Leftovers

• Licensing / Legal

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Decades-long Linux ownership dispute effectively dead after Xinuos appeal rejected — US Court of Appeals halts the legal wrangling over IBM’s and Red Hat’s use of Project Monterey UNIX code

    Xinuos plans to petition for a full‑bench rehearing of its case, but this kind of request has only a 0.03% success rate according to IBM’s lawyers.

  • [Repeat] Ruben Schade ☛ My first class action

    Class actions famously result in a pittance for everyone other than the lawyers involved. Whatever we get out of this, I hope it will at least cover a nice cup of coffee. Something like this would be lovely.

• Science / Mathematics / Computer Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Ketamine Has a Hidden Effect on The Brain Researchers Have Been Missing For Decades

    Caught red-handed!

  • Science Alert ☛ Tiny Channels in Your Neck Might Determine How Your Brain Ages

    Lymph nodes may matter more than we thought.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Game-Changing' New Sunscreen Ingredient Blocks One of The Most Elusive Types of Solar Radiation

    Here's everything you need to know.

  • Science Alert ☛ Alzheimer's Damage in Mice Reversed With Just Two Injections

    A huge step forwards.

  • Science Alert ☛ Forget Acid Rain: Electrically Charged Raindrops Can Corrode Metal in a Way We Never Knew About

    This is a problem.

  • Science Alert ☛ Radical Overhaul to Milk Production Would Use Up to 96% Less Land Than Cows, Study Suggests

    This is huge.

  • Science Alert ☛ People Are Still Being Exposed to Chemicals Banned 2 Decades Ago

    "Legacy chemicals with an active environmental presence."

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Find 'Ominous' Signs of Artery Damage in Nearly 8 in 10 Young Adults

    Youth isn't enough to protect the heart.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • International Business Times ☛ We Now Have an 'Addiction Economy' Trapping a Generation of Young American Men, Family Researcher Warns

    A study highlights the prevalence of daily gambling, pornography, and gaming among young men, linking these habits to increased feelings of failure, loneliness, and depression, sparking debates on regulation.

  • New York Times ☛ Meta to Pay Up to $17.1 Billion in Landmark Settlement Over Social Media Addiction Claims

    The social control media giant settled with 47 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, and agreed to make major changes to its products over claims its platforms endangered children.

  • New York Times ☛ What’s Changing For Teens on Instagram and Facebook (Farcebook) After Meta Settlement

    Meta agreed to set more time limits and enhance protections in its platforms for young users, but was short on some specifics.

  • New York Times ☛ After Meta Settlement, Teens Divided on New Instagram and Facebook (Farcebook) Restrictions

    Young people said the platforms could be a space for gathering, but also a waste of time.

  • France24 ☛ Meta reaches $17 billion settlement with US states over social control media harm to teens

    Meta Platforms on Wednesday agreed to pay $17 billion to settle claims, filed by 47 US states, that the company designed Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram to deliberately make teens addicted to their products while deceiving the public, according to state attorneys general. The company agreed to add child-safety measures as part of the settlement.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Meta settles closely watched social control media addiction lawsuit for $18B

    Meta Platforms Inc. will pay $18 billion to settle a lawsuit that accused it of making children addicted to Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram. The case was brought in 2023 by 29 state attorneys general.

  • JURIST ☛ Meta agrees to court-enforced limits on teen social control media use in $18B settlements

    Meta Platforms reached multibillion-dollar agreements with state authorities Wednesday that would place its treatment of young Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram users under judicially enforceable limits, resolving claims under state consumer-protection laws and federal child-privacy law.

  • The Straits Times ☛ No formaldehyde detected in Chinese cabbage shipments to South Korea so far, say authorities

    There were allegations that some agricultural produce buyers in China had dipped cabbage in a formaldehyde solution.

  • New York Times ☛ F.D.A. Approves the Drug Daraxonrasib That’s Poised to Transform Pancreatic Cancer

    In a key clinical trial, patients who got the pill, daraxonrasib, lived twice as long as those who got chemotherapy.

  • International Business Times ☛ Tim Curry's Cause of Death Still Unknown After Actor Revealed Terrifying Health Struggle Before His Death at 80

    British actor Tim Curry, famed for roles in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and 'It', has died at 80. Despite health challenges, he continued working, leaving a lasting legacy in entertainment.

• Proprietary / Vendor Lock-in / Malware

  • AccessNow ☛ Apple threat notifications and spyware: what everyone should know

    Since 2001, Fashion Company Apple has been warning its users when they may have been targeted by spyware, using email, iMessage, and banners in their accounts.

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

    • Futurism ☛ Your Coworkers Are Becoming “Meat Proxies” for AI

      "I can talk to Claude myself."

    • Futurism ☛ Top WSJ Editor Approves AI-Assisted Writing, Says Hey Hi (AI) is a “Fact of Modern Life” in Major Inflection Point for Media Industry

      The WSJ is giving opinion writers a thumbs-up on Hey Hi (AI) use.

    • Futurism ☛ Huge Leak Shows Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Salaries That’ll Make You Jump Out the Window

      Just imagine.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Microsoft Paint and Photos apps add invisible watermark to AI-generated content — developer reverse engineers GUID embedding

      A developer has uncovered some previously unknown GUID watermarking functionality deep within Microsoft’s Paint and Photos apps.

    • Security Week ☛ AI Speeds Up Malware Development, Not Its Success Rate: Analysis

      Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 analyzed 405 AI-linked malware samples and found only 12 reached production endpoints.

    • Colin Walters: For agentic code execution, generic tools + skills and sandbox [Ed: LLM plagiarism in code]

      If your agentic workload involves the agent being able to run arbitrary code (like bash or equivalent), then you should not use a “LLM as part of your app” framework like LangChain, BeeAI, OGX etc.

    • Raphaël Hertzog ☛ Raphaël Hertzog: Debian’s General Resolution on Hey Hi (AI) and LLM

      As a Debian developer, I have had to cast a vote for the General Resolution named LLM usage in Debian (progress report here). This was not an easy task for me…

  • Social Control Media

    • The Straits Times ☛ From Australia to Europe, countries move to curb children's social control media access

      Australia in December became the world's first country to ban social control media for children under 16, blocking them from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet's YouTube and Meta's Instagram and Facebook.

  • Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets

    • SANS ☛ Who Has Admin Rights in your Entra ID Directory, (Wed, Aug 26th)

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • Digital Music News ☛ X Open Sources Ranking Algorithm, Offering Transparency on ‘Shadowbans’ — And Even a Roadmap for Going Viral

      X is expanding its open-source codebase to include its ranking algorithm, providing transparency on how “going viral” works on the former Twitter. MElon’s X, formerly Twitter, released the source code that determines how posts are recommended to users in a bid to increase transparency.

    • InfoSecurity Magazine ☛ Linux Foundation Introduces TRACE Standard for AI Runtime Evidence [Ed: Amplifying scam from so-called 'Linux' Foundation]

      One major security challenge with generative AI, and particularly AI agents, is making these systems prove what they really did.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Futurism ☛ Designer Creates World’s Most Hideous Hawaiian Shirt to Hide From Hey Hi (AI) Surveillance Cameras

      "A 'person,' for the machine, is a bundle of visual statistics — and that is exactly its weakness."

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong privacy watchdog warns 3 domestic workers over use of employers’ data for loans

      Hong Kong’s privacy watchdog has issued warning letters to three domestic workers after they used their employers’ personal data without consent to secure loans.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Officials disrupt Chinese espionage operation that hit multiple federal agencies

    The full hacking suite, seized by authorities, allowed Chinese government funded attackers to intrude highly sensitive networks undetected for more than eight years.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ US Justice Department seizes domains it says Chinese state-sponsored hackers used to infiltrate systems at NASA, Senate, Federal Reserve, and more — FBI moves forward with domain seizures

    The U.S. Department of Justice and FBI announced domain seizures related to state-sponsored hacking activities that have impacted NASA, the Senate, and more.

  • JURIST ☛ Autonomous weapons prompt renewed push for binding global rules

    The growing use of autonomous and artificial intelligence (AI)-guided weapons on the battlefield prompted the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Tuesday to call for a legally binding international agreement governing their manufacture and deployment.

  • New York Times ☛ Judge Allows Postal Service Effort to Restrict Mail Voting, for Now

    The order came amid a spate of legal challenges, including one by Democratic state attorneys general, that could still result in the rules being blocked.

  • International Business Times ☛ Engineer Says She Was Raped in Bed Aboard US Navy Ship — Judge Dismisses Lawsuit as Workers' Comp Case

    Elsie Dominguez's lawsuit against the US Navy was dismissed, reclassified as a workers' compensation case, raising concerns about legal protections for civilian mariners reporting sexual assault.

  • France24 ☛ ‘Shockwaves throughout the country’ following ‘gruesome’ killings in Haitian mountain retreat

    Genie Godula is pleased to welcome journalist Harold Isaac on the ground in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. He says what we are witnessing in Haiti is not simply another episode of gang violence, but a profound challenge to the authority of the state at a moment when the country is attempting to return to electoral politics. With armed groups controlling roughly 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, the capital is effectively under siege, while the circulation of people, goods and services increasingly requires some form of negotiation with gang power. The attack in Kenscoff is especially significant because of its proximity to some of the country’s most affluent areas. This as authorities seek to organize Haiti’s first elections in a decade, against a backdrop of arms smuggling, institutional fragility and an unresolved political transition.

  • France24 ☛ Gang attack in Haiti: Anger mounts over police failures

    At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped after armed men attacked a once-peaceful community near Haiti’s capital earlier this week, the United Nations said Tuesday. It is believed to be one of the largest mass kidnappings in Haiti in recent years, and one gang leader is threatening to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they try to secure the community nestled in the hills above Port-au-Prince. Sunday’s attack on Kenscoff pierced the belief that security in the troubled Caribbean country was improving. Journalist Harold Isaac reports from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

  • The Strategist ☛ With many Taiwanese embassies closed, China shifts target to representative offices

    After enjoying great success in eliminating Taiwan’s formal diplomatic ties, it has turned its attention to the island’s quasi-embassies, called representative offices.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China tells citizens to leave Taiwan-allied Eswatini

    China has told its citizens to immediately leave Eswatini, citing security risks in the African nation that is one of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic allies. China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and opposes the self-governed island’s attempts at international exchange.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Russia: CIA director visits Moscow

      CIA director John Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence services in Moscow, the Kremlin confirmed Wednesday, the first know visit by a US spy chief to the Russian capital since 2021. It is not known what Ratcliffe discussed with his Russian counterparts, but the talks come as ‌the war in Ukraine is escalating and as ⁠efforts to reach a lasting peace between the US and Iran have stalled.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian president says he was informed of CIA chief’s Moscow visit

      Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said Wednesday he had been informed about CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow but declined to discuss the substance of the meeting.

    • CS Monitor ☛ From patron to partner: Syria’s new relationship with Russia

      For many years, Syria’s government relied heavily on support from Russia just to stay in power. Now, Damascus has a very different relationship with Moscow.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ OpenAI bans Russian Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot accounts posing as a fake Israeli think tank — used VPNs to push pro-Kremlin narratives and steal academic papers for its website

      Instead of using Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot to write the articles, the operators used the chatbot to strip any wording that might mark them as Russian speakers.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Most Potent Weapon: The Software Orchestrating Its Drone Army

      The Delta system pulls together battlefield data to identify targets, creating a miles-wide “kill zone.” The technology is credited with helping to cut Russian advances to a near standstill.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Ukraine’s edge in war: Esprit de (military) corps

      Better drones are not the country’s only great defense. Strong Ukrainian morale helps it recruit new soldiers, surpassing a Russia that increasingly shows weakness in mobilizing young men to fight.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian PM Kulbergs given Ukrainian honour

      During a working visit to Kyiv, on August 24th Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (United List) was presented with a Ukrainian state award – the Order of Merit, 1st degree – by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a token of gratitude for Latvia's significant support to Ukraine.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian volunteer soldier killed in Ukraine

      Latvian volunteer soldier Vitālijs Šampiņš, nicknamed "Vilks" ("Wolf"), has been killed on the Kharkiv front in Ukraine, Latvian Television reports.

• Environment

  • France24 ☛ 'Major casualties': Devastating floods wash away villages on Nepal-Tibet border

    Massive flooding near the border with Tibet killed dozens in Nepal on Wednesday. Hundreds of people were still out of contact hours after the disaster hit. A torrent of mud and debris burst from the banks of a river between China and Nepal, burying buildings and triggering a frantic search for survivors. FRANCE 24's Sarah Jacob reports from New Delhi, India.

  • New York Times ☛ Photos: A Deadly Flood Tears Through Nepal and Tibet

    An ice avalanche that started high in the Himalayas tumbled thousands of feet, releasing vast amounts of energy that pulverized the ice into a significant volume of flood water.

  • The Straits Times ☛ 47 potentially dangerous glacial lakes pose risk to Nepal’s river corridors as Himalayan hazards back in focus

    The disaster illustrates how events high in the Himalayas can strike downstream settlements with little warning.

  • The Straits Times ☛ What triggered the catastrophic flood on the Nepal-Tibet border?

    Flash floods that struck the Himalayan border region of Nepal and China's Tibet on Wednesday have killed at least 157 people. Authorities on both sides fear the final number of casualties will be far higher amid massive destruction.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Nepal rescuers hunt survivors of devastating flood; 162 dead

    Rescuers in Nepal used helicopters on Thursday to scour for hundreds still missing after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river on the Himalayan border with China's Tibet, sending catastrophic floods through towns and valleys, killing 162.

  • France24 ☛ Hundreds missing in Nepal catastrophic flash floods

    Massive flash floods in Nepal on Wednesday killed at least 22 people and left hundreds of tourists, workers and others missing after sweeping through communities and bringing travel in parts of the Himalayan country to a halt. China's government across the northern border also launched search and rescue efforts, with major casualties in the border area of Gyirong, state broadcaster CCTV reported. No toll was immediately reported.

  • Futurism ☛ Freak Landslide Completely Swallows Entire Mountain Village

    "What is hard to reconcile is the gargantuan volumes of water that we see in these, these absolutely horrific videos."

  • France24 ☛ Live: At least 160 dead and 400 tourists missing in Nepal landslide

    A landslide unleashed a torrent of mud and water across Nepal on Wednesday, killing at least 157 people and leaving more than 400 tourists missing near the border with China. The disaster swept away homes, roads and bridges, while officials warned the death toll could rise as rescue teams searched for survivors. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

  • France24 ☛ What we know about the environmental causes behind the Nepal landslide

    Deadly floods along the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday highlighted the near-impossible task of predicting sudden landslides and mudflows in the Himalayas. Experts say the terrain can turn a blocked river into a devastating torrent within minutes, while climate change may be increasing the risks of such disasters.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Nepal-Tibet floods: At least 9 South Koreans missing, response team set to depart for Nepal

    The nine missing workers had been working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site in the area.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Nepal-Tibet floods: At least 55 Malaysians missing, Malaysian military ready to assist: Defence minister

    Malaysia is actively coordinating with local authorities.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Over 340 tourists, among them Australians, Indians and Malaysians, missing in Nepal-Tibet floods

    Official figures suggested at least 341 foreigners were among the missing.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Number missing in Tibet after Nepal mudslide tops 550; China flags upstream risk

    The number of people missing in China's Tibet after a Nepal mudslide disaster has risen to 558 including 260 foreign nationals, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday, as authorities flagged more geological risk upstream.

  • International Business Times ☛ Nepal Border Mudslide Today Wipes Out Villages in Under a Minute as Hundreds Feared Dead or Missing

    At least 47 American tourists are missing after a glacier-fed flood wiped out villages on the Nepal-China border, killing more than 150 as US families await State Department updates.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ China joins India search for 22 missing after cargo ship sinks

      The MV Ocean Winner was carrying 24 crew members, including 20 Chinese nationals.

• Finance

  • A “Bill of Rights” for Whom? H.R. 9799 Misreads the Modern Retail Market

    Small and medium businesses (SMBs) increasingly use and rely on online platforms to reach consumers.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Inside Evergrande’s unfinished fairytale ‘castle’ and the long shadow of China’s property boom gone bust

    The project’s crumbling facades are a physical emblem of the property crisis that continues to weigh on the world’s second-largest economy.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia to regulate e-commerce platforms following complaints

    Shopee, Fentanylware (CheeTok) Shop and Lazada are among the most popular e-commerce platforms in Malaysia.

  • New York Times ☛ Dolly Parton’s Other Legacy: A Fortune Given Away, Dollar by Dollar

    The country star supported early childhood literacy, disaster relief, the development of the Covid-19 vaccine and more.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • France24 ☛ 'In Ceuta, they are eating the cats': Fake images and a persistent rumour

      Cats “massacred” in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta? Three weeks after thousands of migrants crossed the border into Ceuta, Spanish websites and social control media users are claiming that the migrants who have stayed are killing cats. But all of the dead cat photos that have been shared so far are either fake or have been taken out of context. Our team spoke to a local cat rescue organisation, which also confirmed that this is a rumour.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Marcy Wheeler ☛ In LaMonica McIver Dissent, Judge Ambro Describes Costs of Politicized Prosecution and Speech and Debate

    In arguing that retaliatory prosecutions of members of Congress must be dealt with differently, Third Circuit Judge Thomas Ambro nods to the financial coercion DOJ can use by prosecuting Convicted Felon's critics.

  • International Business Times ☛ Judge Strikes Down Texas Drag Law Again, Warns Wording Could Even Criminalise a Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley Tribute

    A federal judge has permanently blocked a Texas drag law, citing First Amendment violations and vague language that could criminalise performances like those honouring Elvis Presley or Dolly Parton.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ The emerging role of Hey Hi (AI) in governance discussion

    A growing debate within the IETF is exploring how AI-generated content should be used and disclosed in standards discussions.

  • APNIC ☛ EC Chair’s Preview: September EC Meeting and APNIC 62

    Get an overview of the topics the EC are considering ahead of the September meeting ahead of APNIC 62.

• Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • Patents

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ A Year of Patent Cert Denials

      SCOTUS denied 36 patent monopoly petitions this year. Sorting them by question presented shows the bar attacking process, not doctrine.

    • JUVE ☛ JUVE announces nominees for Patent Law Firm and In-house Patent Team of the Year [Ed: Fake ladders that are commercials/ads/spam for sponsors]

      The nominees for this year’s JUVE Awards Germany are in. The shortlist for Patent Law Firm of the Year reflects a mix of established players and comparatively young boutiques that have emerged from recent spin-offs in the German patent monopoly market.

    • AI Tools and the Patent ‘Prior Disclosure’ Problem

      The reality is that patent monopoly attorneys and inventors are already using Hey Hi (AI) tools to draft invention disclosures and patent monopoly specifications and, by definition, this generally occurs before any patent monopoly application is filed.  But most inventors, and even many members of the patent monopoly profession, do not fully understand the risks involved.  In the worst-case scenario, and depending on the jurisdiction as well as the Hey Hi (AI) product and plan used, drafting an invention disclosure or patent monopoly specification using Hey Hi (AI) may be fatal to the validity of the patent.  To my knowledge there has so far been no substantive judicial consideration anywhere in the world of this specific issue, so it is difficult to predict where the law may land.

  • Copyrights

    • Digital Music News ☛ Judge Refuses to Toss Indie Musician’s David v. Goliath Lawsuit Against Suno

      Suno just can’t shake indie musician Tony Justice. The country music singer and truck driver sued the company with allegations of copyright monopoly theft and using protected songs (like his own) to train Hey Hi (AI) without permission.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Activist Songwriter George Johnson Doubles Down on Phono V Settlement Proposal Criticism: ‘The RIAA and NMPA Have Had a Long History of Brazen Self-Dealing in CRB Proceedings’

      Activist songwriter George Johnson has doubled down on his opposition to the proposed Phonorecords V settlement – including by criticizing the terms themselves and by calling out the alleged “long history of brazen self-dealing” between the NMPA and the RIAA.

    • Digital Music News ☛ SoundCloud Adds On-Platform Support for Paid Downloads, Says Artists Will ‘Keep 100% of Each Sale’

      SoundCloud has rolled out a limited beta for on-platform paid downloads, with eligible artists expected to “keep 100% of each sale.” The increasingly superfan-geared platform kicked off the beta today, pointing to an initial launch involving “approximately 200 U.S.-based Artist Pro creators with Fan Support enabled.”