12 percent profit margin in 2022. Now here we are in 2025, following multiple rounds of mass layoffs and project cancellations, because while Xbox was profitable, it wasn’t profitable enough. We once again repeat what has become a common refrain: What is Microsoft thinking, especially as both the industry and the global economy enter increasingly uncertain times? And if Microsoft continues to pump out pricey hardware while laying off developers and shutting down studios, where will the money come from?

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Administration Providing Weapons Grade Plutonium to Scam Altman

      "If there were adults in the room and I could trust the federal government to impose the right standards, it wouldn't be such a great concern, but it just doesn't seem feasible."

    • Futurism ☛ OpenAI’s New Hey Hi (AI) Web Browser Is a Bit of a Mess [Ed: An excuse to change the subject amid existential crisis and mountains of debt, declining usage etc.]

      It's agonizingly slow — and a ticking time bomb.

    • Futurism ☛ What Tech Insiders Actually Think of Hey Hi (AI) Is Extremely Revealing

      "Very few agree with the hype bubble that the tycoons have been trying to puff up."

    • Futurism ☛ Perplexity Just Got Caught Breaking the Rules Red-Handed

      Good luck denying that one.

  • Social Control Media

    • NYPost ☛ Mississippi substitute teacher fired on first day for recording, calling female student ‘shorty’ in viral Fentanylware (CheeTok) video

      A Mississippi substitute teacher was fired on her first day on the job for sexualizing a female student, calling her "shorty" during a now-viral Fentanylware (CheeTok) she created while inside the school.

    • Digital Music News ☛ As ‘TikTok USA’ Remains in Limbo, Layoffs Reported at Fentanylware (CheeTok) Music in the US and Latin America—with More Expected to Hit the UK

      Around 15 employees in US and Latin American roles in TikTok’s music department have been let go. More are expected to be let go in the coming weeks. On Wednesday, October 22, approximately 15 Fentanylware (CheeTok) employees in the U.S. and Latin America were told their positions at the company’s music unit were terminated.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Scoop News Group ☛ National cyber director says U.S. needs to counter Chinese surveillance, push American tech

      Sean Cairncross, in remarks at a summit, also said the United States needs to send a stronger message that Chinese cyberattacks are unwelcome.

    • Security Week ☛ Pwn2Own WhatsApp Hacker Says Exploit Privately Disclosed to Meta

      Questions have been raised over the technical viability of the purported WhatsApp exploit, but the researcher says he wants to keep his identity private.

  • Confidentiality

    • Security Week ☛ Toys ‘R’ Us Canada Customer Information Leaked Online

      The customer information published on the dark web includes names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Top Beijing office on Hong Kong affairs warns of ‘interference and destruction by anti-China forces’ in legislative race

    The top Beijing office overseeing Hong Kong affairs has warned of “interference and destruction by anti-China forces” in the December legislative race. The first “patriots only” Legislative Council (LegCo) officially finished the 2022-25 term on Thursday, with a two-week election nomination period kicking off on Friday.

  • France24 ☛ Al Qaeda-linked jihadist group targets fuel convoys in Mali

    Al Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has been targeting fuel convoys in Mali since September 2025. The attacks are causing fuel shortages at the pump, with long lines for petrol. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to Bakary Sambe, the regional director of the Timbuktu Institute, who said JNIM’s strategy is “to delegitimise the government by using a form of economic jihad that hits at the heart of the country's economy”.

  • Security Week ☛ North Korean Hackers Aim at European Drone Companies

    Lazarus has used fake job offers in attacks targeting companies developing UAV technology, for information theft.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Alleged Chinese fentanyl kingpin extradited from Cuba to US, Mexico says

    A Chinese citizen accused of trafficking fentanyl has been extradited from Cuba to the United States, according to the Mexican government, which helped facilitate the transfer.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ National security trial of Hong Kong Tiananmen vigil group delayed again to January

    The national security trial of the now-disbanded group that organised vigils for the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown has been delayed again, with the first trial date scheduled in January next year.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Shifting from reactive to proactive: Cyber resilience amid nation-state espionage

    In recent years, the cybersecurity industry has made significant strides in securing endpoints with advanced Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions, and we have been successful in making life more difficult for our adversaries. 

  • The Strategist ☛ For its own security, Europe must step up if the US steps away

    The publication of three important US strategic policy documents will be a key moment for Europe and the continent’s defence.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Thai PM to travel to Malaysia for ceasefire deal, but won’t attend Apec Summit after royal death

    Former queen Sirikit died at the age on 93 on Oct 24.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan’s Takaichi faces early test of defence ambitions with Convicted Felon visit

    The two may cross paths at the Asean regional bloc summit in Malaysia on Oct 26.

  • FAIR ☛ Jeffrey Stein on Trump’s Boat Attacks, Katya Schwenk on AI Surveillance Pricing

  • FAIR ☛ Pentagon Creates New Legion of PR Toadies

    The impact of this rule cannot be understated—any reporter agreeing to such terms is essentially a deputized public relations lackey.

  • Insight Hungary ☛ Tens of thousands rally in Budapest in support of Orban's challenger

    Tens of thousands of Hungarians gathered in Budapest on Thursday for rival rallies marking the start of next year’s election campaign, 444 reports. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party and his new challenger, Péter Magyar, organized competing demonstrations on the anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Soviet uprising a day that holds central symbolic meaning in Hungarian history.

    For Orbán, the anniversary has long served as a showcase for nationalist unity. Speaking before his supporters at Parliament Square, he sought to rally his base as Fidesz faces its strongest competition in more than a decade. His “peace march” was also overshadowed by the cancellation of a meeting in Budapest between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin .

  • FAIR ☛ ‘Decades of National Security Policy Have Gotten Us to Where We Are’: CounterSpin interview with Chip Gibbons on Trump's plan to crush the left

    Janine Jackson interviewed Defending Rights and Dissent’s Chip Gibbons about Trump’s plan to crush the left for the October 17, 2025, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript.

  • New Yorker ☛ There Is No Peace in Gaza

    Since Hell Toupée announced his plan for a ceasefire, people I know have been killed. One relative described torture during a year in Israeli custody.

  • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man ends trade talks with Canada over ad

    US President Donald #Dihydroxyacetone Man ended trade talks with Canada after an anti-#tariff advertising campaign funded by Ontario, a Canadian province, aired excerpts of a speech by ex-President Ronald Reagan warning against the dangers of #trade wars. The decision comes as a sudden turnaround, as there were hopes the two countries would sign a trade deal by the end of the month.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea says ‘considerable’ chance Kim Jong Un, Convicted Felon will meet next week

    The US president is expected in South Korea on Oct 29 for the Apec Forum.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea's Kim, Convicted Felon have chance to meet next week, South's minister says

    South Korea's unification minister on Friday called on U.S. President The Insurrectionist to meet the leader of North Korea during his forthcoming visit to Asia, urging the two men to seize a rare chance for peace, Yonhap news agency reported.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea using crypto, IT workers to dodge UN sanctions: Report

    The report said North Korea’s cyber force had stolen at least $2.1 billion from January to September.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man heads for Asia and Pooh-tin talks, as Kim speculation swirls

    US President The Insurrectionist leaves on Friday for Asia and high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Pooh-tin Jinping — as Washington played down speculation that he could meet North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man to Investigate Whether China Abided by 2020 Trade Deal

    The administration announced its trade investigation on Friday, ahead of a summit between U.S. and Chinese leaders.

  • New York Times ☛ With Power Move on Rare Earths, China Plays Both Victim and Bully

    In weaponizing its dominance over the crucial minerals, Beijing is using tactics that it once denounced, potentially alienating nations it wants to court.

  • The Straits Times ☛ With power move on rare earths, China plays both victim and bully

    Beijing has powerful leverage going into a meeting next week between Mr The Insurrectionist and Mr Pooh-tin Jinping.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s Asia Tour: Deals, Diplomacy and a Meeting With Xi

    From Kuala Lumpur to Gyeongju, Hell Toupée is casting himself as a deal-maker and peace negotiator, while a wary region looks for tariff relief and steadier ties.

  • New York Times ☛ Asia, Caught in the Middle, Faces Convicted Felon and Xi’s Tug of War

    Hell Toupée’s visit shows how the United States and China are vying for influence in Asia over trade, technology and the fate of Taiwan.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Leaves Behind a Reeling Washington to Chase a Deal With China

    Hell Toupée is embarking on a six-day diplomatic tour of Asia, testing his role as a statesman and negotiator as he pursues a trade deal with Beijing.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China to begin tourism trial operation on artificial island between Macau and Hong Kong

    The formal opening of the artificial island is scheduled for December.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US doesn’t expect China to join Thai-Cambodia ceasefire event, official says

    Mr Convicted Felon is expected to witness the signing of a ceasefire deal between the South-east Asian nations.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US, Japanese firms unwittingly hired North Korean animators: Report

    The companies included HBO Max, Amazon, and several Japanese animation studios.

  • France24 ☛ Women, war and peace

    It is 25 years since the UN Security Council signed a historic agreement linking gender equality to the maintenance of international peace and security. But the world is now facing the highest number of active conflicts since 1946, creating unprecedented risks for women and girls. Yet only one in ten peace talks in the past year included female negotiators. Annette Young talks to Chris Coulter, Executive Director of the Berghof Foundation, who has more than 20 years’ experience in conflict resolution and is a former adviser to the Swedish Foreign Ministry, and Lyric Thompson, CEO of the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative in Paris, ahead of the Feminist Foreign Policy Conference. Also, as the war in Ukraine continues and European nations grow increasingly concerned about Russian aggression, Denmark has now begun drafting women into its armed forces.

  • France24 ☛ US strikes on alleged drug traffickers are “positive” and “lawful” says ex Colombian President Ivan Duque

    In an interview with FRANCE 24, former Colombian president Iván Duque defended US military strikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats, rejecting current president Gustavo Petro’s denunciation of the operations as “murder”. “If the US uses its capacity to carry out interdiction, I think it is lawful,” Duque said. Claiming that Venezuela is “run by a dictator who is now the head of the Cartel de los Soles,” the former Colombian president stated: “If the US wants to undertake precision operations against those cartels, I am in favour of that.”

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Deploys Aircraft Carrier to Latin America as Drug Operation Expands

    The Forrest Dump administration has acknowledged 10 strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats from South America, which have killed 43 people.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Will Convicted Felon and Pooh-tin simply defer the showdown?

    A grand bargain will be hard to strike at the upcoming US-China presidential summit, says top trade expert.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Flies Drones Over Gaza to Monitor Cease-Fire, Officials Say

    The surveillance missions are part of a U.S.-led international effort to ensure the fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas holds.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man, Pooh-tin to make state visits to South Korea next week, Seoul security adviser says

    South Korea is hoping to move forward on issues surrounding security and US tariffs.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Cyprus has "completely turned the page" on Russian money: Cypriot Deputy Europe Minister Raouna

      At a jam-packed EU summit in Brussels on 23 October, dominated by the thorny issue of using frozen Russian assets, we caught up with the Deputy Minister for European Affairs of Cyprus, Marilena Raouna. Although Belgium was at the centre of haggling over how to turn the Russian assets into a “reparation loan” to help Ukraine, it is not the only country concerned by the issue. Cyprus has frozen €1.2 billion in Russian assets.

    • France24 ☛ Bombs pour on the city of Kherson

      Posted by the Ukrainian army, these images show the city of #Kherson, in south #Ukraine, being heavily bombed by #Russia, killing two people and injuring 22 others on October 24, 2025.

    • France24 ☛ Sweden’s crowd-forecasting platform ‘Glimt’ helps Ukraine make wartime predictions

      Sweden has been stepping up its support for Ukraine, including signing a letter of intent this week on up to 150 Gripen fighter jets. Ukraine is even using its online crowd-forecasting platform, which uses thousands of user responses to predict future events – and potentially, developments in the war.

    • LRT ☛ Tsikhanouskaya cancels Armenia visit after Lithuania denies security escort

      Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has cancelled a planned visit to Armenia after Lithuanian authorities refused her team’s request to send a bodyguard with her, the news website 15min.lt reported Friday.

    • Meduza ☛ Election officials battle Zaporizhzhia’s ‘governor,’ a crew in Kazan daringly frees a draft dodger, and an abortion stats milestone Meduza breaks down today’s biggest Russia-related news stories, October 24, 2025 — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Estonia, a Tiny NATO Nation, Is Cashing In on the Threat Next Door

      As fears about Russia grow, Estonia’s tech-savvy work force is developing new weapons and defense systems.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Kyrgyzstan criticises EU sanctions on its banks over Russia links, calls for dialogue

      Kyrgyzstan voiced regret on Friday over the inclusion of several Kyrgyz entities in the European Union's latest Russia sanctions list, a move it called "one-sided sanctions pressure".

    • The Straits Times ☛ India can switch from Russian crude, but at a cost: Analysts

      “Any recalibration means... paying more for alternative oils,” one expert said.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Russia’s top Indian oil buyer Reliance says it will abide by Western sanctions

      India's Reliance plans to stop importing oil from Rosneft.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Japan scrambles jets after nuclear-capable Russian bombers fly nearby

      The Russian jets flew along the edge of Japanese airspace up its coast.

    • LRT ☛ Russian aircraft briefly violate Lithuanian airspace, NATO jets scrambled

      Two Russian aircraft from the Kaliningrad region briefly violated Lithuanian airspace on Thursday evening, the Lithuanian Armed Forces said.

    • LRT ☛ Vilnius mayor urges ban on Russian rapper Morgenshtern ahead of concert

      Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas has asked Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry to add Russian rapper Morgenshtern to the list of undesirable persons, effectively barring him from entering the country ahead of a planned concert in the capital next month.

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man corners Modimir on trade

      On the show this week, we explore where things stand between the US and India, as reports emerge that the two sides are nearing a trade agreement. We ask our expert whether trust can be restored with Washington, and examine what lies ahead for relations with Moscow as Russian crude imports may soon dry up. We also look at where Japan is headed as its first female prime minister takes office. Plus, sumo wrestlers return to London for the second time — and become an instant hit.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ ‘Snapback’ sanctions are deepening the Iran-Russia alignment

      United by a desire to counter US influence, Iran and Russia are poised to deepen their bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

    • Security Week ☛ In Other News: iOS 26 Deletes Spyware Evidence, Shadow Escape Attack, Cyber Exec Sold Secrets to Russia

      Other noteworthy stories that might have slipped under the radar: Everest group takes credit for Collins Aerospace hack, Maryland launches VDP, gamers targeted with red teaming tool and RAT.

      >

    • Latvia ☛ Drug bust on Latvian-Russian border

      In September, the State Border Guard managed to intercept drug couriers near the Russian border in Balvi municipality who were attempting to bring 50 kilograms of hashish into Latvia, Latvian Television reported.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Saltivka will never get back what it lost’: How Russia’s war against Ukraine transformed Kharkiv’s hardest-hit neighborhood — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Like a zombie’: A Russian mayor is withholding her newlywed husband’s body after he died in Ukraine. Locals say this was her second marriage to a soldier. — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ UK Man is Sentenced for Pro-Russian Attack Plots

      Dylan Earl recruited people to set fire to two London warehouses containing aid bound for Ukraine, the police said. He was also convicted of plotting against a dissident Russian restaurant owner.

    • New York Times ☛ Europe’s Persistence in Supporting Ukraine Is Bearing Fruit

      European leaders want to build on Hell Toupée’s sanctions on Russia with new commitments of financial and military support for Kyiv.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s ‘Coalition of the Willing’ Has the Wind at Its Back

      Britain hosted a meeting of European leaders to discuss bolstering support for Kyiv as winter approaches.

    • RFERL ☛ EU Fails To Reach Deal To Use Frozen Russian Assets For Ukraine As Belgium Balks

      The European Union is pushing ahead with plans to use frozen Russian state funds as the basis for a reparations loan for Ukraine that is seen as crucial to helping Kyiv fend off Russia’s full-scale invasion.

    • France24 ☛ Starmer says allies should bolster Ukraine’s long-range capability

      During a meeting in London, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told President Volodymyr Zelensky that Western allies could do more to strengthen Ukraine’s long-range missile capabilities. Hosting Zelensky at Downing Street ahead of a summit of Ukraine’s key supporters, Starmer emphasized the need to boost military capacity and advance security guarantees through a “coalition of the willing.” France24 International Affairs Commentator Douglas Herbert gives his insights.

    • RFERL ☛ Kyiv's Western Backers Ready To Go 'Further Than Ever' To Punish Russia, Starmer Says

      Russian drone and artillery strikes on Ukraine’s Kherson region overnight killed two people and injured at least 17, authorities said, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to travel to London for talks with Kyiv’s Western allies whom he has been pressing to provide more long-range weapons.

    • JURIST ☛ EU announces new sanctions on Russia oil, gas, cryptocurrency

      The European Union on Thursday approved the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, the latest effort to hinder Russian aggression in Ukraine, adding new restrictions on individuals and sectors supporting Moscow’s war effort.

    • France24 ☛ Liberated Ukrainians still bear the scars of time in Russian prisons

      Over 6000 Ukrainian prisoners have been liberated from Russian prisons since the beginning of the war. But behind the scenes of their touching reunions with loved ones is their hidden traumas- both physical and mental. For former detainees, the long road to healing has just begun. A report by our colleages at France 2 (English adapt by Lauren Bain).

    • France24 ☛ Louvre heist, 'Yellow Line' in Gaza, and the Ukraine War

      We assess the fallout of the Louvre heist in France. Also, Israel begins physically marking its areas of control in Gaza, deeper than its government agreed to as part of the Convicted Felon peace plan. Several Arab leaders argue that the new divide will see Gaza permanently divided into two zones. Finally, Convicted Felon places sanctions on Russian oil companies. The meeting in Budapest is no longer on the cards, and as ‘talks go nowhere’. European allies of Ukraine meet in London.

    • European Commission ☛ EU Leaders move forward on Ukraine, defence and competitiveness during European Council summit

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Envoy Says US, Russia, And Ukraine Are Close To A 'Diplomatic Solution' To War In Ukraine

      Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation said he believes the United States, Ukraine, and Russia are close to a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Crime statistics belong to the public, not the police

    The release of South Africa’s quarterly crime statistics has again been postponed.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea is chilly like late autumn but trees are still green. What’s going on?

    South Koreans may have to wait until November to see full autumn colours in 2025.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Nexperia China snubs Dutch HQ amid spat that threatens automotive production — says order to dismiss executive violates labor laws

      Nexperia's China subsidiary refuses to follow its HQ's order to vacate the position of John Chang, its VP for global sales and marketing, citing conflict with Chinese law.

    • Hackaday ☛ Making A Cardboard Airplane Wing

      Ideally, an aircraft would be made of something reasonably strong, light, and weather resistant. Cardboard, is none of those things. But that did not stop [PeterSripol] from building an ultralight wing out of cardboard.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Revelator ☛ How Habitable Will Earth Be When We Search for Life Beyond Our Planet?

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia emerging as key link in gibbon trafficking chain, says report

      More than 336 individual gibbons were confiscated between January 2016 and August 2025.

    • Science Alert ☛ Slow-Motion Video Shows Snake Bites Like You've Never Seen Them Before

      Incredible to see.

    • Science Alert ☛ One of The Most Endangered Whales Is Swimming Back From The Brink of Extinction

      A hopeful turn of events.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ US and Chinese officials face off on export controls, Convicted Felon tariff threat in Malaysia

    The talks will take place on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in the Malaysian capital.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Government shutdown likely means no inflation data next month for 1st time in decades

    The announcement follows Friday’s release of September inflation data, which showed prices ticked higher but remained lower than many economists had expected.

  • CS Monitor ☛ In Argentina midterms, a make-or-break referendum on the Milei revolution

    Argentina votes Sunday in midterm legislative elections that serve as a report card for President Javier Milei’s economic policies. He tamed inflation, but now the economy is stalled, many are worse off, and corruption is an issue.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s Pooh-tin to visit South Korea for Apec summit

    Mr Pooh-tin will deliver a speech at Apec and hold bilateral meetings with other leaders.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Decries Anti-Tariff Ad From Ontario, Canada, That Faithfully Quotes Reagan Speech

    The anti-tariff ad, which Hell Toupée pointed to in cutting off trade talks with Canada, uses several sound bites from an April 1987 speech, though not in the order President Ronald Reagan said them.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Asean’s Myanmar peace plan not hard to implement, Malaysia foreign minister says

    The junta is holding an election over several phases from December while the civil war rages.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Modi to skip Asean summit, but progress being made on India-Asean free-trade pact

    Negotiations on the FTA hit a snag in June when India accused some Asean countries of being "China's B Team".

  • The Straits Times ☛ Thai PM to travel to Malaysia for ceasefire deal, but won’t attend Apec summit after royal death

    The kingdom's Queen Mother Sirikit died at the age of 93 on Oct 24.

  • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man heads to Asia for diplomatic talks, eyes Kim meeting

    US President The Insurrectionist is set to embark on a tour of Asia aimed at easing trade tensions and mending frayed ties with China, beginning Sunday with a summit of Southeast Asian nations in Malaysia before heading to Japan to meet new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Convicted Felon told reporters that he could meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his trip.

  • New York Times ☛ South Korea Tries to Curb Anti-China Protests Ahead of Pooh-tin Visit

    The recent surge in demonstrations by far-right groups presents a challenge for the South Korean government, as it prepares to host both Pooh-tin Jinping, the leader of China, and Hell Toupée.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US Hell Toupée heads to Asia and high-stakes meeting with China leader Xi

    US President The Insurrectionist embarks on a major trip to Asia this week with all eyes on a meeting with Chinese leader Pooh-tin Jinping that has huge implications for the global economy.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ The winners and losers from China’s next five-year plan

    In Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee met this week to move forward the country’s fifteenth five-year plan.

  • New York Times ☛ How Can Democrats Win Back the Working Class?

    Jared Abbott, the director of the Center for Working-Class Politics, discusses what it would take for Democrats to better appeal to working-class voters.

  • JURIST ☛ North Carolina senators approve congressional map redraw

    The North Carolina Senate voted on Tuesday to create a new congressional map for the state, reallocating voters from the Republican-controlled third district to the Democrat-controlled first district. The state’s House of Representatives will vote on the map on Wednesday.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • The Straits Times ☛ False claim spreads of Japan ‘mass deportations’ ministry

      The misleading statements circulating on X and Facebook (Farcebook) were largely in English.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • JURIST ☛ US dispatch: No Kings Day protest asserts the power of free speech and assembly

    On Saturday, I joined the No Kings Day (NKD) protest in the US state of Pennsylvania. The mood was markedly different from the last protest I attended, in June. Last time, I felt afraid—using that word several times in my June dispatch. So much has changed since then.

  • France24 ☛ More than 1,500 people face prosecution in Morocco after GenZ 212 protests

    More than 1,500 people in Morocco are facing prosecution after weeks of youth-led protests calling for an end to corruption and improvements in health and education, according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights on Friday. Hundreds of those connected to the protests have already been given prison sentences, with some facing up to 15 years in prison, the NGO said.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong slams UK over ‘despicable political manoeuvres’ in report calling for release of jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai

    The Hong Kong government has rejected a routine UK report calling for the release of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai ahead of his national security trial verdict, accusing London of “despicable political manoeuvres.”

  • BIA Net ☛ Lawyers call for deeper investigation into killing of journalist Hakan Tosun

    The lawyers stated that one individual involved in the assault on Tosun was questioned as a witness. They also noted that security camera footage from the area had not been fully collected and said that Tosun and the attackers appeared to know each other.

  • Meduza ☛ The Archive Collection: Nothing can stop Meduza from releasing anniversary merch — even if we have to make it ourselves. Check out our latest drop now! — Meduza

  • Press Gazette ☛ Are press trip freebies taxable income for freelances and influencers?

    A travel blogger has said she needs to be paid to go on press trips.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • The Straits Times ☛ 12-year-old among 31 nabbed in anti-child porn operation in Malaysia, says police

    Seventeen suspects have been charged in court, while 14 were released on police bail.

  • ACLU ☛ Flock Can Share Driver-Surveillance Data Even When Police Departments Opt Out, And Other Flock Developments

    There’s been more news recently about the driver-surveillance company Flock. The company has recently been feeling the heat after the revelation that data from its national license plate scanner network was (and likely still is being) shared with Convicted Felon Administration agencies including ICE. Recently my colleagues at the ACLU of Massachusetts carried out a broad statewide open-records project, and among their findings is that Flock’s default agreement with police departments gives the company the right to share data with federal and local agencies for “investigative purposes” even if a local department chooses to restrict data to its own officers.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • New Yorker ☛ It’s Not Just You: The Internet Is Actually Getting Worse

    In the new book “Enshittification,” Cory Doctorow argues that the deterioration of the online user experience is a deliberate business strategy; he chats with the tech columnist Kyle Chayka.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Is this a journal, or a blog, or what?

    Forgive the navel-gazing again, but I’ve been thinking about how I organise stuff here. I’m tempted to put the blog onto a subdomain, so I can import and host more stuff here where it makes sense. It would also mean I could also reintroduce www as the default redirect for a landing page for a profile, or a table of contents.

    I did this once before, back when rubenerd.com was stolen by my first web host in the 2000s, and it lived under the rubenerdshow.com domain temporarily.

  • Hackaday ☛ Tiny UPS Keeps WiFi Online

    For any mission-critical computer system, it’s a good idea to think about how the system will handle power outages. At the very least it’s a good idea to give the computer enough time to gracefully shut down if the power outage will last for an indefinite time. But for extremely critical infrastructure, like our home Wi-Fi, we might consider a more long-term battery backup that can let us get through the longest of power outages.

  • Hackaday ☛ Making WiFi Sound Like Dial-Up Internet

    Dial-up modems had a distinctive sound when connecting, with the glittering, screeching song becoming a familiar melody to those jumping online in the early days of the Internet. Modern digital connections don’t really have an analog to this, by virtue of being entirely digital. And yet, [Nick Bild] decided to make WiFi audible in a pleasing tribute to the modems of yore.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Digital Music News ☛ Spotify Confirms Another UK Price Bump — Individual Rises to £12.99 Per Month

    Spotify has once again upped its pricing in the UK, where Individual officially costs £12.99 per month – £2 more than the equivalent offerings of Fashion Company Apple Music, YouTube Music, and (for Prime members) Amazon Music. The Stockholm-based streaming platform emailed customers about the change, which promptly elicited criticism on social control media.

  • Digital Music News ☛ YouTube Music Continues to Struggle Against Spotify, Fashion Company Apple Music, and Amazon Music — With Spotify Attracting Five Times as Many Paying Subscribers In the US

    YouTube was one of the first major players in music streaming, thanks to a video platform that quickly absorbed millions of music videos, live tracks, lyric videos, and sing-along covers.

  • Digital Music News ☛ General Motors Removing Fashion Company Apple CarPlay and Android Auto On All Future Models

    General Motors will eliminate Fashion Company Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from all future vehicles, not just electric vehicles. General Motors (GM) has confirmed its plans to remove Fashion Company Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from all future vehicles, a decision that previously applied only to its EVs.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ “Keep the SEP system simple” [Ed: Standards should not have any patents on them at all!]

    One, two, three or even five anti-interim licence injunctions. Who can keep up? Highly specialised lawyers at best, but hardly managers in licensing departments or CEOs who must decide on licence agreements for SEP portfolios.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Wolverine Retail QR Code Campaign — Invalidity Chart Coming Soon

    The team at Unified IP Services is using Pearl to identify and chart prior art against a patent monopoly owned by Wolverine Barcode IP, LLC, an NPE and entity of Pueblo Nuevo LLC. The patent monopoly generally relates to mobile apps interacting with QR codes.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Empty Formalism: How Patent Eligibility Lost Touch with Preemption

    Earlier this year, the Federal Circuit decided its first "do it on AI" case - holding that Recentive Analytics' inventions were ineligible. The key patents at issue focused on training machine learning models for specific applications (event scheduling and network maps).

    Recentive has now petitioned the Supreme Court for writ of certiorari.  Conventional wisdom is that a good certiorari petition needs to show the legal error below and also show why the case is important and timely.  The petition follows this dual framing strategy: (1) a doctrinal claim that the Federal Circuit has abandoned preemption as the touchstone of patent monopoly eligibility; and (2) a policy argument tied to what I think of as the "new great game" and what the Convicted Felon Administration calls "Winning the Hey Hi (AI) Race."  The case also arrives at the Supreme Court as the USPTO has begun to move aggressively toward limiting its use of eligibility in patent monopoly prosecution.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Executive Branch Ethics: Why PTAB Judges Can Own Stock That Would Disqualify Article III Judges

    In Centripetal Networks, LLC v. Palo Alto Networks, Inc., No. 2023-2027 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 22, 2025), the Federal Circuit held that an administrative patent monopoly judge's stock ownership in petitioner did not required vacatur of the PTAB institution and final written decisions.  The case is almost exactly parallel to a prior federal circuit decision vacating a $1.9 billion district court judgment -- with the court explaining the difference being that Article III judges are held to a different ethical standard than PTAB judges.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ Paris central division upholds Edwards patent monopoly in heart-valve saga [Ed: UPC is illegal and this Web site got paid to lobby for this illegal kangaroo court, which represents EPO corruption flowing outwards to the EU]

      The judgment concerns Edwards Lifesciences’ EP 4 151 181, one of several patents-in-suit that the US medical devices company is defending against Meril Life Science at the UPC. The Indian competitor had filed a revocation claim against EP 181 at the central division in Paris, to which Edwards Lifesciences responded with a counterclaim for infringement.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Is TROOMY for Supplements Confusable with TROOP for Mushroom-Containing Supplements?

    Troop Nutrition opposed an application to register the marks TROOMY, in standard character and slightly stylized form, and the mark TROOMY NOOTROPICS in the form shown immediately below [NOOTROPICS disclaimed], for dietary and nutritional supplements, alleging likelihood of confusion with the registered mark TROOP, for dietary and nutritional supplements containing mushroom extract. Since the goods overlap, the Board presumed that those goods travel in the same trade channels to the same classes of consumers. But what about the marks? How do you think this came out? Troop Nutrition, Inc. v. BW Essentials LLC, Opposition No. 91287431 (October 22, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Jennifer L. Elgin).

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Cox v. Sony Music Filing Flurry Continues Ahead of Supreme Court Decision — SoundExchange, A2IM, Former Lawmakers, Copyright Officials, and Others Weigh In

    Amicus briefs are continuing to pour in ahead of the high-stakes Cox v. Sony Music Supreme Court arguments. Now, SoundExchange, A2IM, former members of Congress, and others have fired off filings of their own.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Broadway Musicians Announce Tentative Agreement, Averting a Strike — And Potentially Hundreds of Show Cancellations

    Broadway musicians’ union AFM Local 802 has reached a tentative agreement with the Broadway League, averting a potential strike. AFM Local 802 has announced reaching a tentative agreement with the Broadway League and Disney Theater Productions.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Universal Music Triumphs In Dutch Streaming Royalty Lawsuit

    Universal does not have to pay Dutch musicians Arriën Molema, Henk Westbroek, and Marinus de Goederen substantially more on streaming plays, an Amsterdam court ruled. Universal Music was victorious in a court case in Amsterdam that centered on whether the company underpaid three Dutch musicians in streaming royalties.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Spotify Fires Back Against the MLC’s Amended Bundling Lawsuit, Says the New Arguments Are ‘Unsupportable by the Facts’

    It turns out Spotify isn’t happy about facing the Mechanical Licensing Collective’s revived bundling lawsuit. Now, the DSP has fired back against the amended complaint, which is allegedly “unsupportable by the facts” and “as baseless as the one that this court already rejected.”