Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Need For Speed Map IRL

  When driving around in video games, whether racing games like Mario Kart or open-world games like GTA, the game often displays a mini map in the corner of the screen that shows where the vehicle is in relation to the rest of the playable area. This idea goes back well before the first in-vehicle GPS systems, and although these real-world mini maps are commonplace now, they don’t have the same feel as the mini maps from retro video games. [Garage Tinkering] set out to solve this problem, and do it on minimal hardware.

• Hackaday ☛ Teardown Of A 5th Generation Prius Inverter

  The best part about BEV and hybrid cars is probably the bit where their electronics are taken out for a good teardown and comparison with previous generations and competing designs. Case in point: This [Denki Otaku] teardown of a fifth-generation Prius inverter and motor controller, which you can see in the video below. First released in 2022, this remains the current platform used in modern Prius hybrid cars.

• The Straits Times ☛ From traditional mats to virtual arenas: The rise of virtual reality taekwondo in Malaysia

  Some local clubs started introducing VR ­taekwondo to members in 2024.

• Jim Nielsen ☛ It’s Uncomfortable To Sit With “I Don’t Know”

  There’s the thing where if you’re reading an article in the newspaper, and it’s about stuff you don’t know a ton about, it all seems well and good. Then you read another article in the same paper and it’s about something you know intimately (your job, your neighborhood, your hobby, etc) there is a good chance you’ll be like hey! that’s not quite right!

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Parcopresis Restricts Where People Can Poop. Here's Why It's a Problem.

    Germans have a word for this kind of thing.

  • Science Alert ☛ JWST Catches Record-Breaking Planet Sprouting Two Enormous Tails

    Tylos is one weird world.

  • Science Alert ☛ Poor Sleep Can Trigger a Vicious Cycle Your Brain Can't Break, Experts Warn

    It’s important to get help.

  • Science Alert ☛ Our Brains Can Still Outsmart Hey Hi (AI) Using One Clever Trick

    Take note, ChatGPT.

  • Science Alert ☛ Biggest Global Map of Its Kind Captures 2.75 Billion Buildings in 3D

    And you can view it now.

  • Science Alert ☛ DNA From Beethoven's Hair Reveals a Surprise 200 Years Later

    A tragic irony.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Secret of Entrepreneurial Success May Hide in Your Brain Waves

    We have to rethink this.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ reTerminal E1001/E1002 Review – B&W and color ePaper displays tested with SenseCraft HMI and Home Assistant

    Seeed Studio sent us samples of the reTerminal E1001 (monochrome) and E1002 (color) ePaper displays for review. They are powered by an ESP32-S3 microcontroller providing WiFi and Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity, and are designed for low-power information display applications, consuming power only when updating the screen content.

  • CNX Software ☛ Luxonis OAK4 standalone Hey Hi (AI) vision camera features Qualcomm QCS8550 SoC with up to 52 TOPS performance

    Luxonis OAK 4 is a standalone Hey Hi (AI) vision system/camera powered by a Qualcomm DragonWing QCS8550 platform delivering up to 52 TOPS of Hey Hi (AI) performance for on-device real-time perception with relying on a host computer. Four variants are offered: OAK 4 S, OAK 4 D, OAK 4 D Pro, and OAK 4 CS. All four feature 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 48 MP RGB camera sensor with rolling shutter, although the OAK 4 CS model can feature a 5MP global shutter camera thanks to support for wappable lenses.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Dev hacks Xiaomi's Smart Humidifier to free it from the clown, now works with Home Assistant locally — custom firmware allows the product to evade planned obsolescence

    If the one thing about smart home appliances that deterred you from ever investing in this connected future was how your data was always being routed through servers, you're in for a treat. A skilled developer has hacked his new Xiaomi Humidifier with ESPHome, making the device compatible with Home Assistant.

  • Hackaday ☛ Printing With PHA Filament As Potential Alternative To PLA

    PLA (polylactic acid) has become the lowest common denominator in FDM 3D printing, offering decent performance while being not very demanding on the printer. That said, it’s often noted that the supposed biodegradability of PLA turned out to be somewhat dishonest, as it requires an industrial composting setup to break it down. Meanwhile, a potential alternative has been waiting in the wings for a while, in the form of PHA. Recently, [JanTec Engineering] took a shot at this filament type to see how it prints and tests its basic resistance to various forms of abuse.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ California Hires Former C.D.C. Officials Who Criticized Convicted Felon Administration

    A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a former chief medical officer of the agency will advise the state on public health issues.

  • Futurism ☛ Huge Study Finds Very Worrying Results for Medical Marijuana Patients

    And almost a third of users show signs of cannabis abuse.

  • Science Alert ☛ Expert Explains How to Prepare For Wave of UK 'Super Flu'

    It's not unprecedented.

  • Futurism ☛ Founder of Mental Health Startup Has Epic Public Breakdown, Tries to Start Fire, Flees in Tesla, Crashes

    You hate to see it.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean mother who saved daughter from e-scooter crash suffering memory loss

    “Her brain has been damaged, resulting in amnesia like the cases you see on TV dramas," her husband said.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Ben Congdon ☛ Chorus is Good Software

      I’ve been using Chorus for the past 6-7 months. Within the first couple days of using it, I was telling everyone I talk with about Hey Hi (AI) stuff to try it out. Melty Labs, the company behind Chorus, subsequently built Conductor. It appears this Conductor now their primary focus, and as such they’ve decided to open source Chorus.

      Chorus is a macOS LLM client. Its differentiating feature is that it fetches you responses from many LLMs in parallel within the same chat. I think it’s quite good software.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • The Straits Times ☛ Visitors to South Korea may be able to use public transit with credit cards issued abroad

      The authorities have commissioned a study that looks into the feasibility of the plan.

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ Hamas Confirms Top Commander’s Death in Israeli Strike in Gaza

    The killing of the commander, Raed Saad, on Saturday was the highest-profile assassination of a Hamas leader since a cease-fire came into force two months ago.

  • New Yorker ☛ History’s Judgment of Those Who Go Along

    Some civil servants and senior officials in the Convicted Felon Administration are experiencing bouts of conscience.

  • France24 ☛ Chile’s right pushes immigration as 'politicised' issue in presidential vote, expert says

    The right in Chile is pushing “immigration” onto the agenda ahead of an election that could see an ultra-conservative candidate win, Rossana Castiglioni, Dean of Social Sciences and History at Diego Portales University, told FRANCE 24. Noting that Chile now has the highest immigration rate in Latin America, Castiglioni added, “this topic has been politicised”.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean police raid offices of the Unification Church

    The raid is related ⁠to allegations of illegal payments by the church to some Cabinet members.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s ex-president Yoon tried to provoke Pyongyang into armed aggression: Prosecutor

    The impeached leader was previously accused of ordering a covert drone operation into the North.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia to coordinate efforts to ease Thailand-Cambodia border tensions, says PM Anwar

    Both countries requested a brief postponement of the Asean Foreign Ministers’ meeting, scheduled for Dec 16.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China sanctions Japanese retired general over Taiwan links

    The general was appointed earlier in 2025 as an adviser to Taiwan’s cabinet.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Nail designs, food reviews ‘not politically sensitive’: Taiwanese users rail against Xiaohongshu ban

    The ban comes amid concerns over cybersecurity gaps and influence campaigns associated with the Chinese app.

  • France24 ☛ Gunmen kill several at Jewish gathering in Sydney's Bondi Beach

    Two gunmen attacked a Hannukah celebration on a Sydney beach Sunday, killing at least 11 people in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitism and terrorism. The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular and iconic beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those episodes and Sunday’s shooting were connected.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australian intelligence probed Bondi Beach gunman for IS links: Report

    Broadcaster ABC said the gunmen are believed to have pledged allegiance to Islamic State.

  • New York Times ☛ Mass Shootings Are Rare in Australia, Which Has Strict Gun Laws

    The country’s stringent rules are often lauded as a model policy by proponents of gun control in the United States.

  • The Strategist ☛ Bondi terror: attack reinforces the need for security frameworks that manage risk

    The terror attack at Bondi Beach on Sunday should be understood not only as an act of violence but as a stress test of Australia’s security, social and policy systems.

  • The Strategist ☛ WDSN panel: collective effort is key to combatting modern threats

    Preparedness, resilience and blurred threats were the top security concerns for panellists at ASPI’s Women in Defence and Security Network (WDSN) Gala on 12 November.

  • France24 ☛ Syrian who killed Americans was part of security forces, interior ministry says

    Syria's interior ministry said Sunday the gunman who killed three Americans in the central Palmyra region the previous day was a member of the security forces who was to have been fired for extremism. Two US troops and a civilian interpreter died in what the Syrian government described as a "terrorist attack" on Saturday, while Washington said it had been carried out by an Islamic State group (IS) militant who was then killed.

  • New York Times ☛ Syrian Who Killed U.S. Soldiers Was Member of Security Forces, Officials Say

    The gunman who killed two U.S. soldiers and an American civilian interpreter had been set to be dismissed from the security forces over his extremist views, U.S. and Syrian officials said.

  • New York Times ☛ Gunshots at Brown University, Then 12 Hours of Lockdown and Fear

    Students sheltered in place in classrooms and basements, waiting for the all clear.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korean leader’s sister sports Chinese foldable phone

    The phone resembles the Chinese brand Honor’s “Magic” line, advertised as “the world’s thinnest foldable smartphone”.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ 'Pressure works': Belarus opposition leader Tikhanovskaya reacts to release of political prisoners

      Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the exiled Belarus opposition leader, spoke to FRANCE 24 about the release from jail of fellow protest leader Maria Kolesnikova and Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski along with 121 other political prisoners. "Let's not forget that at least 1,200 political prisoners are still behind bars, people are still being arrested every day, families are still being terrorised and repression hasn't stopped. So, there is still a lot of work ahead of us," said the former presidential candidate who stood against Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko. Asked about US moves to lift sanctions on Minsk in return for the prisoners’ release, Tikhanovskaya thanked the Convicted Felon administration for its role in brokering the deal, while calling for further pressure on the Belarus government. She added: "Lukashenko released these people not because he became humane, but because he feels the pressure and he wants sanctions lifted."

    • Latvia ☛ Rubber exported to Russia via Latvia, says LTV

      Last year, almost 2,000 tonnes of natural rubber were exported from European Union (EU) member states to Russia, reports Latvian Television's De Facto investigative show.

    • Latvia ☛ President Rinkēvičs in Paris

      On December 15th, Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs is on a working visit to Paris, where he is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, Senate President Gérard Larcher, and National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet to discuss bilateral cooperation, European security and defence, support for Ukraine, and other issues on the European Union agenda.

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky Offers Compromise for New Round of Ukraine Peace Talks

      Ukraine’s president met with U.S. negotiators about plans to end the war with Russia. He said he would give up hopes of joining NATO in exchange for security guarantees.

    • RFERL ☛ US-Ukraine Negotiators Agree To Return For Second Day After 5 Hours Of Talks

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US envoys completed more than five hours of negotiations in Berlin on December 14 with no indication of potential results revealed, only that talks would continue the following day.

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky and US envoys to push on with Ukraine talks in Berlin on Monday

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his country’s bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees as he held talks in Berlin with US envoys that were set to continue on Monday. The Ukrainian leader rejected the US push for ceding territory to Russia, saying he hoped Washington would back the idea of freezing the front line where it is.

    • France24 ☛ Live: Talks between Ukrainian and US officials set to resume Monday

      Talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Berlin are set to resume Monday. After hours of negotiations on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he is open to abandoning Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership in return for Western security guarantees, but firmly dismissed US suggestions that Kyiv give up territory to Russia. Follow our liveblog for all the latest.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Russian media finally admits Putin is under fire from angry citizens, but it's for the recent Roblox ban — Kremlin says kids have written 63,000 complaint letters, half said they wanted to leave Russia due to the ban

      There's been a Russian youth uprising, with tens of thousands of kids writing to say they want to emigrate because Roblox has been blocked.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Crash or triumph? Zhuque-3 bursts into flames upon landing, but China may have just crossed a historic milestone

      The inaugural flight of the Zhuque-3 rocket ended in a fire during the attempt to recover the first stage.

    • Futurism ☛ China Installs Defensive Countermeasures on Space Station

      Whipple Who?

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Straits Times ☛ 2 pandas to depart Japan in January, leaving none for first time in half-century

      Panda loans are seen as a diplomatic symbol of friendship between Japan and China.

• Finance

  • New York Times ☛ China Approaches First Investment Decline in 3 Decades

    A broad measure of investment fell more than 10 percent in November, continuing a recent reversal and signaling the depth of China’s property crisis.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China again puts domestic demand first, but the payoff will be slow

    Consumers are holding back because of a soft labour market and falling property prices, analysts say.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China urges Gulf nations to seal free trade agreement

    Beijing attributed the urgency to rising protectionism and unilateralism.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s Pooh-tin warns officials against chasing ‘reckless’ GDP expansion

    He vowed to crack down on the pursuit of “reckless” projects that have no purpose except showing superficial results.

  • Bulletin ☛ When it all comes crashing down: The aftermath of the AI boom

    Silicon Valley and its backers have placed a trillion-dollar bet on the idea that generative AI can transform the global economy and possibly pave the way for artificial general intelligence, systems that can exceed human capabilities. But multiple warning signs indicate that the marketing hype surrounding these investments has vastly overrated what current AI technology can achieve, creating an AI bubble with growing societal costs that everyone will pay for regardless of when and how the bubble bursts.

    The history of AI development has been punctuated by boom-and-bust cycles (with the busts called AI winters) in the 1970s and 1980s. But there has never been an AI bubble like the one that began inflating around corporate and investor expectations since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022. Tech companies are now spending between $72 billion and $125 billion per year each on purchasing vast arrays of AI computing chips and constructing massive data centers that can consume as much electricity as entire cities—and private investors continue to pour more money into the tech industry’s AI pursuits, sometimes at the expense of other sectors of the economy.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Said It Would Be Easy to Free Jimmy Lai. He Should Prove It.

    The Hong Kong publisher’s fate will reveal whether democracies still have the resolve to defend their own values.

  • France24 ☛ Hong Kong court finds media tycoon Jimmy Lai guilty in national security trial

    Hong Kong’s High Court on Monday convicted jailed media tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai of national security offences that could see him sentenced to v, a verdict that has intensified global scrutiny of the city’s judicial independence amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Reaction to Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai's guilty verdict in national security trial

    Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty on Monday of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of sedition under a China-imposed national security law that could see him jailed for life.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hong Kong's legal clampdown on Jimmy Lai, tycoon and China critic

    HONG KONG, Dec 15 - Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai was found guilty on Monday in his landmark security trial on charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and sedition, which could mean life in prison.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hong Kong court finds tycoon Jimmy Lai guilty of sedition, foreign collusion in national security trial

    Lai, who has already spent five years in jail pending the outcome of his case, will be sentenced at a later date.

  • New York Times ☛ Jimmy Lai’s Life, in Photos and Video

    He attributed his rags-to-riches ascent to the freedoms of Hong Kong, and has paid a hefty price for defending them.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong tycoon and democratic firebrand who stood up to China

    He was charged with collusion with foreign forces and sedition, and the verdict is expected on Dec 15.

  • New York Times ☛ Jimmy Lai Faces Up to Life in a Hong Kong Jail After Guilty Verdicts

    Jimmy Lai, the publisher of a popular tabloid, was convicted of national security charges on Monday after spending decades supporting the city’s vanquished pro-democracy movement.

  • New York Times ☛ Hong Kong Court to Give Verdict on Media Mogul Who Took on China

    Jimmy Lai, the publisher of a popular tabloid, has spent years fighting the landmark national security case brought over his support of the city’s now vanquished pro-democracy movement.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea university accused of discrimination for stating students’ nationality in notice

    They stressed that they did not intend to stir negative sentiments against the school’s Chinese students.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Policy outcomes from the Open Policy Meeting at APNIC 60

    Three proposals achieved consensus. Two did not. One of those received no feedback at all prior to the meeting.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Trademarks

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Commodore International challenges Italian rival’s trademarks in escalating brand dispute — firm says clarity needed to clear the path for new licensed products

    Commodore International Corporation has initiated legal action against Italian start-up Commodore Industries, claiming that a set of Commodore trademarks registered in Europe in 2017 were improperly granted.