Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ Aramex as your Australian carrier? Beware

  I now actively reach out to vendors and specifically mention that I won’t be buying from them again if they use Aramax for their shipping. It’s nothing personal against them, but it’s just not worth my anxiety. I’m usually told in response that they’re “cheaper”, to which I certainly can’t argue.

• Juha-Matti Santala ☛ Junited 2026 was wonderful : Juha-Matti Santala

  We have a wonderful community of bloggers who participate and this was the first year I took part, sharing 30 posts from across the Internet. All together, 59 people were listed to participate this year.

• Robert Birming ☛ Junited 2026 in numbers

  About 1,000 links were shared. That's around 17 links per blogger. R.L. Dane shared the most, and the most shared link was I want my friends to have blogs too.

  A few topics came up again and again across different sites, most notably the "buy me a coffee" button debate, sparking replies, counter-replies, and counter-counter-replies across half a dozen different blogs.

• Hugo van Kemenade ☛ Fixing the dictionary with Python 3.14

  However, the OED’s first citation had a markup bug: [...]

• Artyom Bologov ☛ Wiki, Wittgenstein, and Wits

  But what Wittgenstein meant by speech was not the everyday speech—but rather logical utterances. So, if one cannot speak logically—one must not speak.

  This is a radical position. Forcing all language to be logical is restrictive and kinda… futile? But it’s good that Wittgenstein picked his fight.

• Alex Magill ☛ Bringing things to life

  This post is about how we often talk about digital projects in terms of features rather than goals.

• Science / Mathematics / Computer Science

  • Truthdig ☛ The Plan to Make Climate Science Harder to Erase

    “I couldn’t stand the thought of it all being thrown away,” Lindsey said of the website, which had been used by teachers, community leaders and policymakers. It had also given researchers in the government important insight into what everyday Americans needed to know about climate science and how to answer their questions effectively. Members of the former climate.gov team met periodically to discuss what could be done to preserve the work. By the end of last summer, they’d decided to create an independent version of the site. It launched late last month with a new nongovernmental domain: climate.us.

    The intent behind climate.us isn’t just to save what was on the climate.gov website when it died, but to also continue to update it with new visuals, explainers, features and Q&As, making climate science relevant to people with resources that are vetted by scientists. “We just try to constantly take the pulse of what scientists say is valuable and important and needs to be talked about and explained,” Lindsey said.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Human Habitat at The Bottom of The Ocean Is Now Operational. Take a Look Inside

    Who lives in a habitat under the sea?

  • Science Alert ☛ Record-Breaking Concentrations of Gold Discovered in The Seafloor

    But should we mine it?

  • Science Alert ☛ For The First Time, Ancient Human DNA Has Been Found Preserved on Cave Walls

    "This is just the beginning."

  • Science Alert ☛ In Namibia's Elephant Corridor, a Turf War Between Humans And Wildlife Is About to Get Worse

    Who will win?

  • Science Alert ☛ Common Virus Triggers Parkinson's-Like Brain Damage in Mice

    Here's the evidence.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Huge Galactic Structure Is 23 Million Light-Years Long, And We Can't Comprehend It

    But how?

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Just Made Contact Lenses That Fix Their Own Scratches – Without Needing Replacing

    No need to throw them away.

  • Science Alert ☛ Common Hormonal Contraceptive Linked to Risk of Rare Brain Tumor

    There's lots to consider here.

  • Science Alert ☛ Humans Have a 'Sixth Sense' You've Probably Never Heard Of – And It Appears to Be Key For Mental Health

    Close your eyes and listen.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Week in Science: Knee Pain Relief, a Superconductor Record, And More!

    Our weekly science news roundup.

• Career/Education

  • Thorsten Ball ☛ Ownership

    That means, when you say that you’re owning something, the expectation is that you…

  • Lou Plummer ☛ I Know Everything About You

    Show me you see the people around you, and I'm in your corner for life. Don't, and I already know how that story ends.

  • Joel Chrono ☛ RE: Screens ≠ Books

    First, e-ink screens do not need a backlight to function! I am unable to explain how the technology actually works, but it’s pretty much just a panel that prints information on itself and displays it in the same way a sheet of paper would. Think of it like an improved version of a calculator or a cheap digital watch display, they don’t really have a light—other than an LED in the corner that you can turn on for a second to see the time—that’s why the battery lasts so long!

  • DJ Adams ☛ Computing memories

    I agree strongly with this. It summarises much of how I feel about using computers, and reminds me of the TEDx talk I gave back in 2012 titled Our Computational Future, on how we should not be raising generations of users, but generations of creators and builders.

    Here's something else from the post: [...]

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ While the U.S. flip-flops on chip sanctions, China is building its own chip supply market — export controls are creating conditions for a Sino-Russian chip trade alliance

    As the U.S. makes up its mind on export controls for Chinese chips, China has been developing its own supply chain, and associated trade network.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Remembering Apple IIs by their keyboards

    Then two things happened. On one episode, Adrian did a repairathon of various machines, and demonstrated an Apple IIe Platinum. I nearly leaped out of my chair, because this was one of the exact machines I used. It was an Apple IIe, but with a “wider” keyboard. I now know it was “wider” on account of having a numeric keypad. I may have started researching how to acquire one almost immediately! This also taught me how much rarer these units are online, at least compared to Commodore gear.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • France24 ☛ EACOP: Ugandan farmers sue UK company in London

    Another legal setback for the massive EACOP oil pipeline. Four Ugandan farmers whose land lies directly along the pipeline's route, which is intended to connect Uganda to Tanzania, filed a lawsuit this week in London's High Court against the British company behind the project. Our correspondent Aurore Bayoud tells us more.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Citizen Tests Positive for Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo

    The American works for the humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse, American and African health officials said.

  • LRT ☛ New Lithuanian health care rules favour public hospitals, spark private-sector concerns

    Hospital directors have welcomed amendments to Lithuania’s Health Insurance Law that prioritise public health care providers in accessing the national health insurance funds, saying the changes could provide the long-term stability needed to plan services over the next decade. Private providers and opposition lawmakers, however, threaten to challenge the legislation.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong fertility clinic probed after sending wrong embryo samples for DNA testing

    Hong Kong authorities are investigating a human reproductive medical centre after it allegedly sent the wrong embryo specimens from two couples for DNA testing, the city’s health minister has said. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau told the press on Wednesday that the authorities had reported the incidents at Heal Fertility Centre to the police. The […]

  • France24 ☛ Kenya’s "Birdman" goes viral with rescued birds — and sparks health concerns

    A Kenyan man known online as “Birdman” has become a viral sensation for sharing his life with rescued wild birds. The former homeless man from Nairobi says caring for injured birds gave him purpose and now forms the heart of his conservation message. However, after videos showed him eating from the same plate as his birds, health officials warned of the risk of diseases transmitted from animals to humans. Magutha rejects those concerns, insisting that his rescued birds are free to leave once they recover.

  • Futurism ☛ Learning What Substance Is Suspected of Causing Alzheimer’s May Throw You Into an Existential Crisis

    Infuriating.

  • Futurism ☛ If You’ve Been Having Explosive Diarrhea, You May Want to Read This

    "Investigations to identify potential clusters and potential sources of illness are ongoing."

  • Futurism ☛ Taco Bells Makes Urgent Changes After Outbreak of Explosive Diarrhea

    Diehards may find them hard to stomach.

  • France24 ☛ Kenya court to rule on Rastafarians' cannabis petition

    On July 15, Kenya's High Court is set to deliver a landmark ruling. For years, Rastafarians — whose faith is officially recognised in Kenya — have been seeking the legalisation of cannabis, which they consider essential to their religious practice. The decision could have far-reaching consequences, as it pits the constitutional right to freedom of religion against the country's strict anti-narcotics laws.

• Proprietary / SaaS

  • Qt ☛ Qt for MCUs 2.12.2 LTS Released

    Qt for MCUs 2.12.2 LTS has been released and is available for download. This patch release provides several bug fixes and other improvements while maintaining source compatibility with Qt for MCUs 2.12 (see Qt for MCUs 2.12 LTS released). This release does not add any new functionality however as part of a continuous effort to scale Qt for MCUs to more platforms new Tier-2 board Nuvoton Gerda-4L is now available.

  • Game Rant ☛ Ben Starr Accuses Microsoft of Multiple Lies After Xbox Layoffs

    Ben Starr has accused Microsoft of communicating multiple "lies" in the lead-up to the mass layoffs at Xbox. The award-winning actor made the remarks as part of a broader criticism of the strategy that led Xbox to its current predicament, with the company's own leadership acknowledging that the business is "not healthy."

  • America Online ☛ CEO under fire for mass layoffs amid foreign worker hiring spree now appointed to Fed's task force on jobs

    At the height of the wrath over the layoffs this week, the Federal Reserve moved forward with appointing Sharma to a newly-created advisory role within the central bank.

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

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ The Language of Hey Hi (AI) Could Change How Humans Speak

      Because of the way they are trained, large language models capture only a slice of human language. They’re trained on the written word, from textbooks to social control media posts, and our speech as captured in movies and on television. These models have minimal access to the unscripted conversations we have face to face or voice to voice. This is the vast majority of speech, and a vital component of human culture.

    • JURIST ☛ Illinois governor enacts legislation holding Hey Hi (AI) companies accountable for safety risks

      Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Monday signed into law a landmark artificial intelligence (AI) bill, cementing the state as a “national leader in setting guardrails for responsible innovation and growth.”

    • Press Gazette ☛ Journalist fired by Clickout Media saw robot reporter take over their byline

      AI-generated 'ghost' reporter revealed as tactic of 'parasite SEO' specialists.

    • Futurism ☛ Coinbase Hey Hi (AI) Sends Mass “Breaking News” Alert That’s Completely Hallucinated

      "Maybe the Hey Hi (AI) knew something we didn't!"

    • Futurism ☛ The Pollution Being Churned Out by Hey Hi (AI) Data Centers Is So Severe That It’s Almost Incomprehensible

      Sickening.

    • Futurism ☛ The Logo for The Insurrectionist International Airport Appears to Be Hey Hi (AI) Slop

      "All the resources in the world and the logo for Convicted Felon Airport is Hey Hi (AI) generated."

    • Futurism ☛ People on X Are Getting Fooled by the Dumbest Hey Hi (AI) Slop We’ve Ever Seen

      "AI is melting your brain bro."

    • Futurism ☛ Tech Bros Puzzled by Why Hey Hi (AI) Hasn’t “Massively Disrupted” Books Yet

      "People are still reading human made books. Why is that?"

    • Science News ☛ AI tools meant to vet science are surprisingly easy to fool

      “We are being swamped with more papers than we have the capacity to review, so we do need some solutions, and automation can help for some parts of it,” says Baumann, of Stanford University. But thorough experiments and evaluation are needed before such tools enter the peer review process, he says. Otherwise, AI tools might inadvertently perpetuate the biases they’re known to carry and reduce the variety of opinions weighing in on new science.

    • Sergio Visinoni ☛ How exactly is doing more AI going to make it better?

      As I reread both articles over and over, I noticed what made them ultimately unconvincing to me. While I do agree with some of the statements here and there, I now understand why I disagree with the key conclusions.

      Today's article is an attempt at articulating my views and further contributing to the discussion.

    • Mandy Brown ☛ Hungrier than before

      Is this not precisely what it’s like to read or watch or listen to slop? What you read isn’t really writing or drawing or art—it isn’t the creation of a mind reaching for the world—but illusion. And it’s not only AI, of course. A good deal of commercial content is more or less the same, books and movies and music created by marketing teams with quantified audience strategies but no fucking soul to speak of. AI accelerates that production process, makes it slicker and smoother, makes the illusion seem more real. Makes ever more of it, at greater and greater scale, until you come to believe there is nothing else out there. But it remains a deception. You think you’ve had your full but all the while you’re starving.

    • Pivot to AI ☛ Google Translate is now Gemini — and you can prompt-inject it

      Google says the chatbot translator is more accurate, but that’s not true. What the chatbot does do is to make the translation read more smoothly. It’s often more wrong! But it sure reads well if you don’t know it’s wrong.

      There’s one other hazard with all chatbots — prompt injections. And guess what? Now you can prompt-inject Google Translate!

    • Krebs On Security ☛ Felons, Fraudsters Flog Offensive Cybersecurity Startup

      A cybersecurity startup dangling millions of dollars to acquire zero-day security vulnerabilities in popular software is run by a pair of far-right conspiracy theorists and convicted felons whose most recent ventures included fake intelligence companies and a now-defunct AI-based lobbying platform they operated under assumed names.

  • Social Control Media

    • New York Times ☛ Meta Ordered by E.U. to Alter ‘Addictive Design’ of Instagram and Facebook

      European Union authorities said the company’s use of “addictive design” violated a digital safety law.

    • European Commission ☛ Commission preliminarily finds the addictive design of Instagram and Facebook (Farcebook) in breach of the Digital Services Act

      European Commission Press release Brussels, 10 Jul 2026 Today, the European Commission preliminarily found Meta in breach of the Digital Services Act for the addictive design of Instagram and Facebook.

  • Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets

    • SQ Magazine ☛ Accenture Confirms Data Breach After Hacker Sale Listing

      Accenture confirmed a security breach on July 8, 2026, after a threat actor calling itself “888” claimed to have stolen roughly 35 GB of source code and other data and listed it for sale on a cybercrime forum.

    • Security Week ☛ Accenture Confirms Data Breach After [Cracker] Claims Source Code Theft

      According to the [cracker], the information, including Azure access keys and tokens, configuration files, RSA and SSH keys, and source code, was exfiltrated from Accenture earlier this month.

      The threat actor, who was trying to sell the allegedly stolen data, posted as proof-of-possession a screenshot depicting a private Azure DevOps repository apparently hosted on an accenture.com domain.

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • Open Source Initiative ☛ UN Open Source Week, Hey Hi (AI) Fellowship, and 2025 Annual Report [Ed: Microsoft operative Nick Vidal still speaking "for" OSI; money talks]

• Entrapment (Microsoft GitHub)

  • Security Week ☛ Critical Vulnerability Exposes GitHub Agentic Workflows to Prompt Injection

    “To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needed no coding skills, access, or credentials. All that was needed was to open an issue in a public repository belonging to an organization that uses GitHub’s Agentic Workflow setup and wait,” Noma explains.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • The Guardian UK ☛ AI surveillance is being supercharged – and it will chill social progress

      These systems will combine powerful AI, public and private surveillance via real-time facial recognition technology and digital tracking, mass databases and highly personalized enforcement. If deployed at scale, they will have profound chilling effects not just on personal freedoms, but democracy and social progress itself.

    • Citizen Lab ☛ AI Surveillance Is Being Supercharged–And It Will Chill Social Progress

      In an op-ed for The Guardian, senior research fellow Jon Penney and co-author Bruce Schneier argue that widely deploying AI surveillance could be corrosive to democracy and social progress itself.

    • The Verge ☛ Meta is reportedly working on smart glasses that would be recording all the time

      Should these glasses or the “super sensing” features be released, they would raise significant privacy concerns. Meta is already facing a lot of scrutiny over its reported work on facial recognition features, pushback following reports of users filming women while wearing the glasses, and grappling with modders who offer paid services to remove the LED recording indicators. The company announced Tuesday that it’s rolling out an update that will disable the camera if the glasses detect that the LED has been tampered with.

    • Matt Langford ☛ Posting Fewer Photos of My Kids' Faces

      Not whether I should share anything at all. I’m not there, and honestly, I don’t know that I ever will be. I like sharing little pieces of our life. Family trips, ball games, birthdays, random Saturday adventures, the normal stuff that makes up a life. I also like having a blog that feels like it belongs to an actual person with an actual family, not a sanitized content machine.

      But I have decided to change the way I share those photos.

    • PC Mag ☛ A Hacker's Arrest Reveals Microsoft Can Track Users Via a Windows Device ID

      Stokes allegedly hacked an unnamed luxury jewelry retailer in May 2025 while using a VPN. The 39-page criminal complaint shows the FBI used Microsoft records to discover that his IP address was associated with a Microsoft device identifier known as Global Device ID (GDID).

      “According to a Microsoft representative, a Global Device Identifier in the Windows ecosystem is a persistent, device-level identifier designed to uniquely identify an installation of a Windows operating system on a device, either a physical device (e.g., a mobile phone or laptop) or virtual machine, across certain Microsoft services and scenarios," the complaint explains.

    • USDOJ ☛ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. PETER STOKES; also known as “Bouquet,” “Spencer,” and “Jordan”; CASE NUMBER: 25 CR 812; UNDER SEAL [PDF]

      25. According to Microsoft records, the ngrok account was set up through Global Device Identifier g:6755467234350028 (“the GDID”). According to a Microsoft representative, a Global Device Identifier in the Windows ecosystem is a persistent, device-level identifier designed to uniquely identify an installation of a Windows operating system on a device, either a physical device (e.g., a mobile phone or laptop) or virtual machine, across certain Microsoft services and scenarios. A GDID is a globally unique identifier tied to the installation of Windows on a device. A GDID remains consistent across Windows operating system updates on a device, but a reinstall of Windows, either on the same device or on a different device, will be tied to a new unique GDID.

  • Confidentiality

    • Wired ☛ OnlyFans Models Are Accidentally Making Hacked Government Websites Disappear

      Adult content creator Laura Lux says she has been publishing pictures of herself online for almost two decades. She primarily posts on OnlyFans these days, but she previously used Patreon and at one point hosted her own subscription website. No matter the platform though, people have always tried to steal her content and “leak” it online. “It’s an endless battle,” says Lux, who uses her creator name for privacy reasons.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ A decade after historic ruling, Filipino fishermen say China drove them away from disputed shoal

    Chinese forces have used water cannons and cut anchor lines to drive Filipino fishermen away.

  • Philippines marks 10 years since historic South China Sea court ruling

    China still rejects the ruling, and opinion remains divided on how to resolve the dispute.

  • Techdirt ☛ An Indian Billionaire Was Targeted By Trump. Then He Poured Money Into A Startup Secretly Backed by Donald Trump Jr.

    America First Refining’s unexpected breakthrough came after it forged a previously unreported relationship with Trump Jr., who secretly acquired a stake in the startup, according to records and seven people familiar with the company. The new details reveal the role the president’s son has played in a theme of Trump’s second term: overseas investors with interests before the administration putting money into the Trump family’s business interests.

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ Indonesia’s Army Is on the March Against Democratic Rights

    An acid attack on the Indonesian human rights activist Andrie Yunus fits into a wider pattern of creeping authoritarianism under President Prabowo Subianto. Democratic gains since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship are being systematically eroded.

  • NPR ☛ Do you know where your birth certificate is? Journalist warns of new voting barriers

    "The Voting Rights Act of 1965, the most important civil rights law of the 1960s, has no teeth left. And that's just the beginning of what they've done in terms of weakening democracy," journalist Ari Berman says.

  • The Strategist ☛ Forget the signalling: China’s missile test is part of an alarming nuclear buildup

    People are missing the most important implication from China’s test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Monday. It’s not the signalling of China’s power, though that was almost certainly in there.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania wants to normalise ties with China. Does that mean divorcing Taiwan?

    Lithuania's incoming government wants to restore diplomatic relations with China as quickly as possible. But what would that mean for the country's relationship with Taiwan, if the Taiwanese Representative Office that has operated in Vilnius for the past five years is renamed the Taipei Representative Office?

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China signals ‘new normal’ with coast guard patrols off eastern Taiwan

    China has signalled its intent to maintain a new coast guard patrol east of Taiwan, analysts say, as Beijing dials up pressure on the self-ruled island that it claims is part of its territory.

  • The Strategist ☛ Beijing is testing who will stand by Taiwan

    In 2026, Beijing is making international engagement with Taiwan more costly. China has long sought to narrow Taiwan’s international space and make unification appear inevitable without resorting to force.

  • New York Times ☛ Can Hungarian Holocaust Survivors Find Justice in the U.S.?

    For more than a decade, a group of survivors have fought a legal battle to get American courts to hear their suit against Hungary’s national railroad over its role in the atrocities.

  • Australia-Fiji pact signals Canberra-led Pacific security posture

    Ocean of Peace Alliance open for others to join, but could it lead to a NATO-style military bloc?

  • Devices/Embedded

    • Wired ☛ What Happens if China Hacks the US Water Supply? I Went to a Secret War Game to Find Out

      Burst water mains. Evacuated hospitals. In a closed-door simulation, insurers played out their response to a mass disruption by China’s Volt Typhoon hackers—and found a nightmare scenario.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Defence Web ☛ Can Cameroon reclaim its maritime flag after shadow fleet abuse?

      Cameroon has decided to deregister and sanction several ships linked to the shadow fleet that enables Russia to circumvent international [...]

    • France24 ☛ 11 injured in overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv

      At least 11 people, including a child, were injured after Russia launched an overnight missile and drone attack on Kyiv early Saturday. Our correspondent Gulliver Cragg tells us more.

    • LRT ☛ Security officials: Russia has ‘no concrete plan’ to attack Baltic states, Poland

      There are currently no indications that Russia has decided to escalate the situation in the Baltic states and Poland, Delfi news portal and the Baltic Flank reported after a flurry of media reports about a future attack were published last week.

    • RFERL ☛ Brazil Orders Russian Man Who Spent Years As 'Deep-Cover' Agent in US, Netherlands Deported

      A Brazilian judge ordered a Russian man who spent years building a secret “deep-cover” identity to infiltrate organizations in the United States and Netherlands on behalf of Russian intelligence deported.

    • LRT ☛ NATO is turning Baltic air policing mission into air defence mission – president

      NATO will transform its Baltic air policing mission into an air defence mission, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said Wednesday, calling the move a major boost to the region’s security.

    • LRT ☛ Poland’s president calls for NATO fuel pipeline extension to Baltics

      Polish President Karol Nawrocki on Wednesday called for NATO’s military fuel pipeline network to be extended to the alliance’s eastern flank, arguing the project would strengthen regional security and military readiness.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China can help end Ukraine war by pressuring Russia, US Senator Graham says

      China could play a decisive role in pressuring Russia towards peace talks, helping end its war in Ukraine, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Friday, adding that the next several months would present a window for a diplomatic solution.

    • RFERL ☛ Six Things To Watch At NATO Summit In Turkey

      NATO leaders are meeting in the Turkish capital, Ankara, for the alliance’s annual summit on July 7-8 in the shadow of the Iran war and American complaints that not all European allies are pulling their weight when it comes to defense spending.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Intensifies Attacks On Russian Energy Assets, Reportedly Forcing Halt To Azov Traffic

      Ukraine launched multiple strikes against Kremling energy assets, including oil terminals and tankers at sea, reportedly forcing Moscow to halt shipping through a major waterway as Kyiv intensifies what it has labeled its "long-range sanctions" against Russia.

    • RFERL ☛ US Senators, Administration Agree To Advance Russia Sanctions Bill; Kyiv Hails Move

      A bipartisan group of US senators said they had reached an agreement with the Convicted Felon administration to advance long-delayed legislation aimed at imposing tougher economic penalties on Russia and countries that continue to support Moscow’s war economy.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania condemns move to allow Russian athletes back into international competition

      Lithuania on Tuesday condemned a decision to allow Russian athletes to return to international competition, saying the move was premature while Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.

    • LRT ☛ Filming drones, burning jeeps in Lithuania. Behind Russia’s sabotage network

      Since the beginning of 2026, tens of millions of nearly identical posts have appeared on Telegram, offering high pay for what is described as easy work in Ukraine and beyond, according to an investigation by Vot Tak.

    • LRT ☛ OSCE report: Russia's treatment of Ukrainian children may amount to crime against humanity

      Russia's systematic indoctrination and militarisation of Ukrainian children could amount to a crime against humanity, according to a new report by international experts.

    • JURIST ☛ Ukraine civilians trapped in Russian-occupied Kherson region, HRW warns

      Civilians in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Kherson region are experiencing a humanitarian crisis and cannot safely evacuate, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Thursday.

    • France24 ☛ 11 wounded in overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv

      At least 11 people, including a child, were wounded after Russia launched an overnight missile and drone attack on Kyiv early Saturday, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

    • Latvia ☛ Edward Lucas: 'There are Europeans who are willing to fight, and Europeans who are not willing to fight'

      The respected journalist and geopolitical analyst Edward Lucas took time to speak to Latvian Television again on July 7th, giving his take on the current NATO summit and Russia's faltering war in Ukraine.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Why Erdoğan’s Turkey is seeing its stock rise in NATO and the Middle East

      NATO summit host Turkey is enjoying a moment of increased stature, both within the alliance and the region. Key to its ascendance has been the flexibility it has displayed to maneuver among warring factions in Syria, Ukraine, and the Persian Gulf.

    • New York Times ☛ Moscow Still Has Art and Culture. Just Don’t Say ‘Ukraine.’

      An eerie limbo prevails at small art shows, independent theaters and private political clubs, where the war is the elephant in the room.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukrainians Cautiously Welcome Convicted Felon’s Announcement About Patriot Missile Systems

      Hell Toupée said the United States would license Ukraine to produce Patriots, which can intercept ballistic missiles. But it could be months or years before those are ready.

    • New York Times ☛ For Ukraine, Other Patriot Makers Are a Cautionary Tale

      Two American allies, Germany and Japan, already have permission to build the American interceptors, a license that Hell Toupée says he will also grant to Kyiv.

    • France24 ☛ Overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine kill six, officials say

      Russian attacks on Ukraine killed six people, including a child, and wounded dozens more, according to local officials on Saturday. Moscow launched more than 120 drones and 12 missiles during the night, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, putting his country's air defence system under strain.

    • Latvia ☛ Baltic states 'strongly reject' Russian lies in Moscow

      Diplomats from the Baltic states on Friday strongly rejected disinformation efforts of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

    • Latvia ☛ Russia indulges in further Baltic deportation fantasies

      In highly unoriginal comments, Russian Foreign Ministry officials have said that the Baltic states are "playing with fire" by opening up their territory for "hostile actions" against Russia.

    • New York Times ☛ Poland Sentences Russian Exile to 7 Years in Prison for Spying

      Igor Rogov, who has publicly opposed the Kremlin, was arrested in 2024 and later confessed to spying for Russian intelligence on regime opponents living abroad.

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Finances Get Shakier, Despite Short-Term Bonus From Iran War

      As oil prices fall back to levels not seen since before the Middle East war began, the Kremlin will be forced to confront a deepening budget deficit.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia is Belarus' first target for hybrid war: Border Guard chief

      Latvia is currently the number one target of Belarus’s hybrid warfare, and the challenges are immense, Guntis Pujāts, commander of the State Border Guard, told Latvian Television on July 9 regarding the situation on the eastern border.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania triples funding for anti-smuggling balloon technology

      Lithuania is again inviting businesses to develop technology capable of detecting, tracking and neutralising weather balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus, increasing funding for the initiative to 3 million euros.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s FM assures Belarus policy remains unchanged despite programme wording

      Lithuania’s acting Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said Thursday that the country’s policy toward Belarus remains unchanged despite concerns over revised wording in the new government’s program.

• Environment

  • Futurism ☛ You’ll Never Guess Which Country Is Causing the Most Global Warming

    "Many people assume that if solar and wind are growing quickly, fossil fuels must be shrinking."

  • Futurism ☛ Climate Scientists Aghast at How Bad Things Are Getting, and So Fast

    "Extreme events are so far outside anything we have expected."

  • France24 ☛ Climate change: Women paying the price of a hotter planet

    Prolonged heatwaves are an ecological issue, a public health issue, and a social issue. With every 1°C rise in temperature, incidents of domestic violence increase by 4.7%. We discuss this issue with our guest Adéa Guillot, Director of Engagement at CARE France.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China evacuates over one million as Typhoon Bavi nears

    Bavi is forecast to make landfall around Wenzhou, home to some 10 million people, on July 12.

  • The Nation ☛ France’s Heat Shock

    Between June 17 and 30, France was exposed to its most dramatic heat wave in recorded history. Peak temperatures hugged 40°C (104°F) in Paris over several consecutive, grueling days. The country’s highest recorded temperature remains the 46°C (114.8°F) notched up during the 2019 heat wave in the southern town of Véragues, near Montpellier. But June 2026 now counts as thehottest on average. Summer has only just started, and the immediate human toll is already grim. On July 3, public-health authorities announced that the week of June 22 saw an increase of over 2,000 heat-related deaths.

  • The New Lede ☛ Scientists say 4th of July heatwave was “virtually impossible” without fossil fuels

    In New Jersey, officials said at least 29 people died from heat-related illnesses. The Fourth of July heatwave comes after weeks of record-breaking heat in Europe, which caused over 2,000 excess deaths in France alone.

    Now, a group of scientists say such temperatures would have been unheard of in a pre-industrial world, before the advent of fossil fuels.

  • Digital First Media ☛ Peak of heat reaches Mid-Atlantic as many records fall across East

    Here are some of the most notable temperature records set on Thursday: [...]

  • Seattle Times ☛ Without climate change, U.S. heat wave called ‘virtually impossible’

    Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the burning of oil, gas and coal have trapped more of the sun’s heat at Earth’s surface, raising temperatures worldwide for more than a century. Summer hot spells are nothing new, but because of the excess heat around the planet caused by global warming, they can produce higher temperatures today than they once did.

  • World Weather Attribution ☛ Fossil Fuels Are Heating America’s 250th Birthday – World Weather Attribution

    A widespread heat wave is forecast to affect much of the central and eastern United States over the Fourth of July weekend, driven by a strong “heat dome”, a high pressure system sitting over the US, bringing moisture and warm air from the Gulf of Mexico (Al Jazeera, 2026). Daytime high temperatures are expected to be over 100°F (32–38°C+), with heat index values reaching 105–115°F (41–46°C) in some areas because of high humidity (CBS News, 2026). While the heat index, which combines temperature and humidity, is commonly used in US weather forecasts, another measure for humid heat extremes especially designed to measure the impact of humid heat during physical activity is the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT, see box below). A heat index of 105°F is roughly equivalent to 28-30°C WBGT. Above 28°C physical activities such as playing football become extremely dangerous for even healthy and young people (WWA World Cup Report, 2026).

    The greatest impacts are expected from the Midwest through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with many major cities, including Chicago, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York, under heat alerts (Guardian, 2026). High overnight temperatures will provide little relief, while high humidity is increasing the risk of heat-related illness, especially during outdoor holiday events (Weatherchannel, 2026).

  • New York Times ☛ To Reduce Electrical Grid Strain Amid Heat Wave, Data Centers Are Ordered to Use Backup Power

    Orders to use such generators are most likely to come in 13 Mid-Atlantic States, which share a strained grid and are home to the largest concentration of data centers in the world. That region has also been subject to this week’s heat wave. The area’s primary grid manager, PJM, runs a system that stretches from Chicago to Virginia Beach and covers most of Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. PJM expects that demand for electricity on its system will hit its highest level on Thursday, exceeding a previous record set two decades ago.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Kev Quirk ☛ A Rant About Modern Cars

      I recently bought a new Peugeot and the experience of getting setup on their online platform has been painful to say the least.

      Yesterday I picked up my shiny new (to me) Peugeot E-3008 GT. It's a beautiful car with lots of bells, whistles, and toys. I had my little MG EV for around 2.5 years, and it served me well, but I wanted something bigger, with more range. So I opted for the Peugeot.

      Anyway, since this is a modern car, it no longer comes with an owner's manual. Instead you need to install an app and read the manual there. So I did that and duly signed up for a Peugeot Connect account - all standard procedure in this internet age we find ourselves in. That was until it came to generating a password.

    • New York Times ☛ Volkswagen Is Cutting Production as Sales in China Plunge

      The German automaker has struggled to compete with fast-growing Chinese companies that offer more affordable and sophisticated electric vehicles.

    • Ruben Schade ☛ Trousers on fire from lithium

      Anyway, that’s all bad enough, but the idea that I’m living in a flat above dozens of other flats, and below dozens more, and all of them likely have dozens of lithium-ion batteries… it’s more than a bit scary. We’re told to avoid taking excessive numbers of batteries on aircraft given their explosive potential, and yet we all now stock our houses with the stuff. Phones, tablets, cameras, toys, appliances, electric toothbrushes, remote controls, unmentionables. It’s the stuff of nightmares.

    • Yle ☛ Electric aircraft makes historic flight from Sweden to Finland

      According to the Oulu University of Applied Sciences, this tour marks the first time that a fully certified electric aircraft has crossed areas of open sea.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘We need to borrow money just to feed the fish’: Malaysian sea bass farmers reel from Thai curbs

    Some farms have folded, while others have switched to farming tilapia or prawns to survive.

  • Latvia ☛ Monthly inflation in Latvia at standstill

    Central Statistical Bureau data published on July 8 show that in June 2026, compared with May 2026, the average level of consumer prices remained unchanged.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia's macroeconomic forecasts revised by Finance Ministry

    The Ministry of Finance (FM) has updated its indicative medium-term macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts, taking into account the latest economic trends and the geopolitical situation. The forecasts indicate slower economic growth and higher inflation than projected in February of this year, the FM reported.

  • Futurism ☛ “You Are a Parasite”: MElon Humiliated for Criticizing Zohran Mamdani

    "Everything you have was built by workers and you fight to keep from unionizing while you receive govt welfare."

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Craig Murray ☛ The Ditching of Nigel Farage

    Nigel Farage is the most consequential British politician of the 21st century. Certainly a more important historic figure than any of the last eight Prime Ministers. Tony Blair is the only realistic rival. Without Farage, the UK would never have left the European Union.

  • JURIST ☛ US judge blocks subpoena for 2020 Georgia election workers

    A federal judge on Tuesday quashed a grand jury subpoena for information about 2020 election workers in Georgia, dealing a setback to an investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Various lawsuits have followed President The Insurrectionist’s loss in the 2020 election and his claims of voter fraud in swing states.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Macau to put former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Kam San on trial

    A Macau court said Thursday it had completed a preliminary hearing in the city’s first national security case and determined a former pro-democracy lawmaker was a “principal offender” of subversion and other crimes, and would proceed to trial.

  • The Verge ☛ If Microsoft sold off Xbox, who would even buy it?

    Despite the cuts, Microsoft still has a lot under the Xbox umbrella. It operates a hardware business that sells (increasingly expensive) Xbox Series X / S consoles, and one of the first things Sharma did was tease Xbox’s next-generation console, codenamed Project Helix. It still operates a massive roster of game developers: Halo Studios (which works on Halo), Bethesda Game Studios (Fallout, The Elder Scrolls), Mojang Studios (Minecraft), Call of Duty studios like Infinity Ward and Treyarch, The Coalition (Gears of War), Playground Games (Forza Horizon, Fable), Blizzard Entertainment (Overwatch, Warcraft), King (Candy Crush), and Rare (Sea of Thieves). (Kotaku has a great list of the current state of Xbox’s studios, if you want a refresher.)

  • Wired ☛ Peter Thiel’s Husband Sued a Flight Attendant Who Says He Assaulted Her on a Private Jet

    (Like the other claims in this story attributed to Bojar and Danzeisen, these were made in court filings.)

  • Bruce Schneier ☛ Cybersecurity and the Gap Between Skill and Ability

    Internet risks are nothing new, and cyberattacks—both large and small—have been a significant issue since long before the current crop of generative AI models.

    What’s been changing over the decades, and what AI is changing even faster, is the gap between skill and ability. For most of human history, the two terms were synonymous—but computers have decoupled them. As the gap between the two expands, humans empowered with these AI tools can do more: more writing, more research, more analysis and also more damage than ever before. These models can, with little detailed direction, autonomously hack into networks, steal data, deploy ransomware and destroy systems. And to the extent there is a solution, it’s going to involve harnessing AI for the defense.

  • Rui Carmo ☛ Rewriting Bun in Rust

    It also doesn’t surprise me in the least that Jarred caught Claude blatantly lying about implementation details–stubbing out functions to fake compilation, then papering over them with verbose comments. I’ve never had that issue with Codex, but I’ve had it several times with Anthropic models, and that is why, ironically, I don’t trust them for coding.

  • Robert Reich ☛ Is SpaceX Crashing?

    But, what about all the Americans who didn’t even know they were buying into SpaceX, but whose savings are in index funds linked to SpaceX and the Nasdaq-100? They’ve been taken for a ride.

    On May 1, the Nasdaq 100 implemented a new “fast entry” rule that included companies among the top 40 most highly valued in the U.S. — which put SpaceX on board automatically.

  • Ken Klippenstein ☛ Mitch McConnell Nears Dead-Line

    Under Kentucky law, if McConnell is declared dead before that date, there's a special election to fill out his term. After that date, the seat sits empty until whoever wins November's already-scheduled race is sworn in on January 3.

    In a political system run by the sage leaders that people like McConnell imagine themselves to be, he would have stepped down so voters could have an orderly election and decide for themselves. Instead, we have a mad dash for partisan power.

  • Karl Bode ☛ The AI Hype Reckoning Is Upon Us

    There's what modern software is actually capable of, and then there's the gargantuan pile of "AI" hype, fraud, and bullshit our biggest tech companies (and their lazy enablers in the tech press) have shoveled down the public's throat for the better part of the last five years.

  • Hamilton Nolan ☛ We Already Have Everything We Need to Regulate AI

    Perhaps the best example of this somewhat confused approach to AI oversight is Bernie Sanders’ proposal for the federal government to take a 50% stake in the biggest AI companies, and use the proceeds to create a sovereign wealth fund. I have written before about why this is not the best idea. I apologize for returning to the same topic again, but, shockingly, my last piece did not cause Bernie to drop his plan and rally to my side. It feels worth one more stab at clarity on this issue. If progressives genuinely want to get ahead of the dangerous consequences of unchecked AI—and I know that they do—it’s important for all of us to know that everything we need to do so is right there waiting for us.

    In my lifetime, we have already witnessed the full arc of a powerful new industry growing up and taking over the world with insufficient regulation. That would be the tech industry. The failure of the US government and of organized labor to get ahead of the tech industry’s wild growth has produced: A crisis of economic inequality; an outright oligarchy with centibillionaire tech executives at the top of pyramid; a near-total absence of labor unions in the world’s richest industry; and massive psychological and societal damage as a result of unregulated social media and algorithms assaulting the overmatched human attention span. Collectively, it is safe to say that the way that the tech industry’s growth has played out this century is not something we want to repeat.

  • Pivot to AI ☛ Quantum computing doesn’t need to exist to make venture capital deals

    Quantum computing doesn’t exist as a tech. It’s not in any way a product. It’s still just physics experiments. But that doesn’t stop the flow of cash for a moment: [...]

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • JURIST ☛ South Korea begins enforcing amended law on false and manipulated information

      South Korea on Tuesday began enforcing an amended law designed to curb the spread of false and manipulated information online, amid growing concern over AI-generated content and misinformation on social control media.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Techdirt ☛ ABC’s The View Wimps Out, Shies Away From Politics After Trump Threats

    It’s a shame that ABC, which had previously started to show some a signs of life in its battle with the thin-skinned U.S. president, suddenly doesn’t really want to talk about why The View rejected requests to host NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, or the democratic socialist candidates he supported for Congress, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez: [...]

  • Techdirt ☛ Four Years After Dobbs, Anti-Abortion Lawmakers Keep Coming For Online Speech

    This is an effort by anti-abortion government officials to mold the information ecosystem, restrict what people can read, and cut off the ways people communicate with one another. We’ve watched this build for years, and the encouraging news is that many of these efforts have failed. The worrying news is that they keep coming. And if they’re allowed to succeed, this could have repercussions for freedom of expression online beyond reproductive rights.

  • TruthOut ☛ Trump Praises Erdoğan at NATO Summit Amid Turkey’s Crackdown on Civil Society

    Repression from the Turkish state has not been addressed during the summit; instead, “something that we’ve been hearing throughout the summit is that Turkey has this indispensable place in NATO,” says Michaelson.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Take a Break fiction magazine pauses commissions and starts using AI

    Bauer brand tells writers it has "introduced the use of Hey Hi (AI) tools" for its in-house editorial team.

  • CPJ ☛ Multiple journalists detained or arrested in Turkey ahead of NATO summit

    The 2022 disinformation law dictates that anyone found guilty of publicly spreading false information in order to cause concern, fear, or panic will face a sentence of one to three years in prison. While supporters of the legislation at the time it was introduced offered reassurances that the law would not be used against journalists, it has since become one of the most frequently used laws against the media.

    The detentions and arrests include: [...]

  • NYPost ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man admin subpoenas NY Times reporters after claiming prez swapped out $400M Air Force One jet during trip to Turkey

    The administration subpoenaed several New York Times journalists after a report that Convicted Felon swapped the White House's newly refurbished $400 million jet during a trip to Turkey over a “security precaution.”

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • JURIST ☛ Rights group says security forces in DRC used excessive force against protesters

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday that security forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) employed excessive force against demonstrators protesting a proposed constitutional reform that could extend President Félix Tshisekedi’s term.

  • Techdirt ☛ Fifth Circuit Says Gov’t Can Violate Migrants’ Due Process Rights… But Only For 90 Days

    But not the Fifth Circuit. The appellate circuit hosting most of Trump’s favorite detention centers ruled in February that those rights simply don’t apply to whoever this administration is seeking to get rid of. According to this decision, the government was well within its rights to detain migrants indefinitely without giving them access to their due process rights.

  • Omicron Limited ☛ Indigenous peoples in the Amazon face massive cultural and ecological loss due to climate change

    Commenting on the significance of the database, study leader Cámara Leret says, "For the first time, we synthesized information dispersed across 700 references spanning more than 500 years, revealing that Amazonian peoples use at least one-third of the region's known plant species." In absolute terms, this amounts to 5,796 plant species. The study is published in the journal Nature.

  • Truthdig ☛ When the Media Turned Away, ICE Got Worse

    ICE has quietly doubled its immigrant arrest quota. It’s now arresting 2,000 people per day.

    But you’re not hearing about it because the new head of the Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, has decided to quietly spread Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents around the country instead of targeting one Democratic-controlled city at a time.

    Rather than fueling media spectacles, lawsuits and community backlash, ICE is now going about its ruthless business in more hushed tones.

  • Robert Reich ☛ ICE is now even WORSE

    ICE has quietly doubled its immigrant arrest quota. It’s now arresting 2,000 people per day.

    But you’re not hearing about it because the new head of the Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, has decided to quietly spread ICE agents around the country instead of targeting one Democratic-controlled city at a time.

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Harmeet Dhillon's Team Appears To Have Already Started Framing People

    Her attorneys laid out three more claims that — Fort’s attorneys claim — are false in the indictment: [...]

  • BoingBoing ☛ ICE buys the cages, private prison company keeps the keys

    CoreCivic has said the California City contract alone is worth about $130 million a year once fully activated. The company has not disclosed the annual value of the Otay Mesa operating contract in the sale announcement, but it says it expects to keep running both facilities even after collecting $1.5 billion from DHS for the buildings.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Internet Society ☛ Safety Over Bans: Internet Society Challenges App Store Age Verification

    Imagine having to provide a government ID before downloading an app to clock in at work, submit homework, check the weather, or access your bank account. Under a new Texas law, that could become a reality for millions of people.

  • Inside Towers ☛ South Carolina Shrinks BEAD Program by 50 Percent

    The State of South Carolina announced it has reduced the scope of its BEAD broadband program after completing hundreds of projects with existing state and federal funding. The South Carolina Broadband Office said eight of the original 16 BEAD projects will now be funded with non-BEAD resources, while agreements have been signed for four of the remaining eight projects.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • LWN ☛ Secure Boot certificate expiration is here [LWN.net]

    Linux users who have Secure Boot enabled on their systems rely on certificates issued by Microsoft to verify the software used to boot a system is trusted by the user. One of those certificates expired recently, but that will not cause systems that are able to boot to stop doing so. There are situations where the expiration may cause problems, however, and the window for relying on existing signed binaries is shorter than it might appear. Users and administrators will want to stay on top of these changes. Over the last year, part of my job at Microsoft has been to work on this problem. LWN wrote about the certificate expiration in July 2025, and this article follows up with where we are now.

  • Andrea Contino ☛ Bye bye discs - Andrea Contino - Go With The Flow

    Now a whole series of questions arise that I think all of us gamers should loudly demand answers to: How can we have an experience similar to lending a game to a friend? Can we revisit refund policies, given that the current ones for digital are already unsustainable? Is it possible to encourage policies for the resale of digital codes through third-party merchants that can still be redeemed on the PlayStation Store?

• Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • Futurism ☛ Meta’s Hey Hi (AI) Data Center Caught Leaking Deadly Bacteria Into Water Town Uses for Irrigation

    "This isn't something we normally test for."

  • Futurism ☛ Someone Reportedly Mailed a Live Squirrel to Meta, Where It Sent an Employee to the Hospital

    Meta is a chaotic place to work.

  • Engadget ☛ Google Loses Final Appeal Over $4.7 Billion EU Android Antitrust Fine

    The original fine of €4.34 billion (later reduced to $4.13 billion) "takes into account the duration and gravity of the infringement," the EU Commission wrote at the time. It added that the fine was calculated based on Google's revenue from search advertising on Android in the European Economic Area. It also ordered to "bring its illegal conduct to an end... within 90 days of the decision."

    The Court of Justice said that the General Court that made the original decision "did not err in law when assessing the anticompetitive effects of the pre-installation conditions laid down by the Android agreements," adding that it correctly ruled with regard to the illegality of its Android agreements as well. It said that the reasoning behind the amount of the fine was also sound.

  • Patents

    • JUVE ☛ Align and Carpmaels & Ransford defend PI in dental aligner technology

      In February, the local division Düsseldorf had granted Align a preliminary injunction in the dispute over EP 4 346 690. The patent monopoly concerns software for orthodontic treatment planning, specifically Align’s patent monopoly covering real-time automated modification of treatment plans for clear aligner therapy.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Malikie cryptography patent monopoly challenged

      On July 9, 2026, Unified filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 7,372,960, owned by Malikie Innovations Limited, an NPE and entity of Key Patent Innovations Limited. The ‘960 patent monopoly relates to finite field calculations in cryptography.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Umbra Tech virtual network patent monopoly challenge granted

      On June 26, 2026, two months after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on all challenged claims (1-20) of U.S. Patent 12,452,192, owned and asserted by Umbra Technologies Ltd. The ’192 patent monopoly is generally directed to virtual network systems where a control server sends a ranked list of access point servers to an endpoint. The endpoint device then uses this ranked list to select the access point server to which it will build a tunnel to the network.

    • Unified Patents ☛ NovaCloud Licensing bit streaming patent monopoly challenged

      On June 30, 2026, Unified filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 8,145,721 owned and asserted by NovaCloud Licensing LLC, an NPE. The ‘721 patent monopoly relates to a method of downloading a multimedia file from a server to a user device using, at least in part, a bandwidth-limited connection.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Innovation Technologies advertisement patent monopoly challenge granted

      On June 24, 2026, two months after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on all challenged claims (1-20) of U.S. Patent 12,125,070, owned and asserted by Innovation Technologies Partners LP, an NPE and entity of MVRE LLC. The ’070 patent monopoly relates to a method for distributing an electronic content item for consumption with advertisements.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Nearby Systems patent monopoly validity challenges coming soon

      The team at Unified is using Pearl to identify and chart prior art against a patent monopoly owned by Nearby Systems LLC, an NPE and entity of Empire IP LLC. Unified Patents, the top requester of ex parte reexaminations in recent years, will likely challenge its validity. The patents generally relate to displaying location-based content on a digital map on a mobile device.

    • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for Mare Infinitus Tech semiconductor patent monopoly prior art

      Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 9,275,982, owned and asserted by Mare Infinitus Technologies LLC, an NPE and entity of IPValuation Partners, LLC. The '982 patent monopoly relates to semiconductor package structures and methods for forming interconnects between stacked semiconductor devices.

    • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for MTEKVision vehicle recording patent monopoly prior art

      Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 8,423,235, owned by MTEKVision Co. Ltd., an NPE. The '235 patent monopoly relates to a vehicle video recording device—essentially an advanced car black box—that records video and also gathers driving-related data.

      The contest will expire on July 31, 2026. Please visit PATROLL for more information and to submit an entry for the contest.

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Narrowed to Clear the Art: The Enablement Cost of Wyeth’s Unit Dosage Claims

      Wyeth v. AstraZeneca: the Federal Circuit affirms non-enablement of method-of-treatment claims that never taught a workable daily patient dose.

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Words are Magic: What Counts as Applicant Admitted Prior Art in In re GE Vernova Hitachi

      The Federal Circuit weighs whether a specification's related art background counts as applicant admitted prior art in In re GE Vernova Hitachi.

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Code Without Structure? TrackTime v. Amazon and the § 112(f) Redo After Dyfan

      Fed. Cir. orders a Dyfan redo on the 'executable program code' § 112(f) indefiniteness ruling while LiveNote anticipates TrackTime's other patent.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Patent Dispute Report: First Half 2026

      The picture emerging from the first half of 2026 is the completed migration of patent monopoly validity challenges from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to ex parte reexamination. Petitions for inter partes review (IPR) fell to an all-time quarterly low of 57 in Q2 2026, while reexamination requests reached an all-time quarterly high of 336—surpassing even the 330 requests filed in Q3 2012, when requestors rushed to beat the September 16, 2012 AIA fee increase. Ex parte reexaminations accounted for 74.7% of post-grant filings in the first half of 2026, an almost exact inversion of the first half of 2025, when IPRs held a 72.9% share and reexaminations just 23.6%.

    • Software Patents

      • Unified Patents ☛ InterDigital AV1 patent monopoly held invalid after 2nd appeal in China

        On June 29, 2026, in the second appeal of Unified’s challenge of InterDigital’s CN101491099, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court confirmed the invalidity of all challenged claims (1, 2, 5-9, 15, 19-21, 24-28, 34, 38-40, 43-48, 54, 57-59, 62-67, 73, and 76).

      • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Refilling the Pipeline: Two New Section 101 Petitions Heading to the Supreme Court

        Three Section 101 petitions are due this fall as the Supreme Court's record hits 89 eligibility petitions since 2017 without a merits grant.

  • Copyrights

    • Public Domain Review ☛ Peruvianizing Peru: Covers from Amauta Magazine (1926–30)

      Cover designs for José Carlos Mariátegui’s radical Lima-based magazine.

    • Digital Music News ☛ New Jeans, ADOR/HYBE Slapped with Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over ‘ETA’

      NewJeans, label ADOR, and parent company HYBE face a copyright monopoly infringement lawsuit for allegedly lifting from an earlier track for their hit “ETA.”

    • Digital Music News ☛ This Poet Just Won’t Stop Suing Taylor Swift

      The poet whose case against Taylor Swift was just dismissed by a federal judge has already filed an appeal—following her similar defeat against Swift last year. Earlier this week, in addition to getting married, Taylor Swift just beat a poetry copyright monopoly lawsuit brought against her by poet Kimberly Marasco.

    • Public Domain Review ☛ “Worthless Idiot, Donkey Head”: Parodies of Pedantry on the Renaissance Stage

      Pompous know-it-alls were once a mainstay of mockery on the Italian stage. Arnoud Visser investigates this stock character of the pedant and his association with individual superiority, social distinction, and sexual transgression, finding a form of satire that took aim at the Renaissance humanist’s erudition and lofty ideals.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Jermaine Dupri Sues Sony Music for Allegedly Failing to Pay Millions In Royalties; Says He’s Owed Over $10 Million in Interest Alone

      Three decades and “at least seven” contracts later, Jermaine Dupri is suing Sony Music for allegedly failing to pay north of $18 million in owed royalties due to a combination of “reporting errors” and “contemptuous accounting practices.”

    • Digital Music News ☛ 90s Band Lit Decides Sony Music Doesn’t Make Them Completely Miserable, Settling Lawsuit Over Streaming Royalties

      Pop-punk rockers Lit, best known for the 1999 single “My Own Worst Enemy,” have settled their lawsuit against Sony Music over streaming royalties. Lit, the band behind the 1999 hits “My Own Worst Enemy” and “Miserable,” has settled its lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment over an alleged breach of contract and unpaid streaming royalties.

    • New York Times ☛ New York Times and Other Publishers Ask Court to Penalize OpenAI

      The Times, The New York Daily News and other media organizations accused Proprietary Chaffbot Company of withholding evidence in a lawsuit.

    • Techdirt ☛ ESA Lobbying Against ‘Stop Killing Games’: Hosting Private Minecraft Servers Is Illegal Piracy

      As we mentioned previously, the Stop Killing Games movement has come to America and there is currently an effort to get some legislation based on the movement’s goals on the books in California. The movement hit a snag recently when the written version of the bill failed to make it out of committee on a vote of 4 in favor, 3 against, and 4 abstaining. It’s the abstaining votes that were the problem, resulting in not enough yes votes to move forward. But, importantly, the committee also left the door open to reconsider the bill at a later time.

    • Internet Archive ☛ Vanishing Culture Episode #2: The Stories Hidden in Cookbooks with Katie Livingston

      Why preserve a cookbook? In the second episode of our special six-part series on Vanishing Culture, host Vida Vojić speaks with Katie Livingston, a doctoral researcher at Stanford University who studies domestic culture and women’s literature. Through the lens of family cookbooks, recipe collections, and food traditions, Katie explores why everyday cultural artifacts deserve preservation and what they can teach us about history, identity, and community.

    • Walled Culture ☛ Cinema as a community experience opens the door for low-cost films funded by fans

      This system is already working well for books, music and graphical art. But a common criticism of the approach is that it could never work for films, which therefore require copyright protection for them to be made. In support of that claim, people often point to the extremely large budgets of many films, often running to hundreds of millions of dollars. Clearly, the argument goes, such sums could never be amassed through the donations of true fans.

      One issue with that argument is the widespread practice of “Hollywood accounting”, which Wikipedia explains as: [...]

    • Torrent Freak ☛ Pirate Site Blocking Is Legally Impossible in Bulgaria, Supreme Court Ruled

      Bulgaria's highest court has ruled that civil site blocking is legally impossible under current national law. Bulgaria failed to properly transpose the EU directives that authorize blocking injunctions. The decision is a major setback for rightsholders, including the association of music producers, which has asked the European Commission to intervene.

    • Torrent Freak ☛ 'Tonga' Suspends Popular Pirate Site Domains Following Indian Court Order

      For years, Tonga's .to domain names have been a popular choice for pirate sites, but that may very well change. Following a restructuring of the domain name operation, the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga appears to have suspended several domains, including the popular German streaming portals S.to and BS.to. The action was taken in response to an Indian High Court order that was originally issued last December.

    • BoingBoing ☛ Poet's copyright lawsuit against Taylor Swift tossed again

      A federal judge in Florida dismissed with prejudice a copyright lawsuit brought against Taylor Swift by self-published poet Kimberly Marasco, ruling (not for the first time!) that the material Marasco claimed Swift stole is not protected by copyright at all.