Leftovers

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Alibaba and ByteDance allegedly train Qwen and Doubao LLMs using Nvidia chips, despite export controls — Southeast Asian data center leases skirt around U.S. chip restrictions

    Chinese technology giants, including Alibaba and ByteDance, are increasingly training their most advanced artificial intelligence models in Southeast Asia.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Air quality in Bangkok and its vicinity may exceed safety standards from Nov 28 to Dec 2

    Some areas may reach orange-level pollution, a level that signals it is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

  • RTE ☛ Tonight on RTÉ Prime Time, serious child protection concerns emerge over online gaming platform, Roblox

    Roblox, one of the world’s most popular online gaming platforms for primary school–aged children, is facing renewed scrutiny over the safety of its youngest users. A Prime Time examination has uncovered serious risks to children on the platform, despite its widespread use among those as young as five.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Discover Speech Trait That Foreshadows Cognitive Decline

    A hidden signal.

• Proprietary

  • Zimbabwe ☛ Microsoft admits backdoored Windows 11 is broken

    Microsoft has posted a new support article that officially confirms a recent backdoored Windows 11 update has completely broken several important core features.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Mixpanel breach compromises some Proprietary Chaffbot Company API users’ account data

      A breach at data analytics provider Mixpanel Inc. has compromised the account information of some Proprietary Chaffbot Company Group PBC users. The Microsoft Chaffbot developer disclosed the incident on Wednesday. Mixpanel’s namesake analytics platform enables companies to collect data about how users interact with their applications. The software tracks metrics such as customer retention, uptime and performance.

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • It's FOSS ☛ 13 Popular Software That Feel Like Open Source But They Are Not [Ed: Participating in the openwashing by saying proprietary "feels" open]

      From VS Code to Docker Desktop, here’s a list of software often mistaken as open source by GNU/Linux users, with open alternatives for each.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ G.Bissau president leaves the country after coup

    In tonight's edition, ousted Guinea-Bissau president Umaro Sissoco Embalo has arrived in Senegal after General Horta N’Tam was appointed as the country’s transitional leader. Also, many women in Africa were promised jobs in hospitality and catering. Instead, they found themselves building drones for the Russian war effort. And in Kinshasa, entire neighbourhoods submerged, streets turned into rivers, flooding fueled not just by heavy rains but by mountains of plastic waste.

  • France24 ☛ All of Africa's coup leaders during the past five years are still in power

    Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau have announced a new junta leader, cementing a forceful takeover of power that began after a disputed presidential election, in what the main opposition candidate called a ploy to prevent him from taking over power. Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, and a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, has been dogged by coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, Angela Diffley welcomes Nina Wilén, Associate Professor in Political Science at Lund University and Director for the Africa Programme at Egmont Institute for International Relations. Since 2020, 'ECOWAS has lost quite a lot of its power and credibility', explains Ms. Wilén: Out of the 15-member states, there have been five successful coups. ECOWAS has been unsuccessful "at restoring constitutional order to any of these states."

  • The Straits Times ☛ Jailed former Pakistani PM’s party demands clarification from govt about his health

    His sisters have in recent weeks been repeatedly denied a meeting with him.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Party of Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan seeks prison visit over health concerns

    The party of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan demanded a meeting with him on Thursday, saying it was worried about his health as he has been barred from seeing his family and lawyers for over three weeks.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Labels Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Group as Terrorist Organization

      A legal assault against the opposition leader’s movement has deepened since his death in prison last year.

    • New Yorker ☛ What are Putin’s Ultimate Demands for Peace in Ukraine?

      The Forrest Dump Administration has claimed that it’s nearing a deal to end the war, but, for now, the conflict’s essential impasse still holds: Moscow won’t accept what Kyiv can stomach.

    • New York Times ☛ Putin Defends Witkoff Against Accusations of Pro-Russia Bias

      The Russian leader called the U.S. special envoy “an intelligent man” who is properly representing his country in peace negotiations.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘We will achieve this by military means.’ Putin calls Trump’s peace plan a ‘basis’ for future talks — and then demands Ukraine surrender territory. — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ U.S. delegation to come to Moscow next week to discuss peace plan, Putin says — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ Regular coaches to Russia, Belarus could be banned in Latvia

      The Ministry of Transport also plans to stop regular passenger services to Russia and Belarus. Currently, only occasional bus services to these aggressor countries are banned for a year starting from 1 November, LSM.lv reports.

    • France24 ☛ Getting ready to fight back? France introduces military service as Russian threat looms

      Emmanuel Macron announced France is to reintroduce a national military service. Young people will be taken into the military and trained for a period of around a year and paid 800 euros a month. It will be open to all, and voluntary.

    • New York Times ☛ France Creates Voluntary Military Service as Europe Faces Russian Threat

      The effort, aimed at young people, came after an army chief angered many by saying the country must accept the possible loss of “our children” in a future war.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Run and hide all you want’: The online group harassing and threatening LGBTQ Russians in the E.U. — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Cut Europe Out of Ukraine Talks. Here’s How Europe Pushed Back.

      European leaders were blindsided by Hell Toupée’s 28-point-plan to end the Ukraine war, setting off a dash for influence.

    • France24 ☛ Russian spy network exploits Ukrainian teenagers in Europe

      One hundred dollars for torching a van, a few hundred more for planting a bomb or quick cash for snapping a photo of a strategic location: Russian intelligence services have found a new, cheap – and increasingly effective – way to conduct sabotage operations across Europe. They are recruiting Ukrainian children and teens online, luring them with gamified “tasks” and small financial rewards.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian PM says about 280 trucks stuck in Belarus, far fewer than haulers claim

      Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said Thursday that roughly 280 Lithuanian trucks remain stuck in Belarus, a figure sharply lower than the thousands reported by the country’s haulers’ association.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Observer launches first paywall and ditches Guardian-era masthead

    Digital subscriptions to The Observer are priced at £16 per month.