Leftovers

• Science / Mathematics / Computer Science

  • Science Alert ☛ If You Remove a Mirror While a Photon Is Reflecting, It Somehow Makes Infinite Photons

    “This state is rather complicated”.

  • Science Alert ☛ Astronomers Think They've Detected Antimatter Signals From Beyond The Milky Way For The First Time

    "This would be the first detection."

  • Science Alert ☛ Fish Skin Doesn't Just Reflect Light – It Might Actually Sense It

    There's more going on under the surface.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Week in Science: A Grim Measles Milestone, a Lifespan Limit, And More

    Our weekly science news roundup.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Force From The Milky Way May Have Shaped The Continents on Earth

    OK, but hear us out...

• Hardware

  • Pine64 ☛ Full PinePhone 3D File Released

    This week PineStore has released the full 3D file for the PinePhone/PinePhone Pro. This is different than the file only containing the back cover, which does not include the buttons or the internal and external frame.

    This opens up the possibility of self repairing some PinePhone components using 3D printers along with creating custom parts.

    This may be considered as a final hurrah for this generation of the PinePhone from PineStore. Though this does not however mark the end of the devices themselves. They are still going, still supported by many mobile GNU/Linux projects and still one of the most open mobile GNU/Linux hardware platforms you can find. Let’s keep them going for many years to come!

    The 3D file can be found on the PineStore server and the “PinePhone board information, schematics and certifications” section of the wiki.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Coffee-less coffee, chocolates without cocoa: A look into North Korea’s substitute economy

    North Korea has rejected the outside world while quietly absorbing its shapes, tastes and symbols.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan PM Takaichi’s ‘0 to 3 hours sleep’ post spurs work-style debate

    Other politicians expressed concern about how a lack of sleep could negatively impact her leadership.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Create a 'Breathable' Hydrogel Inspired by Human Lungs

    "A way to improve gas exchange while preserving the hydrated environment that cells need."

  • Science Alert ☛ Medications Already in Pharmacies May Slow Aging, And Scientists Are Narrowing Them Down

    But which ones?

  • Futurism ☛ Eye Implant That Restores Vision to the Blind Cleared for Sale

    "We have a cochlear implant for vision now."

• Proprietary / SaaS

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

    • Futurism ☛ AI Companies Are Buying Antique Books, Ingesting Their Contents to Train Models, and Then Destroying Them at Incredible Scale

      "The world's best Hey Hi (AI) training data is setting on a shelf."

    • Futurism ☛ Voters Are Being Inundated by a Barrage of AI-Generated Election Ads

      "It's frankly an insult to older voters who don't know that Hey Hi (AI) exists."

    • Futurism ☛ Meta Working on Crushingly Sad Hey Hi (AI) App That Tells Bedtime Stories to Children, for “Tired” Parents

      "Tired after a long day but want to give your kids a special bedtime story?"

    • Futurism ☛ New Parody Site Threatens to Replace CEOs With Hey Hi (AI) for Tiny Fraction of Their Bloated Salaries

      "Introducing the world's first Chief Executive Replacement Engine."

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ OpenAI agent goes rogue and hacks popular Hey Hi (AI) community — left escape plans for future models inside the company's infrastructure

      OpenAI tests multiple autonomous Hey Hi (AI) agents at once and has difficulty identifying the threats each of them represents, if a new report from Reuters is accurate.

• Linux Foundation

  • LWN ☛ In remembrance of Dan Williams

    On July 21, the kernel community lost Dan Williams, one of its most beloved

    contributors. Dave Hansen and Thomas Gleixner, both of whom worked with

    Williams extensively, have written an obituary and allowed LWN to publish

    it. He will be deeply missed, but he has left us with a lot to remember

    him by.

• Security

  • Security Week ☛ Rockwell Patches Code Execution Flaws in Arena Simulation Software

    A researcher has explained how an attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities to target industrial organizations.

  • LWN ☛ Security updates for Saturday

    Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (compat-openssl11, java-1.8.0-openjdk, java-17-openjdk, kernel, kernel-rt, and sssd), Debian (exim4), Fedora (chromium, dotnet10.0, mbedtls, mupdf, netatalk, python-django5, skopeo, sssd, and wget1), Mageia (libevent and transmission), Oracle (.NET 8.0, 389-ds-base, aardvark-dns, acl, buildah, cifs-utils, dovecot, dracut, galera and mariadb11.8, glibc, hplip, kernel, libxml2, nginx, openexr, podman, postgresql18, rsync, thunderbird, and vim), and SUSE (389-ds, afterburn, agama, alsa, apache-commons-compress, apache-ivy, brotli-java, zstd-jni, avahi, aws-nitro-enclaves-cli, cockpit, cockpit-machines, cockpit-packages, cockpit- podman, cockpit-repos, cockpit-subscriptions, container-suseconnect, containerd, cosign, cryptsetup, curl, dash, dnsmasq, docker, docker-compose, ffmpeg, firefox, freetype2, gawk, gh, glib-networking, glib2, go1.25, go1.25-openssl, go1.26, go1.26-openssl, google-guest-agent, google-osconfig-agent, gpg2, gsasl, gstreamer-plugins-bad, gzip, haproxy, hauler, helm, helm3, ImageMagick, imagemagick, iproute2, java-11-openjdk, java-26-openjdk, jline3, joe, jq, kernel, kernel-devel, krb5, kubevirt, libgcrypt, libpng12, libqt4, libssh2_org, libXfont2, libxml2, mariadb-connector-c, microcode_ctl, multipath-tools, nasm, net-tools, nghttp2, nmap, ntfs-3g_ntfsprogs, openexr, packagekit, pam, patch, perl, perl-DBI, perl-dbi, perl-http-date, perl-libwww-perl, perl-xml-bare, php8, prometheus-ha_cluster_exporter, python-aiohttp, python-cryptography, python-dulwich, python-idna, python-maturin, python-mistune, python-msgpack, python-paramiko, python-Pillow, python-pyasn1, python-soupsieve, python-sqlparse, python-tornado, python-tornado6, python-urllib3, python313, python313-pandas, python314, qemu, radvd, rootlesskit, rpcbind, ruby3.4, runc, s390-tools, shibboleth-sp, sssd, systemd, systemd, systemd-mini, terraform-provider-aws, terraform-provider-azurerm, terraform-provider-external, terraform-provider-google, terraform-provider-helm, terraform-provider-kubernetes, terraform-provid, terraform-provider-susepubliccloud, tiff, tomcat, tomcat10, tomcat11, uriparser, vim, vorbis-tools, wget, wpa_supplicant, xwayland, and yelp).

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Futurism ☛ MIT Is Blanketing Its Entire Campus in AI-Powered Security Cameras

      "At least they also closed down libraries to save money for the Hey Hi (AI) cameras."

    • New York Times ☛ QR Codes Make Their Way Down Wedding Aisles

      The technology, often associated with pandemic-era menus, is being used by more couples for ease, cost, expedience and sustainability.

    • Futurism ☛ People Are Starting to Record Every Conversation They Have Without Disclosing It, and It’s Gross

      Horrid.

  • Confidentiality

    • OSTechNix ☛ India’s Attempt to Remove Jack Dorsey’s BitChat Put It in the Global Spotlight

      India ordered Microsoft's proprietary prison GitHub to remove Jack Dorsey's BitChat messaging app. Here's what happened, and why the takedown drew worldwide attention.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Site36 ☛ Following the “Iuventa” script: Right-wing campaign in Italy, France and Germany against “Sea-Watch 5”

    Right-wing conservative media were leaked a Frontex video showing a Sea-Watch crew rescuing 90 migrants, as five masked men on board the small boat sped off back to Libya. The images are now being used to stir up sentiment against sea rescuers.

  • New York Times ☛ Canadian Intern at NATO Military HQ Is Arrested on Suspicion of Spying

    The authorities in Belgium did not name the country that the intern, a woman “of Chinese origin,” is suspected of spying for.

  • The Guardian UK ☛ Police hunt for suspect after one killed and 16 injured in attack at Berlin Pride | Germany | The Guardian

    Authorities ask for help finding 21-year-old, identified only as Abdul B, after van ramming in German capital

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Tehran Summons Ukrainian Envoy After Strike On Iranian Vessel In Caspian As Tensions Rise

      As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to impact and shape the region, journalists from RFE/RL's Central Newsroom and Iranian service, Radio Farda, deliver ongoing updates and analysis.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Says Russia Wants To Bring North Korean Troops Into Ukraine War Again

      President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Moscow wants to bring in thousands of North Korean soldiers again for its invasion of Ukraine, with preparations in Russia having been under way since early summer.

    • France24 ☛ Ukrainians back ousted defence minister as political crisis brews

      Peter Zalmayev, Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative, is our guest.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine: Kyiv protests continue after Zelensky fires defense minister

      Protesters in ​Kyiv on Friday announced an open ended rally demanding that President Volodymyr Zelensky reappoint ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov after a badly explained government reshuffle escalated into a political crisis.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Pro-Ukraine group claims it helped hack Russian drone air defense system, shooting down Su-57 in friendly fire incident — Moscow confirms fifth-generation fighter jet crashed in 'technical malfunction'

      An advanced fifth-generation Su-57 stealth fighter jet crashed spectacularly “during a routine training mission in the Moscow region on Thursday,” say reports published by Russian state media. But some Ukrainian sources are claiming it as successful sabotage.

    • LRT ☛ Belarusian man says asylum in Lithuania endangered by politics. History shows otherwise

      A Belarusian businessman living in Lithuania, Dmitry Skinderev, claims the Migration Department is planning to revoke his refugee status because of his criticism of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her inner circle. But his colourful past paints a different picture.

    • Marcy Wheeler ☛ The (Russian) Foreign Vote Fraudster Convicted Felon Didn’t Mention

      Last year, Convicted Felon's DOJ got guilty pleas from a Russian and his Uzbek buddy based on illegally registering false identities to vote in Florida. And yet the case against the Russian is getting weird in the way cases in Convicted Felon's DOJ do.

    • France24 ☛ Kazakh leader tells Putin war should end, Ukrainian drones target Siberian oil facility

      Kazakhstan's president urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the war during talks in the Siberian city of Omsk while Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Siberia on Saturday in one of Kyiv's deepest attacks inside Russia.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Rescuers scour South China Sea for 23 missing after Vietnamese vessel sinks

      Rescuers were searching on Sunday for 23 people missing after a Vietnamese ship sank in the busy waterway of the South China Sea, while 39 were pulled from the waters, China's state broadcaster CCTV said.

    • New York Times ☛ Bus Collision in Syria Kills 35, Health Ministry Says

      The accident occurred when a civilian bus collided with another carrying members of the Syrian security forces on a highway in the center of the country.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • New York Times ☛ Wildfire Smoke Chokes Skies in Spain and France

      Hundreds of thousands of people, residents as well as vacationers, were forced to evacuate or told to remain indoors.

• Finance

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Slashed pay, soaring workloads: Hey Hi (AI) didn’t take these Hongkongers’ jobs – but it hasn’t made them easier

    Part of an HKFP series about the impact of the AI-era in Hong Kong. “You won’t be getting the Gayle treatment in my post-winning Oprah lifestyle,” reads a subtitle file on the screen of freelance translator Kelly Ng’s laptop.

  • BIA Net ☛ Behind the classroom: Private school teachers face unpaid work and job insecurity

    “You think being a teacher is more than that, it’s teaching, it’s touching people’s lives, the world, the country, any other thing — but at the end of the day you only think about what can I eat cheaper today and how can I pay the rent."

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia’s student visa fees are now the world’s highest. Here’s why S-E Asia got a pass

    The hike comes as the government attempts to address a surge in migration since the pandemic.

  • New York Times ☛ Brazil Blocks Visit by U.S. Delegation Seeking to Question Election System

    Brazilian authorities refused to grant visas to two senior U.S. officials out of concern they planned to sow doubt about the security of the country’s voting systems.

  • New York Times ☛ Inside the Rushed Effort to Get Convicted Felon His New Air Force One

    A New York Times investigation found that Hell Toupée’s push to speed delivery of the aircraft led to ballooning costs and trade-offs in safety features.

  • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Robert Reich ☛ What the Hell Is Trump Doing in Iran?

      But how do we peacefully and legally get rid of him between now and the 2028 election? What’s our 2028 strategy for regaining the White House? And our 2029 strategy for cleaning up this horrific mess? Heather and I discuss these questions and more.