Leftovers

• Jim Nielsen ☛ The Blandness of Systematic Rules vs. The Delight of Localized Sensitivity

  Marcin Wichary brings attention to this lovely dialog in ClarisWorks from 1997: [...]

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Physicists Found Something That Can Move Faster Than Light: The Darkness Inside It

    This is fine.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Think Vagus Nerve Stimulation Could Help Protect Your Memory

    Everything is connected.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mysterious Structure Found Buried Beneath an Ancient Egyptian City

    A very successful first run for a new scanning technique.

  • Science Alert ☛ Doctors Treated a Deadly Heart Rhythm With Help From a Digital Twin

    “You see this heart that is basically quivering.”

  • Science Alert ☛ Chemical Signature Hidden in Lunar Rocks Hints at Oxygen in The Ancient Moon

    A snapshot from billions of years ago.

• Career/Education

  • Futurism ☛ Chinese University Announces 30-Story “Artificial Island” for Marine Research Purposes

    Massive.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ Nuvoton NuMicro M3331 Cortex-M33 MCU features built-in ARGB LED controller, optional USB 2.0 OTG interface

    Nuvoton’s new NuMicro M3331 is a series of 32-bit Arm Cortex-M33 MCUs clocked at 180 MHz that integrate an ARGB LED controller, a DSP instruction set, a single-precision FPU, and TrustZone security for smart factories, renewable energy systems, and consumer devices. In the past, we have written about other Cortex-M33 MCUs like the STM32U3B5/C5, Texas Instruments MSPM33C321A,  Nordic Semi’s nRF54LM20A, and various others, but the Nuvoton M3331 series specifically features a built-in Enhanced LED Light Strip Interface (ELLSI) and up to 10 standard LLSI channels. This allows the MCU to natively support gaming ARGB Gen1 and Gen2 LED control protocols, completely offloading the CPU to run fluid, dynamic LED effects.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China's homegrown silicon suppliers gain traction as Nvidia struggles to get its chips into the market — Huawei, Cambricon and more step up to fill crucial market gap

    Nvidia's market share in the Chinese data center market has shrunk, with a wealth of options coming from Huawei, Cambricon and more, bringing their total share up to 41%.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Robotaxi outage highlights pitfalls but unlikely to derail China’s push: Analysts

    A passenger said he was stuck in a robotaxi for nearly two hours and felt terrified when the SOS button did not work.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel buys back 49% stake in Ireland Fab Joint Venture — takes full control over Fab 34

    In a mutually beneficial deal, defective chip maker Intel repurchases 49% of Fab 34 from Apollo for $14.2 billion, reducing pressure on its margins, but paying a hefty $3 billion premium to the financial company.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘Don’t tell others how to do their jobs’: Inaction, disregard for safety led to HK’s deadly fire

    The authorities are also looking into possible bid-rigging and fraud.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Renovation workers still smoked despite estate management’s complaints to contractor, Tai Po fire inquiry hears

    Renovation workers at the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court kept smoking despite the estate’s management demanding that the project contractor fix the problem, a property officer has told a public inquiry.

  • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man signs order threatening up to 100% tariffs on pharmaceuticals

    The Insurrectionist unveiled sweeping new pharmaceutical tariffs on Thursday that could reach 100% unless drugmakers strike pricing deals with his administration. The move, tied to national security concerns, escalates his trade strategy and could reshape global supply chains and raise costs.

  • Futurism ☛ Do You Cry More or Less Than the Average Person?

    How often do you cry?

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ EPA move on microplastics, pharmaceuticals draws mixed response in Michigan

    Dihydroxyacetone Man administration officials said Thursday they’ll add the two pollutants to a federal priority list — but stopped short of enacting monitoring requirements that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has requested.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Under global spotlight, Australia plays hardball on social control media ban

    The government said it was investigating Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat for possible breaches.

• Proprietary

  • Qt ☛ Qt 6.10.3 Released

    The final release of the Qt 6.10 series, Qt 6.10.3, is now available for download. As a patch release, Qt 6.10.3 does not introduce new features; however, it includes more than 250 bug fixes, security updates, and quality improvements compared to Qt 6.10.2. For a comprehensive overview of the most notable changes, please refer to the  Qt 6.10.3 release notes. 

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Artemis II astronaut finds two Outlook instances running on computers, calls on Houston to fix Abusive Monopolist Microsoft anomaly — puzzled caller describes ‘two Outlooks, and neither one of those are working’

    'Two Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Outlooks, and neither one of those are working,' complains Artemis II astronaut.

  • Social Control Media

    • The Straits Times ☛ Indonesia issues fresh summons for Google, Meta over teen social control media ban

      This is the second round of summons Indonesia is issuing over the companies' alleged non-compliance.

  • Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Medtech giant Stryker says it’s back up after Iranian cyberattack

      The Handala group claimed responsibility for hitting the company with a wiper attack last month.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • JURIST ☛ Cambodia casinos operate with impunity despite human rights abuses, rights group warns

      Casinos in Cambodia operate free from state intervention despite being linked to human rights abuses, warned Amnesty International on Thursday. The human rights organization said at least a dozen casinos are connected directly to scamming compounds, where torture, forced labor, child labor, and human trafficking have occurred. 

• Defence/Aggression

  • JURIST ☛ HRW condemns ongoing US strikes on vessels in Caribbean

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement on Tuesday condemning the “unlawful use of lethal force outside any context of armed conflict” by the US military over the past recent months. The statement said that US strikes on vessels thought to be carrying illegal drugs in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific amount to “extrajudicial executions.”

  • Federal News Network ☛ DoD still failing to properly mark CUI data years after initial audit

    “The Hill should be all over this issue but not sure anyone is paying any attention to this over there,” Bill Greenwalt said.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan to strengthen Pratas islands’ defences as China steps up pressure

    China claims the Pratas, and Taiwan, as its own territory.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Pakistan says onus on Afghanistan to end hostilities

    Negotiations started in Urumqi in north-west China on April 1.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Pakistan, Afghanistan hold talks in China to end months of conflict

    Pakistan and Afghanistan are holding talks in China to try to end the worst conflict between the South Asian neighbours since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, both sides said on Thursday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ From international outcast to mediator in Iran war, Pakistan’s remarkable makeover

    It has rebuilt trust with Washington while consolidating ties with China and other world leaders.

  • France24 ☛ Europe, NATO under pressure over Iran war: 'Dihydroxyacetone Man strong with the weak and weak with the strong'

    François Picard is pleased to welcome Hélène Conway-Mouret, French Senator, Vice Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. According to Conway-Mouret, The Insurrectionist’s Iran war strategy is creating incredible volatility for European security, transatlantic relations, and even domestic politics in the US. All the while, NATO withdrawal is being levied as a threat to force European compliance.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Lawmakers renew push for Labor Department-backed cyber apprenticeship grants

    The bipartisan, bicameral Cyber Ready Workforce Act aims to cut into the country’s deficit of cybersecurity professionals.

  • New York Times ☛ After Sting Operation, Cousin of Bashar al-Assad Convicted in Arms for Drugs Deal

    The cousin, Antoine Kassis, was found guilty of conspiracy to support a terrorist group, after trying to sell weapons from the fallen regime to a Colombian militia.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian sentenced to 15 years in Belarus prison, officials perceive pressure tactics

      A Lithuanian citizen has been sentenced to 15 years in a high-security prison in Belarus on espionage charges, in a case Lithuanian officials say reflects ongoing pressure from Minsk.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Is Sending a Second Oil Tanker to Fuel-Starved Cuba

      The announcement of a second shipment follows the arrival of a first oil tanker sent by the Kremlin earlier this week.

    • JURIST ☛ Rights group demands Russia restore full internet access

      Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday urged Russia to fulfill its obligations under international law and restore access to internet and communication networks in light of continuing censorship and protestor arrests. Russian authorities continue to impose broad mobile internet and cellular access shutdowns under reportedly pretextual public safety justifications, with some lasting up to 12 months.

    • Latvia ☛ Grain imports ban from Russia, Belarus to Latvia extended

      In Latvia, import bans on agricultural and feed products from Russia and Belarus have been extended until July 1, 2027. This is provided for in amendments to the Law on Agriculture and Rural Development, which were approved by the Saeima in their final reading on Wednesday, April 1.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian security service outs Russian and Belarusian spies

      Latvia's Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIDD) has published the names of six officers from the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU) and one from the Belarusian GRU, who it says spied on Latvia, as part of its annual activity report for 2025.

    • New York Times ☛ In a Muzzled Russia, He Still Speaks His Mind

      While hundreds of other journalists fled into exile after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitri A. Muratov stayed. But he did not stay quiet.

    • France24 ☛ Russia's military campaign in Ukraine stalls for first time in more than two years

      Russia’s advance in Ukraine stalled in March, with no territorial gains for the first time in over two years, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Ukrainian forces recaptured small areas, signalling a slowdown in Moscow’s momentum after months of progress, raising new questions about the war’s next phase.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian sports community urges ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes

      Lithuania’s sports community has called on political leaders and government institutions to bar Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions held in the country, citing national security and solidarity with Ukraine.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Mint Press News ☛ Global Energy Shock: Iran Turns Hormuz Into A Toll Gate Challenging Petrodollar

      For years, U.S. strategy has relied on the assumption that sanctions, economic pressure, and military force would weaken adversaries and trigger internal collapse. But as economist Michael Hudson has argued, that logic misunderstands how nations respond under existential threat. “This war will decide whether the U.S. controls the global oil trade — or whether the world becomes independent of it,” Hudson said, framing the conflict as a turning point in the global economic order.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese airlines to hike fuel surcharges on domestic flights

      Several Chinese airlines, including national carrier Air China, said they will raise their fuel surcharges on domestic flights from Sunday as the war in the Middle East drives up oil prices globally.

    • Futurism ☛ Almost Half of US Data Centers That Were Supposed to Open This Year Slated to Be Canceled or Delayed

      "It is a pretty wild puzzle at the moment."

    • The Straits Times ☛ Save ‘every drop of fuel’, South Korea urges as Iran crisis hits

      The country has already implemented fuel price caps and expanded fuel tax cuts.

    • The Straits Times ☛ From luggage-friendly buses to airport links, South Korea smooths travel beyond Seoul

      The authorities seek to draw attention to lesser-known destinations and encourage longer stays.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia to raise air-con temperatures in government offices to cut energy costs amid Iran war

      Staff may also be allowed to wear more casual attire to the office as the temperature increases.

    • The Straits Times ☛ They use their 4x4 trucks to help flood victims. Rising diesel costs in Malaysia may end this

      Rich or not, Malaysian diesel vehicle owners say the subsidy gap punishes the wrong drivers.

    • The Straits Times ☛ With rising energy costs, is it worth switching to an EV in Malaysia right now – and how?

      Home charging for EVs cuts running costs by roughly half, compared with subsidised RON95.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia clarifies WFH policy only for civil servants living more than 8km from office

      This applies to those working in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and all state capitals.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Mexico News Daily ☛ Sea turtle egg poachers caught on video at Oaxaca sanctuary, prompting federal investigation

      The sacking of the sanctuary, as caught on video, was so blatant that Profepa rushed out a press release assuring angry internet users that their personnel has already been out to the beach and were investigating.

    • New York Times ☛ Biruté Galdikas, 79, Who Worked to Save Wild Orangutans in Borneo, Dies

      With Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, she was one of three prominent researchers of great apes who were sometimes called the “trimates.”

    • Futurism ☛ JONATHAN THE 193-YEAR-OLD TORTOISE IS STILL ALIVE, REPEAT HE HAS NOT DIED

      "Even our researcher friends in the US unraveling his DNA have just sent condolences."

• Finance

  • JURIST ☛ US appeals court denies push to reallocate homelessness funds

    A US appeals court on Wednesday rejected an initiative proposed by the Convicted Felon administration which would have cut millions of dollars from permanent housing funds for the homeless and instead shifted them to transitional programs requiring sobriety checks and mental health treatment. HUD has not announced whether they will appeal the decision.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian government warns against profiteering as cost pressures mount

    Malaysia is attempting to ease financial burdens while boosting income levels, said Zahid.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • New York Times ☛ Europe Pushes for a Gentler Internet for Children

    The European Union and national capitals are trying to make social control media and algorithms less addictive and safer, especially for children.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong applies to seize Jimmy Lai’s ‘offence-related’ properties on national security grounds

    The Hong Kong government has filed an application to seize “offence-related” properties owned by jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai on national security grounds.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s Media-Bashing Is Coming Back to Bite Him in Court

    Judges have cited attacks on the press by the president and his appointees when ruling against the government in at least three court cases.

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • JURIST ☛ UN human rights chief warns deepening repression of civic freedoms across Middle East

    UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned on Wednesday that repression of freedom of expression across the Middle East has deepened significantly since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran commenced. In Iran, approximately 2,345 people have been arrested on charges related to national security. Many were arbitrarily arrested during the January protests.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Denuvo has been broken, company promises countermeasures against new DRM bypasses — zero-day game releases become norm as security concerns mount over hypervisor-based bypass

    Denuvo promises countermeasures against the recent hypervisor-based DRM bypasses

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Public Knowledge ☛ The Surveillance Giant Google Search Remedies Are Already Failing: How Weak Antitrust Relief Handed Surveillance Giant Google an Hey Hi (AI) Advantage [Ed: failing to disclose Microsoft is in their Board]

  Thanks to weak remedies in the landmark antitrust ruling, Google's dominance in the tech market continues to expand.

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ HGF boosts London chemistry and pharma practice with D Young partner [Ed: Marketing spam disguised as "news" while still ignoring major news like cocaine and massive strikes at EPO]

    Garreth Duncan officially joined HGF’s London office on 1 April 2026, bringing with him considerable expertise across a broad range of chemical technologies.

  • JUVE ☛ De Koffiejongens averts PI filed by Ox Barrier in the Netherlands

    The case is reminiscent of the patent monopoly dispute over coffee capsules between manufacturers Nespresso, Krups, De’Longhi and Ethical Coffee Company (ECC), which broke out between 2016 and 2018 in Germany and Switzerland, as well as the more recent dispute between Koninklijke Douwe Egberts and Belmoca.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Mimzi Stay Based in Part on Unified’s Reexam Granted in EDTX

    On March 27, 2026, Magistrate Judge Roy Payne has granted the motion to stay the Eastern District of Texas litigation against Ford, Subaru, and Mercedes-Benz AG pending resolution of Unified’s ex parte reexamination challenging U.S. Patent 9,792,361 and the Mercedes reexaminations challenging U.S. Patent 9,792,361 and U.S. Patent 11,100,163.

  • Unified Patents ☛ OptimNet cloud patent monopoly challenged

    On March 27, 2026, Unified filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 9,112,934, owned and asserted by OptimNet LLC, an NPE. The ‘934 patent monopoly generally relates to a content delivery networking method and apparatus that builds a content delivery overlay network for transferring media content to users. It has been asserted against Amazon Web Services and Amazon.com Services for the provision of cloud services.

  • Unified Patents ☛ DynaIP entity, WirelessWerx IP, geotracking patent monopoly found invalid

    On March 26, 2026, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) entered a notice of intent to issue a reexamination certificate cancelling all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 7,317,927 owned by WirelessWerx IP LLC, an NPE and Dynamic IP Deals LLC entity.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Words That Stick: Prosecution Disclaimer Survives the Examiner’s Rejection

    Federal Circuit holds in Puradigm v. DBG that a prosecution disclaimer stands even when the examiner rejected the disclaiming argument, extending the disclaimer to logical variants of disclaimed prior art.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ Next US firm enters London patent monopoly market after CMS hire [Ed: UPC is illegal and this is marketing gossip; JUVE ignores all the real news.]

      It is not yet decided when Caitlin Heard will move to Perkins Coie as partner. Managing IP first reported the move. Heard currently serves as co-head of the international IP practice group at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang. She is qualified as a solicitor advocate and also via Ireland as a UPC representative.

  • Software Patents

    • GamingOnLinux ☛ The US Patent Office have rejected a Nintendo Pokemon patent for summoning subcharacters | GamingOnLinux

      While it likely won't affect the ongoing Japan lawsuit between Nintendo / Pokemon and Pocketpair / Palworld, it is at least good news for game devs elsewhere.

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ NSYNC Choreographer Darrin Henson Sues Sony Music Over ‘Bye Bye Bye’ Dance Appearance in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

    Today in contentious music industry litigation: Sony Music is facing a lawsuit from NSYNC choreographer Darrin Henson over the “Bye Bye Bye” dance’s appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine. Henson just recently submitted the straightforward complaint to a Georgia federal court, some 27 years after being “commissioned to create” the dance behind the well-known NSYNC track.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Oh the Irony: Anthropic Goes Scorched Earth Against Infringers After Leaking Its Source Code

    Anthropic pulled thousands of copies of its Claude Hey Hi (AI) source code from Microsoft's proprietary prison GitHub after leaking it to the public, seemingly by accident. On Tuesday, a software engineer discovered that Hey Hi (AI) company Anthropic had included access to the source code for its Claude Hey Hi (AI) model in a recent release.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ The Great Majority: Body Snatching and Burial Reform in 19th-Century Britain

    As populations flocked to city centres in the 19th century, church cemeteries began to overflow with the dead. Roger Luckhurst exhumes the history of this period, when anatomists fuelled a body-snatching trade led by “resurrection men” and reformers sought alternatives to the toxic urban graveyards and their pestilent fumes.