Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ Feedback to the Haneda Problem

  I received a bunch of feedback on The Haneda Problem post, some of which was negative in a way that I thought missed the point. I suspect I didn’t do a great job articulating what I meant. But I did get a kind response from Alison Wilder that was worth discussing.

  (Another of you wrote a blog post that you since deleted. If this was a mistake let me know, and I’ll add your link back in).

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Reveals an Unexpected Way to Boost Recovery After a Stroke

    Counterintuitive!

  • Science Alert ☛ Confirmed: NASA's Crewed Moon Mission Delayed After Fuel Leaks

    "This one caught us off guard.”

  • Science Alert ☛ 6 Expert Tips to Drink Coffee Safely if You Have High Blood Pressure

    You don't have to give it up.

  • Science Alert ☛ Poop From Young Donors Reverses Age-Related Decline in The Guts of Older Mice

    Gross.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • JURIST ☛ Spain introduces social control media ban and stricter online regulations for minors

    Spain’s Prime Minister on Tuesday announced plans to prohibit minors from accessing social control media as part of regulatory measures to address online safety concerns. The announcement came at the World Governments Summit hosted in Dubai.

• Proprietary

  • It's FOSS ☛ Oh Dear! Notepad++ Was Quietly Compromised for Six Months (But Don't Panic Just Yet)

    The attack occurred last year, but updating to a recent version is still recommended.

  • HowTo Geek ☛ Visual Studio Code is eating up hundreds of gigabytes on Linux

    If you're running out of space on your Linux desktop or laptop, Visual Studio Code might be the culprit. There's a bug that causes some VS Code installations to never delete files after you trash them, potentially eating up hundreds of gigabytes of storage.

    When you delete a file or folder in Visual Studio Code, the data is usually moved to your system's trash directory or recycle bin. That way, you can restore the file if needed, at least until you empty the trash. However, when Visual Studio Code is installed as a Snap package on a Linux computer, the file is moved to a trash folder within the Snap package, instead of the system trash bin.

    This behavior prevents files from being recovered by opening the system's trash folder. More importantly, Visual Studio Code is not cleaning out that trash directory. If you 'deleted' a file in your project six months ago, it might still be in the Snap container's trash directory.

  • It's FOSS ☛ Windows 11 May Introduce a Linux-like Feature for its Power Users

    Okay, fine, not only Linux, but macOS too. A proposal has been pitched under Microsoft PowerToys that looks to introduce a new optional Command Palette Dock.

  • The Business Journals ☛ Seattle area sheds 12,900 jobs in first decline since pandemic

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Investors Dumping American Stocks as the Country Bets Everything on AI

      The US dollar just hit a four-year low.

    • Futurism ☛ Mamdani Shuts Down NYC’s Disastrous Hey Hi (AI) Chatbot

      "The previous administration had an Hey Hi (AI) chatbot that was functionally unusable."

    • Futurism ☛ Grok’s Analysis of Whether Mamdani Is Related to Epstein May Be the Single Most Amazing Hey Hi (AI) Response We’ve Ever Seen

      This is getting so stupid.

  • Social Control Media

    • Futurism ☛ Reddit Mod Deleted Breathtaking Photo Taken by NASA Astronaut From Space Because It Was “Blurry”

      "Dear mods, please show NASA how to take better pictures from space so you don’t have to delete them."

• Security

  • Pen Test Partners ☛ Covert recording is easy, which is the problem

    TL; DR   A normal shopping trip into ethically dubious kit  As part of physical social engineering engagements, I will often trawl the common online stores for devices that could be abused to gain information. This is not technical abuse.

  • SequoiaPGP ☛ Sequoia's Input to the Upcoming European Open Digital Ecosystem Strategy

    The European Commission has requested input to inform the upcoming European Open Digital Ecosystem Strategy. The initiative “will set out: a strategic approach to the open source sector in the EU that addresses the importance of open source as a crucial contribution to EU technological sovereignty, security and competitiveness” and “a strategic and operational framework to strengthen the use, development and reuse of open digital assets within the Commission.”

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Public Knowledge ☛ Data Brokers, and Other Things Not Covered by 230

      "Defending Section 230 does not require accepting every expansive interpretation that defendants advance."

  • Confidentiality

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong privacy watchdog records 20% increase in data breaches – a third involves hacking

      Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog recorded nearly 250 data breaches last year – more than a 20 per cent increase from the previous year, with a third of the incidents involving hacking.

    • Press Gazette ☛ Mail says there is ‘no evidence’ it obtained call records of Kylie ex

      Private investigator 'Detective Danno' gives evidence in Mail privacy case.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Never mind the bloodbath? Convicted Felon turns to direct talks with Iran over nukes

    One month after the US captured Nicolas Maduro, is Washington trying its Venezuela template on Iran? Not the part where special forces swoop for foreign leaders. Rather the part where the regime and its apparatus can stay so long as Washington gets what it wants. In the case of Iran, maximum pressure and The Insurrectionist’s initial promise to protesters that “help is on the way” seems to be morphing into art of the deal-style nuclear bargaining.

  • The Strategist ☛ Just in case: Australia needs to prepare for a world without US leadership

    Canberra can no longer assume that Washington will underpin regional stability or the rules-based order, the foundational premise of modern Australian strategic planning.

  • France24 ☛ Amid harsh winter, 'half of Gaza's residents are living in dilapidated tents'

    Despite the ceasefire in place in Gaza since October 2025, the Israeli bombing continues. Residents are suffering dire conditions while winter has made things worse: heavy rains have flooded the camps and cold weather has led to the death of at least ten children due to a lack of adequate heating or clothing. Local associations, such as The Sameer Project, are doing what they can to support Gaza’s residents.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ 'NATO could do so much more', Ukraine MP says as Russia resumes large-scale strikes

      Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Lisa Yasko, Ukrainian MP for President Zelelnskyy's party Sluga Narody Servant of the People, says that 'NATO could do so much more in terms of security'. NATO chief Mark Rutte said on a visit to Kyiv Tuesday that Russia's overnight attacks did not suggest Moscow was serious about making peace, as the United States pushes talks to stop the fighting.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine: Kyiv residents face power outages amid Russian strikes

      In Kyiv, residents endure daily power outages due to relentless Russian strikes, making it difficult to cook or heat homes. These attacks have severely damaged Ukraine's power grid and infrastructure, including residential buildings and schools. NATO chief Mark Rutte visited Kyiv to express support, asserting that Russia's actions show a lack of commitment to peace. President Zelenskyy is preparing for talks with Russian negotiators in Abu Dhabi, emphasizing the need for security guarantees from Western partners.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Accuses Russia Of 'Winter Genocide' After Fresh Strikes On Energy Sites

      Ukraine has accused Russia of committing "winter genocide" after another round of massive air strikes targeted energy and civilian infrastructure.

    • The Strategist ☛ Weakening nuclear arms control increases risks of crisis escalation

      The expiration of the New START agreement between the United States and Russia on 5 February marks the near-complete collapse of an arms control system that once made nuclear competition predictable, verifiable and contained.

    • France24 ☛ Poland to probe possible links between Epstein and Russia, PM Tusk says

      Poland ​will launch an investigation into possible links between the late sex offender Jeffrey ⁠Epstein and Russian intelligence, as well as any impact on Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday. "More and more leads, more ​and more information, and more and more commentary in the global press all relate to the suspicion that this unprecedented paedophilia scandal was co-organised by ‌Russian intelligence services," Tusk said.

    • France24 ☛ India says trade deal with US 'best in the region' but keeps mum on Russian oil

      Following a social control media announcement by The Insurrectionist about a trade deal, Indian officials hailed the agreement as 'the best in the region' while making no explicit comment about the US president's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modimir had agreed to stop buying Russian oil. Moscow meanwhile says it hasn't heard from India about any plans to do so.  We take a closer look at how much crude oil India imports from Russia.

• Finance

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Business confidence in Mexico hits its lowest point in 3 years

    Economic weakness (just 0.7% growth in 2025), inflationary challenges, new tariffs and anxiety over the scheduled review of the USMCA trade agreement are likely contributing factors.

  • BIA Net ☛ Food prices continue to surge despite drop in overall inflation

    Food and non-alcoholic beverages recorded the highest monthly increase among major spending groups.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Futurism ☛ Police Raid SpaceX’s Brand New Offices

      All the nasty problems at xAI are now SpaceX problems, following the acquisition.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • ACLU ☛ Kansas Town Uses License Plate Readers to Go After Man Who Wrote Op-Ed

    Police in Lenexa, Kansas used automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology to pursue a man who wrote a critical op-ed about the police department, according to reporting by Kansas public radio station KCUR. This is a rare public example of exactly the kind of abuse that we’ve long warned against when it comes to mass-surveillance systems like license plate readers.

  • Citizen Lab ☛ New EU Report Urges More Aggressive Action Against Transnational Repression

    Citizen Lab senior research associate Emile Dirks spoke with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists about a report he co-authored on transnational repression in the EU.  The authors found that European nations respond more weakly to transnational repression from China than repression by other countries.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ BBC proposes to close central regional investigations unit

    Eight jobs at risk with closure of Central Longform Investigations Team.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Ruben Schade ☛ 2026 fixes, and an IPv6 update again

    I just archived, replaced, and turned off another legacy piece of my hosting infra and… no monitoring server has pinged me. If you see anything weird, please let me know.

    The next step is getting IPv6 going again. I’ve had several of you from Vietnam say you can’t access my stuff easily, for which I apologise. I moved my site back to a legacy cluster at work when “AI” bots started smashing my boxes, and it started costing real money. It’s free, but only has IPv4.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ Additional Bunker Hill EV patents prior art found

    Unified Patents, through its subsidiary Unified IP Services, plans to release charted prior art on Bunker Hill patents weekly until its assertion of invalid patents ceases. Unified IP Services has released several charts within the last few weeks: [...]

  • Unified Patents ☛ Primos Storage cloud services patents prior art found

    The team at Unified IP Services used Pearl to successfully identify and chart prior art against U.S. Patent 7,386,663, U.S. Patent 8,312,356, and U.S. Patent 10,599,344, owned and asserted by Primos Storage Technology LLC, an NPE. The patents listed below generally relate to transaction-based storage systems.

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Sara Weiss’ Journeys to the Planet Mars (1903)

    A forgotten bridge between Spiritualism and UFO encounters.