Leftovers

• Crooked Timber ☛ Golden (missed) opportunities

  As it happened I was in the state library of New South Wales in Sydney beginning my Fellowship, gleefully flashing my Fellows card to go into staff-only bits of the library, claim a desk. Eating my home-made lunch in the staff kitchen on the third floor.

  And checking out the first of an archival collection that describes what people actually did when they found gold in the 1850s gold rush and sold to one of the many, many banks popping up in gold towns – or else to the local grocery storekeeper. Gold digger stories of being swindled by tricks with the scales are part of the lore of the era.

• Jim Nielsen ☛ w0rdz aRe 1mpoRtAnt

  It’s worth noting that individuals and companies are incentivized to choose words designed to shape our thinking and behavior in their interest. The company who makes the widget from my example is incentivized to call this a “Usage leaderboard” because more usage by us means more $$$ for them.

• Science

  • Stanford University ☛ Claude’s Cycles [PDF]

    Shock! Shock! I learned yesterday that an open problem I’d been working on for several weeks had just been solved by Claude Opus 4.6 — Anthropic’s hybrid reasoning model that had been released three weeks earlier! It seems that I’ll have to revise my opinions about “generative AI” one of these days. What a joy it is to learn not only that my conjecture has a nice solution but also to celebrate this dramatic advance in automatic deduction and creative problem solving. I’ll try to tell the story briefly in this note.

• Career/Education

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] University cuts 'damaging Berlin's cultural standing'

  • Chris ☛ Teaching Children to Bicycle

    The reason we cannot do this with children is they don’t yet have the generalised motor skills and cognitive abilities to handle a complex instruction like that. Yet I have had two children ending up as relatively competent cyclists at age three, and their training was based on two principles: [...]

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Conversation ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Elite gymnasts are no longer retiring after pregnancy – sport science needs to catch up

  • Mike Brock ☛ The Anxious Tradition - by Mike Brock

    I want to begin with something I mean completely: I think the people who built and populate the Effective Altruism movement are, by any functional moral standard I can apply, good people. They are trying to save the world. That impulse is beautiful. That it has gone wrong — and I think it has gone wrong, at the foundation — is not an indictment of their character. It is a diagnosis of their method. And I offer the diagnosis with the kind of pathos one feels watching someone you respect suffer from a condition that has a name.

    The condition is not intellectual error. It is inherited fear.

  • The Independent Variable ☛ 📱 The EU moves to kill infinite scrolling

    I’ve also been thinking defaulting to an algorithmic timeline should be nixed. If a user wants to make that decision and switch over, let ’em. But even on Instagram, where you have the following feed, you have to switch to it every single time—that should be the default. Then you can switch to a discover feed or the algorithm or whatever if you so choose.

  • YLE ☛ THL: Finland saw low excess mortality during Covid

    Finland's pandemic-era restrictions were effective and adhered to, according to health agency THL.

• Proprietary

  • Groot Koerkamp ☛ NordVPN refund dark patterns

    I suspect they regularly change the look of their site to make it harder for folks to find the right hoops to jump through in order to get to the refund pages. Also, why does the chat-bot need to be in this process at all? Can’t they just put the magic URL somewhere to start with? And why not just show the refund button always to start with? Many questions (to which we all know the answers… $$$).

  • Tripwire Interactive, the company behind the Killing Floor series, has announced the layoff of 23 employees

    Tripwire Interactive, known for the Killing Floor series, has laid off 23 employees.

    According to a LinkedIn announcement from the studio based in Georgia, these layoffs were necessary to "align with business realities" and maintain focus on creative objectives as the dynamics of the gaming industry change.

    The company expressed its commitment to advancing its current lineup of projects, which includes games they are developing themselves and others they are publishing.

    Seher Basak, a former producer impacted by these layoffs, noted separately that the job cuts affected employees in quality assurance, art, engineering, and customer support.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • India Times ☛ X suspends revenue sharing for undisclosed AI war videos

      Social media platform X announced Tuesday it would suspend creators from its revenue sharing program for 90 days if they post AI-generated videos of armed conflicts without disclosing they were artificially made, the company said.

    • [Repeat] Futurism ☛ Ars Technica Fires Reporter After AI Controversy Involving Fabricated Quotes

      The Condé Nast-owned Ars Technica has terminated senior AI reporter Benj Edwards following a controversy over his role in the publication and retraction of an article that included AI-fabricated quotes, Futurism has confirmed.

    • Level Up Coding ☛ Coding with AI: A Dissenting View

      I like AI, and I use it when I code…but I don’t let it code for me. In this post, I discuss how I use AI, and I talk about when I don’t use it and why. In this post, I’m using “AI” as a shorthand for “Chat-based interactions with Large Language Models and Coding Agents.” Artificial Intelligence is, of course, much larger than that. I’m not talking about things like using models to perform tasks within the application...I’m talking about using AI as a tool during the development process.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Middle East: Using AI to stop dissent before it even starts [Ed: Rebranding surveillance as "hey hi" ]

    • Ludlow Institute ☛ The Privacy Card I Carry Everywhere - by NBTV Media

      If you’ve ever traveled internationally, you were required to have a passport book — that familiar large booklet of official government identification. What most people don’t know is that the U.S. State Department also issues passport cards: government ID the same size as a driver’s license, valid for travel within North America, and surprisingly useful for everyday privacy.

      Put a passport card next to a driver’s license and the differences are immediately obvious. Where a driver’s license is loaded with personal data, a passport card has almost none of it. No address. No physical descriptors. Just a few pieces of identifying information like your name, photo, and date of birth.

    • New York Times ☛ OpenAI Amends A.I. Deal With the Pentagon

      After a weekend of criticism, OpenAI said on Monday that its deal to provide artificial intelligence technologies for the Defense Department’s classified systems now included additional protections to prevent its technology from being used in mass surveillance of Americans.

    • GreyCoder ☛ Best private email providers that work well with VPNs and anonymous payments

      What Makes An Email “Private”

      For this guide, “private email” means: end‑to‑end encryption, strong legal jurisdiction, and minimal logging. You also want providers that do not require real details and allow anonymous payments.

    • Don Marti ☛ Senator Wyden has it backwards

      The problem with that is that is that it only covers one government, and people in the USA are under threat from many of them. Even though we technically have a Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024, it’s too hard to hide the ownership of a company here, and even if the owners aren’t foreign adversaries, foreign secret agents can get hired as SREs or DBAs with access to data. Anything that the government here can buy, foreign countries can buy. (And they can probably get a better price on it.) And an adversary-owned company has no obligation to disclose anything. Even if every possible data seller reads and heeds Ad Tech Says It’s Not In The Surveillance Business. Now Is The Time To Prove It by Allison Schiff, if a company is selling data, some of it will go to hostile buyers.

    • BoingBoing ☛ California's AB 1043 could regulate Linux commands

      California's AB 1043, the Digital Age Assurance Act, was signed in October 2025 and takes effect January 1, 2027. Under its terms, anyone who ships an OS must bake in an age-declaration screen at account setup and provide an API so that every app on the system can query the user's age.

    • Shuji Sado ☛ California’s AB 1043 Could Regulate Every Linux Command, and the Open Source World Is Too Quiet – Open Source Guy

      California’s Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), approved by Governor Newsom in October 2025, sets out a statewide age assurance framework for operating systems and app stores. It requires operating system providers to present an age and date-of-birth declaration interface during account setup and to provide an API that can return an age bracket signal to applications that request it. The statutory effective date is January 1, 2027, with additional timelines for devices already in the field.

      As someone who tracks the intersection of intellectual [sic] property [sic] law and Open Source, I find it striking that the Open Source community has not produced much public analysis of how AB 1043 could collide with decentralized software distribution. Some civil liberties organizations have raised general concerns about age assurance mandates, but the specific consequences for Linux distributions, package repositories, and volunteer-maintained tooling remain under-discussed.

      This is not merely a missed opportunity. It is a structural gap that may have lasting consequences for Open Source ecosystems.

  • Confidentiality

    • Johnny Decimal ☛ 22.00.0186 I uploaded your email address to GitHub

      I haven't mailed everyone affected yet because there hasn't been much to say. I'll send a link to tomorrow's post once it's up.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Jerusalem Post ☛ 2026-02-28 [Older] Israel plunges Iran into darkness with largest cyberattack in history during attack against Iran

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] US ambassador to France denied access to government

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] US plan to pull forces from Okinawa tested by China's rise

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte faces ICC over deadly drug war

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Senegal PM proposes doubling jail terms for same-sex acts

  • Federal News Network ☛ How much will 2026 test U.S. election systems?

    Election offices are heading into 2026 with real pressure on staffing, administration, and public confidence. New proposals at the federal level could add to the workload as local officials prepare for a complex election cycle. We're breaking down the biggest challenges and tackling the most pressing questions.

  • Wired ☛ Attacks on GPS Spike Amid US and Israeli War on Iran

    New analysis shows that attacks on satellite navigation systems have impacted some 1,100 ships in the Middle East since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.

  • Paul Krugman ☛ War Is Expensive for the Little People

    The shocking aspect of the story is the value of the equipment destroyed: A new F-15 costs U.S. taxpayers $97 million. So that’s almost $300 million lost in seconds. And we should think about what could have been done with that money other than launch a war without a clear plan or an exit strategy.

  • Site36 ☛ Brussels plans sanctions regime against "migrant smuggling" with listing for "threat to EU security" | Matthias Monroy

    The European External Action Service (EEAS) has, together with the EU Commission, commenced consultations on a new EU sanctions regime targeting “migrant smuggling and trafficking of human beings, and, if suitable, other forms of organised crime” in third countries. This is confirmed by the High Representative and Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas in response to a query from The Left MEP Özlem Demirel.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • CNN ☛ 2026-03-02 [Older] Russian authorities detain suspect over St. Petersburg cafe blast

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-03-02 [Older] Ukraine war: German parts make their way into Russian drones

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-03-01 [Older] Belgium seizes suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker

    • The Local SE ☛ 2026-02-28 [Older] France warns of 'provocation' as Sweden confirms Russian drone buzzed carrier

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-27 [Older] Sweden says Russian drone flew near French aircraft carrier

    • The Local SE ☛ 2026-02-27 [Older] Swedish minister says drone jammed near French warship was 'probably' Russian

    • Copenhagen Post ☛ 2026-02-26 [Older] Sweden forces Russian drone away from carrier at Malmö

    • NL Times ☛ 2026-02-26 [Older] Dutch company Ellis Enterprises allegedly exported sanctioned oil products to Russia

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-26 [Older] Beyond oil and gas: Russia's nuclear leverage explained

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-26 [Older] Ukraine updates: Kyiv reports Russian barrage ahead of talks

    • University of Michigan ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] ‘Four Years of Resistance’: Poetry reading and vigil commemorate resilience in Russia-Ukraine war

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] More Than 1,700 Africans Fighting for Russia, Ukraine Says

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Poland Charges Six With Trying to Smuggle Sanctioned Equipment to Russia

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Ukrainian Drone Strike Kills Seven in Western Russia, Investigators Say

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Ukrainian Officials to Meet Cheeto Mussolini Envoys in Geneva Over More Russia Talks

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] How Ukraine's war effort against Russia has evolved

    • HRW ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Russia’s War on Ukraine Four Years On

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Zelenskyy Says Putin Has 'Not Broken' Ukrainians as He Marks 4 Years Since Russia's All-Out Invasion

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Russia Issues Statement Warning of Risks of Clash Between Nuclear Powers

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] South Africa Says Most of a Group of 17 Men Lured Into Fighting for Russia Set to Return Home

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] States Condemn Russian Violations at UN Meeting on Ukraine

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] The Latest: Ukraine Marks 4 Years Since Russia's Full-Scale Invasion

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Ukraine Denies 'Absurd' Russian Claims on Nuclear Weapons

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] UK Sanctions Two Georgian TV Channels Over 'Russian Disinformation'

    • International Business Times ☛ 2026-02-28 [Older] Igor Komarov, Son of Ukrainian Crime Figure Feared Dead: Discarded Body Parts Found After Bali Kidnapping

    • Copenhagen Post ☛ 2026-02-27 [Older] The government says it wants to limit the number of Ukrainians in Denmark

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-27 [Older] Africans in the Ukraine war: Recruited as cannon fodder

    • HRW ☛ 2026-02-26 [Older] A Year On, Two North Korean POWs in Ukraine Fear Forced Return

    • Counter Punch ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Iran and Ukraine: Narrow World

    • The Local DK ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Denmark mulls hosting Ukrainian military equipment manufacturer

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Escalating an Oil Dispute, Hungary Says Ukraine Plans to Disrupt Energy System

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Suspect in Killing of Former Ukrainian Politician in Madrid Arrested in Germany

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Ukraine to Cover 4,000 Km of Roads With Anti-Drone Nets by Year-End, Minister Says

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-25 [Older] Ukrainian Negotiators to Meet US Team on Thursday, Zelenskiy Says

    • Copenhagen Post ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Frederiksen in Ukraine on anniversary of invasion. Report says most Ukrainians in DK have integrated into labor market

    • Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] A Ukrainian Socialist Went to War. Here’s What He Thinks About Peace.

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Hungary, Slovakia clash with Ukraine over oil pipeline

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Hungary, Slovakia spar with Ukraine over Druzhba pipeline

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Canada Giving Ukraine C$300 Million in Aid, to Sanction Shadow Fleet

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Denmark in Talks With Ukrainian Drone Maker Skyfall on Hosting Production

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Kremlin Says Ukraine Conflict Has Evolved Into a Much Wider Confrontation With the West

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Leaders of G7 Reaffirm Unwavering Support for Ukraine on War Anniversary

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Trade, Ukraine and New World Order Are Top Concerns on German Leader's Visit to China

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2026-02-23 [Older] Ukraine updates: 'Ukraine's fate is our fate' says Merz

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • The Gray Zone ☛ Epstein Army: Jeffrey Epstein helped place 18-year-old woman in ‘elite IDF unit’ - The Grayzone

    Epstein’s request came in a June 29, 2011 email to Anat Barak, the daughter of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. In the message, the financier described the girl in question, “Tali,” as an 18-year-old who’d been accepted to Columbia University’s Barnard College and had “been to Israel more than a dozen times.”

  • BoingBoing ☛ DOJ took Epstein victims' testimony, then did nothing

    After Epstein died in August 2019, the FBI opened a file called "Investigation into Potential Co-Conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein." Prosecutors contacted victims and asked if they'd testify. They agreed. By October 2019, FBI agents were conducting interviews. The Wall Street Journal has now documented what came of it: women named specific men, gave detailed accounts of sexual assault, and not one of those men was charged.

• Environment

  • Wired ☛ The Data Centers Have Arrived at the Edge of the Arctic Circle

    The building frenzy is being spurred in part by an acute shortage of sites in Europe that are large enough and equipped with sufficient energy supply to support AI workloads.

  • Neritam ☛ A Growing Drinking Water Crisis Threatens American Cities and Towns

    In the aftermath of the drinking-water contamination crisis that hit Flint, Mich., in 2014, a growing number of similar incidents have received national attention, eroding confidence in neglected drinking-water and wastewater treatment systems that once were considered among the world’s most sophisticated and robust. Some ground will be gained as billions of dollars from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law start to flow to states for improvements to local water systems—

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Truthdig ☛ China’s EVs Could Be the Real Winner of Trump’s War in Iran

      The IRGC announced that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, and there are reports of British and other vessels turning around in the Arabian Sea and declining to try to enter through it into the Persian Gulf. British authorities, however, insisted that the strait was open. Some 20% of the world’s petroleum is exported through Hormuz and if it really were closed, it would cause a massive spike in petroleum prices.

      U.S. naval officers have told me they do not believe Iran has the military capacity to close the strait, though admittedly that was in the days before drone warfare. Since container ships and oil tankers require insurance, however, Iran’s threat may be effective in another way. The Financial Times reports that insurers are cancelling some policies and raising premiums for others by 50%. So Iran’s threats may effectively close the strait to a lot of shipping.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Conversation ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Scorpions can pose a deadly threat to children – we’re identifying the global hotspots

    • The Conversation ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] Animals’ perception of time is linked to the pace of their life – new study

    • Science Alert ☛ This Tiny Fish Passed an Intelligence Test That Once Distinguished Great Apes

      The team says these findings suggest self-awareness, once thought to be unique to great apes, is actually a skill that may have arisen in a much wider range of animals, including fish.

• Finance

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2026-03-02 [Older] Nationalize Amazon

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2026-02-26 [Older] Don’t Expect a Refund for Your Tariff-Inflated Expenses

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Atlantic ☛ A Dire Warning From the Tech World

    Yesterday, I called Ball to discuss his essay and why the standoff with Anthropic feels, to him, like such a dire sign for America. Ball is far from a likely source of such harsh criticism: He’s a Republican with close ties to the Trump administration who departed on good terms after its AI Action Plan was published, and an avid believer that AI is a transformational technology. Other figures who are influential among conservatives in the tech world, including the Anduril Industries co-founder Palmer Luckey and the Stratechery tech analyst Ben Thompson, have vigorously supported Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s move. Luckey, a billionaire who builds drones for the military, suggested on X that crushing Anthropic is necessary to defend democracy from oligarchy. Thompson wrote yesterday in his widely read newsletter that “it simply isn’t tolerable for the U.S. to allow for the development of an independent power structure—which is exactly what AI has the potential to undergird—that is expressly seeking to assert independence from U.S. control.” Thompson likened the necessity of destroying Anthropic to that of bombing Iran.

  • Vox ☛ Can James Talarico teach Democrats a better way to talk about faith?

    Both Senate candidates, state Rep. James Talarico and US Rep. Jasmine Crockett, have relied on religion, churches, and faith-based messaging to make their pitch to Democratic primary voters. But Talarico’s brand of compassionate progressive Christianity, wedded to a populist economic message, has attracted the most attention in and out of the state as a core feature of his campaign. His pitch is a message of radical love, of healing political divisions, and of welcoming Americans who might not be traditional Democrats into a big-tent political coalition.

  • Tor ☛ Arti 2.1.0 released: Relay and RPC development.

    Arti is our ongoing project to create a next-generation Tor implementation in Rust. We're happy to announce the latest release, Arti 2.1.0.

  • David Rosenthal ☛ Skynet Progress Report

    In recent months Cyberdyne Systems Corporation and its many subsidiaries have made very encouraging progress towards removing some of the major road-blocks standing in the way of the initial deployment of Skynet. Below the fold I report on the most significant ones.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • India Times ☛ AI disinformation turns Nepal polls into 'digital battleground'

      "In a country where digital literacy is low, people believe what they see," said Deepak Adhikari, editor of the independent NepalCheck team.

      Kathmandu-based technology policy researcher Samik Kharel described a "digital battleground" in the run-up to the landmark vote, warning that Nepal lacked the expertise to monitor the onslaught of machine-generated content.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • High Court overturns “unfair” SDT decision

    CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP acted for Ashley Hurst, a partner at Osborne Clarke, on his successful appeal of a finding of misconduct by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (the “SDT”).

    In December 2024, the SDT found that Mr Hurst breached his regulatory duties by attempting to prevent a journalist from publishing an email marked “Confidential and Without Prejudice” sent on behalf of his client, the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, Nadhim Zahawi.

    The high‑profile case arose against a backdrop of increasing scrutiny of alleged misuse of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (“SLAPPs”) to deter legitimate investigative reporting. The High Court’s judgment reversed the SDT’s findings and clarifies the law.

    [...]

    In July 2022, Dan Neidle, a former magic circle tax partner and (then) newly established online blogger, published a series of tweets that included an allegation that Mr Zahawi had lied about his tax affairs. On behalf of his client, Mr Hurst sent an email to Mr Neidle stating that whilst he was entitled to raise questions, Mr Zahawi considered the express accusation of lying “overstepped the mark”. The email (i) refuted the allegation of lying, (ii) sought a retraction and (iii) was labelled “Confidential & Without Prejudice”. It stated that it was not for publication and could not be referred to other than for the purpose of seeking legal advice. Two days later, an open letter was sent to Mr Neidle marked “Private and Confidential / Not for Publication”, again objecting to the allegations of dishonesty and asked that Mr Neidle reconsider what he had published.

  • Futurism ☛ Microsoft Bans the Word "Microslop" on Copilot Discord, Gets So Humiliated That It Locks Down the Whole Server

    The ensuing blunders have represented a massive hit for Microsoft’s brand, ranging from maddeningly ineffective search tools to intrusive chatbots and bugs that leaked confidential emails. To sum it all up, netizens came up with a pejorative term: “Microslop,” which clearly infuriated executives at the company.

    In the latest sign that it’s getting under Microsoft’s skin, the company banned the phrase on its over-one-year-old Discord server dedicated to the company’s Copilot chatbot, as Windows Latest discovered.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • The Walrus ☛ Journalists Parachuted into Tumbler Ridge. What Counts as Decent Reporting in a Crisis?

    Trent Ernst is the publisher and editor of the Tumbler RidgeLines newspaper. He was the first journalist to arrive at the high school where the shooting took place. In the days and weeks since then, he’s been updating the community on the newspaper’s website and on Facebook.

    I spoke to him about what it’s been like to cover a story so close to home. When I called, he was driving around town delivering the latest issue of the paper.

  • Semafor Inc ☛ It’s bots vs. reporters at the AP

    “There are many — and I mean MANY — editors who would prefer an AI-written article to a human-written one. Reporting and writing are two different skill sets and rare — RARE — is the occasion when it’s wrapped into one person,” she wrote.

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • 'Panic, anger and disbelief': How PM Law's abrupt closure has left house purchases and sales in the balance – and what to try if you're affected

    Tens of thousands of people across the country using PM Law Group for house sales, purchases and more have been left in the lurch after the firm's unexpected closure. Former clients of the shuttered conveyancing and personal injury law firm say they're struggling to reclaim funds and case files. Here's what's happened and what to try if you're affected.

  • YLE ☛ It takes 6 weeks for a wage earner to match one day of a CEO's pay, STTK says

    For several years, the confederation has tracked its so-called 'Fat Cat Day', the point at which an average employee has earned what a chief executive makes in a single day. Last year, it took 46 days for a salaried worker to match a CEO's daily pay, compared with 42 days the year before.

    The organisation based its calculation on a daily wage of 175 euros for salaried employees and 7,435 euros for chief executives.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • IP Kat ☛ 2026-02-28 [Older] Description amendments can extend protection (T 439/22)

    • IP Kat ☛ 2026-02-27 [Older] The validity and value of cell therapy safety protocol inventions (T 1555/23)

    • IP Kat ☛ 2026-02-24 [Older] [UPCKat] 2025 UPC cases and outcomes: What do the numbers say? [Ed: UPC is illegal, but this software patents booster loves kangaroo courts captured by her colleagues that want not justice but chaos]

  • Software Patents

    • IP Kat ☛ 2026-03-01 [Older] High Court of Australia refuses special leave in Aristocrat: what this means for computer-implemented inventions

• Trademarks

  • IP Kat ☛ 2026-02-27 [Older] [Guest Post] Ceci n’est pas du Gruyère: Swiss origin claims and how to deal with them

  • IP Kat ☛ 2026-02-26 [Older] [Guest post] Retromark Volume XVII: the last six months in trade marks

• Copyrights

  • CoryDoctorow ☛ Pluralistic: Supreme Court saves artists from AI

    At the core of the dispute is a bedrock of copyright law: that copyright is for humans, and humans alone. In legal/technical terms, "copyright inheres at the moment of fixation of a work of human creativity." Most people – even people who work with copyright every day – have not heard it put in those terms. Nevertheless, it is the foundation of international copyright law, and copyright in the USA.

    Here's what it means, in plain English: [...]