Leftovers

• Jim Nielsen ☛ Unresponsive Buttons on My Fastest Hardware Ever

  This is one of those small things that drives me nuts.

  Why? I don’t know. I think it has something to do with the fact that I have a computer that is faster than any computer I’ve ever used in my entire life — and yet, clicking on buttons results in slight but perceptible delays.

• Audiocasts/Shows

  • Stephen Hackett ☛ Mac Power Users 835: Farewell, Stephen

    My final episode of Mac Power Users was released over the weekend: [...]

  • Graham Cluley ☛ Smashing Security podcast #454: AI was not plotting humanity’s demise. Humans were • Graham Cluley

    Plus we discuss why “vibe coding” your app might be a catastrophically bad idea, when security researchers can easily peek inside rifle through your private messages, API keys, and databases.

• Science

  • Latvia ☛ Women lead the way in Latvian science and engineering

    Eurostat data published on February 11th to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science show that Latvia is one of Europe's leading regions when it comes to the number of women scientists and engineers it has.

  • New York Times ☛ This Comet Stopped Spinning. Then It Started Rotating Backward.

    The unusual event, never seen before, might be a way small comets are “blown to bits” in the solar system.

  • Science Alert ☛ All Life on Earth Shares an Ancestor – And Some of Our Genes Predate It

    Tracing the roots of the tree of life.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Surprising 'Rocket Storm' Could Reveal How Mars Lost Its Water

    It wasn't always this dry.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Dark Matter' in Your Genome Could Unlock New Disease Treatments

    A hidden layer of genetic control.

  • Science Alert ☛ Memory Loss in Alzheimer's Linked to Problems With The Brain's 'Replay Mode'

    Scrambled navigation.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Say It's Time to Learn More About Sexual Health in Space

    It's a serious research blind spot.

  • Science Alert ☛ Major Review Reveals The Best Exercises For Easing Depression

    That's not all it found.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mars Organics Are Hard to Explain Without Life, NASA-Led Study Finds

    Answers are tantalizingly out of reach.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Secret to One of Peru's Most Powerful Kingdoms Came Out of Birds

    White gold!

• Career/Education

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea to overhaul English writing test after complaints it was too hard

    Only 3.11 per cent of test-takers in November 2025 earned the top grade in the English section.

• Hardware

  • Ruben Schade ☛ A busted Athlon-ara motherboard BIOS

    It had been at least five minutes since Clara’s father handed down an old computer. I kid, but it’s been amazing reminiscing with him over these old machines, and tinkering to get them all working again.

    Our latest addition to the family is a slightly more modern box: an Athlon64 from 2005, built around an Asus K8V SE Deluxe motherboard and an amazing beige Antec case. Already I can see myself filling it up with all my spare optical and disk drives, and it becoming my primary backdoored Windows XP-era game tower.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ China charges former AstraZeneca regional head Leon Wang

    Wang was detained by authorities in the country more than a year ago in relation to probes into the drugmaker’s business.

  • The Straits Times ☛ More seniors in China growing addicted to the internet; loneliness, boredom cited as key reasons

    One senior spent 10,000 yuan (S$1,820) tipping streamers within a month.

  • New York Times ☛ Nurses at 4 N.Y.C. Hospitals Vote to End Strike, but It Continues at One

    At Montefiore and Mount Sinai hospitals, health care workers ratified a deal to end the walkout, but nurses remain on the picket line at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia.

  • PHR ☛ Physicians for Human Rights and Council for Global Equality Sue U.S. State Department for Release of Critical AIDS Relief Data

    Physicians for Human Rights and the Council for Global Equality filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to compel the U.S. Department of State to comply with the Freedom of Information Act Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) [...]

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong suspends raw oyster sales from 2 suppliers after dozens of food poisoning cases

    Hong Kong authorities have suspended sales of raw oysters from two suppliers after 39 reported cases of food poisoning linked to the delicacy in more than three weeks.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Silicon Angle ☛ OpenAI researcher quits over slippery slope of Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot ads

      OpenAI researcher Zoë Hitzig says she left her position on Monday, resigning over the recent introduction of advertisements inside Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot and what she believes is a move in the wrong direction for the company.

    • EDRI ☛ Against Technosolutionism: Governing Platforms as Systems of Care

      Why do our digital systems break people? Conversational Hey Hi (AI) tools like Grok or Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot are promoted as a means to democratize knowledge and expand access to information. In practice, however, they have also made sexual harassment easier, reproduced harmful stereotypes, and, in some cases, encouraged people to self-harm rather than helping them. These outcomes are not rare glitches. They reveal how conversational Hey Hi (AI) and social control media platforms are built, governed, and deployed at scale.

    • EDRI ☛ AI Omnibus: Reject the proposals to undermine transparency in the Hey Hi (AI) Act

      The European Commission’s dangerous and misguided Digital Omnibus proposal includes a dangerous rollback of transparency requirements in the Hey Hi (AI) Act. 60 civil society organisations, independent public authorities and individuals, including EDRi, urge EU lawmakers to reject a change that would risk weakening enforcement, legal certainty, and the protection of fundamental rights, while offering negligible benefits for companies.

    • Unicorn Media ☛ Stop Living in the Browser: Run Your Favorite LLMs on GNU/Linux with Cherry Studio

      Cherry Studio wraps Ollama and other backends in a polished desktop client, so your Hey Hi (AI) tools feel like part of GNU/Linux instead of an afterthought.

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • Open Source Initiative ☛ From Brussels to the World: Open Source as a Global Asset [Ed: "Microsoft Asset" (Vidal) pretends to be a spokesperson for Open Source whilst promoting mass plagiarism by LLMs]

      Members Newsletter – February 2026
      Members of OSI staff and board members  joined developers, policymakers, foundations, and civil society leaders in Brussels for FOSDEM 2026 and the series of policy and community events that surround it in what is now known as EU Open Source Week.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • The Straits Times ☛ Cambodia floats new law in crackdown on gangs running scam farms

      Cambodia does not have a comprehensive set of laws to address crimes related to scams.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • EDRI ☛ Reopening GDPR and ePrivacy through the Digital Omnibus: a risky path for EU digital rights

      EDRi has assessed the Digital Omnibus proposals affecting the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the ePrivacy framework. While presented as simplification, the changes amount to deregulation in effect, weakening fundamental rights safeguards, increasing legal uncertainty, and advancing through a process that falls short of democratic lawmaking standards.

    • Futurism ☛ Ring Boasts About Power to Surveil Entire Neighborhoods

      "There's no world in which finding lost dogs is the final end-use for this technology."

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ Canada Updates: Police Identify Suspect in Mass Shooting

    The 18-year-old fatally shot her mother and stepbrother as well as six people at a school, before killing herself. Her motive was unclear, but police had visited her home several times for mental health issues.

  • France24 ☛ What we know about the Canadian school shooter

    Canadian police on Wednesday identified the suspect behind the deadly school shooting in British Columbia as an 18-year-old transgender woman who had a history of mental health issues. The suspect took her own life at the scene of the crime and is thought to have acted alone.

  • France24 ☛ Canada police say 18-year-old carried out mass shooting

    Police on Wednesday identified the suspect in a school shooting in Canada as an 18-year-old who had prior mental health calls to her home and who was found dead following the attack that killed eight people in a remote part of British Columbia. FRANCE 24's Christopher Guly reports from Ottawa.

  • The Strategist ☛ Threatened by China, Japan’s voters choose to stand tall

    The character behind the scenes was China. Nobody expected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to win so big in the Lower House election on 8 February.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippines urges China to keep tone ‘calm’ as rhetoric heats up

    The Senate approved a resolution on Feb 9 condemning statements made by the Chinese Embassy in Manila.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping makes rare public reference to recent military purges

    In a virtual address on Feb 11, Mr Pooh-tin said the past year was "unusual and extraordinary".

  • The Straits Times ☛ President Lai warns countries in region could be ‘next’ if China seizes Taiwan

    He insisted on the need for Taiwan to dramatically shore up its defences.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te warns countries in region could be ‘next’ in case of China attack

    Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te warned that countries in the region would be China’s next targets should Beijing seize the democratic island, as he insisted on the need for Taiwan to dramatically shore up its defences.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuanian prime minister says Taiwan office in Vilnius could be renamed ‘Taipei’

    Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said Wednesday she sees no reason why Taiwan’s representative office in Vilnius could not be renamed after the island’s capital, Taipei, signalling openness to adjusting a move that triggered a diplomatic rift with China.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Australia charges 2 Chinese nationals with foreign interference

    Australian police said Wednesday they have charged two Chinese nationals with foreign interference, accusing them of spying on a Buddhist group at the behest of police in China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Militants kill five police in attack in northwest Pakistan

    DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Feb 11 - Militants killed five police officers in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, police said, as the South Asian nation grapples with a rising wave of Islamist violence.

  • France24 ☛ 'If the Cuban government were to collapse, that would be a security threat to the United States'

    For Spotlight, François Picard is pleased to welcome Emily Morris, live from Havana, Honorary Senior Research Associate at University College London's Institute of the Americas. The fuel embargo has shifted from an abstract policy dispute into something felt in the grain of everyday life. This is not simply “shortage,” but a sequence of events: curtailed events, warnings of deeper power cuts, and above all a transport squeeze that limits mobility, work, and institutional routines like universities moving remotely.

  • Defence Web ☛ Adapting Benin’s battle with violent militant groups

  • New York Times ☛ NATO Is Expected to Step Up Arctic Security. Here’s Why.

    As Russia displays its military might in the Arctic region, the Western alliance is beginning a mission to increase its presence there.

  • RFERL ☛ NATO Launches 'Arctic Sentry' Mission

    NATO has launched its Arctic Sentry mission to bolster its military presence around Greenland and the High North, aiming to deter Russian and Chinese influence.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • The Straits Times ☛ Foreign cars flow to Russia through China, skirting Ukraine war sanctions

      Made-in-China vehicles account for nearly half of total vehicles sold in Russia in 2025.

    • France24 ☛ Live: Russia evacuates village in Volgograd after military facility hit by debris

      Russia said Thursday that it repelled a missile attack in the Volgograd region but that debris ignited a fire at a military facility and prompted the evacuation of a nearby village. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of launching strikes that undermine ongoing negotiations to end the nearly four-year-long war. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania pits security against voting rights of Russian, Belarusian residents

      Lithuanian lawmakers are proposing changes that would significantly restrict the right of foreign nationals to vote in municipal elections, citing heightened security concerns following Russia’s war in Ukraine and the rise of hybrid threats across Europe. The initiative has sparked a polarised debate over national security, democratic participation and immigrant integration.

    • JURIST ☛ Russia attacks on Ukraine energy grid cause severe harm, Amnesty Intentional says

      Amnesty Intentional reported Tuesday that widespread outages of essential services amid continuing Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have left residents without heat, electricity, or running water during severe winter conditions. The report cites numerous testimonies from Ukrainian civilians that detail worsening conditions in a particularly harsh winter.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine will not hold elections until a ceasefire is in place, Zelensky says

      Presidential elections in Ukraine will only happen once a ceasefire has been reached with Russia and Kyiv has received the security guarantees it needs, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday, rejecting a report suggesting he was considering calling Ukrainians to the ballots within the next three months.

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  • France24 ☛ Ukraine war: Why is a teenager accused of burying his father 'eight times'?

    Multiple social control media users - many of them pro-Russian accounts - shared a photo montage of a teenage boy carrying portraits at multiple funerals, falsely claiming he'd buried "eight fathers" and that it was proof of Ukrainian 'wartime staging' to rack up sympathy from Western media. In reality, the photos have been spliced together without context, as the teen is a volunteer at funerals in his village for slain soldiers, a role he considers his 'duty'.  Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuanian president says calls to resume dialogue with Putin weaken Europe

    Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda insists that remarks by some European Union politicians about resuming dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin weaken Europe’s position and undermine a coherent policy toward Moscow.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s intelligence warns of alleged Belarus KGB recruitment attempt via YouTube

    Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) on Wednesday warned that Belarus’ security agency KGB is distributing a video on YouTube in an apparent attempt to recruit potential agents by appealing to dissatisfaction with the Lithuanian government.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuanian foreign minister says discussions on Minsk policy do not signal shift

    Lithuania’s foreign minister said emerging discussions about the country’s policy toward Belarus do not mean it is being reconsidered or will be reviewed immediately.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese tourists head to Russia, Thailand on extended Lunar New Year break

    More Chinese tourists are expected to travel overseas during next week's extra-long Lunar New Year break, with top destinations ranging from Russia and Australia to Thailand and South Korea, travel agencies say, but Japan has lost some sheen.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvian State Security Service: Russia recruits criminals, China recruits academics

    Latvia's State Security Service (VDD) has published its annual public overview in English of its activities in 2025, following on from a similar publication by another Latvian security service, the Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB) at the end of January, as previously reported.

Environment

• Energy/Transportation

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hyundai, BMW Korea, Kia to recall nearly 180,000 vehicles over software defects: S. Korean ministry

    A total of 51 models across the three companies will be affected by the recall.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ South Korean exchange's $40B Bitcoin mistake casts pall over country's fledgling crypto legislation — staffer fat-fingered 620,000 BTC instead of Korean Won

    A South Korean crypto exchange mistakenly issued 15 times its holdings in Bitcoin during an ill-fated promotional effort, drawing the ire of regulators during a sensitive period for crypto legalization in the country.

• Wildlife/Nature

  • The Straits Times ☛ Monkey business: Conflicts involving animals cost Malaysia $1.6m worth of losses in 5 years

    The causes of such conflicts include shrinking animal habitats and the primates' rapid reproductive rates.

Finance

• [Repeat]

  Andy Wingo ☛ Andy Wingo: free trade and the left

  I came of age an age ago, in the end of history: the decade of NAFTA, the WTO, the battle of Seattle. My people hated it all, interpreting the global distribution of production as a race to the bottom leaving post-industrial craters in its wake. Our slogans were to buy local, to the extent that participation in capitalism was necessary; to support local businesses, local products, local communities. What were trade barriers to us? One should not need goods from far away in the first place; autarky is the bestarky.

• France24 ☛ South Africa and China sign trade deal amid tariff row with the US

  The Supreme Court in Ghana has ordered the government to reveal the terms of a controversial deportation deal with the US, with rights groups calling the agreement both unclear and immoral. In South Africa, while tensions with the US over tariffs persist, trade relations with China are improving, and exporters are preparing to seize new opportunities in the Chinese market. Meanwhile, in Kenya, the family of General Kiambati wa Njora, the last leader of the Mau Mau movement, is pushing for a national funeral to honor his legacy in the fight for independence.

Censorship/Free Speech

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong gov’t to deregister 3 Apple Daily firms, list them as ‘prohibited organisations’

  The Hong Kong government has begun the process to de-register three companies linked to the Fashion Company Apple Daily newspaper and list them as “prohibited organisations,” authorities have said.

• New York Times ☛ Hong Kong Activist Anna Kwok’s Father Convicted of National Security Crime

  In her first interview about her father, the exiled Hong Kong activist Anna Kwok said the authorities were targeting her family to try to silence her.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Father of wanted Hong Kong activist found guilty of handling insurance funds linked to ‘absconder’

  The father of Hong Kong democrat Anna Kwok has been found guilty of handling funds linked to an “absconder” – the first family member of a wanted activist to be convicted of a national security offence. Kwok Yin-sang, 69, appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday morning, wearing a dark green suit jacket […]

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

• Press Gazette ☛ Paul Dacre says hacking and tapping claims ‘grave, preposterous, deeply upsetting’

  Former Daily Mail editor says Baroness Lawrence claims are 'bitterly wounding'.

Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

• Federal News Network ☛ System meant to reduce prison recidivism marred by management struggles

  "Once you go through the risk and needs assessments, any classes or programming you take can affect how much time you spend in prison," Gretta Goodwin said.

• The Straits Times ☛ Why Malaysia’s latest judicial commissioner picks are reviving worries about court independence

  The appointments come just months after the country narrowly avoided a judicial crisis in July last year.

• EDRI ☛ Conference Digital Commons: Infrastructures, Design, and the Ethics of Autonomy

  Digital Commons: Infrastructures, Design, and the Ethics of Autonomy is an international conference exploring how digital infrastructures shape contemporary life, and how communities, researchers, and technologists imagine and build alternatives.

  >

• EDRI ☛ Global Gathering 2026

  The Global Gathering brings together groups from around the world working on the most urgent technology-related challenges affecting human rights, social justice, civil society, and journalism at the local, regional and global levels.

  >

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

• EDRI ☛ The State of the Internet 2026 with Fieke Jansen

  During the State of the Internet, Waag Futurelab takes the annual temperature of the internet. This edition focuses on Hey Hi (AI) and the limits of our planet. The lecture will be given by Fieke Jansen, co-founder of the Critical Infrastructure Lab.

• EDRI ☛ Science Cafe: Why the current internet sucks

  Media scholars Lucie Chateau and Michael Stevenson, and legal scholar Catalina Goanta on how Big Tech killed the internet.

Digital Restrictions (DRM)

• Digital Music News ☛ YouTube Music Lyrics Now Locked Behind Premium Subscription

  Lyrics in YouTube Music will now require a YouTube Premium or Music Premium subscription, with free users getting a handful of lyric plays. YouTube Music is pushing its lyrics behind a paywall in a change that appears to be rolling out now.