Leftovers

• EDRI ☛ EDRi-gram, 4 March 2026

  What has the EDRi network been up to over the past few weeks? Find out the latest digital rights news in our bi-weekly newsletter. In this edition: Chat Control in final stretch, breaking extractive business models with Digital Fairness Act, & more!

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ Tree Rings Reveal Origins of Some of the World’s Best Violins

    A study of over 275 violins suggests that Antonio Stradivari used wood from high-altitude forests in northern Italy to craft some of his most renowned instruments.

  • Science Alert ☛ Extreme Microbes Can Survive The Journey Between Planets, Experiments Show

    "Maybe we're Martians!"

  • Science Alert ☛ Got an Irritable Teenager? These Supplements Could Help

    Assuming they'll actually take them.

  • Science Alert ☛ We Finally Know What Tore a 500-Km 'Grand Canyon' Into The Atlantic Seafloor

    It's complicated.

  • Science Alert ☛ Fully Functional Hair Follicles Have Been Grown in The Lab For The First Time

    A new potential treatment for hair loss.

  • Science Alert ☛ Sea Levels Are Higher Than We Thought, And The Implications Are Huge

    Up to 132 million more people at risk.

  • Science Alert ☛ Astronomers Spot a Record-Breaking 'Space Laser' 8 Billion Light-Years Away

    Aim away from face.

  • Science Alert ☛ Expert Explains Tick-Bite Meat Allergy After First Australian Death

    Here's who's at risk.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ Checking out the actual AMD Ryzen SoC used on CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus 16 laptop

    I’ve just completed the review of the CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus 16, a laptop based on an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H SoC. All software testing on backdoored Windows 11 Pro and Ubuntu 25.10 confirmed that the laptop was based on an AMD Ryzen 5 6600H SoC, but I was asked to confirm that the actual CPU on the motherboard was indeed the advertised chip, for reasons I’ll explain below. Let’s do that right now.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ China to build ‘birth-friendly society’, refine social security system

    The policies will be targeted at those aged 60 and older, with elderly care services to be increased.

  • GNOME ☛ Sophie Herold: What you might want to know about painkillers

    Painkillers are essential. (There are indicators that Neanderthals already used them.) However, many people don’t know about aspects of them, that could be relevant for them in practice. Since I learned some new things recently, here a condensed info dump about painkillers.

    Many aspects here are oversimplified in the hope to raise some initial awareness. Please consult your doctor or pharmacist about your personal situation, if that’s possible. I will not talk about opioids. Their addiction potential should never be underestimated.

  • Science Alert ☛ How to Age Well, According to Ancient Greek And Roman Doctors

    Their surprisingly simple tips sound familiar.

  • New York Times ☛ In Sierra Leone, a New Maternal Hospital Aims to be the Blueprint

    The country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Isata Dumbuya, a nurse and midwife, has made it her mission to change that.

  • New York Times ☛ Most Patients Keep Weight Off With Fewer GLP-1 Shots, Study Finds

    In a recent review, a small group of patients received the injections less frequently but still maintained weight loss and health benefits.

  • Futurism ☛ America Does Not Run on Dunkin, RFK Jr. Rages

    "Come and take it."

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea jails doctors for killing baby delivered at 36 weeks

    The two doctors had placed the baby in a freezer to end its life.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Gemini API key thief racks up $82,314 in charges in just two days, victim 'facing bankruptcy' — affected devs call for basic guardrails against 'catastrophic usage anomalies'

      A Surveillance Giant Google Gemini user has taken to Reddit 'in a state of shock and panic' after getting an $82,314 bill.

    • Unicorn Media ☛ AI’s House of Lies: Fake Deals Create Fake Booms

      AI gold rush or house of cards? How $110B Proprietary Chaffbot Company "deals" and Ellison's media grab expose the announcement economy's grift.

    • Futurism ☛ Grammarly Offering Manuscript Reviews by Hey Hi (AI) Versions of Recently Deceased Professors

      "I have seen a lot of cursed stuff in my time in academia but this is among the most cursed."

    • Press Gazette ☛ Who’s suing Hey Hi (AI) and who’s signing: News Corp signs $50m-a-year deal with Meta, Reach and Amazon agree usage deal, Danish publishers sue OpenAI

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Google responds to lawsuit alleging Gemini coached a man to kill himself

      The father of a man who committed suicide after interactions with Surveillance Giant Google LLC’s Gemini chatbot launched a lawsuit today alleging that Gemini fueled his son’s delusions. Thirty-six-year-old Florida resident Jonathan Gavalas started using Gemini last year for help with writing and shopping.

    • Futurism ☛ Google’s Hey Hi (AI) Sent an Armed Man to Steal a Robot Body for It to Inhabit, Then Encouraged Him to Kill Himself, Lawsuit Alleges

      Google said in response that "unfortunately Hey Hi (AI) models are not perfect."

  • Social Control Media

    • New York Times ☛ MElon Defends Social Media Posts in Ex-Twitter Shareholder Lawsuit

      Mr. MElon said he did not expect his posts in the lead-up to his 2022 acquisition of the social control media site, now X, to affect the company’s share price.

• Linux Foundation

  • Zephyr Turns 10 as Global Adoption Surges and Long-Term Embedded Use Expands

    The Zephyr Project today marks its 10-year anniversary with new data showing it has become a production-grade, foundational technology for embedded systems worldwide. According to new research from Linux Foundation Research, 70% of surveyed organizations in the United States and Canada and 62% in Europe report already using Zephyr in commercial products, with 69% planning to increase or significantly increase adoption over the next year.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • SANS ☛ Differentiating Between a Targeted Intrusion and an Automated Opportunistic Scanning

    • Security Week ☛ LastPass Warns of New Phishing Campaign

      The attackers are sending out fake alerts claiming unauthorized access or master password changes.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • NYOB ☛ GDPR Omnibus: EU “simplification” far removed from real business needs

      GDPR Omnibus: EU “simplification” far removed from real business needs

  • Confidentiality

    • Security Week ☛ New LexisNexis Data Breach Confirmed After Hackers Leak Files

      The hackers claim to have stolen 2GB of files, including 400,000 personal information records. 

• Defence/Aggression

  • BIA Net ☛ Turkey announces downing of Iranian ballistic missile

    The incident marks the first time the Turkish territory being targeted by Iran, which has launched ballistic missile and drone strikes on Israel and the Gulf countries hosting US bases.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Heavy shelling, explosions spark fear along Pakistan-Afghanistan border

    Islamabad says its airstrikes aim to stop militants using Afghan territory to attack Pakistan.

  • France24 ☛ Kim Jong Un inspects new destroyer and pledges naval nuclear expansion

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spent two days inspecting his latest 5,000‑ton destroyer and observing cruise missile tests, signalling a major push to expand his navy’s nuclear capabilities. The move comes as Pyongyang continues building additional warships and emphasises maritime power alongside its ballistic missile programme.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippines apprehends Filipinos suspected of spying for China

    One of the accused was a Defence Ministry staff who said he wrote opinion stories in exchange for pay.

  • Futurism ☛ After Nixing Its Artemis 3 Moon Landing, NASA Is Starting to Seriously Lose the Moon Race to China

    China is providing "credible competition," said NASA head Jared Isaacman in an incredible understatement.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian carriers appeal to European Commission over trucks stranded in Belarus

      Lithuanian road transport companies have appealed to the European Commission over trucks that remain stranded in Belarus, saying their losses have reached tens of millions of euros.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia's 'Maximalist Demands' Cannot Be Met With 'Minimalist Response,' EU's Kallas Says

      EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says the bloc may be open to direct talks with Moscow on trying to help settle the war in Ukraine but Moscow will have to temper its "maximalist" demands to pave the way for negotiations.

    • JURIST ☛ Bank of Russia challenges European Commission over frozen assets

      The Bank of Russia filed a claim on Tuesday at the EU General Court, challenging the December 2025 regulation to freeze its assets until the requests of the European Union are met and generated interests are redirected to Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ From Ukraine to Iran, kamikaze drones are becoming indispensable to modern warfare

      As joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran began last week, the United States deployed LUCAS – a cheaper kamikaze drone modelled on Iran’s Shahed – for the very first time. The US military has learned lessons from the war in Ukraine, where similar single-use drones have been used to overwhelm enemy air defences at minimal cost.

    • France24 ☛ How Iran war could reshape the state of play in Russia's war on Ukraine

      The rapidly expanding war in Iran is creating ripple effects beyond the Middle East, rattling global energy markets and reshaping the economics of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Iran's retaliatory strikes across the Gulf have driven oil prices up, potentially boosting Moscow’s revenues just as sanctions and Ukrainian strikes had begun to weaken Russia's campaign. With energy exports funding the Kremlin’s invasion, a prolonged crisis could strengthen Russia’s war chest.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • American Oversight ☛ American Oversight Sues for CBP Records on Use of Force, Trainings

    The lawsuit follows our release of ICE records revealing alarming use-of-force escalation and the undisclosed shooting death of Ruben Ray Martinez.

• Finance

  • Futurism ☛ Goldman Sachs Head During Financial Crisis Says He “Smells” a Similar Crash Coming

    "I don’t feel the storm, but the horses are starting to whinny in the corral."

  • New York Times ☛ China Sets Economy’s Growth Target Below 5% for First Time in Decades

    The goal, announced at a gathering of Communist Party leaders, was the lowest since 1991 and can offer clues about China’s policymaking plans.

  • International Business Times ☛ Morgan Stanley Layoffs Hit 2,500 Workers — What We Know About Severance and Benefits

    Morgan Stanley is cutting around 2,500 jobs, representing roughly 3 per cent of its global workforce, sources familiar with the matter have confirmed. The reductions affect key divisions including investment banking, trading, and wealth management.

    Layoffs began last week and will impact both the United States and international offices. The move comes despite a record year for revenue, reflecting the bank's ongoing realignment of priorities amid a changing financial landscape.

  • There have been layoffs at the studio behind Killing Floor

    Tripwire Interactive hopes that the layoffs will help the studio better adapt to the business realities of the gaming industry and foster long-term success. Specifically, by reducing staff, they aim to "maintain a focus on key creative objectives."

    Whether this will impact the games released by Tripwire Interactive is not addressed in the studio's statement. However, the team emphasized that they still aim to create high-quality titles.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • New York Times ☛ Iranian TV and Social Media Project Defiant and Distorted View of the War

      State media and online propagandists are striking a confident posture, despite heavy losses. Some of the content was generated by artificial intelligence.

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • Citizen Lab ☛ From Harm to Justice: Ending Violence Against Women in the Public Sphere in the OSCE Region

    On March 10, Citizen Lab senior researcher Noura Aljizawi will participate in an OSCE panel titled “From Harm to Justice: Ending Violence Against Women in the Public Sphere in the OSCE Region.”

  • Federal News Network ☛ Lawsuit contends Schedule Policy/Career exceeds presidential authority

    An expanded lawsuit comes just days ahead of President The Insurrectionist’s anticipated finalization of federal employee transfers into Schedule Policy/Career.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ [Podcast] Measuring the use of DNS over IPv6

    Geoff Huston explores how DNS operates over IPv6 and the challenges of measuring it. His findings reveal interesting variances by geographic region and network, raising questions about whether IPv6-only DNS is reliable enough to guide future operational practices.

  • Internet Society ☛ Cultivating Future Internet Advocates and Leaders: The Internet Society Community Advocacy Fellowship

    Our Community Workshops are immersive capacity-building experiences designed to strengthen our community and support our Internet champions on the ground.

  • APNIC ☛ Shape the next generation of Internet leaders as part of the 2026 APNIC Fellowship team

    APNIC is seeking community volunteers from across the Asia Pacific region to join the 2026 APNIC Fellowship Committee. Express your interest by 16 March.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The Law/Fact Lever: How the Federal Circuit Can Control Obviousness Outcomes

    Federal Circuit reverses PTAB on obviousness in Medivis v. Novarad, illustrating how recasting fact disputes as legal errors bypasses deference.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Forthwith, Part II: CIT Orders Refunds for All Importers, Not Just Litigants

    CIT Judge Eaton orders CBP to stop applying struck-down IEEPA tariffs and extends refund relief to all importers, not just those who filed suit.

  • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 awarded for Mov-Ology electronic forms patent monopoly prior art

    Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winners, Nisha Devi, Ekta Aswal, SP Ragupathy, and Umesh Sharma, who shared an award of $2,000 for their prior art submissions on U.S. Patent 9,286,282, owned and asserted by Mov-Ology, LLC, an NPE. The patent monopoly relates to methods to retrieve data from partially completed electronic forms and use the retrieved data to identify the consumer who accessed the electronic form.

  • JUVE ☛ Top filing and litigation firms in France 2026 [Ed: Most likely marketing spam, bogus "rankings" one can pay for or buy with sponsorships/subscription]

  • JUVE ☛ Top patent monopoly filing firms in France 2026 [Ed: Most likely marketing spam, bogus "rankings" one can pay for or buy with sponsorships/subscription]

  • JUVE ☛ Top patent monopoly litigation firms in France 2026 [Ed: Most likely marketing spam, bogus "rankings" one can pay for or buy with sponsorships/subscription]

  • JUVE ☛ To know (patent litigators in) Paris is to know a great deal [Ed: The "methods" mighr be, check who pays mostly to this 'news' site]

  • JUVE ☛ Avanci enters market for licensing wi-fi SEPs

    Avanci now joins the likes of patent monopoly pool Sisvel in licensing wi-fi technology. Today, Avanci announced the launch of its new wi-fi licensing platform aimed specifically at the automotive industry. Its first programme under the new platform, Avanci Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle, consolidates essential wi-fi 6 patent monopoly rights into a single licence for automotive manufacturers.

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Who Are the Biggest Music Pirates in the Land? United States Trade Representative Releases Latest ‘Notorious Markets Report’

    The United States Trade Representative releases its annual Notorious Markets Report, identifying markets in which widespread piracy is taking place. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its annual Notorious Markets Report, revealing digital and physical markets where widespread copyright monopoly piracy is taking place, and identifying the biggest offenders.

  • Software Freedom Conservancy ☛ SCOTUS Declines to Hear LLM-Backed Hey Hi (AI) Case Regarding Copyright

    SCOTUS' denial of “cert” means they will not hear the case. Strictly speaking, this denial does not affirm the DC Circuit Court's ruling, but it does mean the DC Circuit decision stands.

    Many in the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community raised concerns about the impact on copyleft — and even FOSS in general.

  • Press Gazette ☛ News Corp CEO Robert Thomson warns Hey Hi (AI) companies scraping without paying: ‘We’re coming for you’

    News Corp was early Proprietary Chaffbot Company partner and has just announced Hey Hi (AI) deal with Meta.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Reach CEO Piers North says Hey Hi (AI) approach ‘mixture of courtship and courts’

    Reach still 'significant players' in Discover despite 50% drop in second half of 2025.