Leftovers

• No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

  Joe Bloggs sat himself in front of his brand new laptop, pressed the On button and waited.

• Protesilaos Stavrou ☛ Re: how to avoid doing XYZ when I want to do ABC?

  Conditioning is about the automaticity that we naturally build for everything. One way to understand this is with the muscle memory that helps you type on the keyboard. Your fingers know where to be and your hands move accordingly without you having to think about each tiny motion again and again. Even if you are not a proper touch typist you still have embedded in your body a certain memory of how things are done.

• Floh Gro ☛ FlohGro - Some New Subtle Drafts Themes

  A quick note before the list: these are ports, not reinterpretations. I pulled the exact published values straight from each project so the colors should match what you'd see anywhere else they're used.

• Adam Silver ☛ Why the accept attribute degrades file upload UX – Adam Silver – designer, London, UK

  This sounds good because it stops users from picking an invalid type before they submit - which would then cause an error.

  But as I said in the post, this is bad UX because:

  • The disabled files are greyed out making them hard to read
  • Some users will not notice the subtle greyed out styling - so will try clicking the invalid files anyway

  For them, this makes the interface feel broken and confusing.

• Science / Mathematics / Computer Science

  • Futurism ☛ Random Standard Wi-Fi Routers Can Scan Your Body to Identify Exactly Who You Are, Alarming New Research Finds

    "With this hardware making its way into millions of homes, the privacy concerns are severe."

  • Science Alert ☛ Strange Event Might Have Been A Primordial Black Hole Winking At Us

    It's the best explanation we've got.

  • Science Alert ☛ A 'Supereruption' That Could Have Buried New Zealand Finally Makes Sense

    One of the Earth's most explosive eruptions.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Sea Cucumber's Amputated Tissue Refuses To Die. Could It Live Forever?

    What does it mean to be alive?

  • Science Alert ☛ Mysterious Origins of The Nicotine Molecule Are Finally Revealed

    A hidden trick.

  • Science Alert ☛ Humans Are Still Evolving Right Before Our Eyes on The Tibetan Plateau

    "This is a case of ongoing natural selection."

  • Science Alert ☛ Breakthrough Pill Nearly Doubles Survival Time For One of The Deadliest Cancers

    "I actually started crying."

  • Science Alert ☛ US Homes Shake as Meteor Explodes With Force of 300 Tons of TNT

    The meteor was traveling at 75,000 mph when it broke apart, NASA says.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • France24 ☛ Brazil isolates two suspected Ebola cases as Congo outbreak exceeds 1,000 infections

    Brazilian health authorities isolated two patients who recently arrived from African countries after they showed symptoms consistent with Ebola, officials said on Friday, although one later tested negative. The move comes as the Democratic Republic of the Congo battles an outbreak that has surpassed 1,000 suspected cases and nearly 250 deaths since May.

  • Futurism ☛ Startup Testing Drugs on Freshly Extracted Human Brains That Are Kept On Life Support

    Not creepy at all.

  • France24 ☛ Brazil isolates two suspected Ebola cases as Congo outbreak surpasses 1,000 infections

    Brazilian health authorities isolated two patients who recently arrived from African countries after they showed symptoms consistent with Ebola, officials said on Friday, although one later tested negative. The move comes as the Democratic Republic of the Congo battles an outbreak that has surpassed 1,000 suspected cases and nearly 250 deaths since May.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Japanese defence chief takes swipe at China at security meet

    By Matthew Walsh Japan’s defence minister took a veiled swipe at China on Sunday, pledging to keep strengthening the military despite Beijing’s criticism of Tokyo’s increasingly muscular security stance.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ ‘Totally hooked’: Hong Kong takes aim at claw machine addiction

    By William Patterson Claw machine lover Neiki Lee carefully lowers the metal jaws of a crane with a joystick into a pool of prizes, only to have the small toy slip from its clutches again and again.

• Proprietary / SaaS

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

    • Futurism ☛ Major Teachers Union Pleads With Elementary Schools to Stop Giving Young Kids AI

      "If we don't find a way to call this out from an education perspective, I fear that we will lose a generation of kids."

    • Futurism ☛ California State University Made a Huge Deal With Proprietary Chaffbot Company and It’s Been a Disaster

      Students may use it, but many of them don't like it.

  • Social Control Media

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia requires social control media age checks barring under-16 accounts

      Major social control media platforms will have to verify users’ ages and bar children under 16 from registering accounts.

• Security

  • SANS ☛ YARA-X 1.17.0 Release, (Sun, May 31st)

  • The Straits Times ☛ Indian exam board admits to cybersecurity holes found by teen

    The board said it is monitoring and has contained vulnerabilities in its online grading portal.

  • SANS ☛ Unidentified RAT pushes NetSupport RAT, (Mon, Jun 1st)

    Introduction

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • New York Times ☛ China Exports Surveillance

      The country has spent decades perfecting a surveillance state at home. Now it’s promoting its ideology of state control, and the technology to enforce it, abroad.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Snatch thieves, mall pickpockets: How to stay safe in Jakarta

    Recent robberies in the Indonesian capital have raised safety concerns among travellers.

  • France24 ☛ Dublin demands justice for Congolese man dead after being restrained by security guards

    It's been two weeks since a Congolese man died in Dublin after being restrained by security guards and protestors are still taking to the street. They want to see an independent and transparent probe into the death of Yves Sakila - with many viewing the incident as racially charged. Details by Eliza Herbert.

  • New York Times ☛ As Deaths From U.S. Boat Strikes Pass 200, Locals Tally an Even Greater Cost

    Residents of coastal communities in Colombia and Ecuador said the airstrike campaign was making many reconsider anything involving the ocean as a livelihood.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan says it remains open to dialogue with China, rejects ‘new militarism’ label

    Japan rejects 'new militarism' label as its defense minister says Tokyo is open to talks with China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China patrols waters east of Taiwan in response to Japan, Philippine maritime border talks

    China’s Coast Guard said a flotilla had carried out the patrol.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan condemns China after New York Times reporter expelled after presidential interview

    Taiwan's presidential office condemned China on Sunday after the New York Times said one of its reporters was expelled from the country following an interview the newspaper did with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China criticises Czech Senate President’s trip to Taiwan

    Milos Vystrcil is leading a business delegation on a visit to Taiwan this week.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China patrols Scarborough Shoal after Philippines warns of threat

    The shoal has become a frequent flashpoint between China and the Philippines over sovereignty and fishing rights.

  • The Strategist ☛ China’s expanding frontiers: views in The Strategist

    China appears to be playing the long game in pursuit of its interests in the Indo-Pacific.

  • The Straits Times ☛ A bachelor's in rare earths? In China, there are schools for that

    Every year, several hundred young adults head to the steppes of northern China to learn about rare earths at schools like the Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia’s far-right party leads in national poll for first time

    Primary support for One Nation rose four percentage points to 31 per cent from a month earlier.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine hits Russian energy targets, denies striking Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

      Ukrainian drones struck targets across several Russian regions overnight from Saturday, including an oil pumping station, a refinery and a fuel depot, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said Sunday. Kyiv however denied Moscow's claims that a Ukrainian drone struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Russian-occupied Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ Swiatek out of French Open as Kostyuk, Svitolina book all-Ukrainian quarter-final

      Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek suffered a shock fourth-round exit at Roland Garros on Sunday, falling 7-5 6-1 to Madrid Open winner Marta Kostyuk on her 25th birthday. Third seed Swiatek became the latest top contender to crash out, while Alexander Zverev advanced to the quarter-finals.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukrainian Drones Target Refinery In Latest Attack Deep Inside Russia

      Ukrainian drones have targeted a Russian oil refinery hundreds of kilometers from the Ukrainian border, the latest in a series of deep-strike campaigns aimed at disrupting Russia’s oil industry.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Robot wars: Ukraine now adding ‘land drones’ to its futuristic arsenal

      The Ukraine war has transformed the battlefield. First, it was aerial drones. Now, ground robots are being developed and deployed for reconnaissance, deliveries, evacuations, and handling mines. The goal: Help Ukraine stand up to its larger Russian enemy.

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Hits the Stalemate Phase of His Interventions in Gaza, Ukraine and Now Iran

      In Ukraine, Gaza and now Iran, Hell Toupée’s early declarations of easy wins have given way to harsh reality.

    • New York Times ☛ To Improve Ukraine’s Military, She Calls Out the Ugly Parts

      Olha Reshetylova has been tasked by the government with overseeing soldiers’ rights. Some commanders resent her, but she says her work makes the armed forces stronger.

    • LRT ☛ How the Russian Orthodox Church targets anti-war priests

      For more than 20 years, Father Aleksei Uminsky served as the rector of a church in a quiet corner of central Moscow. His dismissal and defrocking took about 10 days.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • JURIST ☛ Australia court admits first-ever UN environmental expert in natural gas site extension challenge

      The Federal Court of Australia has admitted a UN special rapporteur on human rights and environment as an intervenor in a judicial review case on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) operation site, according to a Friday press release.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Explosion reported at Hanwha Aerospace factory in South Korea, official says

      About 30 callers to the authorities said they heard a loud blast and saw smoke coming from the site.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ From lottery draws to fiscal spending, China broadens digital renminbi footprint

    Some say Beijing's move is aimed at reducing dependence on a Western-dominated global payments system.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • France24 ☛ How to handle armed groups? Colombians vote in presidential election

    Colombians are heading to the polls Sunday. With current president Gustavo Petro stepping down, the search for his successor is seen as a referendum on his leftist social policies and response to growing violence in the country. Left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda, who says he will continue pursuing peace accords with armed groups, is leading in the polls. But he faces stark opposition from the more hawkish right. Convicted Felon-loving millionaire lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia, who comes from one of Colombia's most important conservative dynasties, both favor harsher crackdowns on guerrilla groups. Details by Caroline Baum.

  • France24 ☛ Colombia's presidential race goes to a runoff: De la Espriella vs. Cepeda

    Colombians voted Sunday in the first round of presidential elections, choosing between a reformist left seeking to retain power and a hard-line right promising security amid escalating violence by armed groups. With 99.99% of votes counted, far-right outsider Abelardo de la Espriella leads with more than 10 million votes (43.70%), followed by leftist Iván Cepeda with 9.6 million (40.93%). Amid mutual accusations, the two will face off in a runoff on June 21.

  • The Straits Times ☛ The great Indo-Pacific hedge: Deeper defence ties as US doubts grow and China ascends

    The United States, however, remains central to the region’s security.

• Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • Patents

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Pay to Cite: Applicant Disclosures Drop After the January 2025 IDS Surcharge

      USPTO's Jan 2025 IDS surcharge cut mean applicant citations 27% (56 to 41 per patent). US-origin references pruned hardest; foreign barely moved.

  • Copyrights/Music

    • Digital Music News ☛ Katy Perry’s Court Wins Hit $5 Million In Long-Running Mansion Dispute

      An LA court says a Texas millionaire has to pay Katy Perry nearly $5 million in legal fees after losing a court battle over the sale of a mansion. Katy Perry has been awarded over $3 million in legal fees following a multi-year legal battle against Carl Westcott over the sale of a California mansion.