If you're tired of paying for Microsoft Office features you don't use, here are free alternatives to Word you can download and start using today.
Darktable got a new major release few days ago! Here's how to install it in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10, Ubuntu 23.04 via PPA. Darktable 4.4.0 is a big release with many new features.
Download managers are great. They make the downloading process a lot easier and faster.
A new release of firewalld, version 2.0.0, is available.
This is a major release. The major version is being bumped symbolically to reflect significant changes done in commit f4d2b80adc84 ("fix(policy): disallow zone drifting"). It does not contain any deliberate breaking changes.
In this TechRepublic How to Make Tech Work video, Jack Wallen shows you how to install Docker on Linux machines.
Jack Wallen demonstrates how to attach and remove nodes from clusters in Docker Swarm to scale your services up and down as needed.
In this TechRepublic How to Make Tech Work video, Jack Wallen demonstrates how to attach and remove nodes from clusters in Docker Swarm to scale your services up and down as needed.
Forgot your Portainer admin password? Learn how to use a handy tool to help you reset it with a tutorial from Jack Wallen.
Forgot your Portainer admin password? Learn how to use a handy tool to help you reset it with a tutorial from Jack Wallen.
Budgie Desktop Environment offers an enticing alternative to the default GNOME desktop for Debian users.
In the sprawling ecosystem of e-book management tools, Calibre stands as a behemoth, boasting a wealth of features and functionalities.
Here we go through the commands available to install Java 11 or 8 on Amazon Linux 2023 for production or business applications in your cloud infrastructure. Java is available through the Amazon 2023 repositories as Corretto.
Not getting sound from your Bluetooth headset? Read the following steps to troubleshoot the issue: A similar kind of incident happened to me when I tried to pair my Bluetooth headset with my laptop. After purchasing a new headset, I decided to test the audio quality.
The Wine development release 8.11 is now available.
What's new in this release: - More mouse cursor clipping improvements. - Support for TLS alerts. - Increased available address space in WoW64 mode. - Various bug fixes.
The source is available at:
https://dl.winehq.org/wine/source/8.x/wine-8.11.tar.xz
Binary packages for various distributions will be available from:
https://www.winehq.org/download
You will find documentation on https://www.winehq.org/documentation
You can also get the current source directly from the git repository. Check https://www.winehq.org/git for details.
Wine is available thanks to the work of many people. See the file AUTHORS in the distribution for the complete list.
Dear Tumbleweed users and hackers,
Finally back on the weekly review cycle – are we taking bets on how long I can keep it up (summertime is ‘terrible’ – it motivates too much to take Fridays off). Anyway, even without me there, you are used to Tumbleweed rolling. Lately, all the excellent work on Staging Is being performed by Ana. During this week, we managed to publish again 6 snapshots (the 7th was in QA, but took slightly longer to test than the next one needed to build).
The 6 snapshots (0614, 0616, 0617, 0619, 0620, and 0620) brought you those changes:
- Python 3.11 has been set as the default Python interpreter
- libzypp: fix for stricter http/2 RFC 9113 server implementations: trim custom headers
- poppler 23.06.0
- LLVM 16.0.6
- node.JS 20.3.0
- Mozilla Firefox 114.0.2
- KDE Plasma 5.27.6
Red Hat in violation of the GPL? Discuss!
The s390x cluster at the Red Hat Westford location required emergency work on storage which brought down the z15 server which the Fedora and CentOS Stream builders are on. Work is expected to be completed at 19:00 UTC 2023-06-23 but may require further work to bring back builders.
Based on Debian 12, Proxmox VE 8.0 comes with Linux kernel 6.2, a new Ceph Enterprise repository, and improved resource mappings.
Arduino Portenta C33 is the latest board from the Arduino Pro family which the company dubs a “high-performance, low-price” solution based on a 200 MHz Renesas RA6M5 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller and equipped with a ESP32-C3 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy module. The new board provides a cost-effective alternative to the Portenta H7 and X8 boards, but still offers wireless connectivity, a secure element for industrial-grade security, and compatibility with Portenta, MKR, and Nicla components.
We’re holding another edition of the RISC-V microconference for Plumbers€ at 2023. Broadly speaking anything related to both Linux and RISC-V is€ on topic, but discussions tend to involve the following categories: [...]
Every R package needs a hex sticker. Here's how you can generate one in seconds using generative AI.
When perf Is Too Slow
Keen-eyed readers of the blog will have noticed over the past couple weeks an obvious omission in my furious benchmark-related handwaving.
I didn’t mention glmark2.
[...]
Yes, that glmark2.
Except my results were a bit different.
The thing about glmark2 is it’s just a CPU benchmark of drivers at this point. None of the rendering is in any way intensive, GPUs have gotten far more powerful than they were at the time the thing was written, and CPUs are now pushing tens of thousands of frames per second.
Yes, tens of thousands.
The “scipy.stats.pearsonr()” function in Python is a powerful tool for calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient between variables.
The “numpy.append()” method and the “numpy.concatenate()” method of the “Numpy” module are used to append the NumPy array in Python.
In Python, the “numpy.loadtxt()” function of the “Numpy” module is utilized to load the data from the text file and retrieve it as “ndarray”.
If you recently generated a new API token on crates.io, you might have noticed our new API token creation page and some of the new features it now supports.
Previously, when clicking the "New Token" button on https://crates.io/settings/tokens, you were only provided with the option to choose a token name, without any additional choices. We knew that we wanted to offer our users more flexibility, but in the previous user interface that would have been difficult, so our first step was to build a proper "New API Token" page.
Pockets of warped time in distant galaxies could shed light on dark energy, dark matter, and the existence of an undiscovered “fifth force.”
Researchers created a new design for computer memory that could improve performance while also lowering the energy demands of internet and communications technologies, which are expected to consume nearly a third of global electricity in the next ten years.
The study was published in the journal, 'Science Advances.'
3M will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle claims over the dumping of so-called forever chemicals in drinking water supplies across the US. The legal bill slapped on the company, infamous for creating the chemical C8 for Scotchgard, will cover not just existing claims but also future ones by municipal water…
A new U.S. intelligence report rejects several points raised by those who argue COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese lab. It instead reiterates that American spy agencies remain divided over how the pandemic began. Some think it was caused by a lab accident; others think it naturally transmitted from animals to humans. The report was issued Friday at the behest of Congress, which in March passed a bill giving U.S. intelligence 90 days to declassify intelligence related to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The report says spy agencies can’t draw conclusions from allegations that some Wuhan researchers fell sick in fall 2019 or that the Wuhan lab experimented with genetically engineered viruses.
The document also explains that some scientists at the Wuhan lab fell ill in the fall of 2019 with symptoms “consistent with but not diagnostic of COVID-19.”
though the city may yet prevail later in the case, if it can show enough facts justifying the mandate.
So the California Court of Appeal has held, concluding that there is enough of a factual dispute (under California's plaintiff-friendly pleading standards) for the case to go forward.
The head of US intelligence said Friday that there was no evidence that the Covid-19 virus was created in the Chinese government’s Wuhan research lab.
A major revelation about researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology emerged this week. We still can’t say we’re any closer to the truth.
Starting 1 July 2023, it is no longer possible to get reimbursements from Kela for travel expenses related to COVID-19 vaccinations and tests. The payment of reimbursements for expenses related to COVID-19 tests and vaccinations at private healthcare providers will also end.
On the basis of temporary changes to the Health Insurance Act, Kela has paid reimbursements for travel expenses related to COVID-19 and for expenses related to COVID-19 tests and vaccinations at private healthcare providers.
According to officials, South Africa and Lesotho are in talks to recover the bodies and bring them home.
Progress roundup: Rastafarians end hair discrimination in Malawi, and an opponent of female genital mutilation wins the Templeton Prize in Somaliland.
A pair of recent high-profile cyberattacks are putting a spotlight back on a hacking tactic that's growing in popularity.
The big picture: A number of supply chain attacks have already impacted organizations this year — and despite the name, the attacks have nothing to do with better-known trade supply chains.
- Instead, in the cybersecurity world, a supply chain attack refers to a cyberattack on companies' software vendors, or their software supply chain.
How it works: Supply chain attacks often start with hackers targeting a single entity — typically a software provider — in the hopes of accessing information from that organization's customers.
The National Security Agency (NSA) has released mitigation guidance to help organizations stave off BlackLotus UEFI bootkit infections.
The diffoscope maintainers are pleased to announce the release of diffoscope version
243
. This version includes the following changes:[ Chris Lamb ] * Drop Jenkins build reference in README.rst. [ Ed Maste ] * Update FreeBSD package names [ Mattia Rizzolo ] * Improve the documentation on to produce that binary blob that in the arsc comparator.
There are scripts in EasyOS that have first two lines like this (for example, /usr/sbin/bootmanager):
WHOIAM="$(whoami)"
[ "${WHOIAM}" != "root" ] && exec sudo -A ${0} ${@}The 'sudo -A' means to run an app to ask for a password. The file /etc/sudo.conf has this:
# sudo 1.7.2 required askpass in /etc/sudoers, but 1.8.1p2 reports that as a syntax error
# and requires it in this file (see: http://www.gratisoft.us/sudo/man1.8.0/sudo.man.html)
Path askpass /usr/sbin/askpass/usr/sbin/askpass is a shell script that brings up a little GUI asking for the root password, which is then passed via stdin to 'sudo', and the script, 'bootmanager' for example, will then run as the root user.
This is a mechanism that I developed in 2015 for Quicky Linux. However, 'sudo' no longer works. Easy uses busybox utilities for password management. For example, to set the root password in the 'init' script in the initrd:
ePW="$(cryptpw -m SHA512 ${rootPW})" #note: busybox mkpasswd is an alias for cryptpw
grep -v -E '^zeus|^root' /easy_ro/easy_sfs/etc/shadow > /mnt/${WKG_DEV}/${WKG_DIR}.session/etc/shadow
echo "zeus:${ePW}:17693:0:99999:7:::
root:${ePW}:17693:0:99999:7:::" >> /mnt/${WKG_DEV}/${WKG_DIR}.session/etc/shadow
MOVEit hack: Personal information of about 769,000 retired California employees and 2.5 million Genworth Financial policyholders were exposed.
Several remotely exploitable security issues were found in the Bind Internet Domain Name Server. It was discovered that Bind incorrectly handled the cache size limit (CVE-2023-2828) and the recursive-clients quota (CVE-2023-2911). With a low attack complexity and a high availability impact, these bugs have received a National Vulnerability Database severity rating of ''High''.
Generative AI can enhance digital security, but it can’t —€ and shouldn’t — replace humans that are essential to fight malicious hackers.
Weekly cybersecurity news roundup that provides a summary of noteworthy stories that might have slipped under the radar for the week of June 19, 2023.
The US government's cybersecurity agency adds VMware and Roundcube server flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
VMware published software updates to address multiple memory corruption vulnerabilities in vCenter Server that could lead to remote code execution.
I get UPS phishing spam on my phone all the time. I never click on it, because it’s so obviously spam. Turns out that hackers have been harvesting actual UPS delivery data from a Canadian tracking tool for its phishing SMSs.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install Passbolt on Debian 12.
How do we counter the dangers resulting from the ongoing, worldwide legislation like Chat control, the EARN IT Act, and the so-called "Online Safety Bill" that threatens end-to-end encryption, and privacy in general? Take action! Write a letter to the appropriate agencies to let them know that you value your privacy and the privacy of the people around you, and remind them of their duty to protect it.
Multinational tech giants Microsoft, IBM, Cisco Systems, and Dell Technologies are complicit in Israel's human rights violations, enabling surveillance, data collection, and control over Palestinians in the occupied territories.
As many as 700 migrants are feared to have died after an overloaded fishing vessel capsized last week off the coast of Greece. As search and rescue efforts continue with dwindling expectations, the Greek Coast Guard is facing backlash over its failure to help rescue passengers before the boat sank. Most of the migrants were women and children; many were from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria and Palestine. They are presumed victims of what may be one the deadliest migrant shipwrecks ever recorded, yet the story has received far less public attention than the search for five passengers aboard a submersible to view the wreck of the Titanic. All five of those passengers were confirmed by the U.S. Coast Guard to have likely died Sunday, days before wall-to-wall media coverage began to speculate about their plight.
At least 14 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank over the last three days, making it one of the deadliest weeks since the start of 2023. Among those killed were two youths, ages 15 and 14.
Eight Chinese warplanes crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line.
Midnight Oil frontman and former Labor cabinet minister Peter Garrett has again condemned Australia’s security deal with the United States and United Kingdom, calling the $368 billion agreement costly and risky.
Mr Garrett said the decision to purchase a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines was a huge gamble and should not be allowed to proceed, while speaking at a public forum in Melbourne.
This week, Israel has launched several attacks on Palestinians with weapons used in the conflict for the first time in nearly 20 years, including deploying U.S.-made Apache helicopter gunships inside the West Bank and firing a targeted assassination aerial strike. Jewish settlers have also raided Palestinian villages in the West Bank, attacking residents and setting fire to homes and vehicles. Mariam Barghouti, senior Palestine correspondent for Mondoweiss, calls the attacks “an intensification to completely take over Palestine.” She adds that the growing violence is reflective of the leadership of Israel’s minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who recently called for the renewing of Defensive Shield, a military operation which used similar weaponry in 2002 that has been condemned for “crimes against humanity.” This all comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right
Russia has increased the number of dolphins guarding the Sevastopol naval base on the Black Sea in occupied Ukrainian territory, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.
European Commission Speech Brussels, 23 Jun 2023 A generation of Ukrainian children has experienced more than a year of, fear, loss tragedy and violence.
Long a low-profile Russian businessman, mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has taken the spotlight in Russia. That’s by posing a direct challenge to Russia’s generals over the war in Ukraine. Prigozhin is owner of the Kremlin-allied Wagner mercenary group, which has played a central role in Russia’s fight in Ukraine. Now, Prigozhin is dramatically escalating months of scathing criticism of the Kremlin’s conduct of the war by calling for an armed uprising to oust Russia’s defense minister. It’s the most dangerous role yet for the 62-year-old Prigozhin, a onetime owner of swanky restaurants who came to be known as “Putin’s Chef.”
The Russian owner of the private military contractor Wagner has made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin is taking the threat, security has been heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine. While the outcome of the confrontation remains unclear, it appears likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort as Kyiv’s forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.
Once a low-profile businessman who benefited from having President Vladimir Putin as a powerful patron, Yevgeny Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight with Russia’s war in Ukraine
Russia's FSB security services launched a criminal probe into calls to stage "armed mutiny" after the head of the Wagner mercenary group vowed to resist Moscow's military leadership, officials said Friday. The announcement follows statements from Yevgeny Prigozhin accusing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of ordering a rocket strike on Wagner’s field camps in Ukraine. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
In the recently liberated Ukrainian village of Storozheve, a Ukrainian flag flies above the ruins of a building while the corpses of fallen Russian soldiers line the roadsides. “Z” symbols painted on walls and doors bear testament to more than a year of Russian occupation. The town is just one of several recaptured by Ukraine in recent weeks, with Kyiv saying it has retaken around 90 square kilometres€ of territory in the eastern Donetsk region.
The EU agreed on Wednesday to issue their eleventh sanctions package against Russia for continuing the war in Ukraine. The new package aims to prevent countries and companies from circumventing sanctions already in effect.
The United States, Britain, and France demanded on June 23 that the United Nations urgently investigate Russia’s reported use of Iranian-provided drones in the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin is accusing a Russian mercenary of an attempted coup—a stunning development that could change the course of the war in Ukraine.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said a statement by the chief of the Russia-controlled part of Ukraine's Kherson region that Russian armed forces may attack the Giurgiulesti Bridge, which connects Romania and Moldova, shows "how important it is that Romania is part of NATO."
The Russian owner of the private military contractor Wagner has made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin is taking the threat, security has been heightened in Moscow and in Rostov-on-Don, which is home to the Russian military headquarters for the southern region and also oversees the fighting in Ukraine. While the outcome of the confrontation remains unclear, it appears likely to further hinder Moscow’s war effort as Kyiv’s forces were probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.
Ukraine counteroffensive will be a big test for the concept that Western weapons and training can help turn back Russian invasion
Moscow says it has detained several people it claims are linked to Ukraine who were trying to buy radioactive material and smuggle it out of the country to cause an incident "to discredit Russia."
In a move that could restrict the flow of Ukrainian grain, Romanian officials are considering measures to give local farmers priority access to the Black Sea port of Constanta during the harvest season.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ordered the creation of a special commission to carry out an audit of heads of military draft offices in regions across the country.
Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin released a series of announcements on June 23, accusing Russia’s Defense Ministry of intentionally striking Wagner positions. “We’re 25,000 strong, and we’re going to get to the bottom of the lawlessness in this country,” he said, adding Wagner Group had decided to “stop the evil that [Russia’s] military leadership is carrying out.” He said of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, “This creature will be stopped.” Here’s a timeline of all Prigozhin’s announcements.
Ukrainian state-owned energy company Naftogaz said it has taken legal action in the United States to recover $5 billion awarded by an arbitration court in The Hague as compensation for damages and lost property in Crimea.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has launched a criminal probe after what it said was a "call for an armed mutiny" by Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin says that Wagner Group actions directed against Russia’s Defense Ministry are not a military coup.
Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin says the Russian Defense Ministry launched a rocket strike on a Wagner camp. He posted video footage reportedly showing the aftermath of the attack.
Germany intends to provide Ukraine with 45 more Gepard, or Cheetah, anti-aircraft tanks by the end of the year in its defensive struggle against Russia. The plan was announced by the head of the Ukraine Situation Center of the German Defense Ministry, Brigadier General Christian Freuding, in the June 25 edition of the newspaper Die Welt in comments seen in advance by dpa. A total of 34 Gepards have been delivered, and 15 more would be added in the coming weeks. "In addition, we want to deliver up to another 30 Gepard tanks towards the end of the year in cooperation with the US," Freuding said.
Africa’s Ukraine-Russia peace mission represents a significant milestone for the continent. It is the first time African states have taken the lead to seek a peaceful resolution for a conflict outside Africa. The delegation comprised leaders and representatives from seven countries – Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Egypt, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and led by South Africa.
Russia’s Defense Ministry is circulating an announcement stating that “all of the reports and video footage from Yevgeny Prigozhin circulating on social media and allegedly showing ‘a Defense Ministry strike on Wagner Group rear camps’ do not correspond to reality and are an informational false flag.”
Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has called on all Russians to join him in his campaign against the Russian Defense Ministry.
Shortly after noon Moscow time on Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin posted an audio message to Telegram responding to Vladimir Putin’s earlier emergency address to the Russian people. (The president, without using Prigozhin’s name, vowed that he and his supporters will “suffer an inevitable punishment” and will “answer before the law and before our people.”) We’ve translated Prigozhin’s response in its entirety.
On Saturday morning, a video appeared on Telegram that appears to show “negotiations” between Yevgeny Prigozhin, Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, and Deputy Chief of Staff Vladimir Alexeyev at the Southern Military District’s headquarters in Rostov-on-Don. The previous evening, Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of carrying out a missile attack on a Wagner Group camp and announced his units were setting out on a “march of justice” against Russia’s military leadership. Overnight, Wagner fighters cordoned off multiple military and administrative buildings in Rostov-on-Don. Meduza is publishing a transcript of the conversation between Prigozhin, Yevkurov, and Alexeyev heard in the video.
Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee announced that the Federal Security Service (FSB) has opened a criminal case against Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin for calling for an armed rebellion.
Multnomah County, which includes the city of Portland, is suing major oil and coal companies along with industry groups for more than $51 billion in harms caused by extreme heat.
The Church of England has come to the conclusion there is no saving fossil fuel companies from the error of their ways when it comes to sustainability and climate change.
Participants at the Paris summit on finance and climate stopped short of a deal to create a tax on greenhouse gas emissions produced from international shipping.
The United States’ special climate envoy John Kerry assesses efforts to secure funding for climate action and the green transition in an interview with FRANCE 24 on the sidelines of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris.
South African President Ramaphosa noted that the aspirations of the countries of the South will not materialize€ as long as global governance regimes and institutions remain the same.
Only 2.4 percent of key global climate funds can be classified as supporting child-responsive activities despite the fact that children bear the brunt of the climate crisis.
As Finland enjoys the warm temperatures of summer, the midsummer celebrations are in full swing. However, the unusually hot weather and dry soil bring along the risks of forest fires that cannot be easily extinguished even with light rainfall. According to the accident statistics of the rescue authorities, the number of wildfires this year has already exceeded last year's figures by more than a quarter, and June is not even over yet.
Just four students remain in the school located in a village just 10km away from Bangkok.
Temperatures top 41 degrees, prompting concerns about energy shortage
According to the nation's weather service, the “anticyclonic circulation” will weaken on Friday, bringing millions a respite from the heat.
The heat wave scorching much of Mexico, Texas and parts of New Mexico is forecast to worsen and last into the week of July 4, weather forecast models and National Weather Service (NWS) guidance show.
Why it matters: Extreme heat is the top weather-related killer in the U.S., and long-duration heat with little overnight relief makes this event particularly hazardous.
Zoom in: Rio Grande Village, Texas, already has seen its high temperature reach 118€°F, 2 degrees away from the all-time state record.
An Australian battery materials start-up is accelerating into production to drive more energy-efficient electric vehicles.
The United States is bankrolling manufacturing as part of its clean energy push, including commercially ready technology it can lure into its domestic supply chain from close allies.
11 passengers required treatment at hospital.
More than 190 countries agreed Monday on a plan to preserve 30% of the planet’s lands and waters by 2030 in order to protect biodiversity, which is rapidly declining due to human activity.
Within three days of the new minimum wage announcement, the lira's depreciation against the US dollar reduced its value from 482 to 452 dollars.
Police in Istanbul say they detained Tajik citizen Shamil Hukumatov on June 22 on suspicion of being a leader of the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) extremist organization.
Sierra Leoneans will vote Saturday in fiercely contested presidential and parliamentary elections, amid international calls for peace and a cost-of-living crisis that helped spark deadly riots last year.
Malian voters overwhelmingly approved changes to the constitution in a referendum, marking a key step in the ruling junta's declared plans to restore civilian rule, provisional results showed Friday.
Just a day before he was due to release his manifesto, Sierra Leonean presidential contender Samura Kamara was busy writing in depth about the West African country's justice system.
Amnesty International (AI) accused Spain and Morocco on Friday of covering up and failing to investigate the deaths of at least 37 migrants at the border of Melilla, a Spanish enclave city in northwest Africa.
I hadn’t planned on doing “theme weeks,” but somehow the last two weeks have turned into that. Last week ended up being all about the most ridiculous of the “Debate me, bro!” antivaxxers issuing bogus challenges to “debate” vaccines, who then doxxed and bullied a vaccine advocate in order to silence him, all while denying being a doxxing legal thug issuing bogus threats of libel suits. I’m referring, of course, to tech bro turned risibly silly antivaxxer who pivoted from “new school” anti-COVID-19 vaccine misinformation to the hoariest of “old school” antivax conspiracy theories, Steve Kirsch. Speaking of “old school” antivaxxers, this week has been all about longtime antivax conspiracy theorist turned Presidential candidate for the 2024 Democratic nomination, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. When last we left RFK Jr. earlier this week, his antivax misinformation-and conspiracy theory-filled performance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, followed by his bogus “challenge” to debate vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez, had been dominating social media earlier in the week. So why return to him again, so soon? Why go back to the well a third time in one week?
In India, a conspiracy theory known as "love jihad" is being perpetuated by Hindu nationalist groups who claim Muslim communities are orchestrating a takeover by seducing and converting Hindu women. Online platforms have become breeding grounds for fear-mongering posts warning of the danger of trusting Muslim men. Drawing on firsthand accounts from victims accused of love jihad, the FRANCE 24 Observers team unravels the web of disinformation and propaganda associated with this divisive narrative.
In a 7-to-2 decision, the court gave a narrow reading to a statute that made it a crime to encourage unauthorized immigrants to come to or stay in the United States.
Germany-based media-culture-arts organizations made a joint statement and criticized the Turkish public broadcaster for its role in the financing and broadcasting of the production defaming Osman Kavala for whom there is no final verdict in the trial he stands.
Address at Free Speech Event in London, with Russell Brand and Michael Shellenberger
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner launched legal action against Twitter on Thursday demanding information about the platform’s strategies to combat online hate. The move comes in response to a significant increase in complaints regarding online hate on Twitter, particularly following the acquisition of the company by Elon Musk in October 2022.
Move over, Webster’s—Elon Musk apparently runs the dictionary now. And wouldn’t you know it: Musk’s dictionary is weird and transphobic.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus discussed potentially ousting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from the conservative group during a closed-door meeting on Friday morning, three sources familiar with the conversation confirmed to Axios.
We’re nearing the end of Pride month, and even right-wingers are getting confused about what they’re supposed to boycott next. Since just April, conservatives—enraged over ads demonstrating any hint of LGBT-inclusiveness—have launched boycotts against the Los Angeles Dodgers, LEGO, Kellogg’s, Nike, North Face, Kohl’s, PetSmart, Build-A-Bear, J. Crew, Maybelline, Adidas, Citibank, and the video game Call of Duty. Aspiring journalist and podcaster Megyn Kelly seriously fretted aloud that teen boys won’t want to jerk off to a trans woman’s Sports Illustrated cover. The unintentionally hilarious Texas Family Project earnestly sad-tweeted that they “take no pleasure in reporting that Cracker Barrel has fallen” in response to the restaurant chain’s pro-Pride messaging. Fox News, which has a generic Pride month post on its website, was accused of being on the “woke bandwagon” and targeted for protest by several big, dumb conservative Twitter accounts. Every other day, another company vaguely signals its most milquetoast support for LGBTQ folks, and conservatives are finding it impossible to keep up. It’s enough to send right-wingers into fits of delusional paranoia. For real.
The government had refused to lift the controversial ban last year, despite lifting all other Covid-related measures.
Many communities nationwide are home to Airbnb listings but no hotels, the company says in a new blog post framing that data point as evidence that it helps boost what it calls "dispersed travel."
Why it matters: Airbnb's presence in smaller communities outside traditional tourism zones is controversial.
One day each week, the Rev. Erika Ferguson puts on leggings and a sweatshirt, pulls her hair back under a baseball cap, and heads to a North Texas airport to meet a group of people who need abortions. She shepherds the strangers through security and onto a short flight to Albuquerque, N.M. There, the group spends the day at an abortion clinic, and later they watch rom-coms in an office packed with cots, tea, and homemade cookies. The women Ferguson has accompanied represent a cross section of Texans—Black, Latina, Asian, and white. There have been rape victims and teenagers. There have been moms with teenage children at home. “I’ve taken women from all walks of life, from all ages,” Ferguson told me.1
Ferguson greets the group by explaining why she is there. She has had two abortions, one at 14 and one at 18. More than 30 years later, the warmth she felt from the workers at the clinic who cared for her animates her decision to help these travelers. She calls the airlifts, which are coordinated by the Albuquerque-based New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (NM RCRC), the “Tubman Travel Project.” The journeys made by people fleeing abortion bans remind her of those taken by enslaved people fleeing to free states.2
What we're watching: Hurd joins two other Black Americans in the GOP race — Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and conservative radio host Larry Elder.
To those who see refugees as a burden or threat, border security is a zero-sum game that can be “won” by keeping potential asylum seekers out or by forcing them into other countries.
Note: Includes abortions provided by clinics, private medical offices, hospitals and virtual-only clinics. Months with less than 10 abortions are represented as 0; Data: #WeCount/Society of Family Planning and Census Bureau; Map: Jacque Schrag/Axios
In the year since the Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling, Planned Parenthood Minnesota's clinics have performed more abortions on out-of-state patients, along with more second-trimester abortions that are typically outlawed by conservative-led states, officials say.
The UPC cases filed so far are comprised of three revocation proceedings, two preliminary injunction applications, two application for preventative measures, and 14 infringement proceedings. It is also clear that Germany currently leads the way as regards parties filing infringement cases at the country’s local and central UPC divisions.
The USPTO’s invalidation of both patents involved in the ongoing legal battle between Intel and VLSI is the most recent development in a long and contentious debate among those who watch Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings closely.
The second major new Senate patent bill focuses on reconstructing AIA trials — particularly by reducing availability and power of inter partes review and post grant proceedings.€ The bipartisan Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act was introduced by Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.),Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).
The USPTO refused to register the mark SRF & Design, shown here, for (inter alia) physical fitness training services, finding confusion likely with the standard character mark SRF for "shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, hoodies, hats, pants, sweatpants, sweaters, pullovers, headwear." Not surprisingly, the Board found the marks to be "very similar" in sound, appearance, connotation, and commercial impression. But what about the goods and services? How do you think this came out? In re Surf Ready Fitness, Serial No. 90548268 (June 21, 2023) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Christen M. English).
Applicant argued that the spacing in its mark would lead consumers to pronounce it as three individual letters, whereas the cited mark would likely be pronounced "surf." The Board was unimpressed, pointing out that there is no correct pronunciation of a mark and that applicant's mark might also be pronounced "surf." The circular design element in applicant's mark€ would likely be perceived "merely as an outline or carrier for the literal element of Applicant’s mark." Moreover, the cited standard character mark could be displayed in the same font as applicant's mark.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) thinks the use of AI models to imitate the voices of musicians is an act of copyright infringement. And it’s going to battle with Discord on the back of that view.
The #PreserveRockwood benefit concert series begins with a performance from Sara Bareilles on June 30, with many more to come over the next few months in a continued effort to keep the independent venue alive.
Facebook and Instagram users in Canada will be blocked from viewing Canadian news, parent-company Meta said Thursday, after Ottawa passed a bill requiring digital giants to pay for such content.
Two weeks ago, Canada’s Heritage Minister, Pablo Rodriguez, who has been the main Canadian government official pushing for C-18, the bullshit link tax bill, that is just a corrupt wealth transfer from one disliked industry to a favored industry, insisted that it was “unacceptable” that Meta might stop allowing links to news if the bill passed.