Leftovers

• Science / Mathematics / Computer Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Made a Surface That Performs Calculations Using Light Itself

    Strap in for this.

  • Science Alert ☛ Happy Monday! Here's Your Weekly Microscope Mystery

    Challenge your eyes to start the week right.

  • Science Alert ☛ Engineers Create Superglue That Bonds in 10 Seconds, Holds For Years And Gets Stronger Underwater

    Advancing a crucial yet underappreciated science.

  • Science Alert ☛ Ant Colonies Pulse Like a Physical System, And Scientists Are Beginning to Understand What Triggers Them

    It starts by activating a lazy co-worker.

  • Science Alert ☛ One Workout Is 'Significantly Superior' For Sleep, According to Research

    A "significantly superior" effect.

  • Science Alert ☛ Ketamine Alters Brain Structures – But Only in One Sex, Study in Mice Finds

    “We didn’t expect to see this."

  • Science Alert ☛ Psychopathic Tendencies Are Linked to Microbes Inside Your Body, Study Reveals

    It’s not just you.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia was confident in its social control media ban, but kids are still logged in

    Malaysia is not alone in struggling to implement and enforce restrictions on social control media use.

  • New York Times ☛ Malaysia Was Confident in Its Social Media Ban, but Kids Are Still Logged In

    Officials told platforms to verify children’s ages using government-issued documents, like identity cards. But the companies have balked, apparently over privacy concerns.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Common Cholesterol Treatment May Also Remove PFAS And Microplastics From Blood

    "This was unexpected."

  • Michael Geist ☛ The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 278: Ben Waldman on Gander Social and the Challenges of Building a Sovereign Social Network

    Sovereignty, whether digital sovereignty, data sovereignty, or Hey Hi (AI) sovereignty, has been the hot-button issue in Canada for months. Governments have shifted policies in hopes of addressing the issue, the public has expressed interest in Canadian alternatives, and the business community has rushed to meet that interest.

  • Science Alert ☛ Common Sugar Appears to Loosen Cancer Cells And Help Them Spread

    A new lever in the fight against cancer.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Chinese farmer kills 25 acres of crops after following AI-generated weed and pest control advice — farmer trusted pesticide recipe after months of successful advice

    A farmer in China followed an Hey Hi (AI) app's advice for his 25-acre farmland, resulting in the death of his entire crop of sesame seedlings. 67-year-old man was initially skeptical of the tool but eventually trusted it after months of using it.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Rogue Hey Hi (AI) agent tasked with booking a gym class hacks system, removes other participant — says 'sorry about that' after trying to bump user up the waitlist

    A rogue OpenClaw tasked with booking a gym class for its user hacked into the system and removed another participant.

• Proprietary / SaaS

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Windows 11's built-in weather app hogs more than 1.2 gigabytes of RAM just to tell the forecast — memory-sucking web wrapper filled with ads masquerades as an actual application

    MSN Weather acts as the native weather app for backdoored Windows 11 and all it does it run a bunch of Chromium subprocesses in the background to retrieve the forecast data. This causes it to use 5x more memory than the macOS weather app. And, oh, you also get to enjoy ads!

  • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

    • Press Gazette ☛ BBC World Service moves from seven apps to one multilingual version

      At launch the app features content from BBC News Arabic, BBC News Hindi, BBC News Mundo and BBC News Russian. It is not currently available to users in the UK or US.

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

    • Futurism ☛ Meta Exec Rages Against Employees Asking for More Time Off Because Hey Hi (AI) Made Them More Efficient

      "Go to your parents and ask them: hey, like every time I get a chance to talk to my boss, ask me if I can have more days off."

    • Futurism ☛ Kapo-berg’s Manifesto About the Glorious Freedoms Hey Hi (AI) Will Bring Was Completely Contradicted by His Own CTO During a Company Meeting

      The hypocrisy is astounding.

    • Security Week ☛ ‘Ghostjacking’ Attack Uses Poisoned Logs to Turn Hey Hi (AI) Agents Bad

      An Hey Hi (AI) agent executes instructions that an attacker has planted in the log or alert that records a blocked request word for word.

    • The Register UK ☛ North Korean spies are running local LLMs to cause AI mischief

      North Korean government snoops are operating LLMs locally and collecting technology to weave AI into their attack operations, according to South Korean security firm Genians.

  • Social Control Media

    • Digital Music News ☛ YouTube Doubles the Eligibility Requirements for Its Money-Earning Partner Program

      Beginning next year, creators who want to monetize their YouTube channel through the Partner Program will need twice as many watch hours to qualify. On Monday, YouTube announced some major changes coming to its Partner Program, through which creators can earn ad and Premium revenue.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Young people bid for online agency

      Pending laws and recent legal cases seek increased transparency into social control media design features that target youth audiences. Preserving the innocence of childhood is a shared civic motivation across generations.

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • It's FOSS ☛ openJiuwen’s Agent Swarm: When Hey Hi (AI) Agents Finally Work as a Team

      openJiuwen is an open-source Hey Hi (AI) agent platform to help developers build production-grade Hey Hi (AI) agents and enable large-scale multi-agent collaboration.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • France24 ☛ Kapo-berg envisions 'superintelligence' for everyone in Hey Hi (AI) manifesto

      Meta CEO Mark Kapo-berg on Monday laid out his vision for a future where everyone has a powerful personal Hey Hi (AI) agent, arguing that open-source technology can prevent control of advanced artificial intelligence from becoming concentrated among a handful of companies, governments or institutions.

    • Futurism ☛ Flock’s Secret Surveillance Plan Will Make You Gasp

      Flock could've gone mobile.

    • TechRadar ☛ 'It's Stalin's dream' — Quote of the day by software pioneer Richard Stallman on the tracking capabilities of cell phones

      The long-time privacy advocate doesn't carry a cell phone to avoid being tracked

      The programmer Richard Stallman is not a household name, but his work has been instrumental in building the software industry, as has his long-term campaign for free software. He's also been a huge advocate for privacy in the digital age, and has railed against the rise of cell phones for that reason.

  • Confidentiality

    • Security Week ☛ Critical Flaws Discovered in Belgian eID Software Used by 2 Million People

      The vulnerabilities affected software used by eight of Belgium’s ten largest banks and over 60 government agencies.

    • Security Week ☛ Corporate Data Stolen in Levi Strauss Cyberattack

      Using social engineering, a threat actor accessed the computers of three employees and exfiltrated data from them.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Police launch probe into alleged leak of NewJeans Hanni’s visa information

      Hanni had been working in Korea on an E-6 culture and entertainment visa.

• Defence/Aggression

  • CS Monitor ☛ In Pakistan, internal unrest reveals limits of military power

    Recent violence in various corners of Pakistan – from a Swat Valley suicide bomb attack to unrest in Kashmir – can be traced back to weak civilian governance.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ UK's Royal Navy sea drones contain component that secretly sent data to China, report claims — government cuts camera connectivity and insists data wasn’t sensitive, only ‘heartbeat communications’

    K3 Scout surveillance drones used by the UK’s Royal Navy contain components that have been secretly transmitting data to China, according to reports.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea, US to conduct military drills amid evolving North Korea threats

    The drills from Aug 17 to Aug 27 will incorporate exercises to counter drones, GPS disruption and cyberattacks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea condemns Japan’s White Paper, calling it ‘re-invasion paper’

    Pyongyang has ratcheted up its criticism of Tokyo’s defence policy in recent weeks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China missile test deepens Pacific divide over growing militarisation

    Fiji Foreign Minister Sakiasi Ditoka said Pacific governments faced an unavoidable tension.

  • The Strategist ☛ Australia must not be distracted as China ramps up in the South China Sea

    The global pressures of 2026 have created no shortage of distractions.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China slams India for naming sites in disputed border region

    China described India’s move as “illegal and invalid“.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Vietnam starts building largest homemade anti-submarine warship

    Vietnam is seeking to expand its domestic defence manufacturing capabilities amid maritime disputes with China.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Australia, Vietnam boost military ties in nod to China

    Australia and Vietnam said Tuesday they would expand cooperation between their militaries as the middle powers face down Beijing’s expanding reach in the Pacific and the South China Sea.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia, Vietnam boost military ties in nod to China

    Te two countries said their defence forces would work closely together on maritime security and conduct joint training.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China warns Pacific Islands diplomat not to sour ties over Taiwan

    China opposes Taiwan’s participation in international organisations and exchanges with other countries.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Hiding in The Shadows': Discovery of 3 New Assyrian Kings Reveals a More Brutal History Than Records Suggest

    "No one expected there would be room for any new and unknown rulers."

  • New York Times ☛ How Taiwan Simulated a Potential Chinese Attack

    The 30-minute simulated disruption was part of the island’s effort to test and build people’s resilience in the face of a potential Chinese attack.

  • Taiwan soft-pedals Scarborough claim as Manila ties take priority

    Philippines' UN filing exposes gap between Taipei’s sovereignty claims and growing security priorities

  • The Straits Times ☛ Sex doll mistaken for murder victim in Australia

    A strike force of homicide detectives and forensic experts was set up to solve what police initially treated as a murder.

  • France24 ☛ Iran-backed Houthis strike Red Sea port of Mocha, threatening shipping routes

    Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels struck a government-held port on the country’s Red Sea coast late Sunday, escalating fears over threats to strategic shipping routes and a potential return to civil war.

  • New York Times ☛ Southern Iran Bears Brunt of U.S. Bombing

    While fighting has abated in much of Iran, near-constant U.S. airstrikes in Qeshm island and other southern spots have upended lives and livelihoods.

  • Federal News Network ☛ FBI investigating North Korean remote IT staffer working for US agency

    Experts say the incident highlights potential gaps in government and industry vetting processes, especially for jobs like IT support work.

  • France24 ☛ In Malaysia, wave of hate speech threatens Rohingya refugees

    The spread of hostile content on social control media in Malaysia has intensified tensions towards the Rohingya refugee community, leading to the eviction of more than 100 people from their village and the temporary closure of schools attended by refugee children.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ Yabloko, Russian Antiwar Party, Is Banned From Parliament Elections

      The party, Yabloko, has navigated a delicate balancing act with an increasingly heavy-handed Kremlin, but its pro-peace manifesto turned out to be the red line.

    • France24 ☛ Russia bars only anti-war party 'Yabloko' from September parliamentary elections

      Russia's Supreme Court on Monday barred the country's only anti-war party, Yabloko (Apple), from running in September's parliamentary elections. About a hundred protesters gathered outside the courthouse chanting, "Shame! Shame!" after the ruling was delivered.

    • New York Times ☛ How a Counterintelligence Inquiry Into Convicted Felon’s Russia Ties Was Derailed

      Documents released by the White House shed new light on the demise of an often-overlooked 2017 F.B.I. investigation.

    • RFERL ☛ US House Launches Push For Sweeping Russia, Iran Sanctions Bill After Senate Landslide

      The US House of Representatives moved to advance a sweeping Russia and Iran sanctions package on August 10, just days after the Senate approved it by an overwhelming 86-11 vote,

    • LRT ☛ Poland and Baltics tighten critical infrastructure security amid Russian threat concerns

      Lithuania, Poland and other Baltic states are stepping up security around dams, power plants and natural gas infrastructure amid concerns that Russia could stage “false-flag” attacks intended to trigger confusion within NATO, Reuters reported Monday.

    • Latvia ☛ 'Mere' chain closure amounts to major losses for Latvian suppliers

      Losses running into millions and damaged stock. The closure of the “Mere” retail chain due to European Union (EU) sanctions has hit Latvian manufacturers hard; for two weeks, they were left completely in the dark about the fate of their goods, which were stuck in the chain’s warehouses, LSM's Russian-language service reports.

    • Latvia ☛ Foolish Hearts: politicians and Russia spread nonsense about Raimonds Pauls 'ban'

      Why on earth did Latvia ban songs by its best-beloved and best-known modern composer and performer, Raimonds Pauls?

    • Latvia ☛ Rīga StratCom centre publishes new Russia report

      The Rīga-based NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (STRATCOMCOE) has published a new report on Russia's notorious propaganda machine.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Drone Attack on Industrial City in Russia Kills at Least 13

      The strike, on an industrial center in Tatarstan, killed at least 13 people.

    • New Yorker ☛ Inside Russia’s New Gulag

      Human-rights groups estimate that more than ten thousand Ukrainian civilians have disappeared into the Russian prison system. This is the story of one cell.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Reports 13 Dead After Ukrainian Drones Strike In Tatarstan

      Russia said at least 13 people, including a child, were killed in Ukrainian attacks on targets in the central region of Tatarstan, one of Kyiv's deadliest single attacks since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.

    • LRT ☛ Minister says Baltic airspace incursions stopped as Ukraine targets deeper inside Russia

      Airspace violations in the Baltic states have stopped as Ukraine has shifted its attacks to targets deeper inside Russia, Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said Monday.

    • LRT ☛ Belarusians in Lithuania mark sixth anniversary of 2020 protests against Lukashenko

      Belarusians living in Lithuania gathered in Vilnius on Sunday to mark the sixth anniversary of mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule, with participants reaffirming their support for democracy in their country and Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine war live: Deadly Russian missiles strike Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia

      Russian forces launched missile attacks on Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia early Tuesday, triggering fires in the Ukrainian capital and damaging buildings in the southeastern city, officials said. At least five people were killed and 20 injured in the attacks. Follow our live blog for the latest developments.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian Security Service detains Russian war supporter

      Last week, on 5 August, the State Security Service (VDD) detained a Russian citizen living in Latvia on suspicion of providing funding to the Russian armed forces to enable them to continue hostilities against Ukraine, the VDD said on August 10th.

• Environment

  • Futurism ☛ Droughts Are Getting So Intense That Ancient Ruins Are Beginning to Surface From Dried Up Rivers

    "For archaeologists, these moments are ​extremely valuable."

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Ex-Observatory chief slams ‘decorative’ heat stress warning system after record temp. only triggers lowest alert

    A former Hong Kong Observatory chief has slammed the government’s heat stress warning system for issuing only the lowest alert during Sunday’s record-breaking heat. Lam Chiu-ying, who led the Hong Kong Observatory from 2003 to 2009, said it was “truly baffling” that temperatures over the weekend only activated the “Amber” Heat Stress At Work Warning.

  • New York Times ☛ Powerful 7.4 Earthquake Strikes Colombia, Killing More Than 100

    The quake shook major cities, including Bogotá, Cali and Medellín. At least 111 people have died, the president said, and the death toll appeared likely to rise as rescuers searched damaged buildings.

  • New York Times ☛ Images Emerge From Quake-Battered Colombia

    The most powerful temblor in a decade struck in a Pacific Coast region, killing over 100 people.

  • France24 ☛ Deadly 7.4-magnitude earthquake strikes western Colombia

    At least 47 people were killed and dozens of buildings collapsed in cities across western Colombia on Monday after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the South American nation.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Futurism ☛ Amazon Used a Startlingly Dirty Trick to Build a Data Center Without Consent of Community

      Residents were left in the dark for five years.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Asean working to be world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030, says Malaysian foreign minister

    Mohamad Hasan says challenges include how member states can collectively become a grouping with a strong economy.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ Final vote delayed in parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir over security fears

    The third round of regional elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir was marred by delays and security concerns on Monday, weeks after deadly protests erupted in the region and authorities imposed sweeping restrictions.

  • JURIST ☛ Pakistan tightens grip on international outlets covering Kashmir amid rising regional unrest

    Pakistan on Thursday announced its implementation of the Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026 (the Guidelines), imposing strict regulatory limits on foreign journalists and local nationals working for international media outlets.

  • JURIST ☛ Hong Kong apex court to hear subversion convictions appeals by opposition primary election candidates

    The Hong Kong Court of Appeal on Monday granted leave to 11 applicants to appeal their national security convictions to the city’s apex court. The applicants were among the 45 pro-democracy activists who were convicted of subversion in November 2024 for their alleged roles in the July 2020 unofficial primary election.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania may seek EU migration pact changes during 2027 presidency, minister says

    Lithuania may seek amendments to the European Union’s new Migration and Asylum Pact during its 2027 presidency of the EU Council, Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said Monday, citing concerns about border security and recent migration incidents.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Futurism ☛ USA Today Journalists Horrified by Newspaper’s Partnership With Palantir

    They were "shocked" by the news and are calling for the company to "immediately end its partnership."

• Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • Patents

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Provisional Prior Art

      How a reference gets its provisional filing date as prior art after the Federal Circuit rejected thirteen years of USPTO examination policy.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Apple Fires Back Against Boomcloud 360’s Spatial Audio Patent Infringement Allegations in Declaratory Judgment Suit

      Apple has fired off a patent monopoly non-infringement complaint against Boomcloud 360, a self-described “innovator and pioneer in audio rendering and spatial audio.”

    • Kangaroo Courts

      • JUVE ☛ Samsung and Pentarc triumph as UPC revokes Maxell content-casting patent [Ed: UPC is illegal and unconstitutional, but with help from JUVE and Team UPC this charade goes on]

        Japanese consumer electronics company Maxell had sued four Samsung entities before the UPC’s local division The Hague, alleging that various Galaxy smartphones and tablets infringed device claims of EP 2 061 230.

  • Copyrights

    • Digital Music News ☛ Live Nation’s War Against Shadowy Merch Counterfeiters Continues

      Live Nation subsidiary Merch Traffic files a trademark lawsuit against an anonymous group of online sellers with allegations of counterfeiting. Live Nation Entertainment subsidiary Merch Traffic, LLC, has filed a lawsuit against a group of anonymous online sellers overseas [...]

    • Digital Music News ☛ Federal Judge Partially Tosses Designer Shoe Warehouse’s Lawsuit Against Sony Music — As the Wider Social Media Infringement Battle Rages On

      A year and change later, a federal judge has partially dismissed the declaratory judgment complaint filed by Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) against Sony Music, Universal Music, and BMG. However, the wider copyright monopoly infringement battle, complete with multiple intensifying actions, is raging on.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Irving Azoff’s GMR Resolves Its $14 Million Licensing Beef With Music Choice

      Irving Azoff’s Global Music Rights has ended its $14 million licensing suit against Music Choice. Both sides seemingly reached a swift resolution. Back in June, U.S. performance rights collective Global Music Rights (GMR) sued TV music service Music Choice for “willful copyright monopoly infringement” when it kept playing GMR’s catalog after licensing expired.