Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 16/06/2022: Arron Banks Loses His SLAPP Campaign



  • GNU/Linux

    • Resurrecting an old ThinkPad

      There are a few computer/network things I’m interested in doing at home that would benefit from a PC that’s always on (or at least “usually on”). I haven’t had a desktop machine in a few years (my oldest child took the last one to college for gaming), we now just have a bunch of laptops (my partner and I each have both a personal and employer-owned machine). These are often hibernating/shut down/away from home, so none of them would work for the things I have in mind.

      Most folks in my position would use something like a Raspberry Pi for the tasks I have in mind. With their low power-consumption, they make a great choice. But I already have an old Lenovo ThinkPad stashed away, which I stopped using because its battery is completely dead. While not having a battery is pretty obnoxious for a laptop, it’s fine for a “server”.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • VideoMore With Haskell and GTK (Refactoring Our First App) - Invidious

        In a previous video, I created a very simple GTK app using Haskell. The app (which I named "byebye") was created in 30 minutes and I wrote it in such a way as to be as "gentle" an introduction to Haskell and GTK as I could be. Now, let's dive a bit deeper. Let's discuss functions in Haskell, especially recursive functions. And let's refactor our "byebye" app using Haskell functions.

      • VideoFix Discord's Terrible Auto Updater On Linux - Invidious [Ed: Brodie Robertson knows Discord is proprietary and spyware; he would be wiser to get people off it]

        If Discord's launcher isn't the latest version available it's supposed to automatically update it but on Linux it doesn't have permission to do so, luckily there is a very simple solution

      • Linux Made SimpleKDE Plasma 5.25

        Today we are looking at the newly released KDE Plasma 5.25, we use the KDE Neon user edition to look at it (which is based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS). Enjoy!

      • VideoKDE Plasma 5.25 Run Through - Invidious

        In this video, we are looking at KDE Plasma 5.25.

      • Tux Digital62: AMD Zen 4: Begun, The Processor Wars Have! - Hardware Addicts - TuxDigital

        Welcome to Hardware Addicts, a proud member of the TuxDigital Network. Hardware Addicts is the podcast that focuses on the physical components that powers our technology world.

        In this episode, we’re going to be talking about Zen 4 AMD Ryzen 7000 CPU launch and whether Intel has what it takes to seize the opportunity to take back it’s crown. Then we head to Camera Corner where Wendy will discuss Going Retro: Yay or Nay with an interesting product by Kodak.

    • Graphics Stack

      • Mike Blumenkrantz: Bugaroos

        We all remember our first bug. It’s usually “the code didn’t compile the first time I tried”. The worst bug there is.

        The first bug I found in pursuit of this so-called rendering anomaly was not a simple compile error. No, unfortunately the code built and ran fine thanks to Mesa’s incredible and rock-stable CI systems (this was last week), which meant I had to continue on this futile quest to find out whatever was wrong.

        Next, I looked at the ticket again and downloaded the trace, which was unfortunately provided to prevent me from claiming that I didn’t have the game or couldn’t find it or couldn’t launch it or was too lazy. Another unlucky roll of the dice.

    • More Oxide at Home: My Pi is a Wireless Crucible

      Now that I’ve satisfied my dark desire to make a wireless USB drive, let’s add an ethernet cable and see what this stack can really do. I tested with a lot of extent and block sizes to find the fastest for this setup, and disabled encryption for good measure. After all that, here’s the best I got: [...]

    • One ping to find them: lean network discovery

      The standard “ping” utility is one of the most commonly used network troubleshooting tools. This utility sends an ICMP Echo Request to a specific address and reports any replies it receives. This protocol is simple: the sender creates an IP header, appends an ICMP header, sets the Type and Code fields, and then adds the Echo Request data, consisting of an identifier, sequence number, and some data to echo. Finally, this protocol is written to the network, often with an Ethernet header.

    • ID RootHow To Install Django on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

      In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Django on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Django is a full-featured Python web framework for developing dynamic websites and applications. Built by experienced developers, it takes care of much of the hassle of web development, so you can focus on writing your app without needing to reinvent the wheel. Using Django, you can quickly create Python web applications.

      This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the Django Python web framework on Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint.

    • Linux Made SimpleHow to install RPG Maker VX Ace on a Chromebook

      Today we are looking at how to install RPG Maker VX Ace on a Chromebook. Please follow the video/audio guide as a tutorial where we explain the process step by step and use the commands below.

    • Trend Oceans3 Ways to Find Out Your IP address in Linux

      The IP (Internet Protocol) address is a global standard for assigning unique 32/128-bit hexadecimal values to network-attached devices for identification on the local/global network.

  • Games

    • GamingOnLinuxStarship Troopers: Terran Command on Steam Deck and Linux — a quick guide

      Starship Troopers: Terran Command [Humble Store / Steam] just released from The Artistocrats and Slitherine Ltd. but getting it on running on Linux desktop or Steam Deck requires a few steps. Video steps at the bottom if you prefer that.

    • GamingOnLinuxDudes! Beat 'em up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is out now

      Ready to get punched with nostalgia and eat some pizza? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is officially out now along with Native Linux support and it's looking good on desktop and a Steam Deck too. Note: personal purchase.

    • GamingOnLinuxMATCHO is a unique first-person shooter with match-3 mechanics

      First-person shooting and match-3 together? MATCHO sure does sound strange but it also looks like it could be tons of fun and it's coming to Linux.

    • GamingOnLinuxThe Frogs will take you through a humorous renaissance artwork adventure

      Making use of public domain renaissance artwork, The Frogs is an upcoming comedy point and click adventure. A demo is available and now they're on Kickstarter. Very similar in style to what was done with The Procession to Calvary (different developer), and actually inspired by it. More of this sounds great because it's such a unique way to make a game.

    • GamingOnLinuxThe last ever game from Zachtronics releases July 5th

      No doubt plenty of puzzle fans will be sad, as Zachtronics will be hanging up their development hat and moving on after the release of Last Call BBS. Entering Early Access on July 5th, it's technically multiple games in one.

    • GamingOnLinuxTotal War: WARHAMMER III released for Linux with a port from Feral

      Total War: WARHAMMER III is the latest Native Linux game to officially land, with Feral Interactive once again delivering. The Linux version has the latest 1.2 update along with the hotfix from late in May.

    • GamingOnLinuxLightSpeed Studios (Tencent) joins the Open 3D Foundation

      LightSpeed Studios, owned by Tencent, has joined up with the Open 3D Foundation who oversee the Open 3D Engine (O3DE). They've joined as a Premier Member joining the likes of Adobe, Epic Games, Microsoft, Intel and others. This means they will be giving resources to the Open 3D Foundation to further development of the Open 3D Engine.

  • Desktop Environments/WMs

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • Employers centralizes insurance apps on Red Hat OpenShift - Intelligent CIO North America

        To compete in an increasingly digital market, workers’ compensation insurance company Employers sought to streamline its operational processes. The company decided to create a central application environment with Red Hat OpenShift and automate policy processes with Red Hat management and middleware solutions. Now, Employers has a foundation for agile, responsive workflows, leading to a 40% increase in three-year sales and a more efficient customer experience. Guidance from Red Hat’s technology experts helps Employers continue finding new opportunities to innovate and outpace its competition.

      • Red Hat OfficialCompiler: How Does Data Help Shape Movies?

        Movies are culturally important. They transform language and communication. Motion pictures present fantasy worlds we can get lost in, helping us understand the world differently. Discussing data and movies can make the fantasy seem…a little less fantastic. It can feel sterile, mass produced, and devoid of imagination.

        But data is vital, both for those behind the camera and those sitting in theaters (or at home). This episode will cover some ways data science and machine learning can inform filmmaking, from conception to post-production.

      • All hands on deck: Gov officials call for cybersecurity help from…everyone
      • Madeline Peck: 6/15/22 Weekly Update

        An update with all the visuals I’ve been working on.

        Below is the final fedora pride banner that I came up with. Underneath it is almost all the iterations that I got feedback on from the design team. It took awhile to get there, especially because Fedora’s design branding is pretty simple. When you involve all the flags colors, keeping the text over it readable and in line with previous branding, it got a little frustrating. But I’m so happy with how it turned out and thanks to everyone who gave feedback!

    • Debian Family

      • Debian Community News: Frans Pop & Debian suicide denial

        Debian announced the death of Frans Pop in 2010.

        There were numerous comments on the debian-private (leaked) gossip network.

        We want to focus on one feature of the death. Was it Debian-connected?

        One unique feature of the suicide is that Pop sent a resignation note to debian-private on 15 August 2010.

    • Canonical/Ubuntu Family

      • 9to5LinuxCanonical Releases New Ubuntu Kernel Updates to Patch Intel “MMIO Stale Data” Flaws

        On Tuesday, June 14th, 2022, Intel disclosed a series of new hardware vulnerabilities discovered by various security researchers that affect some of its processors. The four vulnerabilities were marked as having a “medium” security impact.

        The company released firmware updates to mitigate these potential flaws discovered in the Memory Mapped I/O (MMIO) method and urged all hardware and software vendors to update their products.

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • Jeff GeerlingESPHome on the Raspberry Pi Pico!

        A couple weeks ago, I glanced through my ever-growing collection of Raspberry Pi RP2040-based boards—pictured above are three of the boards I've tested: a Cytron Maker Pi RP2040, a Raspberry Pi Pico, and a Seeed Studio Wio RP2040.

      • Jeff GeerlingIndustrial Raspberry Pi computers (one is explosion-proof)

        The answer is any industrial computer—whether Raspberry Pi-based or X86, or whatever—has to go through much more rigorous testing, and has to run in vastly different environments than your run of the mill hobby board you'd run in your home or office.

      • Tom's HardwareRaspberry Pi Digital Audio Workstation Built From Scratch | Tom's Hardware

        This Raspberry Pi digital audio workstation (DAW), created by maker and musician Stone Preston, takes the Raspberry Pi 4-powered synth idea to a whole new level. The project, known as LMN 3, is entirely open-source and packed with tons of cool features to make custom jams just the way you want them—with plenty of input options and tons of flexibility when it comes to sound wave manipulation.

      • Tom's HardwareRetro Psion 5MX PDA Tweets Via Raspberry Pi Zero | Tom's Hardware

        If you’re looking for a fun way to tweet with a Raspberry Pi and have an affinity for old-school hardware, look no further than this clever Psion 5MX-driven Pi project created by maker and developer Kian Ryan. Using a serial connection and a little bit of tinkering, he’s managed to operate a Raspberry Pi Zero and send tweets to Twitter using the classic Psion 5MX PDA from the late 1990s.

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • FSF

    • Programming/Development

      • Music, Code, Life

        I continue to have a lot of fun working on my programming language (to the detriment of all of my other code projects). I have a small but enthusiastic userbase.

      • RachelPlace name mappings probably need a time dimension too

        As a result, I have plenty of pictures that predate that change on my Macs and other Apple devices. They're mostly geotagged, but something curious has happened to them: the name of the place has shifted. It's no longer "Facebook HQ". It's now "Meta - Headquarters". This is what it looks like in the Apple photos app: [...]

      • Lee Yingtong LiA conceptual primer on the single transferable vote – 5: Weighted inclusive Gregory method

        In part 4, we presented the Gregory method, which removes random effects from STV. In that part, we continued with a decision made in part 3 to restrict the ballot papers which can contribute to a surplus distribution, yielding the exclusive Gregory method.

        To review, in part 3, we made this decision – in a surplus distribution to examine only the last parcel of ballot papers received – for two reasons. Firstly, this was closer to the effect of Hare's original method. Secondly, this was more practical for hand-counting, as the number of ballot papers to keep track of is minimised.

        However, in the context of the Gregory method, there is no objective reason to prefer the exclusive method to the alternative.

      • uni TorontoGo programs and Linux glibc versioning

        You might be puzzled. The direct explanation of what's going on is that you've built this Go program on a machine with a newer version of the GNU C library (glibc) than the second machine (for example, you built this program on a fast Ubuntu 22.04 compute server and tried to run it on an old Ubuntu 18.04 server, as I did here). For programs affected by this, the general rule of thumb is to build them on the oldest Linux distribution version that you expect to run them on.

        At this point you might be puzzled; after all, Go programs are famous for being self-contained and statically linked. Well, usually they are but there are a surprising number of things that can make Go programs be dynamically linked. However this problem doesn't happen to all dynamically linked programs, just some of them. One answer for why is that it depends on what C library functions you use. Delve happens to indirectly use pthreads functions (somehow, I'm not sure exactly how), and these are the functions triggering this glibc versioning issue.

      • Python

        • Geeks For GeeksEffect of ‘b’ character in front of a string literal in Python

          Strings are normal characters that are in human-readable format whereas Byte strings are strings that are in bytes. Generally, strings are converted to bytes first just like any other object because a computer can store data only in bytes. When working with byte strings, they are not converted into bytes as they are already in bytes.

  • Leftovers

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • NPREPA warns that even tiny amounts of chemicals found in drinking water pose risks

        The EPA on Wednesday issued nonbinding health advisories that set health risk thresholds for PFOA and PFOS to near zero, replacing 2016 guidelines that had set them at 70 parts per trillion. The chemicals are found in products including cardboard packaging, carpets and firefighting foam.

        At the same time, the agency is inviting states and territories to apply for $1 billion under the new bipartisan infrastructure law to address PFAS and other contaminants in drinking water. Money can be used for technical assistance, water quality testing, contractor training and installation of centralized treatment, officials said.

    • Proprietary

      • Barry HessShared Photo Library

        With iOS 16, it seems there will be options for family sharing, which sounds great now that we have five phones in our family snapping pictures and storing them in the cloud.

      • Andre FrancaiPods are over

        The first iPod was announced in October 2001, and most people agree that it revolutionized the way we listen to music nowadays. By that time, there were other music players, but no manufacturer was able to bring together an easy way for us to buy music - with some decent quality - and offer a well designed product. Obviously, some audiophile may disagree with my “decent quality” statement, but it really was for the average user that didn’t want (or need) to go deeper in all technicality in this regard.

      • Scoop News GroupHouse Armed Services chair calls national security software, systems 'too vulnerable' [iophk: Windows TCO]

        “We’re talking about software systems that, you know, operate our missiles and our ships and everything, they just don’t, they are not as protected as they should be,” Smith said. “When it comes to cyber, protecting our systems, I think, is our greatest problem right now — even more so than our ability to exploit other people’s systems, though we certainly need to develop that capability as well.”

    • Security

      • Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation

      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • EFFFacebook Says Apple is Too Powerful. They're Right.

          Facebook is very well situated to comment on how high switching costs can lock users into a service they don’t like very much, because, as much as they dislike that platform, the costs of using it are outstripped by the costs the company imposes on users who leave.

          That’s how Facebook operates.

          Facebook has devoted substantial engineering effort to keeping its switching costs as high as possible. In internal memos - published by the FTC - the company’s executives, project managers and engineers frankly discuss plans to design Facebook’s services so that users who leave for a rival pay as high a price as possible. Facebook is fully committed to ensuring that deleting your account means leaving behind the friends, family, communities and customers who stay.

        • Techdirt$1-2 Billion In Streaming Ads A Year Aren’t Being Watched Because The TV Is Off

          Critics of modern tech often lean towards hyperbole when discussing “surveillance capitalism” and the seemingly omniscient power of advertisers and adtech. In reality, as journalists who cover the space for any amount of time can attest, it’s all frequently much dumber and clumsier than that:

    • Defence/Aggression

      • Counter PunchSupreme Court Tortures the Constitution Again

        In 2002, the CIA captured Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian radical, in Pakistan and falsely believed he was a kingpin with al Qaeda. The CIA tortured him for years in Thailand and Poland. As Justice Neal Gorsuch noted, the CIA “waterboarded Zubaydah at least 80 times, simulated live burials in coffins for hundreds of hours,” and brutalized him to keep him awake for six days in a row. The CIA has admitted some of the details of the torture, and Zubaydah’s name was mentioned more than a thousand times in a 683-page Senate report released in 2014 on the CIA torture regime. But the Supreme Court permitted the CIA to pretend that the case is still secret.

        The holy relic of “state secrets”

      • Counter PunchMBS and Putin: Why Talk to One and Not the Other?

        The argument for a visit to Saudi Arabia is obvious. With oil prices rising, growing inflation and mid-term elections in November, it is imperative for Biden and the Democrats to increase the world’s oil production so that supply can respond to demand and decrease the price at the pump. The assumption behind the visit is that if Saudi Arabia increases its oil output, the world’s supply will increase, prices will go down, inflation will be lowered, and the Democrats will have a better chance in November’s elections.

        The arguments against the visit are also obvious. “Meeting Mohammed bin Salman without human rights commitments would vindicate Saudi leaders who believe there are no consequences for egregious rights violations,” said a Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. Biden had said during his 2020 campaign that he would seek to make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are”.€  He specified that there is “very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia.”

      • Counter PunchBerlin Munich Kyiv

        Every epoch has had its call to battle the Forces of Evil. Once it was Anarchism, then Bolshevism, Communism. After those menaces were defeated new ones were required; in 2001 it was Terrorism. With that frightening term eroding, it is being replaced by Authoritarianism. The gargoyle staring at us from magazine covers – after Stalin, Mao and Fidel have died and Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Gaddafi been eliminated – is now a scowling Putin. And with him Russia, which must be ostracized, sanctioned, wrecked, starved and, above all, defeated. I have not yet heard any direct use of the word “bombed,” but the weapons are ready, with $800 billion spent annually in the USA, about thirteen times Russia’s military budget, not counting the others in NATO. In Germany, on top of its already huge military outlay, a special €100 billion fund was added, after receiving the required 2/3 parliamentary majority to overrule constitutional limitations. Its use is restricted to strengthening and modernizing the Bundeswehr, for F-35 planes, capable of dropping atomic bombs on Moscow in record time, for warships capable of landing at any shore, for latest-model, deadliest tanks.

        All this is “to achieve security”. German borders are nowhere threatened, but the€ € Ukraine invasion, it’s said, proves Putin’s plans to regain the area of the USSR or the czarist empire. So who knows? And any call to reason, to push for a truce and negotiations instead of demands to defeat and “ruin” Russia, oust Putin and put him on trial, is denounced as appeasement, with allusions to the 1938 Munich Agreement, when Neville Chamberlain and French premier Daladier sold out Czechoslovakia.

      • Counter PunchUnthinkable Rhetoric: Nuclear Weapons and the Ukraine War

        At the outset of his invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin  declared  that other countries “will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history” if they intervened.

        A few days later, he  ordered  Russian nuclear forces to be put on a heightened alert status. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev later outlined possible scenarios for the use of nuclear weapons and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that maintaining “readiness of strategic nuclear forces” remains a priority. A Russian government spokesperson has since said that Russia would only consider the use of nuclear weapons if there was an “existential threat” to Russia.

    • Environment

      • DeSmogClimate Deniers and the Language of Climate Obstruction

        On a recent episode of the Fox Business show “Mornings with Maria,” American Petroleum Institute CEO and President, Mike Sommers, said that “the most important environmental movement in the world is the American oil and gas industry.”

        “A super absurd example of oil and gas companies appropriating and weaponizing the language of climate advocates for their own greenwashing,” commented author and climate activist Genevieve Guenther on Twitter.

      • Energy

        • DeSmogAmerica’s Biggest Public Pension Fund Is Slow-Walking Corporate Climate Action, Report Charges

          Does engaging with oil and gas giants by remaining invested in them – keeping a “seat at the table” – help in the fight against climate change?€ 

          A new report suggests not very much – at least judging by the record of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).

        • Let’s keep trying together

          With climate defeatism, it’s OK to believe we’re not gonna make it. It’s OK to feel worn down and frustrated and unheard.

          What I nix is when that defeatism makes you obstruct, or get in the way of, or hinder, us trying for a chance no matter how slim. When we’re trying to think of solutions and trying to come up with things we can do, and you come in with a hat mismatch and start flooding the conversation with your “it’s no use”. (As in, repeatedly.)

          That’s not cool. For my own health and for the health of everyone with me.

          And, I feel guilty about saying that. We all know that everyone we meet is fighting a battle we know nothing about, and I, you don’t have to believe me but I do know how it feels.

      • Overpopulation

        • OverpopulationTwo ways to argue for population’s importance

          According to David Attenborough, “all of our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people, and harder – and ultimately impossible – to solve with ever more people.” Attenborough has seen the global population triple since he narrated his first TV nature documentary back in the 1950s, as people have, in his words, “overrun the world.” So he advocates for policies to end population growth and stabilize the global population sooner rather than later, including universal access to effective modern contraception.

    • Finance

      • Counter PunchIf Poverty is a Moral Issue, Then the U.S. is Bankrupt

        The problem of poverty is marked by several factors, the first of which is a deeply flawed government indicator of who qualifies as poor. Measured by the federal poverty line, about 37 million Americans live below the poverty line—that’s about 11 percent of the population.

        But this leaves out many millions more Americans who live one emergency expense away from poverty. The Poor People’s Campaign (PPC): A National Call for Moral Revival relies on economic calculations showing that 140 million Americans—which is more than 40 percent of the population—are poor or low-income.

      • Pro PublicaOcean Freight Shipping Costs Are Driving Goods Prices Higher

        The story you’re about to read is bananas, and it’s also about bananas.

        Last fall, a company called One Banana loaded 600,000 pounds of the fruit from its plantations in Guatemala and Ecuador onto ships bound for the Port of Long Beach in California. Once they arrived, the bananas, packed in refrigerated containers, were offloaded by cranes for trucking to a nearby warehouse, where the fruit would be sent to supermarkets nationwide.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • Eesti RahvusringhäälingMinistry sees no problem with extra terms in radio licenses competition

        The conditions of a recent radio license competition includes terms by county regarding what styles of music license recipients should play and how many talk programs they should air — and these terms coincided with radio stations already operating in Estonia. The Ministry of Culture says that such terms are standard practice and that the competition isn't biased.

      • ABCHas Your State Made It Harder To Vote?

        The number of restrictions signed into law in 2021 was unprecedented. In fact, according to the Brennan Center, the total number of restrictions shatters the previous record-high year, which was 2011, when 14 states enacted 19 laws by October of that year. In other words, depending on where you live, how you cast your ballot this year could be very different. That’s why here at FiveThirtyEight, we’re going to walk you through the new voting restrictions in each state and how they might affect you at each step of the voting process.

      • New York TimesWho Is Financing Trump’s ‘Big Lie’ Caucus? Corporations You Know.

        In the year and a half since the attack, rivers of cash from once skittish donors have resumed flowing to election deniers. Sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. Sometimes just a thousand. But it adds up. In the month of April alone, the last month for which data is available, Fortune 500 companies and trade organizations gave more than $1.4 million to members of Congress who voted not to certify the election results, according to an analysis by the transparency group Accountable.US. AT&T led the pack, giving $95,000 to election objectors.

      • VOA NewsThousands March in Bangladesh Over Comments about Islam

        After police stopped the march, a group of five people was allowed to head toward the Indian Embassy, according to Shahidul Islam Kabir, a spokesperson for the sponsors of the protest, Islami Andolon Bangladesh. The group vowed to continue its demonstrations.

      • FAIRNicaragua a ‘Dictatorship’ When It Follows US Lead on NGOs

        President Daniel Ortega’s government in Nicaragua is “laying waste to civil society,” according to the Associated Press (6/2/22). The Guardian (6/2/22) called it a “sweeping purge of civil society,” while for the New York Times (2/14/22), Nicaragua is “inching toward dictatorship.” According to the Washington Post‘s Spanish edition (5/19/22), the country is already “a dictatorship laid bare.” In a call echoed by the BBC (5/5/22), the UN human rights commissioner urged Nicaragua to stop its “damaging crackdown on civil society.”

    • Censorship/Free Speech

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

      • The Telegraph UKCarole Cadwalladr wins libel case against Arron Banks using 'echo chamber' defence

        Ms Cadwalladr, a freelance journalist who writes for The Guardian and The Observer, has investigated the funding of the referendum campaigns and alleged misuse of data.

        In her ruling, Mrs Justice Steyn said: "Based on her investigation, Ms Cadwalladr had reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Banks had been offered 'sweetheart' deals by the Russian government in the period running up to the EU referendum, although she had seen no evidence he had entered into any such deals; and Mr Banks's financial affairs, and the source of his ability to make the biggest political donations in UK history, were opaque.

        “Most importantly, when Ms Cadwalladr gave the [TED] Talk the Electoral Commission had announced, following a one-year investigation, that it had reasonable grounds to suspect that Mr Banks was not the true source of the €£8 million loans/donations, but rather the source was a non-qualifying company, Rock Holdings, which is based in an offshore, non-transparent, jurisdiction.

        "In addition, when she gave the [TED] Talk, the matter had been referred to the NCA and that organisation was investigating."

      • BBCArron Banks loses Russia libel case against Carole Cadwalladr

        Mr Banks, the founder of the pro-Brexit campaign group Leave.EU, sued Ms Cadwalladr for defamation over two instances in 2019 - one in a TED Talk video and another in a tweet.

      • The Independent UKArron Banks loses libel case against journalist Carole Cadwalladr

        The libel claim centred around comments made in a TED Talk by Ms Cadwalladr and a subsequent tweet, in which she alleged Banks – who founded the Leave.EU campaign – was lying about his relationship with Russia.

        The High Court understood Mr Banks to be complaining about Ms Cadwalladr claiming he had not been honest about secret dealings with the Russian state in relation to the “acceptance of foreign funding of electoral campaigns in breach of the law on such funding”.

      • Neutral Citation Number: [2022] EWHC 1417 (QB) [PDF]

        vi) Accordingly, the claim is dismissed.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • The Center for Investigative ReportingAmazon’s Warehouse Quotas Have Been Injuring Workers for Years. Now, Officials Are Taking Action.

        As Amazon warehouse workers racked up many thousands of serious injuries each year, government officials haven’t done much about it – but that appears to be changing. Safety officials have been fining Amazon for making employees work at an “unsafe pace.” State legislation popping up around the country targets Amazon’s work quotas. And shareholders will get a chance to vote on Amazon’s workplace practices.

        Those developments all have roots in our reporting.

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

      • TechdirtMajor League Soccer To Stream All Games On Apple TV For 10 Years

        I have talked for years at Techdirt about how the cord cutting trend, while still continuing, was going to run into a wall due to the way that major sports broadcasts have always been done through cable TV deals. I have also covered the steps, baby or otherwise, different sports leagues and teams have taken to embrace streaming options. MLB’s MLB.tv service has always been great, but suffers from local blackout rules revolving around broadcast rights. Other leagues have worked out their own streaming options, mostly in very limited fashion. One MLS team even went streaming only for its games, cutting the cord from its end.

    • Monopolies

      • Copyrights

        • Torrent FreakXtream-Codes IPTV Company Declared Lawful, Assets Seized in Raid Returned

          The company behind Xtream-Codes, the IPTV management system shut down as part of a massive law enforcement operation in 2019, is reporting a significant legal win. After a regional court in Italy found no evidence to show that Xtream Codes Ltd acted unlawfully, an appeal to the Supreme Court of Cassation was dismissed. Assets seized during the raid will be returned.

        • Torrent Freak‘Pirate’ Streaming Apps Beat Netflix and Disney in Brazil’s Play Store

          Pirate streaming apps are leading the entertainment category in Brazil's Google Play Store. These unauthorized streaming apps draw a massive audience and beat official streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney, and HBO in download rankings. While piracy is a worldwide phenomenon, Brazil certainly stands out.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Topics We Lacked Time to Cover
Due to a Microsoft event (an annual malware fest for lobbying and marketing purposes) there was also a lot of Microsoft propaganda
 
Links 23/11/2024: "Real World" Cracked and UK Online Safety Act is Law
Links for the day
Links 23/11/2024: Celebrating Proprietary Bluesky (False Choice, Same Issues) and Software Patents Squashed
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 22, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, November 22, 2024
Gemini Links 23/11/2024: 150 Day Streak in Duolingo and ICBMs
Links for the day
Links 22/11/2024: Dynamic Pricing Practice and Monopoly Abuses
Links for the day
Microsofters Try to Defund the Free Software Foundation (by Attacking Its Founder This Week) and They Tell People to Instead Give Money to Microsoft Front Groups
Microsoft people try to outspend their critics and harass them
[Meme] EPO for the Kids' Future (or Lack of It)
Patents can last two decades and grow with (or catch up with) the kids
EPO Education: Workers Resort to Legal Actions (Many Cases) Against the Administration
At the moment the casualties of EPO corruption include the EPO's own staff
Gemini Links 22/11/2024: ChromeOS, Search Engines, Regular Expressions
Links for the day
This Month is the 11th Month of This Year With Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (So Far It's Happening Every Month This Year, More Announced Hours Ago)
Now they even admit it
Links 22/11/2024: Software Patents Squashed, Russia Starts Using ICBMs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, November 21, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, November 21, 2024
Gemini Links 21/11/2024: Alphabetising 400 Books and Giving the Internet up
Links for the day
Links 21/11/2024: TikTok Fighting Bans, Bluesky Failing Users
Links for the day
Links 21/11/2024: SpaceX Repeatedly Failing (Taxpayers Fund Failure), Russian Disinformation Spreading
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Earned Two More Honorary Doctorates Last Month
Two more doctorate degrees
KillerStartups.com is an LLM Spam Site That Sometimes Covers 'Linux' (Spams the Term)
It only serves to distract from real articles
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, November 20, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, November 20, 2024