Leftovers

• Science

  • TecAdmin ☛ What is Binomial Expansion? The Secret Behind (a + b)ⁿ Explained

    What is Binomial Expansion? A clear, step-by-step guide for students and beginners If you have ever tried to expand something like (a + b)⁵ by hand, you know it takes a long time. Binomial expansion gives us a shortcut — a reliable formula to expand any power of a two-term expression quickly and correctly.

  • New York Times ☛ J. Craig Venter, Scientist Who Decoded the Human Genome, Dies at 79

    A risk-taking outsider, he brought speed, competition and controversy to one of science’s biggest races.

  • Latvia ☛ 'Capture Study' hopes to help new medicines reach the market faster

    The technology startup “Capture Study” is developing a platform for clinical trials that helps quickly create survey questionnaires, which are completed by both doctors and patients during the data collection process. The main goal is to accelerate clinical processes so that science can advance faster and new medicines can reach patients sooner, reports Labs of Latvia.

  • Science Alert ☛ Astronomers Think They've Finally Found The Edge of The Milky Way

    A hazy line that has been hard to define.

• Career/Education

  • New York Times ☛ In France, American Universities Lose Their Allure in the Convicted Felon Era

    Worries about visas, academic freedom and safety are making foreign schools, like Sciences Po in Paris, more attractive to some students than the Ivy League.

• Hardware

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Testing the Commodore 64 250466 board

    Last Saturday I introduced the 250466 longboard from 1986 I bought for my Commodore 64 “Aldi” machine. I’ll admit, I could barely contain my excitement, for this was the first longboard C64 board I’d had in years. But does it work? Today I wanted to find out, and take a closer look at the ICs that make up this specific board.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ US stops exports of tools to China’s number two chip maker — Hua Hong and Huali Microelectronics reportedly on the cusp of starting a 7-nm fab in Shanghai

    Applied Materials, KLA, and Lam Research received letters from the U.S. Department of Commerce preventing them from shipping some of Hua Hong's orders for the latest chipmaking tools. These are reportedly being planned for use on the Chinese company's planned 7-nm fab in Shanghai.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Despite tariffs, global trade keeps growing – just with new partners

    A year after President The Insurrectionist’s tariffs stunned the world, global trade is still expanding – but nations are diversifying beyond the U.S. and China.

  • Games

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ PS5 GNU/Linux loader goes public, turning ‘Phat’ consoles into full GNU/Linux PCs — build script includes bootable Ubuntu 24.04 image, can output 4K games at 60 FPS

      Only PS5 Phat consoles on older firmware 3.00, 3.10, 3.20, 3.21, 4.00, 4.02, 4.03, 4.50, or 4.51 are supported.

    • Boiling Steam ☛ The New Steam Controller Launches in May 2026

      The new Steam Controller is almost here. After a long period of silence and delays following the current hardware situation, Valve has officially confirmed the release date and pricing.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Popular Supplement May Have an Unexpected Downside, Study Finds

    It's important to get the full story.

  • Science Alert ☛ Here's Why Your Brain Shuts Down During Arguments, And What Helps

    A clinical psychologist explains the science.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Reveal Why Breast Cancer Risk Rises With Age

    "With the most dramatic changes occurring at menopause."

  • Science Alert ☛ Exercise Alone May Not Offset Damage From Sitting All Day, Expert Warns

    Here's what can make a meaningful difference.

  • Science Alert ☛ Weight-Loss Drugs May Reduce Buildup of Alzheimer's Proteins, Major Review Finds

    Yet more GLP-1 benefits?

  • Federal News Network ☛ Suspended EPA employees allege retaliation, whistleblower violations

    “Many more” complaints are expected at the Office of Special Counsel “promptly,” after suspensions and firings of EPA employees who signed a dissent letter.

  • New York Times ☛ Meta Charged With Failing to Keep Children Off Instagram and Facebook (Farcebook) in Europe

    European Union regulators said the company did not have effective controls to check a user’s self-declared date of birth, in violation of an online safety law.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Michigan community colleges boost virtual, in-person mental health services

    Virtual mental health services are among the resources that are being offered to community college students in an effort with the business and philanthropic community to increase student success.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Medicare for All divides Democrats in Michigan’s US Senate race

    In Michigan’s hotly contested US Senate Democratic primary, the future of health care coverage has emerged as a key issue. Efforts to expand government-backed coverage face an uphill political climb.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ They sought help for son with mental illness. He ended up in jail

    Law enforcement officers are on the front lines of Michigan's mental health crisis. Advocates are pushing reforms.

• Proprietary

  • Qt ☛ Figma to Qt 1.0 Is Here: The Most Reliable Way to Bring Your Design From Figma to Device

    When a perfectly crafted design leaves Figma and enters a development pipeline, things often get compromised. Spacing shifts, colors change, and details deviate through multiple layers of interpretation and unexpected limitations. You will see timelines lagging, design becoming unclear, and user experience losing priority.

  • Neowin ☛ Windows 10 gets a funeral in France as furious activists parade a coffin, blasting Microsoft

    A literal coffin for backdoored Windows 10 hits the streets as protesters slam Microsoft's cutoff, warning millions of PCs could be pushed to the grave next.

  • Devs respond after Helldivers 2 starts crashing on Steam Deck and Linux with latest update

    Helldivers 2 recently received a new update called Machinery of Oppression: 6.2.2, bringing fresh content, bug fixes, and general improvements. While updates are usually a good thing, this one has caused serious problems for a specific group of players. If you’re using a Steam Deck on SteamOS or a Linux-based system, the game is currently in a broken state.

  • So-Called 'Artificial Intelligence' ('AI') / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ OpenAI Hit With Barrage of Lawsuits Over Failure to Report School Shooter Before Massacre

      "The 'safeguards' Proprietary Chaffbot Company pointed to after the attack did not fail; they did not exist."

    • Futurism ☛ John Oliver Just Took the Hey Hi (AI) Industry Behind a Shed and Beat It With a Pipe Wrench

      "The more you look at chatbots, the more you realize that they were rushed to market with very little consideration for the consequences,"

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ OpenAI has effectively abandoned first-party Stargate data centers in favor of more flexible deals — company now prefers to lease compute and says Stargate is an umbrella term

      OpenAI has reportedly modified its arrangement on several Stargate projects, leaving the direct ownership set up and instead preferring to lease compute from other partners who took on the direct risk of investing in the infrastructure.

    • Futurism ☛ Uninstalls of Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot Are Spiking at the Worst Time Imaginable for OpenAI

      It's not looking good.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Digital Music News ☛ New Lawsuit Claims Drake and Streamer Adin Ross Misled Fans In Gambling Promos

      Drake, Adin Ross, DJ Akademiks, and gambling website Stake.us have been named in a series of illegal gambling and racketeering lawsuits. Drake, streamer Adin Ross, and DJ Akademiks have been named alongside gambling website Stake.us in an illegal gambling and racketeering lawsuit filed in New Jersey on April 22.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Stanford University ☛ AAUP: Academic Freedom On The Line | Removing Flock cameras is about much more than license plates

      Faculty members David Palumbo-Liu and Stephen Monismith argue that Flock cameras on campus undermine privacy.

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    • Futurism ☛ Man Trapped in Dystopian Nightmare Thanks to Hey Hi (AI) Surveillance Cameras Flagging His Every Move

      "All I know is I'm in the system now. And there's really no easy way to get out of the system once you're in it."

    • JURIST ☛ UN rights experts concerned over increasing use of intrusive surveillance technologies

      Several UN rights experts raised serious concerns on Monday in a joint statement over the increasing use of intrusive surveillance technologies globally and their normalization in everyday life, calling for the urgent strengthening of human rights safeguards ahead of the RightsCon summit on human rights in the digital age, hosted in Zambia [...]

    • New York Times ☛ Surveillance Law Is in Limbo After House Approval

      Republicans put down a right-wing revolt to push a three-year renewal through the House, but the Senate appeared likely to opt for a 45-day punt ahead of a Friday expiration.

    • ACLU ☛ New Orleans Police Continuing to Use Live Face Recognition Despite City Law

      City’s police cross a line, breach norms, and threaten to normalize a nightmarish level of surveillance in American life.

    • American Oversight ☛ Lawsuit Seeks Records on IRS Implementation of Convicted Felon Executive Orders Purportedly Targeting “Antifa”

      Protect Democracy, represented by American Oversight, is seeking transparency into whether the president’s order is being used to draw federal tax authorities into politically-charged enforcement efforts.

    • Futurism ☛ Startup Says It Can Read Your Brain Signals Using a Pair of Headphones

      "One could certainly imagine how enforced use of such devices could create a very dystopian basis for behavioral control."

• Defence/Aggression

  • ADF ☛ Nuba Mountains Emerge as New Front in Sudan’s Civil War

    The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) said a Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) airstrike that killed at least seven people and injured dozens more during a funeral on March 27 in the Nuba Mountains.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippine vice-president Duterte faces impeachment vote in Congress after panel find probable cause

    Duterte, daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, denies allegations she misused public funds.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Mother in South Korea arrested after beating 8-month-old son to death with TV remote

    During questioning, the mother said she abused the child because he would not sleep and kept crying.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Woman in Malaysia gets 2 years’ jail for throwing newborn from 38th-floor condo

    A man living on the ninth-floor discovered the baby with severe head injuries on his verandah.

  • France24 ☛ Iran crisis, World Cup tensions overshadow FIFA Congress in Vancouver

    Football officials gather in Vancouver on Thursday for FIFA’s 76th Congress, weeks before the expanded World Cup kicks off in North America. War in Iran, logistics and Russia’s ban top the agenda. Iranian federation officials left Canada abruptly, casting a shadow over the meeting.

  • The Straits Times ☛ New Zealand mosque shooter loses bid to overturn convictions

    He had appealed to the Court of Appeal in February citing “torturous and inhumane” detention conditions.

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Defense Attorney Todd Blanche Didn’t Use to Believe Vituperative Speech Was a Threat

    Todd Blanche's claim that Jim Comey's picture showing shells writing out 8647 is a threat is wildly inconsistent with the claims he made when Convicted Felon was the defendant.

  • France24 ☛ Assad regime trials are 'integral for Syria to move on' from civil war, atrocities

    A Syrian court conducted the first hearing Sunday in the trial of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and senior figures from his government, one of whom appeared in person. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney, Nanar Hawach, Senior Analyst for Syria at the International Crisis Group, says that despite most perpetrators being tried in absentia, "transitional justice is integral for Syria to move on past the civil war and past atrocities".

  • Defence Web ☛ US approves $95 million next phase of Tunisian border security project

    The United States Department of Defence has approved the $95 million next phase of Tunisia’s border security project [...]

  • Security Week ☛ Iranian Cyber Group Handala Targets US Troops in Bahrain

    US service members received WhatsApp messages claiming they would be targeted with drones and missiles.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Congress, industry ponder government posture for protecting data centers

    A hearing of the House Homeland Security panel’s cyber subcommittee weighed whether to designate data centers as a standalone critical infrastructure sector.

  • Defence Web ☛ Home Affairs deportations surge nearly 50% in two years as SA tightens border security

  • The Straits Times ☛ Growing US-South Korea tensions spill over into intelligence, business fronts

    A series of speed bumps have unsettled the alliance since Convicted Felon’s return to office in January 2025.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China to ban drone sales in Beijing over security fears

    Individuals will be allowed to keep at most three drones at a single location.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China to ban drone sales in capital over security fears

    China will ban the sale of drones in Beijing and require users to apply for permission for all flights in the capital under strict regulations that enter force on Friday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Madagascar detains French former serviceman over alleged mutiny plot

    Madagascar has detained a former French serviceman accused of taking part in a plot to destabilise the Indian Ocean island, including by inciting security forces to mutiny and sabotaging infrastructure to cause nationwide blackouts, authorities said.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australian Jewish group warned of ‘attack’ before Bondi mass shooting: Inquiry

    Australia’s Jewish community “was the evident target of the attack”, an interim report said.

  • New York Times ☛ Mamdani’s Advice to Royals: Give That Priceless Diamond Back to India

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani and King Charles did not meet privately. But if they had, the mayor said, he probably would have raised the issue of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond.

  • The Straits Times ☛ New York Mayor Mamdani encourages King Charles to return Koh-i-Noor Diamond

    April 29 - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Wednesday he encourages Britain's King Charles to return the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, with his comments coming during the British monarch's ongoing U.S. visit.

  • France24 ☛ New York's Mamdani calls on King Charles to 'return' Koh-i-Noor diamond taken from India

    New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday called on King Charles III to "return" the Koh-i-Noor diamond, a 105.6 carat gem that was mined in India and is now the star of Britain's crown jewels. The diamond has been in British hands since 1849 but its ownership is contested with several countries laying claim.

  • The Strategist ☛ Expanding frontiers: how China normalises its presence

    A major strategic shift in the Indo-Pacific is happening quietly: China’s presence in seas and ports far from its coast is becoming routine. The frequency of its appearances has been rising for about a decade.

  • The Strategist ☛ Expanding frontiers: how China’s outward push could cause friction

    China’s expanding presence beyond the first island chain is most likely to generate incidents, friction and escalation risks not through deliberate aggression but through growing operational proximity.

  • New York Times ☛ Paraguay Says It’s Not Abandoning Taiwan. China Has Other Plans.

    Beijing is trying to unravel an unlikely long-distance relationship that has endured for decades. Could Paraguay be tempted to stray?

  • The Straits Times ☛ Explainer: What is ‘Taiwan independence’ and is Taiwan already independent?

    Taipei says the Republic of China is a sovereign state and that Beijing has no right to speak for or represent it.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US leads new call condemning China’s actions in Panama Canal dispute

    The United States led a group of regional countries in calling China’s actions during a dispute over the Panama Canal a “threat,” prompting backlash from Beijing on Wednesday. Washington and Beijing accuse each other of seeking to control the Panama Canal, a vital trade link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Tuareg rebels urge Russian forces to leave Mali

      Russian forces must withdraw from "all of Mali" and the ruling junta will "fall sooner or later", a spokesman for Tuareg rebels told AFP, after Islamist insurgents and separatists launched attacks destabilising the west African country. FRANCE 24's Juliette Brown reports.

    • New York Times ☛ Men Accused in Fires Targeting Starmer Received Orders in Russian, Prosecutors Say

      Two buildings and a car linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain were set afire last year. The men on trial for it were recruited through a Russian-language Telegram account, a jury was told.

    • ADF ☛ Reports Uncover Russian Efforts to Swing African Elections

      Secret meetings, fake documents, smear campaigns and paid local influencers. These were some of the tools that Russian agents used to conduct covert influence operations in Southern Africa during election campaigns between 2019 and 2025, seeking to manipulate political outcomes and keep pro-Moscow governments in power.

    • France24 ☛ Putin, in call with Convicted Felon, put forward ideas on Iran, Kremlin says

      Vladimir Putin and ​The Insurrectionist held a phone call on Wednesday ​in which the Russian leader put forward ideas on resolving the conflict over Iran's nuclear programme, a Kremlin aide ​said. Putin ‌also proposed a repeat of ⁠a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine to mark the anniversary of the end ‌of World War Two next month, the aide ⁠said. FRANCE 24's International Affairs Commentator Douglas Herbert has more.

    • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man, Putin Discuss Temporary Cease-Fire In Ukraine War

      US ⁠President The Insurrectionist ⁠said he held a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, where the two discussed a possible temporary cease-fire to halt fighting in the 4-year-old war in Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Tells Putin To Focus On Ending Ukraine War After Russian President Offers Help On Iran's Uranium

      As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to impact and shape the region, journalists from RFE/RL deliver ongoing updates and analysis.

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man and Putin Call for a Brief Cease-Fire in Ukraine

      Previous truces have broken down amid competing accusations of violations, and it is not clear that Ukraine will agree to Moscow’s terms.

    • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Tells Putin To Focus On Ending Ukraine War After Russia Offers Help On Iran's Uranium

      As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to impact and shape the region, journalists from RFE/RL deliver ongoing updates and analysis.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia to donate more armoured vehicles to Ukraine

      On Tuesday, April 28th, the Latvian cabinet of Ministers supported the order prepared by the Ministry of Defence on the transfer of additional 'CVR(T)' combat reconnaissance tracked armoured vehicles to Ukraine.

    • Latvia ☛ Shelter situation in Latvia still not great

      Despite the fact that Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine has been ongoing for four years, the establishment of shelters in Latvia is still in its infancy. Most of the shelters that have been set up are only partially compliant and provide only partial protection, Latvian Television reported on 27th April.

    • France24 ☛ Russia scales down WW2 victory parade due to Ukrainian threat

      No military hardware will roll through Red Square in Russia's grand World War II victory parade next month -- a precautionary measure given the threat of Ukrainian retaliatory strikes, the Kremlin said Wednesday. The move to a slimmed-down May 9 parade -- typically a bombastic display of Russia's military might -- comes more than four years into Russia's war in Ukraine that has killed hundreds of thousands and drained vast economic resources.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia-Iran Axis Expanding The Battlefield, US Senator Thom Tillis Warns

      Senator Thom Tillis, a co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group and a self-described “plain-spoken” Republican from North Carolina, has a message for those who view the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as isolated events: they are not.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Scales Back Victory Day Parade, Citing Ukrainian Drone Attacks

      Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Victory Day parade on Red Square -- an annual spectacle celebrating the Soviet role in orld War II and Moscow’s military today -- will be drastically scaled back this year, with no military vehicles or heavy weaponry on display for the first time since 2007.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia’s Victory Day Parade Will Be Missing Tanks and Other Heavy Military Armor

      The absence of tanks and other heavy military vehicles on Red Square will highlight the heavy toll of the war in Ukraine.

    • Latvia ☛ SSE Rīga lecture to outline impact of sanctions on Russia

      The Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga) will be holding a public lecture next week titled "Sanctions and the Russian War Economy — What Has Worked, What Has Not, and What Comes Next" with Yuliia Pavytska, Head of the Sanctions Hub of Excellence at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) Institute.

    • Latvia ☛ Liepāja airport will not get regular flights anytime soon

      To ensure that airports of national importance are prepared for emergencies, the government allocates funding to them annually. This year, Liepāja Airport has been allocated 20,000 euros to strengthen its response capabilities and to partially implement cybersecurity tools, but resuming regular passenger flights at Liepāja Airport is currently not possible, Kurzeme Television reported on 27th April.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian central bank to run financial literacy campaign

      As part of an international project funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, Latvijas Banka (the Latvian central bank/LB), in cooperation with the Central Bank of Lithuania (Lietuvos Bankas), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the European Commission, is developing an action plan aimed at strengthening digital financial literacy among the populations of Latvia and Lithuania, as well as their resilience against financial fraud.

• Environment

  • France24 ☛ Colombia hosts climate talks in bid to lead global transition away from fossil fuels

    Colombian President Gustavo Petro vowed to “wean” the country’s economy off oil and coal when he was elected in 2022. But as his term draws to a close – with the first round of a presidential election set for May 31 – Petro’s ambitious energy transition plan remains unfulfilled, with the country still reliant on fossil-fuel production.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia civil servants’ sick days drop by 30% after work-from-home policy rolls out

      The WFH arrangement currently involves 390 employees or 50 per cent of the workforce.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Vehicle workshops in Malaysia steering into scams

      Many such workshops are out to make a quick buck by “repairing” problems that do not exist.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Straits Times ☛ After wolf escape, South Korea moves to tighten zoo oversight

      The government is working to apply stricter standards for zoo management by December 2027.

    • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea faces severe drought: State media

      The extreme weather comes as food shortages are already a key concern in the country.

    • New York Times ☛ The Murky Ethics of Swimming With Killer Whales

      Only two places in the world allow tourists to enter the water with the ocean’s apex predator. But the safety of both species is a growing concern.

    • Science Alert ☛ World First: Orangutan Filmed Using a Human-Made Bridge

      Here's why that's a "huge milestone for conservation".

    • Science Alert ☛ 'Extinct' Volcanoes May Be Silently Building Magma For Future Eruptions

      They may not be as dead as they seem.

• Finance

  • Federal News Network ☛ White House says funds to pay TSA and other Homeland Security workers will ‘soon run out’

    OMB said money that President The Insurrectionist tapped to pay TSA and other workers through executive actions will be exhausted by May.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia to slash federal operating budgets due to Iran war costs

    A sharp spike in energy prices stemming from the conflict has had a direct impact on living costs.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • France24 ☛ Viral LEGO-style Hey Hi (AI) videos blur line between entertainment and propaganda

      The LEGO-style videos making fun of The Insurrectionist over his war in Iran have racked up millions of views on social control media. FRANCE 24's Tehran correspondent spoke to the content creator blurring the line between entertainment and propaganda.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong remains at 140th on global press freedom index as NGO highlights Jimmy Lai’s 20-year jail term

    Hong Kong remains at 140th place on Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) global press freedom index of 180 countries and territories, with the NGO highlighting the 20-year sentence handed down to Fashion Company Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai earlier this year.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ The Ankler ditches Substack to fly solo

    B2B site for Hollywood switches to owned site and new subs platform Passport.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Press Gazette Reality Wars investigation recognised by Paul Foot Awards

    Reports on fake AI-generated PR content being widely published makes awards longlist.

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • BIA Net ☛ Miners end hunger strike in Ankara after ministries step in as guarantors

    The workers have been protesting since Apr 12 for their unpaid rights.

  • Citizen Lab ☛ Kill Bill C-22: Says Civil Society to Parliament

    A group of 25 rights and privacy organizations and experts delivered an open letter to Parliament calling for the full withdrawal of Bill C-22.

  • JURIST ☛ UNICEF warns Afghanistan restrictions on women’s education deprive nation of skilled professionals

    The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday that the ongoing restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment in Afghanistan could result in a shortage of more than 25,000 women teachers and health workers by 2030, urging authorities to lift the ban on secondary education for girls.

  • New York Times ☛ Supreme Court Strikes Down Louisiana Map, Another Blow to Voting Rights Act

    The court struck down the voting map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in a move that could make it harder for lawmakers to create majority-minority voting districts.

  • JURIST ☛ Attacks against national human rights institutes hinder protection of essential rights: UN

    Attacks against national human rights institutions (NHRIs) weaken their ability to fulfill their mandates to protect human rights and hinder access to justice and accountability for all, UN experts warned Monday, noting an increase in reported attacks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ S. Korea to remove ‘out-of-wedlock child’ term from welfare forms

    The move comes as births outside legal marriage are becoming more common in South Korea.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • GamingOnLinux ☛ Denuvo DRM reportedly fully cracked open, 2K apparently fights back with online checks | GamingOnLinux

    The ongoing fight between crackers and DRM has reached a truly massive moment, as reportedly Denuvo DRM has been fully broken open in all games.

• Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 awarded for Radiant Patents optical patent monopoly prior art

      Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winner, Umesh Kumar, who was awarded $2,000 for his prior art submission on U.S. Patent 10,924,188, owned and asserted by Radiant Patents LLC (f/k/a PLS XLIV LLC), an NPE and entity of MVRE LLC. The ‘188 patent monopoly relates to an optical transmitter for adaptive optical communications and has been asserted against Nokia.

      We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on this patent.

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ SCOTUS: IP Cases in the Pipeline

      A grouped survey of twelve IP cases pending before the Supreme Court as Hikma argument approaches: § 101, Federal Circuit shortcuts, PTO authority, more.

    • Kangaroo Courts

      • JUVE ☛ Merz and A&O overturn PI decision in Fampyra case in second instance at the UPC [Ed: UPC is illegal and unconstitutional; it remains connected to a corrupt regime at the EO and the lobby of the litigation industry, not justice]

        Things are looking up for Merz in its battle over Fampyra in Europe. Only recently the Munich Regional Court issued preliminary injunctions against several generics manufacturers, blocking them from marketing their fampridine generics in Germany.

  • Copyrights

    • The Straits Times ☛ Major comics piracy hubs in South Korea are shutting down. Here’s how it happened

      South Korean platforms are increasingly taking copyright monopoly fights into courtrooms overseas.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Christian Rock Band Newsboys and Founder Wes Campbell Sue Fellow Group MercyMe, Christian Tour Promoters, Journalists, More

      Christian rockers the Newsboys and founder Wes Campbell file a defamation suit against dozens of defendants, including tour promoters and journalists. Christian rock band the Newsboys and their co-founder, Christian music executive Wes Campbell, have filed a wide-ranging federal lawsuit against dozens of defendants.