Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 07/04/2023: Haiku Report and credcheck 1.0



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • Tom's HardwareSystem76 Shows First Pics of Fully Customized Linux Laptop Prototype

        Consumer Linux hardware pioneer System76 is readying its first fully own-designed laptop. Codenamed "Virgo" the firm hopes to move beyond whitebook customizer status, with a range of fully bespoke Linux portables. Teasing this important milestone in the company’s evolution, Founder and CEO of System76, Carl Richell, took to Twitter with some images of prototype parts.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • Linux in the Ham ShackLHS Episode #503: The Weekender CIII

        It's time once again for The Weekender. This is our departure into the world of hedonism, random topic excursions, whimsy and (hopefully) knowledge.

    • Applications

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Kev QuirkBuilding a Self-Hosted Microblog

        This resulted in my spending more time fiddling with my Micro.blog site, or its related back-end, instead of actually…you know…posting. I decided there had to be a better way, but I had a few requirements for my self-hosted microblog: [...]

      • TecMint21 Tar Command Examples in Linux

        The Linux “tar” stands for tape archive, which is used by a large number of Linux/Unix system administrators to deal with tape drive backup in Linux.

        The tar command in Linux is used to rip a collection of files and directories into a highly compressed archive file commonly called tarball or tar, gzip and bzip in Linux.

      • TecMintHow to Open, Extract and Create RAR Files in Linux

        RAR is the most popular tool for creating and extracting compressed archive (.rar) files. When we download an archive file from the web, we required a rar tool to extract them.

        RAR is available freely under Windows operating systems to handle compressed files, but unfortunately, the rar tool doesn’t pre-installed under Linux systems.

      • TecMintMost Commonly Asked Questions in Linux Interviews

        If you have already achieved your Linux certification and are looking forward to securing a Linux job, it pays a great deal to prepare for an interview that tests your knowledge of the ins and outs of Linux.

        In this guide, we present to you some of the most commonly asked questions in Linux interviews and answers.

      • TecMintHow to Migrate CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux 8 Using ELevate Repo

        CentOS 7 reaches the end of life on June 30th, 2024 marking the end of the CentOS Project after CentOS 8 was prematurely discontinued back on December 31st in favor of CentOS Stream.

        Thankfully, you can migrate from CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux 8 or any major Enterprise 8.x RHEL distributions such as Oracle Linux 8, Rocky Linux 8, or CentOS Stream 8 using the Elevate Project.Table of Contents1What is Elevate?Preliminary StepStep 1: Update CentOS 7 SystemStep 2: Install Elevate Repository in CentOS 7Step 3: Install Leapp Utility in CentOS 7Step 4: Migrate CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux 8Conclusion

      • How to Install AnyDesk in Ubuntu

        Need to install AnyDesk on your Ubuntu machine? This guide will walk you through the process step-by-step, making it easy to get up and running.

      • How to Create Proxy Server

        Want to create your own proxy server? This step-by-step guide will show you how to set up a proxy server on your computer or server.

      • TecAdminA Comprehensive Guide to Transferring Files Over SSH

        Secure Shell (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol used for secure communication and remote command execution between computers. One of its most common use cases is transferring files securely over a network.

      • RoseHostingHow to Install Jetty on Ubuntu 22.04

        In this tutorial, we are going to explain to you in step-by-step detail how to install Jetty on Ubuntu 22.04 [...]

      • LinuxTutoHow to Install Varnish with Nginx on AlmaLinux 9

        Varnish is a popular open-source web application accelerator, also known as a caching HTTP reverse proxy [...]

      • ID RootHow To Install Pluma Text Editor on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Pluma Text Editor on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Are you looking for a reliable and easy-to-use text editor for your Ubuntu 22.04 system? Look no further than Pluma! Pluma is a ...

      • ID RootHow To Install Sublime Merge on Debian 11

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Sublime Merge on Debian 11.

      • ID RootHow To Install WildFly on Rocky Linux 9

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install WildFly on Rocky Linux 9. For those of you who didn’t know, WildFly is a flexible, lightweight, and open-source application server that is written in Java.

      • It's UbuntuHow To Fix “Mount Point Does Not Exist Error” In Linux

        If you are a Linux user then you might come across this error "mount point does not exist" when you try to mount your device.

      • UNIX CopBest way to copy large folders on Linux

        Hello, friends. Today we are going with a post dedicated to Linux newbies and not so newbies. Today, we will tell you the best way to copy large folders on Linux.

      • OSTechNixHow To Install Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Server Edition

        This step by step tutorial explains how to create a Ubuntu bootable USB drive and how to install install Ubuntu 22.04 LTS server version with screenshots.

      • TecMintInstallation of Ubuntu 22.04 Server with LAMP Stack

        Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, released Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) on April 21, 2022, for Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Cloud, and Ubuntu Core with a five years long term support guaranteed...

      • TecMintHow to Migrate CentOS 7 to AlmaLinux 8 Using ELevate Repo

        CentOS 7 reaches the end of life on June 30th, 2024 marking the end of the CentOS Project after CentOS 8 was prematurely discontinued back on December 31st in favor of CentOS Stream. Thankfully,

      • Trend Oceanstrurl: Command-line tool for URL Parsing and Manipulation URL

        Daniel Stenberg has created a new tool for the open source community that allows for easy parsing and manipulation of URLs.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • HaikuOSHaiku Activity & Contract Report, March 2023

      Thanks again to all who contribute to Haiku, and especially those donors who make my contract possible!

      Later this month, I intend to write up a long and technical article about Haiku’s kernel condition variables, which have some interesting properties not found on most other operating systems, and for which I rewrote the implementation between the beta3 and beta4 releases. So, stay tuned for that!

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • OpenSource.com5 best practices for PatternFly, an open source design system

      Have you ever admired the facets of a gemstone? The angles and slants are a thing of beauty. You can see that a multi-faceted gemstone shines brighter than a flat one. You may also see this kind of beauty when analyzing a multi-faceted design system. A design system is a collection of guidelines, standards, and resources for creating consistent and unified user interfaces (UI). Like the facets of a diamond, an open source design system rich with diverse contributions and community engagement ultimately leads to better product experiences.

      The PatternFly project is an open source design system for Red Hat products. But open source doesn't end with PatternFly's code. Behind PatternFly is a team of people who create designs completely in the open. From designers and developers to researchers and writers, we work together to operate as an open source community.

    • Web Browsers/Web Servers

      • Ruben SchadeI like how Gemini handles links

        I’ve been spending more time on Gemini, and enjoying the experience. It’s not just a lightweight protocol for computers, it’s quick to download and easy to read for us too. You don’t realise just how much we’ve sacrificed on the modern web until you use something that unabashedly usable.

      • Sparky GNU/LinuxMullvad Browser

        There is a new application available for Sparkers: Mullvad Browser What is Mullvad Browser? The Mullvad Browser is a privacy-focused web browser developed in a collaboration between Mullvad VPN and the Tor Project. It’s designed to minimize tracking and fingerprinting. You could say it's a Tor Browser to use without the Tor Network.

    • SaaS/Back End/Databases

      • PostgreSQLcredcheck v1.0 released
        PostgreSQL credcheck extension

        The credcheck PostgreSQL extension provides general credential checks, which will be evaluated during the user creation, during the password change and user renaming. By using this extension, a set of rules can be defined:

        • allow a specific set of credentials
        • reject a certain type of credentials
        • enforce use of an expiration date with a minimum of day for a password
        • define a password reuse policy
    • FSF

      • FSFFree Software Gigabit Mini VPN Router (TPE-R1400) from ThinkPenguin, Inc. now FSF-certified to Respect Your Freedom

        The Free Software Foundation (FSF) awarded Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification to the Free Software Gigabit Mini VPN Router (TPE-R1400) from ThinkPenguin, Inc. The RYF certification mark means that this product meets the FSF's standards in regard to users' freedom, control over the product, and privacy. This is ThinkPenguin's first device to receive RYF certification in 2023, adding to their vast catalogue of certified devices from previous years.

    • Programming/Development

      • 7 Reasons Why Laravel Framework is the Best for Your Website

        Laravel is a free, open-source PHP web application framework that uses the model-view-controller (MVC) architectural pattern to create web applications. Taylor Otwell created it in 2011, and it has since become one of the most popular PHP frameworks, widely used by developers worldwide.

      • Godot EngineGDC 2023: Retrospective

        We attended the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco this year.

      • Daniel LemireAre your memory-bound benchmarking timings normally distributed?

        When optimizing software, we routinely measure the time that takes a given function or task. The typical assumption is that we get a normal distribution, and so we should therefore report the average time.

      • Dirk EddelbuettelDirk Eddelbuettel: RcppArmadillo 0.12.2.0.0 on CRAN: New Upstream Minor

        Armadillo is a powerful and expressive C++ template library for linear algebra and scientific computing. It aims towards a good balance between speed and ease of use, has a syntax deliberately close to Matlab, and is useful for algorithm development directly in C++, or quick conversion of research code into production environments. RcppArmadillo integrates this library with the R environment and language–and is widely used by (currently) 1052 other packages on CRAN, downloaded 28.6 million times (per the partial logs from the cloud mirrors of CRAN), and the CSDA paper (preprint / vignette) by Conrad and myself has been cited 522 times according to Google Scholar.

      • Python

        • Michael Ablassmeier: tracking changes between pypi package releases

          I wondered if there is some tracking for differences between packages published on pypi, something that stores this information in a format similar to debdiff..

          I failed to find something on the web, so created a little utility which watches the pypi changelog for new releaes and fetches the new and old version.

        • Python SpeedPolars for initial data analysis, Polars for production

          In this article we’ll use both two APIs and see how Polars lets you transition from looking at the data to something we can run even more efficiently in production.

        • Linux HintPython Replace String in File

          To replace a string in a file, open the file with open(), read the data with read(), replace the data with replace() and store it back in the file with write().

        • Linux HintPython Read File Into String

          To read a file into a string in Python, use the read() method, the readlines() method with string concatenation and the read_text() method from Path package.

        • Linux HintPython UnboundLocalError

          UnboundLocalError is caused when a local variable is accessed before the assignment of value. Or due to the confusion between local and global scope.

        • Linux HintPython Generate a Random Boolean Value

          To generate random boolean values in Python, first generate random numeric values and then use the bool() method to convert them into a boolean.

        • Linux HintPython String to a Dict

          To convert a Python String into a Dictionary, use the json.loads() method, the ast.literal_eval() method, or generator expressions.

        • Linux HintPython String Escape Quotes

          To use quotes within a string in Python, use a different set of quotes to declare the string and in between a string or use backslash “\” before quotes.

        • Linux HintPython Print Numpy Array with Precision

          To print the values of the Numpy Array with specific precision in Python, use the set_printoptions() method and define the precision argument.

      • Shell/Bash/Zsh/Ksh

        • OpenSource.comMake a web-safe color guide with Bash

          When computer displays had a limited color palette, web designers often used a set of web-safe colors to create websites. While modern websites displaying on newer devices can display many more colors than the original web-safe color palette, I sometimes like to refer to the web-safe colors when I create web pages. This way I know my pages look good anywhere.

          You can find web-safe color palettes on the web, but I wanted to have my own copy for easy reference. And you can make one too, using the for loop in Bash.

    • Standards/Consortia

      • Andrew HelwerInlining SVGs for Dark Mode

        I will here indulge in the traditional practice of using my blog to talk about how I’m using my blog. This page is built with the Hugo static site generator. I recently updated it to use the latest version of the beautifulhugo theme, which unbeknownst to me included a dark mode colorscheme. Recent browsers use the prefers-color-scheme option to automatically choose light or dark mode CSS styles, if the website supports it. And my website did support it, not that I knew it until people started commenting that my syntax-highlighted code blocks were unreadable! I figured out how to toggle light/dark mode in Firefox (ctrl+shift+I to open the inspector pane then click the sun/moon icons), perused my website, and found an even greater problem: my treasured vector diagrams that I put so much time & effort into were completely invisible against a dark background! Here’s a quick post about supporting dark mode on my blog by inlining SVGs and setting their color with the currentColor CSS variable.

  • Leftovers

    • James GFun with words: Computer science jargon

      Earlier this week, I evaluated whether I should create a Fun with Words series on this blog in which I talk about interesting and amusing words and phrases ^1. I was looking through my open tabs in Firefox on my phone and saw an idea for a Fun with Words theme: jargon in computer science comprised of two words that are not usually next to each other. Specific? Yes indeed. Fun? Yes!

    • James GWriting moods

      At last night's Homebrew Website Club meetup, I noted that I struggled to find the utility of a digital gardens for myself. Ender ^1 said that digital gardens are a different "mood" for writing. We discussed Maggie Appleton's ^2 "topography over timelines" principle, and other features that make digital gardens distinct. The "mood" framing made a lot of sense to me.

    • Science

    • Education

      • CS MonitorWhat can high schools learn from their post-pandemic upperclassmen?

        The resumption of in-person schooling didn’t generate an automatic return to normalcy. What can school systems learn from students nearing the end of their K-12 experience?

      • Terence EdenMSc - completed!

        I've got to say, it has been... an experience. I've relentlessly blogged about the process. The academic content was pretty good, but the administration by QA.com was nothing short of atrocious.

    • Hardware

      • The Register UKCAN do attitude: How thieves steal cars using network bus

        It all started when a Toyota RAV4 belonging to one of the tech gurus suffered suspicious damage to the front wing and headlight housing, and was eventually successfully stolen. Some sleuthing and reverse engineering revealed how the motor was finally nicked.

      • 37signals LLCThe hardware we need for our cloud exit has arrived

        It's been a long time since I last saw a physical piece of hardware used to run our services at 37signals. I vaguely remember doing a tour of our Chicago data center over a decade ago, but somewhere along the line, I just lost interest in the iron itself. Now the interest is back, because hardware is fun again, so let me share my excitement with you!

      • Jeff GeerlingSecure Computing with Zymbit's D35

        In addition, there's a built-in accelerometer that can be used alongside other tamper prevention methods if you so choose, to detect if the device was picked up, or was subject to shock attacks. There's an entire API to interact with the physical security features.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

    • Proprietary

    • Pseudo-Open Source

      • Openwashing

        • OpenSource.comHow to lead through change with open leadership

          Change is hard. It often brings discomfort, anxiety, and confusion. Even as an Agile enthusiast, I sometimes feel I'm not welcoming change the way I should.

          Change is often hard because the predecessor of change is chaos. Being in chaos is a natural part of the change process and an integral part of evolution. If chaos is handled poorly, it may result in inefficiencies, stress, demotivation, loss of direction, and poor performance. However, it also presents an opportunity to rethink, reorganize, refresh, reboot, experiment, and invent.

          Open leadership is critical here. The Open Organization defines open leadership as a mindset and set of behaviors that anyone can learn and practice. Open leaders think and act in service to another person, group, team, or enterprise attempting to accomplish something together.

          Open leaders acknowledge change, lead it with a generative-lean-agile mindset, and welcome it with intuition, focus, and enthusiasm.

        • The HinduMusk partially delivers on his Twitter open-source promise Premium

          At the heart of Twitter’s business model is the recommendation algorithm. It is a set of rules that enables the platform to deliver content based on users’ interests and preferences. It is with the help of this system that advertisers promote their brands. Content flows into a user’s timeline through two channels. One pipeline channels content posted by people that the user follows and the other is filled with posts flowing from accounts that could potentially interest the user.

          The latter timeline, called ‘For You’, acts as a predictive tool to suggest feeds that a user may be interested in. It helps the micro-blogging site find answers to questions like — what is the probability a user will engage with another user in the future, what communities on Twitter might a user be interested in and what tweets are trending within them. Answers to such questions help the platform recommend relevant content.

    • Security

      • Silicon AngleRansomware gang releases new data stolen from the City of Oakland [iophk: Windows TCO]

        The Play ransomware group shared 600 gigabytes of data on its leaks site in its second release, including Oakland Police Department files, council members’ communications and city staff’s medical records. By contrast, the first release of stolen data in March was a more modest 10 gigabytes.

        The ransomware attack took place on Feb. 8, knocking some of the city’s information technology systems offline. The city declared a state of emergency on Feb. 16 because of ongoing network outages caused by the attack. The attack did not affect 911 services, but certain nonemergency systems were forced offline.

      • Security WeekCisco Patches Code and Command Execution Vulnerabilities in Several Products

        Cisco has released patches for high-severity vulnerabilities impacting Secure Network Analytics and Identity Services Engine (ISE) products.

      • Scoop News GroupMicrosoft leads effort to disrupt illicit use of Cobalt Strike, a dangerous [cracking] tool in the wrong hands [Ed: Gross and negligent inversion of narratives; the culprit here is Microsoft, Microsoft isn't the solution]

        The action against illicit versions of legitimate Cobalt Strike applications represents the culmination of a year-long investigation.



        [...]

        Cobalt Strike, an adversary emulation tool that information security professionals use to evaluate network and system defenses to enable better security, like other legitimate hacking tools, is regularly abused by cybercriminals as part of attacks ranging from financially motived cybercrime to high-end state-aligned attacks.

      • Security WeekThieves Use CAN Injection Hack to Steal Cars

        An innocent-looking portable speaker can hide a hacking device that launches CAN injection attacks, which have been used to steal cars.



        [...]

        Specifically, the thieves pulled off the bumper and unplugged the headlight cables in an attempt to reach wires connected to an electronic control unit (ECU) responsible for the vehicle’s smart key.

      • Security WeekSuccess of Genesis Market Takedown Attempt Called Into Question

        Law enforcement announced the takedown of Genesis Market, but the impact on the cybercrime marketplace’s infrastructure may be limited.

      • LinuxSecuritySeveral Distros Release Important Advisories for Actively Exploited Linux Kernel Use After Free Vuln

        Several high-impact security vulnerabilities were recently discovered and fixed in the Linux kernel. These flaws could result in memory exhaustion, system crashes, denial of service (DoS), the exposure of sensitive information, cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, privilege escalation attacks, or the execution of arbitrary code.

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

      • American OversightAmerican Oversight Adds Wake TSI to Lawsuit Against Fulton County, Pa., for Election Review Records
      • Eesti RahvusringhäälingAimar Ventsel: Why are the Russians not protesting?

        That Russia is locked in an existential struggle is evidenced in the coffins coming back from Ukraine and fresh graves in the cemeteries. And those losses are adding to the hatred people have for the West, not the Kremlin. The fact that TV Rain, which now has 15 million viewers in Russia after moving to the Netherlands, changes nothing.

        Of course, Russian residents are not in favor of the war. They do not like it that they and their country are criticized in the West. They also do not like the fact they can no longer travel to Europe for vacation and studies. That several Western products that people had gotten used to have disappeared is also highly inconvenient, as is the fact that the ballooning cost of living is a problem for most people in Russia. However, none of it matters one little bit.

    • Environment

      • Scott FeeneyOne day of harassment, intimidation, and vandalism from Monkeybrains and Mission Kids

        Unfortunately, our efforts are strongly opposed by two newcomer businesses that feel entitled to park there for free, indefinitely: the private preschool Mission Kids and the ISP Monkeybrains. This Tuesday, their opposition crossed over into personal insults, harassment, intimidation, threats of violence, and the destruction of two of our garden beds—all over the course of three hours from noon to 3pm.

        These businesses know they have no serious legal argument to any rights to the parcel and that the neighbors don’t support their land grab. They’re desperate to hold onto their free parking, so they’re trying to create a toxic environment for our volunteers and visitors so we give up.

      • Eesti RahvusringhäälingScientists call for more action to reduce pharmaceutical residues in water

        Estonia has lower amounts of pharmaceutical residues in its waters than other more populous countries. However, scientists say the country should nevertheless develop a strategy to further reduce these levels.

      • The StrategistThe threat spectrum

        Planet A Updates to Australia’s emissions reduction ‘safeguard mechanism’ will limit new gas and coal investments while hard-capping total greenhouse gas emissions.

      • Energy/Transportation

        • Helsinki TimesElectric scooter parking reform begins in Helsinki city centre

          From now on, shared electric scooters and bicycles may only be parked in designated places in the city centre and parts of the inner city. Leaving an electric scooter or bicycle in other places in the area is unequivocally a parking violation.

          The parking reform will be implemented with regional road signs prohibiting the parking of shared electric scooters and bicycles.

        • Helsinki TimesFinnair to discontinue routes to Turku and Tampere

          FINNAIR on Wednesday announced its decision to discontinue flights to Turku and Tampere as of 1 May 2023.

          The Finnish majority state-owned airline revealed that the flights – the shortest in its domestic route network – will be replaced with coach services primarily because of the economic and environmental issues arising from their low passenger load factors, around 35 per cent.

        • Michael West Media"Only in Australia": Glencore greenwash scraps coal mine for even more toxic blue hydrogen

          Anglo-Swiss coal giant Glencore has confirmed it intends to transform the Wandoan mega coal mine into a feedstock for dirty hydrogen production in the Surat Basin hydrogen project. That means even more pollution than using the fuels directly, Callum Foote reports.

          Glencore has confirmed it will not pursue what would have been one of Queensland’s largest thermal coal mines and is instead doubling down on what analysts say is an increasingly dubious coal-fired hydrogen and ammonia project.

      • Wildlife/Nature

      • Overpopulation

        • uni StanfordEnvious and Deceived: 8 Billion and Counting – A Synopsis

          On my daughter Abby’s ninth birthday, I promised her “the greatest gift of all: I’m going to teach you ancient Greek. And just wait until you go to college—you’ll have your pick.” By the time she entered her senior year, Abby was singing Homer, while I dreamt of admissions officers hand-springing over her application.

        • RTLWhy are animal-to-human diseases on the rise?

          But above all, the expansion of human activities and increased interactions with wildlife increase the risk that viruses capable of infecting humans will "find" their host.

    • Finance

      • Michael West MediaAsian stocks slide as global recession worries weigh

        Asian stocks and US equity futures have sunk while bonds and the safe-haven US dollar and Japanese yen were bid as mounting evidence of a US slowdown fuelled worries for a global recession.

      • Michael West MediaAussies count coins and avoid rain with Easter at home

        Nearly two-thirds of Australians are staying home this Easter as a combination of cost of living pressures, wet weather and travel warnings€ scupper holiday plans for the long weekend.

      • WhichUKWhat's happening to the cost of renting?

        With demand outstripping supply in the rental market, tenants continue to be hit with high rent

      • Mexico News DailyMexico joins 10 countries in regional anti-inflation agreement

        The 11 nations agreed to a joint statement addressing increased regional trade and cooperation in an effort to mitigate inflation.

      • AxiosLayoffs via Zoom, once novel, will outlast the pandemic

        Born out of necessity in the pandemic, the once-reviled virtual layoff seems here to stay.

        Why it matters: The practice of firing people via Zoom or email is picking up steam alongside an uptick in layoffs — particularly among the professional classes where many folks are still working either fully or partly remotely.


        • "Asking somebody to commute into an office they rarely go to anyway, just to let them know they lost their job in a public setting feels cruel in a way that it never did before," says Andy Challenger, senior vice president at outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
      • AxiosJobless claims aren't as low as they seemed

        Pretty much every Thursday morning this year, we've had a head-scratching mystery about the number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits being exceptionally low, amid reports of layoffs and a softer job market.

      • Vice Media GroupDogecoin Holders Thank Elon Musk for the Pump, Now Waiting for the Dump

        "If he doesn’t say anything, but just removes the logo, will everyone get out at that point?” mused one Dogecoin investor.

      • Helsinki TimesSome German companies now offering work from vacation destinations

        New forms of work are only slowly gaining acceptance in Germany. Some 8 percent of German companies offer their employees the opportunity to also work from their vacation destination, finds the latest Randstad ifo Personnel Manager Survey. In some cases, this involves a reduction in working hours. “In the competition for skilled workers, this can be a means of giving employees a better work-life balance,” says Julia Freuding from the ifo Institute’s Fürth Branch.

      • Yahoo NewsUPDATE 2-Jes Staley attacks JPMorgan, demands separate trial over Jeffrey Epstein

        Jes Staley, the former JPMorgan Chase & Co private banking chief and Barclays Plc chief executive, accused JPMorgan of "slanderous" attacks as he seeks to delay a trial in the bank's lawsuit accusing him of concealing what he knew about Jeffrey Epstein.

      • The war for talent is over

        For nearly two decades, the battle for talent has shaped how firms around the world are run and governed. With firms deriving value mainly from their human capital, rather than from the physical assets they owned, a talented workforce came to be coveted more than plants or machines. In 2001, the celebrated management consultant Peter Drucker published an article entitled The Next Society, in which he argued that giving more freedom to what he called knowledge workers is essential, as the key battle of this century is the war for talent. And he was almost right.

      • Helsinki TimesSales of new flats have slowed to a crawl, reports YLE

        THE NUMBER of tower cranes on the horizon – an indication of how well the economy is doing, according to an old adage – has decreased, reports YLE.

        Data from Statistics Finland reveal that building contractors began construction on a total of 1,734 flats in January, signalling a drop of 835 from January 2021. At the same time, the number of vacant newly built flats is high partly because of a high number of newly completed flats and partly because of a slowdown in sales.

      • RFERLRuble Drops To Prewar Value Against Dollar

        The ruble fell against the U.S. dollar in trading on April 6 to the value it held just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

    • Censorship/Free Speech

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

    • Civil Rights/Policing

      • VOA NewsUN Tells Afghan Staff to Stay Home Until Taliban Clarifies Ban on Female Aid Workers

        This week’s order by the Taliban to fire all female employees was the first time the world body has received such an order since its inception in 1945. The order followed the Islamist group's previous edicts terminating women's right to work, education and many other basic liberties.

      • Teen VoguePretrial Detention Punishes Poor People for Being Unable to Afford Bail

        The selected essays below comprise the observations, reflections, and insights from students in the Bail Practicum after they litigated bail hearings for people who were detained because they are poor. In every case, students are not just advocates but direct witnesses to the harm, suffering, and deeply rooted unfairness embedded within the criminal legal system. These essays point to the myriad harms of pretrial detention that will persist unless transformative action is taken by the county.

      • The Straits TimesJapan's crackdown on truck driver overtime raises fears of economic breakdown

        It has sparked fears of a critical shortage of truck drivers that could leave a third of all cargo undelivered.

      • TwinCities Pioneer PressAre robot waiters the future? Some restaurants think so

        Many think robot waiters are the solution to the industry’s labor shortages. But others say they aren’t much more than a gimmick.

      • ACLUIn Michigan, a Historic Victory for Abortion Rights

        Last year’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade proved to be a major galvanizing moment for people who support abortion rights in communities across the country as some bans already on the books began to go into effect. One of those states is Michigan, where a grassroots coalition had growing concerns about an archaic 1931 abortion ban that could go into effect if the Supreme Court overturned Roe, and had already been working to prepare. Their tireless work put abortion rights on the ballot with Proposition 3, which secures the right to reproductive freedom in Michigan, protecting abortion, prenatal care, birth control, and all reproductive health care.

      • TwinCities Pioneer PressJustice Thomas reportedly took undisclosed luxury trips

        He didn't report them on financial disclosure forms, ProPublica reports.

      • NYPostClarence Thomas took luxury trips from billionaire GOP donor without disclosure: report

        Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has traveled aboard a major Republican donor's superyacht and personal jet for more than 20 years.

      • CoryDoctorowPluralistic: Clarence Thomas and the generosity of a far-right dark-money billionaire (06 Apr 2023)
      • AxiosSupreme Court ethics criticism grows louder with Clarence Thomas investigation

        A ProPublica investigation alleging Justice Clarence Thomas accepted luxury trips from an influential Republican megadonor is fueling calls for strict ethics guidelines on the Supreme Court.

        Why it matters: Recent controversies involving big donors and chummy D.C. friendships have put a harsh spotlight on the high court as public trust in the institution falls to historic lows.

      • uni MichiganThe complexities of growing up in an immigrant household

        One. Two. Three.€  I closed my eyes as each number echoed in my head and my anxiety grew. I focused on my internal counting, hoping to prevent a shut down. However, it couldn’t mask the sound of my family circling around me as they spoke about a deportation in our local Mexican store.

      • DedoimedoModern cars, touch interfaces - Highway to Hell
        I don't wanna be driving no smartphone, do you? Here's an article discussing the pointless trend of all-touch dashboard consoles in modern cars, focusing on safety, ergonomics, efficiency, proven driving test results with touch versus buttons, other considerations, and more. Enjoy.

        [...]

        As you well know, I love cars. I also hate stupidity. The question is, which of the two emotions is stronger? Recently, I started having to face this question while driving more recent models from various manufacturers. I noticed a steady and worrying trend of the "cockpit digitalization", that is more and more stuff being moved away from physical controls into pointless touch interfaces. At first, it was trivial things. But now, it's come down to important things like media and climate control.

        This prompted me to write this article. While I normally "only" do car reviews in my car section, that does not mean I have to exclusively limit myself to just this domain. Furthermore, I think this topic is so important that is merits discussion. Well, not really discussion. More sort of disdain. Let us begin.

    • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

    • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • Ruben SchadeThe brave new world of procedurally-generated stores

        Have you ever had a sense of déjà vu browsing the web, as though you’ve seen something before? Wait, as opposed to a sense of déjà vu having not seen something before? How does that make sense? Where am I? What am I looking at? Have I made this mistake before?

        Well today I’m thrilled, excited, and amazed to introduce you to the Lese store! Not your thing? What about Razo? Too expensive? I’m sure Buto has you covered. Or Zono. Or Dazo. Or Bupo, surely you can trust a name like that.

    • Monopolies

      • Hollywood ReporterInside Amazon Studios: Big Swings Hampered by Confusion and Frustration

        Like Apple, Amazon is not a traditional entertainment company but a huge retailer with a side hustle in Hollywood. Amazon’s view is that the more hours you spend watching Prime Video, the more likely you are to renew your membership and the more likely you are to shop on the site. As Amazon, like Netflix, pursues overseas growth in the wake of saturation in the U.S., Salke notes that in some countries like South Africa and Argentina, Amazon’s programming is the tip of the spear, entering the territory before retail sales or fast, free shipping is even available. “International is everything,” she says. “It is our business to deliver global shows for a global audience.”

      • Ars TechnicaAmazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure face antitrust probe

        The UK’s communications watchdog has called for a probe into Microsoft and Amazon’s dominance of the country’s cloud computing market in the latest challenge to the tech giants from global regulators.

        Ofcom said on Wednesday it was “particularly concerned” by the practices of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, which together control between 60 and 70 percent of the UK cloud market. It has proposed referring the sector to the Competition and Markets Authority for further investigation.

        Cloud computing is dominated by Amazon and Microsoft, and has become a crucial driver of revenue at the tech giants.

      • Patents

        • Litigation Financing Transparency Must be a Global Effort

          Despite varying widely, the structure of legal systems among democratic, free countries are built on consistent underlying principles. Promoting equality, freedom, and justice is a common theme among them.

        • Kluwer Patent BlogSunrise hickups at the Unified Patent Court [Ed: The biggest issue with the Unified Patent Court is that it's illegal, unconstitutional, and a corruption of the justice/court system, not some technical glitch]

          The Unified Patent Court is struggling once more with technical issues. In the meantime, the registrar has stated he cannot give legal advice on the UPC's opt-out procedure. Two days ago, the court announced that technical maintenance was needed due to technical difficulties, and that the CMS would not be available for three days [...]

        • Kluwer Patent BlogGilead Sciences v NuCana – two trials for the price of one (or two)

          On 21 March 2023, Meade J gave a bumper judgment in the revocation action brought by Gilead in respect of two of NuCana’s patents from the same family (EP (UK) 2 955 190 and EP (UK) 3 904 365, the “Patents”), which relate to nucleoside analogues.

      • Trademarks

        • TTAB BlogTTABlog Test: Which of These Three USPTO Refusals Was/Were Reversed?

          In re Cameron Sexton for State Representative, Serial No. 90211624 (March 31, 2023) [not precedential] (Opinion by Cindy B. Greenbaum). [Refusal to register PEOPLE BEFORE POLITICS for poster, t-shirts, political information services, political fundraising services, and on-line journals featuring politics, on the ground that the proposed mark fails to function as a trademark.]

      • Copyrights

        • Dennis Crouch/Patently-OFederal Circuit Narrows Scope for Copyrighting Software Function

          The copyright lawsuit between the data-software company SAS Institute and its scrappy copycat World Programming has been interesting to follow over the past several years, and the Federal Circuit has now issued a controversial opinion in the case.€  SAS Inst. v. World Programming Ltd., — F.4th — (Fed. Cir. 2023).€  The majority opinion authored by Judge Reyna and joined by Judge Wallach affirmed the lower court ruling that SAS failed to establish copyrightability of its claimed program elements.€  Writing in dissent, Judge Newman argued that the majority’s rejection of copyrightability represents a “far-reaching change” not supported by either precedent or good policy.€  I called this outcome controversial. The outcome would also be controversial had Judge Newman’s position prevailed.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



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