Leftovers

• Science

  • Hackaday ☛ The Staggering Complexity And Subtlety Of Concurrency

    If you’re gonna be a hacker eventually you’re gonna have to write code. And if you write code eventually you’re gonna have to deal with concurrency. Concurrency is what we call it when parts of our program run at the same time. That could be because of something fairly straightforward, like multiple threads, or multiple processes; or something a little more complicated such as event loops, asynchronous or non-blocking I/O, interrupts and signal handlers, re-entrancy, co-routines / fibers / green threads, job queues, DMA and hardware level concurrency, speculative or out-of-order execution at CPU-level, time-sharing on single-core systems, or parallel execution on multi-core systems. There are just so many ways to get tied up with concurrency.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ Quectel SRG091X and SRG093X NXP i.MX 9 industrial AIoT modules integrates Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 radios

    After releasing the very powerful P895BD-AP AIoT module at CES 2026, Quectel now released two new low-power industrial AIoT modules based on NXP’s i.MX 9 series SoCs. The module integrates Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and 802.15.4 radios, so it can simply be dropped into a PCB to create a fully compliant Matter Border Router without any RF design or coexistence concerns. While both modules share the same 46 x 41.5 mm form factor and wireless capabilities, they are different in terms of  CPU power as the SRG091X is an entry-level solution built around a single-core NXP i.MX 91 processor, while the SRG093X features dual-core NXP i.MX 93 SoC, which includes a Cortex-M33 real-time core and a neural processing unit (NPU) for edge Hey Hi (AI) workloads.

  • Hackaday ☛ It’s Not A Leica, It’s A Lumix

    There’s an old adage in photography that the best camera in the world is the one in your hand when the shot presents itself, but there’s no doubt that a better camera makes a difference to the quality of the final image. Among decent quality cameras the Leica rangefinder models have near cult-like status, but the problem is for would-be Leica owners that they carry eye-watering prices. [Cristian Băluță] approached this problem in s special way, by crafting a Leica-style body for a Panasonic Lumix camera. Given the technology relationship between the Japanese and German companies, we can see the appeal.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ AMD claims Panther Lake has 'too much baggage' for handheld PC use — fights back after defective chip maker Intel jabs AMD for using 'ancient silicon' in its Z2 series APUs

    AMD jabs defective chip maker Intel for calling its Z2 chips "ancient". Claims its Panther Lake mobile chips carry too much "baggage" for handheld gaming use.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Boxes of 100 server-grade DDR5 memory now cost as much as property in Shanghai in China spot market — single 256GB server sticks now over $5,700

    In China’s spot market, vendors are quoting prices that put a box of 100 high-capacity DDR5 server memory modules at roughly 5 million yuan [...]

  • CNX Software ☛ STM32MP21 Arm Cortex-A35/M33 MPU targets cost-effective applications in smart factories, homes, and cities

    STMicroelectronics’ STM32MP21 microprocessor family combines a 1.5 GHz 64-bit Arm Cortex-A35 application core with a 300 MHz 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 core for real-time processing. It is designed for “cost-aware” edge applications in smart factories, smart homes, and smart cities. The new STM32MP21 is a cost-optimized version of the earlier STM32MP23 and STM32MP25 that does without an Hey Hi (AI) accelerator (yes, those still exist!), GPU, H.264 decoder and encoder, or PCIe Gen2 / USB 3.0 interfaces.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • JURIST ☛ US federal court allows COVID-19 vaccine recommendation lawsuit to continue

    A federal court on Tuesday denied the government’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging changes to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. The case will continue on Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) claims.

  • New York Times ☛ How One Death Underscores the Suicide Risk for Construction Workers

    The death of TJ Kimball was a private tragedy that underscores a widespread risk in the stressful field.

• Proprietary

  • Amazon to Begin Layoffs Starting January 26, 2026, Targeting Up to 30,000 Jobs

    Amazon is set to initiate a significant round of layoffs starting January 26, 2026, marking a pivotal moment in the company’s continuing restructuring efforts. This move follows a tumultuous period characterized by rapid hiring during the pandemic, which led to a workforce of over 1.6 million people. As consumer behavior stabilizes, Amazon is now adjusting to the new economic landscape by cutting back on personnel, particularly in middle management and corporate overhead roles.

    According to regulatory filings, the initial phase of layoffs will extend through May, with projections suggesting that the total number of job losses could reach up to 30,000. This dramatic reduction is part of a broader strategy aimed at streamlining operations, minimizing bureaucracy, and reallocating resources to areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and AWS data centers.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Digital Music News ☛ Canadian Musician Loses Gig After Surveillance Giant Google Hey Hi (AI) Falsely Labels Him a Sex Offender — Turns Out It Was the Wrong Guy

      Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac had a show cancelled after Surveillance Giant Google produced an AI-generated summary that falsely identified him as a sex offender. Juno Award-winning musician Ashley MacIsaac was floored to learn that Surveillance Giant Google produced an AI-generated summary falsely identifying him as a sex offender.

    • JURIST ☛ Google and Character.AI agree to settle lawsuit linked to teen suicide

      Google and Character.AI, an artificial intelligence firm (AI), agreed Wednesday to settle a lawsuit linked to a teen’s suicide in 2024, a landmark settlement for AI-related harm cases. The US District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed the lawsuit following the agreement  between the plaintiff and defendants.

    • Digital Music News ☛ TikTok Confirms Content Group Shakeup, Aggressively Expands Monetization Team Ahead of ‘TikTok USA’ Launch

      Amid a shakeup in TikTok’s content group, global head of creators Kim Farrell is stepping away from the company. Simultaneously, the short-form giant is aggressively expanding its brand partnerships and monetization teams.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man pulls US out of international cyber orgs

      Among the 66 international organizations the administration withdrew from are a handful that work on cybersecurity topics.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia government urged to cane scammers to curb misuse of bank accounts

      A broader response is needed, with scam crimes becoming more complex and technologically driven.

    • OpenSSF (Linux Foundation) ☛ Signal in the Noise: An Industry-Wide Perspective on the State of VEX

      Abstract: Software security has always been a race between complexity and clarity. The Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange (VEX) aims to bring clarity to that race.

    • Securepairs ☛ CES: AI-Powered Exercise Equipment Wins “Worst In Show” For Cybersecurity

      It’s January and that means one thing: the CES Worst In Show awards. If you’re not hip to Worst In…

    • Security Week ☛ UK Government Unveils New Cyber Action Plan

      The UK government’s cyber action plan is by the government for the government, and has no advice for the private sector nor CNI.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Digital Music News ☛ When It Rains, It Pours: Ticketmaster Faces Another Class Action Lawsuit, This Time for Allegedly Illegal Surveillance

      Ticketmaster faces even more litigation, this time in the form of a class action alleging its website employs illegal tracking and surveillance tools. Most litigation against Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation in recent months has primarily focused on market dominance and so-called “junk fees.”

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Iran security forces attack hospital after protests in western region

    Videos verified by the Observers team show Iranian security forces attacking a hospital to arrest injured protesters in Ilam, western Iran, on the night of January 3-4. Earlier in the day, Iranian security forces opened fire on a peaceful protest in the nearby town of Arkavaz. Local reports say at least three people were killed.

  • France24 ☛ Inside Iran's nationwide protests: Security forces attack hospital after protests in western Iran

    Videos verified by the Observers team show Iranian security forces attacking a hospital in Ilam, Iran, on the night of 3-4 January. The footage shows security forces firing shotguns and tear gas as they attempt to detain injured protesters. Earlier in the day, security forces opened fire on a protest in the nearby town of Arkavaz. The protests began in December 2025, driven by Iran’s economic crisis, and have spread nationwide. HRANA says at least 36 protesters have been killed so far. France24 Observers journalist Ershad Alijani explains.

  • New York Times ☛ The Latest on the ICE Killing in Minneapolis, and a Shadow Fleet of Oil Tankers

    Plus, Hell Toupée sits down with The Times.

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Time to Ask if Stephen Miller Has Authorized Assault and Murder of Peaceful ICE Observers

    Given how consistently Greg Bovino is at the scene of unjustified violence against ICE observers, including today's shooting, and given Bovino's refusal to answer whether Stephen Miller has given him instructions about violence against protestors, it's time to ask whether Miller has ordered this violence.

  • New York Times ☛ Minnesota’s Dispute With Convicted Felon Administration Boils Over After ICE Shooting

    The contradicting accounts of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis from the federal government and officials in Minnesota were the latest episode in a dispute that has been building for weeks.

  • Futurism ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s Air Strikes Targeted a Scientific Research Institute, Venezuela Says

    "An unprecedented act of imperial aggression."

  • France24 ☛ Iranians protest for 12th day as Kurdish opposition calls for general strike

    An Iranian police officer was killed in a stabbing during unrest near the capital, local media reported on Thursday as protests over the cost of living in the country entered a 12th day. Several Kurdish opposition parties based in neighbouring Iraq have called for a general strike in support of the protest movement. Our colleagues from France2 and Daniel Quinlan report.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ Russian oppositionits Volkov regrets his private remarks but criticises Kyiv’s rhetoric

      Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov, a former close ally of late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, said he regrets controversial remarks about Ukrainians that surfaced this week but continues to reject what he described as “propagandistic rhetoric” from Ukraine’s leadership.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Hackaday ☛ Electric Snowblower Clears The Way With Hobby Parts

      If you live in snow country and own a home, you either have a snowblower or wish you did. The alternatives are either an expensive and potentially unreliable plow service, or back-breaking (and heart-attack inducing) shoveling. [RCLifeOn] was one of those people in the second category, until he decided to do something about it: electrifying a scrap snowblower with a blown engine. 

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Japan nuclear regulator official loses phone with confidential data in China

      An employee of Japan’s nuclear regulator lost a smartphone, possibly in China, containing a confidential list of contacts, an official and local media reports said.

• Finance

  • France24 ☛ US detains Ghana's fugitive former finance minister

    In tonight's edition, Ghana fugitive ex-finance minister is held by ICE in the US. Also, ahead of election, Uganda's security forces are accused of using violence against the opposition. And as AFCON ramps up for the quarter-finals, we take the temperature of the story so far and thumb ahead to what's still in store.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Federal News Network ☛ Judge blocks Convicted Felon administration from purging DEI-related terms from Head Start grant applications

    The order came this week in a lawsuit filed in April against Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other officials.

  • New York Times ☛ Gov. Gavin Newsom Criticizes Convicted Felon in State of the State Address

    Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized Hell Toupée and portrayed his state as “a beacon” of democracy in a State of the State address that suggested national ambitions.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Said His Global Power Was Limited Only by His ‘Own Morality’

    Also, meet one of the front-runners to become Apple’s next C.E.O. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Border Patrol Agents Shoot 2 in Portland During Traffic Stop

    The shooting in a city previously targeted by the Convicted Felon administration came as Minneapolis grappled with a federal agent’s killing of a woman a day earlier.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • New York Times ☛ Iran Is Cut Off From Internet as Protests Calling for Regime Change Intensify

    As protests swelled around the country, Iran’s internet was shut down, and the heads of its judiciary and its security services warned of a harsh response amid calls for “freedom, freedom.”

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong man remanded into custody pending case over ‘seditious’ Facebook (Farcebook) posts

    A Hong Kong man has been charged under the city’s homegrown security law for repeatedly sharing Facebook (Farcebook) posts that were deemed seditious. Chong Wai-man, 61, was brought to the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday afternoon to face one count of “knowingly publishing publications that had a seditious intention.”

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Up to 80 journalists strike in Scotland over STV job cuts

    STV journalists turned out on picket lines in Glasgow and Aberdeen.

  • NYPost ☛ ‘CBS Evening News’ No. 2 producer fired during anchor Tony Dokoupil’s bumpy first week: report

    The No. 2 producer at “CBS Evening News” has reportedly been fired — an abrupt move that comes as the newly relaunched program grapples with on-air gaffes during Tony Dokoupil’s rocky first week at the anchor desk.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Times and Substack among few UK winners in December Surveillance Giant Google update

    Sistrix data shows latest major core update hit several major newsbrands hard.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Futurism ☛ Sony Patents Hey Hi (AI) That Plays Video Games for You If You Get Stuck

    Finally, our leisure time has been automated.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Seven Patent Issues from 2025 that Deserve Ongoing Consideration

    From the near-shutdown of IPR to pending Supreme Court battles over prior art, seven patent monopoly law developments from 2025 that will shape litigation and prosecution going forward.

  • Software Patents

    • JUVE ☛ Hisense settles global dispute with Nokia over video coding patents

      The Regional Court Munich confirmed to JUVE Patent that Nokia has withdrawn its lawsuits against Hisense (case IDs: 7 O 4104/25 and 7 O 4105/25). This follows a licensing agreement, which Nokia announced today in a press release. The settlement resolves all patent-related litigation between the parties across all jurisdictions.