𝕿𝖊𝖈𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 Bulletin for Saturday, September 18, 2021 ┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅ Generated Sun 19 Sep 02:39:49 BST 2021 Created by Dr. Roy Schestowitz (𝚛𝚘𝚢 (at) 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚣 (dot) 𝚌𝚘𝚖) Full hyperlinks for navigation omitted but are fully available in the originals The corresponding HTML versions are at 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈 Latest in 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒕𝒙𝒕 and older bulletins can be found at 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒕𝒙𝒕-𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 Full IPFS index in 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒊𝒑𝒇𝒔 and as plain text in 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒊𝒑𝒇𝒔/𝒕𝒙𝒕 Gemini index for the day: gemini://gemini.techrights.org/2021/09/18/ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐒 ════════════════════════════════════╕ Previous bulletins in IPFS (past 21 days, in chronological order): QmbgQV95aJhhYgZGckMiakNeEJ9krzrNcrk4zKkbrd4BuL QmREjs3AhXCDGyuDLhJQs4HRtxWdtcC2X5PyZCi7atJ2WK QmZgjV9VWmqRr2AHmnw53nRRPSBz1FStdKpPNWXKJpwnxG QmPXDc7XRSN2iYifnk9Qy37k49nZ1PVFnUcWSu4ZYabWm9 QmSqRsSaXYEhkCyiyX1JjT7EvRcR9y8SJru8vSVjuiWdEx QmWeVT3WPnEgrznV9jLtoyGa5UDHpbqvCDpFqwuPKnej6m QmbaP7TZ7mUw8pw3WX69cx9hqp8d55jJqWB83KGsmqW96k QmVBf9Bmz3JivTW38Gq44pXRkh6W4noQBtoFameFgXZ8DU QmWGNG7373TNKDtEYo1q57qkgigkeBH51AH8LfDuQhET94 Qmd1j5aPQfEXy7BPbGLFEauDF57nERBXCoCyByfVV29jwD QmQArT4hGt9DGbzeQe46houAtDEoRgo6yuyQNTYhu4fUWa QmRQrMxBHfwwYFakm7kaFrHCGe51siakxNU6w9Z1SnmmSD QmcMxMu1mpdqgj3DsyKreqYUhQWgSSuXM2hkpD8u5qhFQx QmUnQ1KgLk5TqpmioRpKSTQMgTjk8uPKTKhNxDBwtV545z QmUPLCS39mA6XaZmdzwh1WbF8ry8hiVAzuaf4P9A1AmKbd QmNdAU6bFwZMUbnvK1m3e7aSwoHNFY97JdqWjpMVzvVT6V QmSDxEDkdmunKoZmMNVwhKaEKpJYVPqrdqPnbEGhNadE9g QmU3Cc6hMhpsNzFQ82J5uqhtgrCrh67mKLmWhYadentK2o QmQacCjdmHDTi18CHZHhTZoQaq1qFiasj5iWoMZ8Fehf5q QmPWMxYuC9jpqYMEsNWeqP6frZMUpZi99XXbWkJNBJUKoi QmVJRjPH1YsZzKy3abfyBSCWdBy7Pfm7cEB8d1g1cQQyfd ╒═══════════════════ 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐗 ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ⦿ IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 17, 2021 | Techrights ䷼ Bulletin articles (as HTML) to comment on (requires login): http://techrights.org/2021/09/18/irc-log-170921/#comments ䷞ Followed by Daily Links (assorted news picks curated and categorised): http://techrights.org/2021/09/18/gimp-2-10-28/#comments http://techrights.org/2021/09/18/libreoffice-8-0-plans/#comments ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 48 ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ (ℹ) Images, hyperlinks and comments at http://techrights.org/2021/09/18/irc-log-170921/#comments Gemini version at gemini://gemini.techrights.org/2021/09/18/irc-log-170921/ ⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 09.18.21⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧ Gemini_version_available_♊︎ ✐ IRC_Proceedings:_Friday,_September_17,_2021⠀✐ Posted in IRC_Logs at 2:50 am by Needs Sunlight Also available via the Gemini protocol at: * gemini://gemini.techrights.org/tr_text_version/irc-log-techrights- 170921.txt * gemini://gemini.techrights.org/tr_text_version/irc-log-170921.txt * gemini://gemini.techrights.org/tr_text_version/irc-log-social-170921.txt * gemini://gemini.techrights.org/tr_text_version/irc-log-techbytes- 170921.txt Over HTTP: 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇H 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇HTML5_logs⦈_ #techrights_log_as_HTML5 #boycottnovell_log_as_HTML5 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇H 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇HTML5_logs⦈_ #boycottnovell-social_log_as_HTML5 #techbytes_log_as_HTML5 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇t 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇text_logs⦈_ #techrights_log_as_text #boycottnovell_log_as_text 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇t 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴_🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽_⦇text_logs⦈_ #boycottnovell-social_log_as_text #techbytes_log_as_text Enter_the_IRC_channels_now =============================================================================== § IPFS Mirrors⠀➾ CID Description Object type IRC log for  QmYn98guAC76xR8wUWXZNXDGY2jPArvtwNQArg7xJ7qLQd #boycottnovell 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈ (full IRC log as HTML) IRC log for #boycottnovell  Qmf9ckTuMq4sJu8R5vKStcJeoNkcKfWBTdyw9njdTMsjvX (full IRC log 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈ as plain/ASCII text) IRC log for #boycottnovell-  QmeRMfsAuywRkmVvxVnVc2SA9cG6ZybVm3u64QmCE1xowu social 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈ (full IRC log as HTML) IRC log for #boycottnovell-  QmcxGJTNsesAeZUKzeV2g2Z5CKChe1Bw29yDeuYRWabWMc social 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈ (full IRC log as plain/ASCII text) IRC log for  QmVwgQ1eVzw1UJAHjt4dbhcdA9pG8hc6oUcqFYDEdgG416 #techbytes 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈ (full IRC log as HTML) IRC log for #techbytes  QmctRstcQUBY5ctgsab9W9nJYR8eKcX1bCWBqCrTciCavZ (full IRC log 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈ as plain/ASCII text) IRC log for  QmdtXrkRb2VQpFAjsPuSGRvuddL5T2DrEWmPojMxAbkGSs #techrights 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇HTML5 logs⦈ (full IRC log as HTML) IRC log for #techrights  QmbuzSGvXy5scgSubg5d9aJ3NgowMyqpB9MyAdfQaXyb7F (full IRC log 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇text logs⦈ as plain/ASCII text) 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇IPFS logo⦈ § Bulletin for Yesterday⠀➾ Local_copy | CID (IPFS): QmVJRjPH1YsZzKy3abfyBSCWdBy7Pfm7cEB8d1g1cQQyfd ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 177 ╒═══════════════════ 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 ═════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 09.18.21⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧ Gemini_version_available_♊︎ ✐ Links_18/9/2021:_GIMP_2.10.28_Released_and_Azure_Remains_Back_Doored⠀✐ Posted in News_Roundup at 8:43 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇GNOME bluefish⦈ § Contents⠀➾ * GNU/Linux o Distributions o Devices/Embedded * Free_Software/Open_Source * Leftovers * § GNU/Linux⠀➾ o ⚓ Why_my_public_library_chooses_Linux_and_open_source⠀⇛ The Crawford County Federated Library System has been using Linux and open source software in its IT operations since 1999. They realized early on the potential of open source and integrated it into their enterprise. They were a part of my own Linux journey as I built a content filtering system for our school district. Twenty years ago, there were few models for the use of open source in libraries and education. Meadville Public Library and the Crawford County Federated Library System were the leaders then and now. Recently I had some questions about how to help libraries in our own library system, and I called Meadville. They referred me to Cindy Murdock Ames, their IT Director. I asked her what they were using for patron desktop computers. Cindy sent a brief email that piqued my interest, and I asked her if she would agree to an email interview. She graciously accepted. o § Audiocasts/Shows⠀➾ # ⚓ LHS_Episode_#429:_The_Weekender_LXXVIII⠀⇛ It’s time once again for The Weekender. This is our bi-weekly departure into the world of amateur radio contests, open source conventions, special events, listener challenges, hedonism and just plain fun. Thanks for listening and, if you happen to get a chance, feel free to call us or e-mail and send us some feedback. Tell us how we’re doing. We’d love to hear from you. o § Kernel Space⠀➾ # ⚓ Intel_Alder_Lake_has_a_special_treat_for_Windows_11_users, but_Linux_may_be_left_in_the_lurch [Ed: Intel continues to prop up Microsoft’s monopoly while ruining things for Linux (all the time, e.g. [1, 2])]⠀⇛ o § Applications⠀➾ # ⚓ 9_Best_Free_and_Open_Source_Command-Line_Image_Compression Tools⠀⇛ Data compression is the process of storing data in a format that uses less space than the original representation would use. Compressing data can be very useful particularly in the field of communications as it enables devices to transmit or store data in fewer bits. Besides reducing transmission bandwidth, compression increases the amount of information that can be stored on a hard disk drive or other storage device. There are 2 main types of compression. Lossy compression is a data encoding method which reduces a file by discarding certain information. When the file is uncompressed, not all of the original information will be recovered. Lossy compression is typically used to compress video, audio and images, as well as internet telephony. The fact that information is lost during compression will often be unnoticeable to most users. Lossy compression techniques are used in all DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and most multimedia available on the internet. # ⚓ Top_5_Open-Source_eLearning_Platforms_for_Linux⠀⇛ The world of education, like other sectors, has been undergoing the process of digital transformation for years. With the creation of e- learning platforms, education is now available to anyone who has access to the Internet. The term “e- learning“, which means “electronic learning“, is one of the most commonly used words today. It refers to training and education typically on the Internet. Modern e-learning platforms or LMS (Learning Management System) are based on a virtual learning space that, in general, is oriented to simplify the distance training experience. So, due to the importance that e-learning has, it is necessary to know which are some of the best platforms available. In this post, you will find a brief overview of 5 open-source solutions for e-learning that can be installed on a Linux machine. o § Instructionals/Technical⠀➾ # ⚓ IPv4_vs_IPv6⠀⇛ In today’s technological era, we are witnessing a massive leap in the usage of the internet and networking devices. Every home has a laptop, smartphone, digital watch, IoT device, home automation component, and other devices that are connected to the home network or the Internet. Devices communicate with each other through various network protocols, with TCP and IP being the most frequently used protocols. Each device connected to the network must have an IP address that identifies the device on the network. # ⚓ Clear_APT_Cache_Using_the_Apt_Clean_Command_–_ByteXD⠀⇛ When you install a package on Linux, that package has to be kept somewhere on the system to be used for installation. # ⚓ How_to_install_Glimpse_on_a_Chromebook⠀⇛ Today we are looking at how to install Glimpse 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. # ⚓ Using_Oracle_Cloud,_Part_2:_An_‘Always_Free’_Web_Server Platform_—_Virtualization_Review⠀⇛ In a previous article, I detailed how it took less than 10 minutes to sign up for, create and use an “Always Free” Ubuntu 18.04 virtual machine (VM) on Oracle Cloud. Yes, the free VM wasn’t that large (1 vCPU, and 4GB RAM), but I figured it would allow for the creation of a small web site — a good test of Oracle Cloud because the web site on the VM would need to be opened up to allow access to the outside world. In this article, I will discuss what web server I chose to use, how I installed it and how well it works. # ⚓ How_To_Install_Chromium_Browser_on_Debian_11_–_idroot⠀⇛ In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Chromium Browser on Debian 11. For those of you who didn’t know, Chromium is an open-source browser project that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all users to experience the web. It is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, and many more, which is mainly not intended for end- users, but only for developers because Google tweaks the Chromium source code almost every day, hence you should always use the latest version. 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 through the step-by- step installation of the Chromium web browser on a Debian 11 (Bullseye). # ⚓ How_to_Install_Redis_on_Debian_11_Bullseye_–_LinuxCapable⠀⇛ Redis is an open-source (BSD licensed), in-memory key-value data structure store used as a database, cache, and message broker. Redis supports data structures such as strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets with range queries, bitmaps, hyperlog logs, geospatial indexes, and streams. Redis also provides high availability with its Redis Sentinel software logic, creating automatic partitioning across Redis nodes with Redis Cluster. # ⚓ How_to_Install_Memcached_on_Debian_11_Bullseye_– LinuxCapable⠀⇛ Memcached is used to speed up dynamic database- driven websites by caching data and objects in RAM. This reduces the number of times an external data source must be read, which lowers overheads and speeds up response times. The memory caching software is a free, open-source project that anyone can use. At the end of the guide, you will know how to install and configure Memcached on your Debian 11 Bullseye operating system. o § Desktop Environments/WMs⠀➾ # § K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt⠀➾ # ⚓ This_week_in_KDE:_so_many_Wayland_improvements,_and more!⠀⇛ The Plasma 5.23 beta has been released, so go test it! We’ve got a month to fix all the bugs you find and report, so please do so. Many of the improvements already made this week pertain to Plasma’s Wayland session which is rapidly becoming usable for more and more people’s daily usage. I’m using it myself as my primary session, and this is pretty painless now. I’m so impressed by how KDE developers have managed to whip it into shape over the last year! The future truly is now, or something. Lots of other non-Wayland improvements were made as well… o § Distributions⠀➾ # § Canonical/Ubuntu Family⠀➾ # ⚓ Ubuntu_18.04.6_LTS_released⠀⇛ The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 18.04.6 LTS (Long-Term Support) for its Desktop and Server products. Unlike previous point releases, 18.04.6 is a refresh of the amd64 and arm64 installer media after the key revocation related to the BootHole vulnerability, re-enabling their usage on Secure Boot enabled systems. More detailed information can be found here: https://ubuntu.com/blog/grub2-secure-boot- bypass-2021 Many other security updates for additional high-impact bug fixes are also included, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Maintenance updates will be provided for 5 years for Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Cloud, and Ubuntu Base. o § Devices/Embedded⠀➾ # ⚓ COM-HPC_module_unleashes_up_to_80-core_Arm_edge_server SoC⠀⇛ Adlink unveiled a “COM-HPC Ampere Altra” module that runs Linux on a 32- or 80-core, Arm v8.2 based Ampere Altra. There is also an automotive focused “AVA Developer Platform” that supports Arm’s new SOAFEE initiative. Adlink announced a COM-HPC/Server module featuring Ampere’s up to 80-core Ampere Altra Arm server SoC, which uses Arm’s Neoverse N1 architecture. The module will first become available in an automotive focused AVA Developer Platform (see farther below). The COM-HPC Ampere Altra is the first COM-HPC/ Server module we have covered, although we have reported on several smaller, more embedded COM-HPC/ Client modules. These include Congatec’s Tiger Lake-U based Conga-HPC/cTLU and Tiger Lake- H powered Conga-HPC/cTLH, and Eurotech’s Tiger Lake-U based CPU-180. For more on COM-HPC, you can check out our report on MSC’s Coffee Lake driven MSC HCC-CFLS, which was the first fully announced COM-HPC module. # § Open Hardware/Modding⠀➾ # ⚓ Sir_Clive_Sinclair,_1940-2021⠀⇛ # ⚓ [Old] Reversing_Sinclair’s_amazing_1974_calculator hack_–_half_the_ROM_of_the_HP-35⠀⇛ In a hotel room in Texas, Clive Sinclair had a big problem. He wanted to sell a cheap scientific calculator that would grab the market from expensive calculators such as the popular HP-35. Hewlett-Packard had taken two years, 20 engineers, and a million dollars to design the HP-35, which used 5 complex chips and sold for $395. Sinclair’s partnership with calculator manufacturer Bowmar had gone nowhere. Now Texas Instruments offered him an inexpensive calculator chip that could barely do four-function math. Could he use this chip to build a $100 scientific calculator? # ⚓ September_update:_Hurdles_and_Successes⠀⇛ In this community update we’ll discuss PinePhone keyboard progress (and hurdles), add-on back cases awaiting developers approval, initial PineNote impressions and early development progress, as well as news of InfiniTime 1.4 release and a guest post about PineCubes as a part of a security system. We also have an announcement for our community developers: we will be introducing bounties to the DevZone. o § Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications⠀➾ # ⚓ Gmail_Material_You_redesign_starts_rolling_out_on_Android 12_–_9to5Google⠀⇛ # ⚓ Alphabet_Scoop_134:_Samsung’s_Android_12_beta,_and_Pixel_6 specs_leak_as_Google_starts_marketing_–_9to5Google⠀⇛ # ⚓ Oppo_Unveils_ColorOS_12_Based_on_Android_12;_Lists_Oppo, OnePlus_Phones_Getting_Update_|_Technology_News⠀⇛ # ⚓ Google_will_roll_a_privacy_feature_from_Android_11_to previous_versions_–_How_smart_Technology_changing_lives⠀⇛ # ⚓ Android_6_and_up_will_start_stripping_unused_apps’ permissions_|_Ars_Technica⠀⇛ # ⚓ How_to_Record_the_Screen_on_an_Android_Device⠀⇛ # ⚓ Yahoo_is_now_a_part_of_Verizon_Media⠀⇛ # ⚓ Android_Circuit:_Stunning_Xiaomi_11T_Pro_Launch,_Samsung Galaxy_S22_Leaks,_More_Nokia_Bond-Age⠀⇛ # ⚓ ‘Android_12.1′_has_a_new_default_AOSP_wallpaper_[Download] –_9to5Google⠀⇛ # ⚓ Google_fined_nearly_RM800_million_for_blocking_smartphone makers_from_making_Android_forks_in_South_Korea_– SoyaCincau⠀⇛ # ⚓ Android_TV_vs._Fire_TV:_Which_smart_TV_OS_is_better?_| Tom’s_Guide⠀⇛ # ⚓ India_antitrust_probe_finds_Google_abused_Android dominance,_report_shows_|_Reuters⠀⇛ # ⚓ Which_Android_phone_is_the_best_buy_–_Ohio_News_Time⠀⇛ * § Free, Libre, and Open Source Software⠀➾ o ⚓ New_Alpha_Release:_Tor_0.4.7.1-alpha⠀⇛ o § Events⠀➾ # ⚓ Linux_Plumbers_Conference:_Get_ready_for_LPC_2021!⠀⇛ The LPC 2021 conference is just around the corner. We wanted to share the logistics on how to participate and watch the virtual conference. For those that are not registered for the conference, we will have live streaming of the sessions on YouTube, like last year. This is free of charge. We will provide the URLs where to watch each day, on this page. The only limitation is that you cannot participate and ask questions live with audio. However this year we will have the chat in each Big Blue Button room also available externally via the Matrix open communication network. Anyone is invited to join with their personal Matrix account. o § Web Browsers⠀➾ # § Mozilla⠀➾ # ⚓ Mozilla_is_testing_setting_Bing_as_the_default Firefox_search_engine_–_MSPoweruser⠀⇛ o § FSF⠀➾ # § GNU Projects⠀➾ # ⚓ GIMP_2.10.28_Released_with_Improvements_and_Bug Fixes,_New_Script-Fu_Function⠀⇛ GIMP 2.10.28 is here more than five months after the GIMP 2.10.24 release, which probably most of you are using on your GNU/ Linux distributions right now, to address various bugs and issues, as well as to improve the performance of the application and add some new functionality. Highlights of this release include a new Script-Fu function called dir-make that lets users create directories from scripts, fixes to various accessibility issues in themes, such as mouse-hover feedback or problematic colors, as well as bug fixes for the BMP, C- source, DDS, DICOM, GIF, Gimpressionist, Metadata Viewer, PS, PSD, Sunras, and TIFF plugins. # ⚓ GIMP_2.10.28_Released_With_More_Fixes⠀⇛ # ⚓ GIMP_2.10.28_Released⠀⇛ GIMP 2.10.28 is now released. This is a bugfix release, because we are giving most of our time and efforts to the development version (2.99.x). Note: you may have noticed we skipped GIMP 2.10.26. A build bug has been discovered just after tagging the release. GIMP 2.10.28 is the same without the bug. We recommend against building and using GIMP 2.10.26. # § Licensing/Legal⠀➾ # ⚓ What_is_open-source_software?_Understanding_the_non- proprietary_software_that_allows_you_to_modify_its_code [Ed: Lots of disinformation here]⠀⇛ o § Programming/Development⠀➾ # ⚓ It’s_Time_for_Vendor_Security_2.0⠀⇛ 1. Questionnaires are largely Security Theater because it’s nearly impossible to assess a company’s security risk from the outside. 2. If the business needs a given tool, they’ll likely force the company to use it despite the risk. 3. Given these truths, the most realistic path for protecting ourselves from vendors is heavy investment in Risk Visibility, Risk Reduction, and Risk Communication/Acceptance. # ⚓ Napkin_Problem_16:_When_To_Write_a_Simulator⠀⇛ I hope you see the value in simulations for getting a handle on these types of problems. I think you’ll also find that writing simulators is some of the most fun programming there is. Enjoy! # § Python⠀➾ # ⚓ Use_virtual_environments_to_install_third-party Python_programs_from_PyPI⠀⇛ The problem is that Pip’s “user” mode involves pretending that Pip is basically a Unix distribution’s package manager that just happens to be operating on your $HOME/.local. This is an attractive illusion and it sort of works, but in practice you run into issues over time when you upgrade things, especially if you have more than one program installed. You’ll experience some of these issues with virtual environments as well, but with single purpose virtual environments (one venv per program) and keeping track of what you installed, the ultimate brute force solution is to delete and recreate the particular virtual environment. The dependency versions are getting tangled? Delete and recreate. You’ve moved to a new distribution version of Python (perhaps you’ve upgraded from one Ubuntu LTS to another)? It sounds like a good time to delete and recreate, rather than dealing with version issues. * § Leftovers⠀➾ o ⚓ Species_Spotlight:_Sunda_Clouded_Leopard,_the_Ethereal_and Declining_‘Tree_Tiger’⠀⇛ o ⚓ Afropessimism_and_Its_Discontents⠀⇛ Afropessimism is all the rage among millennial Black academics and activists—most notably among Black feminist critical race theorists, who themselves are now the prime targets of the MAGA crowd. Black intellectuals haven’t enjoyed this much pop currency among the right wing since Black Power took over buildings to demand Black studies in state universities and the Ivies 50 years ago. Afropessimism’s recent emergence in the mainstream of Black political conversation could not have been better timed. Particularly for that critical race sistren group, given their issues with suddenly woke white America—especially their bête blanche, white academic feminists. Here the grounds for suspicion are not gratuitous but experiential and statistical: 48 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump. Beyond that tempestuous internal struggle between feminists of different hues, though, just what is Afropessimism? And why should you, dear Nation reader, even give a good goddamn? o ⚓ Tedious_Failures,_Revisited⠀⇛ I began writing short stories from a very young age. Most of it was what you’d expect from an avid science fiction reader. I even won a library writing contest at age 16 for a story I wrote about vampires. The original story is lost to time, but the general idea was these vampires had a band and wanted me to join. I refused to perform with them because they sucked … (ha ha ha) I’ve always dealt with depression, so writing stories and songs without any audience in mind helped me get through a lot in my younger years. I love the writing process, from research to final draft. Creating something tangible from nothing at all and expressing it through the written word is nothing short of a phenomenon. Then sharing that creation with others—even if you only reach a handful of readers—is a great feeling. I may not be very good at it sometimes, but it’s something we all need in our lives. Anyone who reads my feature-length work here knows I focus heavily on music. There’s a reason for that. As the late, great Frank Zappa wrote: music is the best. But it’s far from my only writing interest. I also love writing scripts, advertising copy, how-to guides, and short stories. I tried my hand at a novel a few years ago. It is absolutely terrible, but it was still therapeutic and a blast to write … even if it sucks (it does). o ⚓ Retrotechtacular:_The_Dangers_of_Confined_Spaces⠀⇛ Many people find themselves working in confined spaces every day, whether it be in sewer systems, drains, or other tight spots. These areas come with their own unique risks to life and limb that must be carefully considered in order to avoid disaster. o § Science⠀➾ # ⚓ A_Socialist_Vision_for_Space_Exploration_Must_Include Disability⠀⇛ It is well know that this space-race between three white, cis-het men collectively worth nearly 380 billion dollars isn’t without cost to the non- billionaire class: New Mexico taxpayers contributed 220 million dollars to Branson’s journey, Musk’s new German factory was constructed over environmental protests about its harmful effects on (among other things) water pollution in an area in which nearly all drinking water comes from groundwater reserves, and Bezo’s extractive practices as Amazon’s CEO are well-documented. What’s more, this ego-driven contest plays out as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has decimated public health systems, increased the number of families experiencing food insecurity, put millions into unstable housing situations, exacerbated educational inequities, and left communities reeling from the personal, economic, and health effects of the past year and a half. A year that laid stark our unequal access to healthcare, housing and food, and employment stability has almost completely eroded away to the faintest gossamers that archive our early-pandemic call for national quarantine and masking solidarity, government aid for all that needed it, and dreams of healing environmental woes. Many have leveled racial critiques of white men going to space while Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities bear the greatest impact of economic, environmental, educational, and health inequities here on Earth. Yet, one critique is missing: how consideration of disability, now and in the future, influence the way we might read the privatization of space. For most of us, this bizarrely out-of-touch mission to flee Earth for the chromatic possibilities of futurism is something entirely alien. Yet, for disabled people, it represents the next instance of an ongoing pattern of abandonment, another move toward a future of which they are not imagined to be a part. This past year, COVID cast a hypervisible spotlight in which folks with immuno- compromises were at first the center of liberal arguments to wear masks and think collectively to stop the spread of disease. But as vaccines became accessible (to people with transportation, paid time off to burn during the work week, and proximity to medical facilities), many returned to a pre-pandemic life in which practices of solidarity like masking, quarantining, and even switching to take-out are the cultural markers of their own altruism, rather than a daily personal hurdle. The disposability of disabled people was laid barer than ever, particularly in a world in which many refused to quarantine or vaccinate, backed by the argument that only the elderly, disabled, and young were dangerously susceptible to contamination. (Something about climate change and the particular effect of natural disasters of disabled people? Anything from Ida?) In critiques of everything from genetic testing to feminist science fiction novels, disability studies scholars confront us with the question of whether disability is desired in our collective future; in Musk’s dreams of colonizing Mars as Earth-bound humanity falls to the effects of climate change, it’s easy to wonder whether disabled people will be seen as “fit” for space travel. # ⚓ Elon_Musk’s_Spacefaring_Civilization_is_a_Pipe_Dream⠀⇛ As it currently stands the United States, China, Russia—and to a degree Europe–are the only nations capable of building modules for human livable space stations and the transport systems necessary to replenish the space stations currently orbiting the planet. Moreover, they are the sole nations in possession of the skills and materials to get humans of the watery rock that is Earth. Waking up in the morning wishfully thinking, that “the future is going to be great” slams into a brick wall when thinking about nuclear weapons modernization, terrorism, perpetual war, pandemics, health care infrastructure collapse, murder rates, drug wars and a host of other plagues that the human species inflicts upon itself. Further, the human race seems to be hell-bent on destroying its only home, The Pale Blue Dot (Carl Sagan): Climate change is here thanks to the extraordinary amount of pollution that is pumped into the atmosphere and the maniacal destruction of plant life that allows the human race to breath. More depressing is the number of endangered species around the globe. # ⚓ Tracking_space_debris_is_a_growing_business⠀⇛ As orbiting objects multiply, the danger grows. Roughly a dozen sizeable pieces of space debris break up every year as a result of collisions, exploding rocket fuel, or the rupturing of pressurised tanks or old batteries. Solar radiation chips off bits of paint and metal. And the number of launches is increasing. According to BryceTech, a consultancy in Virginia, at the end of 2001 there were 771 active satellites orbiting Earth. Ten years later that population had grown to 965. Since then, it has nearly quintupled, to roughly 4,500—and this does not include defunct satellites. And small, cheap satellites are a booming business. Maciej Konacki, an astronomer at the Polish Academy of Sciences, in Warsaw, who has studied the matter on behalf of the European Union, reckons there could be 100,000 active satellites in orbit by the end of the decade. o § Education⠀➾ # ⚓ Forthcoming_Mastery_Book_Price_Changes⠀⇛ Just like the rest of the industrial world, the print book supply chain is struggling. All over the world, my printers are raising their prices. My indie publishing unit, Tilted Windmill Press, must roll with the changes. If you want print books, I recommend purchasing them soon. o § Health/Nutrition⠀➾ # ⚓ Patient_Advocacy_Group_Calls_Out_2_Dems_for_“Selling_Us_Out to_Drug_Companies”⠀⇛ # ⚓ Bernie_Sanders_Rips_Into_Big_Pharma_Profits,_Says “Thousands_Die_Every_Year”⠀⇛ # ⚓ PETA_Sues_NIH_And_HHS_Directors_For_Blocking_Comments_With ‘PETA’_And_‘#StopAnimalTesting’⠀⇛ PETA is certainly not above filing some pretty ridiculous lawsuits, so I was initially skeptical when I heard that it had filed a lawsuit against the directors of the National Institutes of Health (Francis Collins) and Health & Human Services (Xavier Becerra) over Facebook keyword blocking. However, upon reading through the lawsuit, it seems pretty legit. At issue is that it appears that NIH has put in place a block list on Facebook and Instagram that blocks anyone from mentioning PETA and a surprisingly long list of words and phrases that are likely of interest to PETA. # ⚓ Resisting_Evictions_Amid_a_Pandemic⠀⇛ Indeed, the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Texas abortion ban was hardly its only horrific decision this summer. Its willingness to end a moratorium on evictions instantly put hundreds of thousands of people at risk of eviction, with tens of millions more in danger in the weeks to come. With an unequal economic recovery, surging Covid-19 cases (thanks to the highly infectious Delta variant), and poor and homeless people disproportionately suffering the effects of fires and floods, this decision could truly prove catastrophic. Nor is it the only one likely to impact poor and low-income communities of color drastically. That stacked court, the Trump court (if you want to think of it that way), is offering a remarkably vivid demonstration of just how connected voting rights, women’s rights, immigrant rights, and poverty really are. President Biden critiqued the Supreme Court recently for its ruling on the Texas abortion case. “For the majority to do this without a hearing, without the benefit of an opinion from a court below, and without due consideration of the issues,” he said, “insults the rule of law and the rights of all Americans to seek redress from our courts.” And as continued injustices, especially from that court’s “shadow docket,” have come to light, former Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, now head of the American Constitution Society, tweeted, “SCOTUS’s increasing use of the shadow docket to issue massive legal decisions is yet another reason why Supreme Court reform needs to be taken seriously.” # ⚓ Exclusive:_Jared_Kushner’s_Family_Firm_Set_to_Unleash Eviction_Wave_Amid_Pandemic⠀⇛ Properties owned by former White House adviser Jared Kushner’s family company have filed at least 590 eviction lawsuits since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and more than 200 in 2021 alone, putting “countless tenants” at risk of losing their homes in parts of the U.S. where Covid-19 transmission levels remain dangerously high. “With eviction protections gone, corporate landlords like Kushner are relishing the soonest opportunity to evict the vulnerable.” # ⚓ FDA_Panel_Recommends_Pfizer_Booster_Shots_for_People_65+ and_Especially_Vulnerable⠀⇛ A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Friday unanimously recommended booster shots of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for U.S. adults age 65 and older, and those especially at risk from virus, while voting strongly against recommending the same for people between the ages of 16 and 64.   Though neither vote is binding, the agency is likely to follow the advice of the 18-member committee and is expected to issue a final decision on boosters—a topic of controversy in recent months, especially given the ongoing global inequity in terms of access to vaccines—as early as next week. # ⚓ Opinion_|_We’re_Going_to_Take_on_Big_Pharma_and_Win_the Fight_to_Lower_Drug_Prices⠀⇛ On Wednesday, Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) was one of three Democrats who cast a pivotal no vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Rice shamefully voted against giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices as part of the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better package. # ⚓ Biden:_GOP_Governors_Are_Undermining_Efforts_to_Combat COVID⠀⇛ # ⚓ How_Congress_Can_Prevent_the_Next_Pandemic⠀⇛ $15 billion isn’t enough, but it is an important starting point. We must come to terms with the grim certainty that another pandemic will devastate our country in our lifetimes. Our government cannot afford another scramble for vaccine technology and personal protective equipment. We must prepare for the next pandemic today. Should Congress fail to pass at least $15 billion of pandemic preparedness funding, Americans will suffer more the next time we face a pandemic. COVID-19 has killed over 600,000 Americans and cost this country $16 trillion dollars, and experts say that the next pandemic could be right around the corner. That’s not to mention that COVID-19 has had disproportionate, devastating effects on disabled Americans, communities of color, those living in poverty and other marginalized groups. The reality is, pandemic preparedness efforts aren’t just about preventing economic ruin for our country — it’s about stopping what is in all reality a matter of life and death for marginalized communities. # ⚓ Covid_Is_Here_to_Stay._This_Is_How_We_Should_Respond.⠀⇛ After 18 months of being stuck in our homes—if we were lucky enough to do so—and being surrounded by death and suffering, we are all ready to move past this pandemic. The vaccines offered hope for this in the spring—it seemed that by summer the virus would be at low levels and people could safely gather again. Then the Delta variant, combined with lackluster vaccination levels and a disastrous CDC guidance that told vaccinated people they could remove their masks indoors and dispense with social distancing, led to major setbacks. These factors combined to create a perfect storm of rising infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. As a result, despite having plentiful supplies of vaccines, as of early September, the United States is seeing more than 1,000 deaths a day. # ⚓ Patient_Group_Targets_Pair_of_Democrats_for_‘Selling_Us_Out to_Drug_Companies’⠀⇛ A national patient organization launched new ads on Friday targeting Reps. Scott Peters and Kathleen Rice for opposing a plan to let Medicare directly negotiate prescription drug prices, a centerpiece of the Democratic Party’s popular agenda to lower sky-high medicine costs. In the two 30-second spots—titled “Sellout” and “Patients Over Profit”—multiple sclerosis patient Therese Ball slams Peters (D-Calif.) and Rice (D-N.Y.) for prioritizing the interests of the pharmaceutical industry, which has lobbied aggressively against the Medicare drug-pricing proposal. # ⚓ AOC_Would_Have_Cast_the_Winning_Vote_for_Drug_Price Reform⠀⇛ When Representative Kathleen Rice was running for reelection from New York last year, the centrist Democrat’s campaign ads announced that “in times of crisis, you see what really drives someone.” What drove Rice, the ads declared, was a recognition of the necessity of “taking on drug and insurance giants to lower costs.” # ⚓ After_33_Years,_Parents_of_Brain-Damaged_Kids_Get_to Express_Disgust_With_Florida_Program⠀⇛ The parents of children born with catastrophic brain damage who were stripped of the right to sue were offered a measure of consolation Thursday: They were given the chance to speak. About a dozen mothers and fathers addressed the administrators and governing board of Florida’s Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association, or NICA, at an online meeting. Many of the parents said they had suffered silently for years as the program fought over benefits that could have relieved the considerable burden on the children and families NICA served. # ⚓ NYT:_China_Needs_to_Rethink_Its_Not-Letting-People-Die- From-Covid_Policy⠀⇛ It still boggles me that a US paper thinks it has standing to offer advice to China on how to address the Covid-19 pandemic (FAIR.org, 1/29/21). For those who have been on Mars for the past two years, China has had, since the disease first appeared, 95,493 cases and 4,636 deaths from Covid. The United States, with approximately one-fourth as many people, has had almost 42 million cases and 668,000 deaths. On a per capita basis, the US’s handling of the coronavirus has been more than 600 times worse than China’s. # ⚓ Mark_Zuckerberg’s_bad_week:_Senators_demand_answers_after exposé_reveals_Instagram_is_toxic_for_kids⠀⇛ Ire against the 37-year-old Harvard dropout and his social media platform has been one of the rare points of bipartisan agreement on Capitol Hill this week as revelation after revelation about Facebook’s pitfalls continues to trickle out, many from a series of internal documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal. Lawmakers are now calling for Zuckerberg to testify in front of Congress, in particular about a number of internal reports cited by the Journal that determined Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, had a marked negative impact on young women. o § Integrity/Availability⠀➾ # § Proprietary⠀➾ # ⚓ New_attacks_continue_using_Linux_to_attack_Windows systems_–_The_Clare_People [Ed: They try to make it seem like the problem is "Linux" rather than Windows]⠀⇛ # ⚓ Anatomy_of_a_Cloud_Infrastructure_Attack_via_a_Pull Request⠀⇛ In April 2021, I discovered an attack vector that could allow a malicious Pull Request to a Github repository to gain access to our production environment. Open source companies like us, or anyone else who accepts external contributions, are especially vulnerable to this. # ⚓ Man_who_unlocked_nearly_2_million_AT&T_phones_gets_12 years_in_prison⠀⇛ In 2013, however, AT&T put into place a new unlocking system which made it harder for Fahd’s crew to unlock phones’ unique IMEI numbers, so according to the DOJ he hired a developer to design malware that could be installed on AT&T’s computer system. This allegedly allowed him to unlock more phones, and do so more efficiently. The AT&T employees working with Fahd helped him access information about its systems and other employees’ credentials, allowing his developer to tailor the malware more precisely, the DOJ said. # § Security⠀➾ # ⚓ Attackers_Exploit_OMIGOD_Flaw_in_Azure_Despite Microsoft_Fixes [Ed: Bug_door?]⠀⇛ Cybercriminals are targeting Linux- based servers running Microsoft’s Azure public cloud environment that are vulnerable to flaws after Microsoft didn’t automatically apply a patch on affected clients in its infrastructure. According to cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, the attacks began the night of Sept. 16 after a proof-of- concept exploit was published earlier in the day on GitHub. About 10 malicious servers have been searching the internet for vulnerable systems, and while the search began slowing, it has now ramped up to more than 100 sites by morning, Recorded Future noted, citing information from threat intelligence vendor GreyNoise. In addition, Cado Security researchers in a blog post also noted a tweet from cybersecurity researcher German Fernandez, who found that the infamous DDoS Mirai botnet – known for taking advantage of insecure Internet of Things (IoT) devices – also is exploiting OMIGOD. Mirai is putting a version of the botnet into a system and then closing the 5896 OMI SSL port, essentially stopping others from exploiting the same box. # ⚓ Yes,_of_course_there’s_now_malware_for_Windows Subsystem_for_Linux [Ed: WSL is a_sick_joke and impossibility_for_security]⠀⇛ Linux binaries have been found trying to take over Windows systems in what appears to be the first publicly identified malware to utilize Microsoft’s Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to install unwelcome payloads. # § Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/ Dramatisation⠀➾ # ⚓ Microsoft_to_Azure_Linux_users:_Patch this_problem_yourself⠀⇛ Azure Linux administrators, it’s time to get patching. In response to the recent OMIGOD vulnerabilities, Microsoft has released an updated version of OMI, but you’ll need to upgrade on your own (via BleepingComputer). Here’s the full scoop. OMIGOD vulnerabilities are named after OMI, an acronym that stands for the Open Management Infrastructure software agent. The OMIGOD vulnerabilities found in OMI have opened the door for RCE (Remote Code Execution) attacks from malicious parties. And if you’re an Azure user operating on a Linux setup with a service such as Azure Diagnostics or Azure Automation enabled, that means you have OMI on your Virtual Machine. # § Privacy/Surveillance⠀➾ # ⚓ These_Single_Moms_Are_Forced_to_Choose: Reveal_Their_Sexual_Histories_or_Forfeit Welfare⠀⇛ Amberly Sanchez had a job as an accountant at a real estate company in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when she was laid off due to the pandemic. Then an electrical fire destroyed her apartment building, forcing her and her 16-month-old daughter Avery to stay in a $400-a-week motel. She’d lost everything, from parenting essentials — crib, baby clothes, toy car — to her own mother’s ashes. This spring, she applied for welfare. # ⚓ The_spying_that_changed_Big_Tech⠀⇛ In 2013, reporting by The Washington Post—based on documents from former US government contractor Edward Snowden—revealed that the National Security Agency and its British counterpart had essentially hacked reams of information from customers of Google, Yahoo and other American internet companies without those companies’ knowledge. The spy agencies did this by intercepting internet traffic from undersea internet cables or other access points between corporate computer centres outside the US. o § Defence/Aggression⠀➾ # ⚓ A_National_Rite_of_Passage:_Beyond_War⠀⇛ The writer, Andrew Exum, was an Army Ranger who had deployments in the early 2000s to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and a decade later served for several years as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East policy. The point he is making amounts to this: The last twenty years of war have been a disaster, with our pullout from Afghanistan sealing history’s final judgment: We lost. And we deserved to lose. But what a crushing blow to the men and women who served with courage, indeed, who sacrificed their lives for their country. # ⚓ The_US_and_Yemen:_Putting_a_Disreputable_Policy_Right⠀⇛ In a word, Yemen is a humanitarian catastrophe in which the US has long had dirty hands. For a number of years, going back to the Obama administration, the US has been Saudi Arabia’s silent partner in war-making in Yemen. The proclaimed national interests that guided US support included confronting Iran’s presumed proxy force in Yemen, the Houthi, and being a faithful ally to the Saudis. # ⚓ Minnesota_Troopers_Decided_Being_Sued_For_Excessive_Force Was_The_Perfect_Time_To_Delete_Emails_And_Text_Messages⠀⇛ How do you reform this? # ⚓ Examining_the_Labels:_Settler_Colonialism_and_‘Toxic’ Masculinity⠀⇛ Mother kept a very close eye on us, particularly when we were on the reservation. She inferred by her actions that some Indian men were not safe to be around. She clarified that sentiment with her words, “Stay away from him. He’s dangerous when he drinks, and he always drinks.” I do not recall ever hearing this off reservation. I discovered in my adult years that my Blackfeet grandmother has also carefully watched over her children in a similar manner and for good reason. With this information and an adult perspective, I began to wonder what this ideology of the dangerous Indian man instilled in our men and boys? Were we ourselves perpetuating the settler colonial construct of the ‘scary brown man’ and had we become so indoctrinated that we could not see past presumed danger and self- preservation to look for the root problems? I believe both idioms are correct and that we are contributing to the subjugation of our own people. Over the years I have read many feminist Indigenous authors (including, but not limited to Sarah Deer, Audra Simpson, and Mishuana Goeman) and I remain impressed on how they address the abuse of Native women at the hands of settler society and Indigenous men. This is good and valuable work, necessary to address the violence perpetrated against Native women. Yet, the more I read the more I wonder what we, as Indigenous women are doing to recognize the settler colonial trauma our men continue to endure? As the mother of six children, five of whom are male, this has become an important, relevant, and urgent question to ask myself. # ⚓ US_Urged_to_End_Drone_Strikes_After_Pentagon_Says_Killing 10_Afghan_Civilians_Was_‘Horrible_Mistake’⠀⇛ Following a rare Pentagon admission Friday that a remote-controlled airstrike which killed 10 Afghan civilians in the closing days of the war in Afghanistan was a “horrible mistake,” anti-war and human rights advocates asserted that “war crimes are not oopsies,” while calling on the U.S. to end drone strikes in the so-called War on Terror. “Many similar strikes in Syria, Iraq, and Somalia have happened out of the spotlight, and the U.S. continues to deny responsibility while devastated families suffer in silence.”—Brian Castner, Amnesty International # ⚓ Anti-War_Voices_Blast_Biden_Over_‘Absurd’_$500_Million Saudi_Military_Contract⠀⇛ Peace and human rights advocates on Friday accused President Joe Biden of breaking his promise to end American support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen after the U.S. State Department approved a potential agreement to provide half a billion dollars worth of support services to the Middle East monarchy known for its pervasive human rights abuses and military atrocities. “Providing such support to [Saudi Arabia] undermines the credibility of any U.S.-Yemen diplomacy, let alone the human rights and so-called U.S.-led rules-based international order rhetoric.”—Kate Kizer, Win Without War # ⚓ From_the_‘Iron_Wall’_to_the_‘Villa_in_the_Jungle’: Palestinians_Demolish_Israel’s_Security_Myths⠀⇛ Jabotinsky was speaking figuratively. However, future Zionist leaders, who embraced Jabotinsky’s teachings, eventually turned the principle of the iron wall into a tangible reality. Consequently, Israel and Palestine are now disfigured with endless barricades of walls, made of concrete and iron, which zigzag in and around a land that was meant to represent inclusion, spiritual harmony and co-existence. Gradually, new ideas regarding Israel’s ‘security’ emerged, such as ‘fortress Israel’ and ‘villa in the jungle’ – an obviously racist metaphor used repeatedly by former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, which falsely depicts Israel as an oasis of harmony and democracy amid Middle Eastern chaos and violence. For the Israeli ‘villa’ to remain prosperous and peaceful, according to Barak, Israel needed to do more than merely maintain its military edge; it had to ensure the ‘chaos’ does not breach the perimeters of Israel’s perfect existence. # ⚓ Opinion_|_US_Drones_Still_Fly_Over_the_Afghan_Horizon⠀⇛ Facing unrelenting criticism over the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden Administration is insisting that the United States will maintain a capability to launch airstrikes in Afghanistan, regardless of the legal limitations and possibility of perpetuating the war.  # ⚓ Hello,_China?_This_is_the_Pentagon_Calling…⠀⇛ Chinese hardliners just had their stance justified by the erratic, verging on unhinged, behavior in the United States and by its military. First the storming of the capitol on Jan 6. Seen from Beijing it looked like a failed coup, a botched but serious attempt to upend US politics. Now, a book by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa claims US General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called General Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army not once but twice. First on October 30, 2020, just four days before the election. The second call took place on January 8, two days after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Milley sought to assure Li that the United States was stable and not going to attack. However, he said, if there were to be an attack, he would alert his counterpart ahead of time. Schizophrenic? This places Li in an impossible position. How does he tell his boss, Xi Jinping? He would have to inform the Chinese president that a US general had just said that they won’t attack with nuclear weapons but if they do they will be notified. Can you trust him to let you know? Is it a veiled threat? At the very least you would have to put your forces on alert. # ⚓ New_unmanned_capabilities:_When_will_the_EU_use_drones_for practical_sea_rescue?⠀⇛ Two leading drone manufacturers report readiness to equip their aircraft with life rafts. These can be dropped with pinpoint accuracy over a maritime emergency. But perhaps this would also encourage violations of the Geneva Refugee Convention. # ⚓ 21st_Century_Internationalism_of_the_Oppressed:_A_Comradely Response_to_Ajamu_Baraka⠀⇛ Keeping this in mind the following is offered as a response to a recent piece by Ajamu Baraka, “We Can No Longer Avoid Raising the Contradiction of the Western Imperial Left’s Collaboration with the Western Bourgeoisie,” in Black Agenda Report (1 September 2021). This response is offered carefully because this is not a personal debate, despite the condescending tone of Baraka’s piece. Our differences do not revolve around any question as to the Baraka’s dedication and commitment, nor his insight into many issues facing the globally oppressed. He and I have known each other for years and, despite differences, have had a comradely relationship. In the context of his recent essay, however, I respectfully believe that his framework is muddled, incorrect and stuck in a perverse version of a pre-1991 world. We will leave aside Baraka’s insults to Gilbert Achcar. They are not only unfounded and inappropriate, but they are based on little other than Baraka’s disagreements with Achcar’s views, which he misrepresents, engaging in ad hominem insults (e.g., “Eurocentric armchair commentator”) that show he doesn’t have a clue of who Achcar is. The tone of the tirade almost sounded like a preface to the “Dozens,” an old African American exchange between potential foes in which they malign the other person by, among other things, talking about their opponent’s mother. o § Transparency/Investigative Reporting⠀➾ # ⚓ California_Legislators_Continue_To_Anger_Cops_By Introducing_Legislation_Demanding_More_Transparency_And Accountability⠀⇛ An immense amount of reform has hit cops in California over the last few years. o § Environment⠀➾ # ⚓ How_Climate-Conscious_is_Boris_Johnson’s_New_Cabinet?⠀⇛ Boris Johnson’s reshuffle has dominated the news this week – but what does it mean for government policy on climate change? As might be expected, several cabinet ministers were involved in campaigning for Brexit, whose crossover with climate science denial and environmental deregulation DeSmog has reported on extensively.  # ⚓ Opinion_|_Federal_Funding_for_Sustainable_Nutrition_Science Would_Help_Solve_Climate_and_Health_Crises⠀⇛ A new analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists finds that federal funding for “sustainable nutrition science”—a field of research and education at the intersection of food production, climate and environment, and nutrition—is abysmally low, amounting to less than 25 cents out of every thousand dollars in federal research funding. # ⚓ Cook_Islands_UN_Negotiator_Paid_$700k_by_Shipping_Industry Lobby_Group⠀⇛ A negotiator representing the Cook Islands at the UN who has been criticised for blocking efforts to tackle global shipping emissions has been paid at least $700,000 since 2010 by an industry lobby group he helps run with his wife. Campaigners said the revelation was a “slap in the face” for those suffering the effects of climate change in the South Pacific, where the archipelago is located. # ⚓ What’s_Up_With_COP26?⠀⇛ COP26 will be one of the most significant meetings in modern human history, comparable to the meeting of the Big Three at the Tehran Conference November 28, 1943 when the Normandy invasion was agreed, codenamed Operation Overlord and launched in June 1944. Thenceforth, tyranny was stopped, an easily identified worldwide threat symbolized by a toothbrush mustache. Today’s tyranny is faceless but recklessly beyond the scope of that era because it’s already everywhere all at once! And, ten- times-plus as powerful as all of the munitions of WWII. What’s at risk at COP26? # ⚓ Critics_Warn_Biden_That_30%_Methane_Reduction_by_2030_Not Good_Enough⠀⇛ Advocates of addressing the root causes of the global climate emergency on Friday called the United States and European Union’s new pledge to reduce methane emissions at least 30% by 2030 a step in the right direction but still lacking in both necessary ambition and specifics. “Instead of merely pledging to do better, governments around the world must put an end to the drilling and fracking that is fueling the climate emergency.”—Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch # ⚓ ‘What_Betrayal_Looks_Like’:_UN_Report_Says_World_on_Track for_2.7°C_of_Warming_by_2100⠀⇛ The United Nations warned Friday that the planet is barreling toward 2.7°C of warming by the end of the century, a nightmare scenario that can be averted only if policymakers take immediate and sweeping action to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Even if the 191 parties to the Paris climate accord meet their current commitments, global greenhouse gas emissions will still rise 16% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels, according to a new report published by the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). # ⚓ Biden-Backed_Aukus_Deal_Could_Spell_‘Disaster’_for_Climate Cooperation_With_China⠀⇛ Climate campaigners voiced concern Friday that a new trilateral military agreement by the U.S., U.K., and Australian governments—an arrangement, including new weapons sales, designed to neutralize China’s growing geostrategic influence—could have a devastating impact on urgently needed climate cooperation ahead of the United Nations’ COP 26 climate talks next month in Glasgow. “Further success is predicated on a repaired U.S.- China relationship, but also upon a commitment to multilateralism across the board if we are to keep the spirit of the Paris agreement alive.” # ⚓ No_Barrier?⠀⇛ # ⚓ Railways_and_Pipelines_are_Preferable_to_Nuclear Submarines⠀⇛ Two major developments in international commercial conveyance were reported in August and September, but neither of them received much cover by mainstream western media.  First was the news that the China-Europe rail link was proving outstandingly successful, as recounted by the Xinhua news agency and Spain’s EFE, and second came the story on September 6 that the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany was about to come on line, which was covered by the Oil Price website and to an extent by Deutsche Welle which didn’t mention the official statement by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.  But the New York Times, for example, did not consider the development newsworthy in even a minor fashion, and a search of the paper’s website was entirely negative, as it was for all the west’s major outlets. It is intriguing that these two significant affairs were so comprehensively disregarded rather than being welcomed in most western capitals, and it goes some way to explaining the shaky state of international relations to examine some of the reasons behind the seeming antipathy of western governments and media to successful cooperative ventures involving China and Russia. # ⚓ Change_of_diet_could_help_tackle_climate_change⠀⇛ Food causes climate problems, and offers solutions too. New research examines what change of diet could do. # ⚓ Alabama_“Forever_Chemicals”_Plant_Creates_the_Climate Pollution_of_125,000_Cars⠀⇛ # ⚓ Opinion_|_Children_Around_the_World_Are_Suffering_From Climate_Anxiety⠀⇛ Climate anxiety and distress is affecting the daily lives and functioning of nearly half of global youth surveyed, according to the largest scientific study. # § Energy⠀➾ # ⚓ Opinion_|_100%_Renewable_Energy_Is_Possible:_A_Plan for_Africa⠀⇛ The science shows that climate change will hit Africa the hardest. In fact, global warming and extreme weather events are already threatening the poorest and most vulnerable people on the continent. The 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released 9 August 2021, exposed the fact that global warming has been more rapid in Africa than the rest of the world. This warming is already having devastating impacts for people, their livelihoods, and ecosystems. It is being driven by a greedy energy system that is based on extracting and burning fossil fuels. It is an energy system that disrespects and destroys all life on earth. The time to move away from harmful fossil fuels towards a transformed energy system that is clean, renewable, democratic, and actually serves its peoples, has never been more urgent. # ⚓ Opinion_|_The_Time_to_Act_Is_Now:_President_and_Army Corps_of_Engineers_Must_Halt_Line_3⠀⇛ Last month, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) delivered a devastating blow to the lives of Anishinaabe people and our surrounding tribal nations with their decision to stand by Trump-era water permits for the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota. Further, earlier this year the USACE made the disappointing decision to not take action to stop the illegal Dakota Access Pipeline. # ⚓ America’s_Largest_Windfarm:_an_Environmental Disaster?⠀⇛ This question puts a fine point on the twin looming disasters that humanity has brought upon the Earth: the Climate Crisis and the Biodiversity Crisis. If we leave half the Earth to nature and radically reduce our environmental footprint on the remainder, we might well halt ecosystem collapse and the extinction pandemic in the short term, but if the climate crisis deepens, we could end up on a hot, stormy, lifeless planet anyway — and if we focus myopically on just the reducing fossil fuels, we might revert to a cooler planet only to find it depauperate in plants and animals and ultimately incapable of supporting our own species. The climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis are of equal importance to humans and every other species with which we share this globe, and it would be foolhardy to ignore either in pursuit of solutions for the other. This is where the LA Times’ article proves short-sighted: It treats the TransWest Express powerline, and the Chokecherry-Sierra Madre wind farm that it serves, as unqualified benefits for the Earth’s environment. In reality, neither would have ever been built in an environmentally sustainable world. # § Wildlife/Nature⠀➾ # ⚓ Point_Reyes_National_Seashore_Capitulates_to Ranchers⠀⇛ As in the draft document, the final management plan proposes to kill the native Tule elk if their populations grow beyond what the ranchers believe (as the NPS jumps to) is undesirable. The public submitted some 50,000 comments opposed to continued ranching and the killing of rare native Tule elk. Point Reyes Seashore is the only national park where Tule elk exist. Among the impacts caused by the ongoing livestock operations is the pollution of the park’s waterways, increased soil erosion, the spread of exotic weeds, the transfer of park vegetation from wildlife use to consumption by domestic livestock,  the use of public facilities j(the ranch buildings, etc. are all owned by the U.S. citizens but are used just as if they were private property, hindering public access to its lands. # ⚓ Killing_Wolf_Pups_for_a_Cow_Doesn’t_Add_Up⠀⇛ It didn’t last. On July 31, just weeks after the pack’s adults attacked four cattle, helicopter sharpshooters from the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife killed two of the pack’s 14-week-old pups. # ⚓ ‘It_Has_Come_to_This’:_Ancient_Sequoias_Wrapped_in Foil_as_Wildfire_Threatens⠀⇛ A grove of ancient trees in Sequoia National Park remained Friday in the path of a California wildfire that has already triggered evacuations and other protective efforts including wrapping some of the iconic trees—including the planet’s biggest—in protective foil covering. The immediate threat is the KNP Complex fire. Spanning 9,365 acres, the complex includes the Paradise Fire and the Colony Fire, both sparked by lightning last week. # ⚓ Ever_spot_tiny_‘horns’_on_a_Texas_beach?_They_belong to_an_elusive_squid_species⠀⇛ If you’re a beachcomber with a good eye, there’s a chance you’ve spotted a tiny, curled “horn” in the sand. So, what sea creature is it from? Padre Island National Seashore shared a photo Friday of the milky-colored shell found last week on the barrier island near Corpus Christi, Texas. “If you’ve found one of these on the seashore while beachcombing, consider yourself very lucky!” Padre Island National Seashore posted on Facebook. “Why? Because you didn’t pick up a shell that an animal lived in, you picked up a shell that was inside an animal!” o § Finance⠀➾ # ⚓ We_Are_on_the_Precipice_of_a_Housing_Disaster⠀⇛ Over the past weeks, multiple crises have merged: a crisis of democracy with the most significant attack on voting rights since Reconstruction; a climate crisis, with lives and livelihoods upended in the Gulf Coast and the Northeast by extreme weather events and in the West by a stunning fire season; and an economic crisis in which millions are being cut off from Pandemic Unemployment Insurance, even as August job gains proved underwhelming. There’s also a crisis taking place in state legislatures with an ongoing attack on women’s autonomy over our own bodies. The Supreme Court let a law go into effect that makes abortions nearly impossible in Texas and turns its enforcement over to vigilantes. And then, of course, there’s the looming eviction crisis that could precipitate the worst housing and homelessness disaster in American history. # ⚓ Saving_$3.5_Trillion_on_Prescription_Drugs_to_Pay_for Bernie_Sanders’s_Big_Agenda⠀⇛ The Democrats are hoping to use these savings to pay for expanding Medicare (possibly also lowering the age of eligibility; 64 would be a good start), free community college, extending the child tax credit, and all sorts of other good things. While there is some skepticism as to whether the government can actually save $600 billion over a decade on prescription drugs, this is actually a very low target. Arguably, the full cost of the $3.5 trillion (1.2 percent of GDP) package could be covered by savings on prescription drugs alone. Projected Spending on Prescription Drugs # ⚓ Unemployment_Benefit_Cut-Off_Will_Slash_Annual_Incomes_by $144_Billion:_Analysis⠀⇛ The decision by Congress and the Biden administration to let pandemic-related unemployment programs expire earlier this month will slash annual incomes across the U.S. by $144.3 billion and significantly reduce consumer spending, the Economic Policy Institute estimates in an analysis released Friday. “The resulting income and consumer spending losses of the most recent unemployment benefit cuts will be devastating.” # ⚓ What_Occupy_Wall_Street_Organizers_Would_Do_Differently⠀⇛ The Rev. Michael Ellick1 # ⚓ Opinion_|_What_We_Can_Learn_From_Occupy_Wall_Street_for Today’s_Tax_Fight⠀⇛ Ten years ago, young people set up camp in New York City’s Zuccotti Park to protest rampant  economic  inequality and outsized corporate influence on our democracy.  The Occupy Wall Street movement quickly spread to other  U.S. cities but lost steam before it made a meaningful mark on policy. # ⚓ Did_Occupy_Wall_Street_Make_a_Difference?⠀⇛ Ten years ago this month, Occupy Wall Street unexpectedly inaugurated a new wave of protest. The domestic manifestation of a worldwide explosion of digitally networked social movements, it scaled up rapidly, attracting enormous public and media attention. But the protesters were evicted from New York City’s Zuccotti Park and other occupied spaces after only a few months, and Occupy dissipated soon afterward. Some commentators have dismissed it as a meteoric flash in the pan, while others have criticized its “horizontalist” structure and lack of concrete demands.1 # ⚓ “Another_World_Is_Possible”:_How_Occupy_Wall_Street Reshaped_Politics_&_Kicked_Off_New_Era_of_Protest⠀⇛ On the 10th anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, we examine the legacy of the historic protests with three veterans of the movement: Nelini Stamp, now the director of strategy and partnerships at the Working Families Party; Jillian Johnson, a key organizer in Occupy Durham who now serves on the Durham City Council and is the city’s mayor pro tempore; and writer and filmmaker Astra Tayor, an organizer with the Debt Collective. Occupy Wall Street “broke the spell” protecting the economic status quo and marked a major shift in protests against capitalism, Taylor says. “Occupy kind of inaugurated this social movement renaissance,” she tells Democracy Now! “We’ve been in an age of defiant protest ever since Occupy Wall Street.” # ⚓ A_Canadian_Amazon_Warehouse_Could_Soon_Be_the_First_to Unionize_in_North_America⠀⇛ # ⚓ European_Shares_Subdued_As_China_Data_Disappoints⠀⇛ European stocks were subdued on Wednesday as weak Chinese data, a strong inflation reading in the U.K. and disappointing sales from fashion retailer H&M raised concerns about the global economic recovery. o § AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics⠀➾ # ⚓ Rolling_Back_the_Enlightenment⠀⇛ Few people in the U.S. would like corporations to have more power. Unfortunately, Democrats have done little to halt their increasing power. Their hands, or so they would argue if they were honest, are effectively tied by the nature of campaign finance. They can’t afford to bite the hands that feed them. So the Democrats are not protecting us from the increasing hegemony of large corporations. What they are doing, on the other hand is far worse than rolling back the 20th century. They are taking us all the way back to the Dark Ages, the age of orthodoxy, where only officially sanctioned ideas were allowed to be publicly proclaimed. Freedom of expression, a lawyer friend of mine is fond of pointing out, is specifically for views one does not like, views one finds offensive, even threatening. It is completely unnecessary for views one agrees with because there is never a question of suppressing those. # ⚓ Buffalo_Mayor_Who_Lost_to_Socialist_India_Walton_Can’t_Be on_Ballot,_Court_Rules⠀⇛ # ⚓ Trump’s_Mental_Stability_in_Question⠀⇛ “He’s crazy. You know he’s crazy. He’s been crazy for a long time,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the chairman, Gen. Mark Milley, Jan. 8, two days after Trump supporters attacked the Capitol to thwart the certification of Joe Biden as president. “I agree with you on everything,” Milley told her. # ⚓ Judge_Blocks_Biden_From_Continuing_Inhumane_Trump_Policy_to Deport_Families⠀⇛ # ⚓ Freedom_to_Vote_Act—For_Capitalist_Parties_Only⠀⇛ Yet this bill also deserves vigorous protest from the Left for its public campaign financing provisions, which are effectively for the two big capitalist parties only. The bill eliminates the Presidential Election Campaign Fund on December 31, 2021. That is the fund which Green Party presidential candidates have used to qualify for presidential primary matching funds. That funding has been crucial in paying for petitioners to qualify the Green Party for state ballots under the onerous signature requirements of most states. No major party candidates used primary matching funds in 2020 because it limited total primary spending to $50 million, which is not enough for the corporate party candidates these days. So they are eliminating it because only the Green Party still uses the program. # ⚓ The_Handcuffing_of_Joe_Biden⠀⇛ Bipartisanship? As Donald Trump would say in his New York accent: fuhgeddaboutit! One day after Biden’s inauguration, QAnon sympathizer Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced HR 57 to impeach the new president on the Trumped-up charge of bribery. As the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan proceeded at its telescoped and chaotic pace, impeachment calls came with greater regularity from the Republican Party, with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) demandingthe president’s ouster for the high crime and misdemeanor of “ignoring sound advice.” # ⚓ Milton_Allimadi_on_US_Media’s_Africa_Reporting⠀⇛ # ⚓ The_New_York_Times:_Ally_to_Colonialism_in_Africa⠀⇛ In 1948, apartheid became official policy in South Africa. Racial segregation and inequity in distribution of resources, with adverse impact on the  African population on all aspects of social, cultural, economic, and political life—and always in favor of the white minority—was now formalized. It was the law of the land. # ⚓ Secret_Service_Protection_for_Trump_Family,_Officials_Cost $1.7_Million_in_2021⠀⇛ # ⚓ Rikers⠀⇛ # ⚓ Trump_the_Neocon?:_The_Changing_Climate_of_Antiwar Politics⠀⇛ But I knew more than a few legit antiwar activists who were taken in by the orange bastard. Most of them were right-wing libertarians and paleocons, and most of them would readily admit that the guy was an asshole, but they still held out hope that this whole America First scheme would light a fire beneath middle America that would drive out the neocons and usher in a new era of conservative isolationism like the kind that once dominated the GOP before Nixon. At the very least, they held out hope that that foul gangster would finally bail us out of Afghanistan. I didn’t see it. So I voted for Jill Stein again. Five years later and I find myself in I-told-you-so country again. After a very brief flirtation with anti-globalist rhetoric and getting-along-with- Putin bromides, the GOP has rejoined their war loving frenemies in the Democratic Party to crucify Joe Biden for doing what their darling Trump promised to do for four years straight and finally get us the fuck out of Afghanistan. Both sides are fucking hysterical over the shocking spectacle of old Joe doing something right for the first time in his impossibly long career as a Beltway gangbanger, but those blathering crybabies over at Fox News take the cake. # ⚓ A_Journalist_Dissects_a_Biased_Chart_of_Media_Biases⠀⇛ Ad Fontes Media, Inc, claims they want to help people with this. They say they want to help people “navigate the news landscape” and “make news consumers smarter and news media better”. Unfortunately, their own bias steps in, and they fail at this task. # ⚓ Roaming_Charges:_Taxing_Representations⠀⇛ + As AOC strolled before the fashion paparrazi at the Met Gala, her immaculate train held aloft by masked workers, I was reminded of the rollout for Verso’s chic 150th anniversary edition of the Communist Manifesto, with a trendy cover by Komar and Melamid, which publisher Colin Robinson boasted was “self-consciously marketed towards sybarites.” Marx and Engels’ call to arms ended up on display in the hands of mannequins at Barney’s and Prada wearing $150 t-shirts featuring Che Guevara. But at least they were marketing revolution as a kind of sly prank and not tax hikes to fund an upgrade to Bernie’s fleet of F-35s. + If the Left ever listened to Johnny Cash, they might realize that “taxes”–the one thing universally hated by the rich and working poor–is not a winning political slogan like, say–Free Health Care, End the War, Cancel Student Debt, Stop Evictions, Solar Power Now or even F tha Police. # ⚓ Glenn_Greenwald_and_Iowa’s_latest_WTF_Moments⠀⇛ Glenn Greenwald’s latest Substack essay shows how it is possible to be bright, seemingly progressive, stupid, and stealthily reactionary all at one and the same time – a common affliction of petit- bourgeois intellectuals who’ve never had a proper Marxist education. “While AOC’s revolutionary and subversive socialist gown generated buzz,” Greenwald writes, “the normalization of maskless elites attended to by faceless servants is grotesque.” # ⚓ Understanding_the_Basics_of_21st-Century_Democracy, Autocracy,_and_Capitalism⠀⇛ Residential communities in many parts of the modern world operate in formal democracies. However, they usually allow individuals with high levels of income and wealth to use these means to influence others in their voting, whereas individuals with low levels of income and wealth can and usually do wield less influence. The capitalist economic system generates precisely that unequal distribution of income and wealth that creates and sustains a wide gap between formal and real democracy in the world today. That gap in turn reinforces capitalism. Workplace communities are those collections of interacting individuals comprising enterprises: factories, offices, and stores. In societies where capitalism prevails, enterprises are very rarely organized democratically. Instead, they are autocratic. Inside most workplace communities in today’s world, an individual or small subgroup within the workplace community, a ruling group, governs the workplace community. An owner, an owning family, a partnership of owners, or a board of directors elected by major shareholders comprises the ruler in capitalist enterprises. Their autocratic governance reinforces and is reinforced by the unequal distributions of income and wealth that they generate. # ⚓ To_Avert_Failure,_Biden_Should_Listen_to_the_“Radicals”_– Not_Corporate_Media⠀⇛ With Biden’s popularity lagging, success or failure for his administration hinges on who he listens to on various pressing issues. Will he side with the “radicals” or with the go-slow, yes/no, status-quo corporate media? STUDENT DEBT:  Biden should listen to Senate leader Chuck Schumer, not exactly a Marxist-Leninist, who has spent months publicly pressuringthe president to use his executive authority under the Higher Education Act of 1965 to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student debt for each person holding such debt. This executive order would dramatically stimulate the economy well in advance of the 2022 election – and would be an important step forward on racial justice as well as economic equity. # ⚓ Top_Gymnasts_Blast_FBI_for_Not_Taking_Nassar’s_Sexual_Abuse Case_Seriously⠀⇛ # ⚓ There’s_No_Good_Reason_FBI_Director_Chris_Wray_Still_Has_a Job⠀⇛ Firing FBI Director James Comey was arguably the first big mistake of Donald Trump’s presidency (he’d go on to have more). It was such an obvious misstep that Trump consigliere Steve Bannon called it “the biggest mistake in modern political history.” Comey had been investigating foreign interference in the 2016 election as well as ties between Russian oligarchs and the Trump campaign. Trump literally admitted to firing Comey because of “the Russian thing,” which was textbook obstruction of justice, thereby triggering his first impeachment (he’d go on to have more). # ⚓ Human_rights_advocates_decry_Apple,_Google_decision_to_pull Navalny_app_as_Russia_voting_begins⠀⇛ The app, built by associates of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was intended to help Russian voters opposed to Putin cast ballots in a way that would prevent splitting opposition support among multiple candidates and handing victory to the Putin candidate. But Roskomnadzor, the Russian censorship agency, accused Apple and Google of meddling in Russia’s political affairs by allowing voters to download the app and demanded that it be removed from their online stores. It threatened fines and possible criminal prosecutions while calling Navalny supporters “extremists.” # ⚓ [Older]_The_Intolerance_Network⠀⇛ Over 17,000 documents from HazteOir and CitizenGO, Spanish right-wing campaigning organizations. They use high level lobbying, a large network and grassroots mobilizations to hinder advancements in LGBTQI, reproductive rights and secularization. These documents include HazteOir founding CitizenGo in 2013 to expand their reach, as well as their organizing of the 2012 World Congress of Families, an influential American far-right platform. # ⚓ The_Intolerance_Network⠀⇛ Today, 5th August 2021, WikiLeaks publishes “The Intolerance Network” over 17,000 documents from internationally active right wing campaigning organisations HazteOir and CitizenGO. The documents date from 2001 to 2017 and cover the founding of CitizenGO and early activities of both organisations. The documents are from their internal systems and cover things like: spreadsheets of donors and members, strategy and planning documents, letters, financial charts and legal and training documents. HazteOir was first founded in 2001 in Spain to campaign for right wing values, in 2013 it founded CitizenGO to spread its work beyond Spanish speaking countries. This dataset includes the founding of CitizenGo, and documents from HazteOir organising, along with US based The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society, the 2012 World Congress for Families (WCF) in Madrid. The WCF brings together right wing organisations that promote opposition to LGBTQI+ and reproductive rights, it has been labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and a 2014 Human Rights Campaign report stated “The World Congress of Families (WCF) is one of the most influential American organizations involved in the export of hate”. # ⚓ Freedom_to_Vote_Act—For_Capitalist_Parties_Only⠀⇛ The Freedom to Vote Act, the pared down voting rights legislation that Democratic Senators unveiled on September 14, must be supported to preempt GOP state laws for partisan gerrymandering, voter suppression, election subversion, and intimidation of voters and election administrators. Yet this bill also deserves vigorous protest from the Left for its public campaign financing provisions, which are effectively for the two big capitalist parties only. The bill eliminates the Presidential Election Campaign Fund on December 31, 2021. That is the fund which Green Party presidential candidates have used to qualify for presidential primary matching funds. That funding has been crucial in paying for petitioners to qualify the Green Party for state ballots under the onerous signature requirements of most states. No major party candidates used primary matching funds in 2020 because it limited total primary spending to $50 million, which is not enough for the corporate party candidates these days. So they are eliminating it because only the Green Party still uses the program. o § Misinformation/Disinformation⠀➾ # ⚓ Litecoin_Walmart_Hoax_Easily_Exploits_A_Lazy_U.S._Press⠀⇛ You might have seen a week or two ago how everybody absolutely freaked out after a Rolling Stone article falsely reported that Ivermectin overdoses were causing massive congestion at Oklahoma hospitals. In reality, the truth wound up being something substantively less than that (Mathew Ingram at Columbia Journalism Review has a good breakdown here). The whole mess began after a local news organization published a story that was misinterpreted by a bunch of national outlets who “aggregated” and repackaged it. The screw up was then picked up in turn by conservative commentators eager to point out that the press was specifically out to get them. o § Censorship/Free Speech⠀➾ # ⚓ Appeals_Court_Says_The_First_Amendment_Protects_Minnesota Woman’s_Right_To_Be_Super-Shitty_About_Nearby_Islamic School⠀⇛ The First Amendment protects unsympathetic plaintiffs just as much as it does those able to obtain mass support for their arguments. This case, originating from Bloomington, Minnesota, involves someone whose motives seem bigoted but whose actions were clearly covered by the Constitution. # ⚓ Angry_Anti-Masker_Sues_Joe_Biden,_Facebook,_And_Twitter Because_His_Social_Media_Was_Taken_Down_For_Disinfo⠀⇛ Another day, another truly silly lawsuit. The “Liberty Justice Center” and the Tyler & Bursch law firm — both of which seem to specialize in filing ridiculous lawsuits — have now filed a lawsuit on behalf of a disinformation-spewing anti-masker against Joe Biden, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Facebook, and Twitter… because Facebook and Twitter locked his account after he posted an image claiming (incorrectly) that “masking children is impractical and not backed by research or real world data.” # ⚓ On_Why_I’m_Leaving_Academe⠀⇛ Tenure is often the reward for having confined one’s activities to relatively uncontroversial topics. And just because your point of view is approved at this moment in our history does not mean that the tables won’t turn later. If you went into higher education because you valued freedom of thought and expression, lately you may be feeling as if you chose the wrong profession. # ⚓ Citing_Russia’s_‘broadcast_moratorium,’_in_a_blow_to Navalny’s_Smart_Vote_initiative,_Telegram_suddenly_suspends all_bots_‘associated_with_campaigning’⠀⇛ In a message on Friday evening, Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that the popular instant messenger is suspending support for all “bots associated with election campaigning” during Russia’s parliamentary elections, which began today and conclude on Sunday, September 19. Justifying the decision, Durov explained in a post on his Telegram channel that the network will observe Russia’s “broadcast moratorium” during the voting process. “We consider this practice to be legitimate and call on Telegram users to respect it. Beginning at midnight, Moscow time [September 18], we plan to restrict the functionality of bots associated with election campaigning.” o § Freedom of Information/Freedom of the Press⠀➾ # ⚓ Dallas_Journalist_Barrett_Brown_Went_to_the_U.K._Now,_He Wants_Asylum.⠀⇛ But sometime after leaving the room, the official returned and changed his tune, Brown said. Suddenly, Brown’s answers were unsatisfactory, and he was told that his six-month visa had actually ended in April. “Whereas in fact, counting to six from November, it ends in May,” Brown said. The Home Office, the British department responsible for immigration, security and law and order, didn’t return a request for comment. Brown isn’t sure how his case will turn out. But even if he were to get slapped with the maximum sentence, he’d just be looking at six months behind bars, and he did more than that in solitary confinement alone in a facility outside of Dallas. o § Civil Rights/Policing⠀➾ # ⚓ Words_Mean_Things,_and_the_“Treason”_Talk_is_Tiresome⠀⇛ Not just by his opponents, who broke out the t-word every time they tried to blame Hillary Clinton’s loss on alleged collusion with THEM RUSSIANS!, but by Trump himself when, for example, an anonymous op-ed writer asserted that “adults in the room” were working to keep him from looking stupid. Trump’s leveling his latest (provisional — “if the story … is true”) “treason” accusation against General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. # ⚓ Hunger_Strike_Erupts_in_Notorious_Florida_Jail_as_Haitians Fight_Deportation⠀⇛ # ⚓ 40+_NYC_Activists_Arrested_for_Protests_Against_Banks Fueling_Climate_Emergency⠀⇛ At least 40 climate activists were arrested Friday at the New York City offices of JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and Bank of America, organizers said, as campaigners across the United States demanded financial institutions stop supporting the destruction of the planet. “We need our government leaders to take action immediately… The climate crisis is here, now.”—Christina See, XR NYC # ⚓ Fireworks_at_the_Select_Committee_on_the_Capitol_Riot⠀⇛ It all depends on what secrets those phone records unlock. For instance, were early reports accurate that Boebert texted with the rioters during the pandemonium? If so, what did she tell them? Did any of these Stop the Steal congresspeople reveal the location of the goons’ targets – potential victims like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence? Particularly Pence, whom the rioters vociferously apostrophized with the chant, “Hang Mike Pence!” Revealing his location to such a mob would seem to show some rather criminal, if not murderous intent. Phone records could answer such questions. Certain things, however, are already known. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy had an infamous phone call with Trump on January 6, in which he reportedly pleaded with the Fuhrer to call off his thugs. Trump’s unforgettable reply was “well Kevin, I guess they’re a lot more upset about the election than you are.” Possible translation: I’m not calling them off until they do real damage or until not stopping them could harm ME. Trump may even have mulled invoking the insurrection act, thus suspending the transfer of power mandated by the election. But since members of the select committee won’t likely obtain McCarthy’s testimony – which he’d probably rather die than give – they may have to pursue the contents of that call otherwise. So ordering phone companies to preserve all records sounds pretty sensible. # ⚓ New_Report_Shows_“Deeply_Troubling_Failures”_by_Border Patrol_in_Boy’s_Death,_Key_Congressional_Leader_Says⠀⇛ A new report details “deeply troubling failures” by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the 2019 death of a Guatemalan boy in the agency’s custody, including the creation of false records suggesting he was monitored during the night, the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security said Friday. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who leads the panel, called on the agency to “take corrective action to help ensure a tragedy like this never occurs again.” # ⚓ The_Big_Lie_That’s_Destroying_the_Wild_Horses_of_the American_West⠀⇛ At roughly 27 million acres, wild horse herd management areas (HMAs) constitute just 4% of the 750 million acres making up “the West” in the lower 48 states. There are 22 million cattle and sheep across that vast western expanse. That’s 265 times the number of wild horses (presently estimated at 86,000) in the 177 HMAs that were established principally for their use by the 1971 Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. But the livestock industry considers that 27 million acres with 86,000 wild horses on it (one wild horse per 314 acres) to be overpopulated, or, as the BLM puts it, “above AML.” This is an acronym for “appropriate management level” but “agribusiness management level” is more accurate. Science-based? No. The AML is a quota whose purpose is to maintain commercial cattle and sheep stocking rates inside wild horse territory. # ⚓ Indigenous_People_of_Brazil_Fight_for_Their_Future⠀⇛ “Bolsonaro attacked a woman first, the land, our mother,” the Indigenous leader Célia Xakriabá told me. “We have no choice but to fight back.” Since becoming president, the former Army captain, who served under the country’s last military dictator, has led an unprecedented war against the environment and the people protecting it. A slew of anti-Indigenous legislation, escalated violence against and assassinations of Indigenous land defenders, and the COVID-19 pandemic have threatened the existence of Brazil’s original people, the Amazon rainforest, and the future of the planet. # ⚓ How_to_Have_a_Safe_Abortion—Even_in_Texas⠀⇛ Texas Senate Bill 8 bans abortions after six weeks, when most people don’t yet know they are pregnant. The law empowers private citizens to sue anyone believed to be providing or “aiding and abetting” a procedure. Snitches, even ones living outside of Texas, can receive a $10,000 reward. Elisa Wells, a cofounder and codirector of Plan C, an informational resource for self-managed abortions, called SB 8 “abhorrent.” But she stressed that, despite the new and escalating restrictions, another option exists: the self-managed abortion. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000, abortion medications are safe, convenient, and can be mailed directly to homes, but false rumors spread by anti-choice groups color self- managed abortions as dangerous “back alley” options that need to be highly regulated. Thankfully, groups like Plan C are working to demystify and destigmatize this medical tool. I spoke to Wells about the Texas law, misconceptions about self- managed abortions, and what the future of reproductive rights in America looks like. # ⚓ “Systemic_Failure”:_Top_Gymnasts_Blast_FBI_for_Bungling Sexual_Abuse_Probe_of_Dr._Larry_Nassar⠀⇛ This week some of gymnastics’ biggest stars shared scathing testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the FBI’s failure to stop Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics doctor and serial sexual abuser. Lawyers say that after the FBI was first told of Nassar’s crimes, he abused another 120 people before his 2016 arrest. We feature the testimony of Simone Biles, the four-time Olympic gold medalist, who is widely considered to be the greatest gymnast of all time, and speak with gymnast Rachael Denhollander, who was the first to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual abuse and says the case exposes a systemic failure to take sexual abuse seriously. “Something we need to be asking as we’re watching this unfold is: What are we not seeing?” Denhollander says. “What happens to the survivors who don’t have an army of 500 women? What happens to the survivors who don’t have Olympians headlining their case and raising the profile of the gross negligence and corruption that’s taking place in our system?” We also speak with Mark Alesia, who was an investigative reporter at The Indianapolis Star in 2016 and helped to break the story about Nassar’s sexual abuse of gymnasts. “The FBI did not take the gymnasts’ complaints seriously,” Alesia says. # ⚓ Mohamed_Noor_Murder_Conviction_Reversed:_MN_Supreme_Court Orders_Ex-MPD_Officer_Be_Sentenced_For_2nd-Degree Manslaughter⠀⇛ According to the ruling, evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction since the “appellant’s conduct was directed with particularity at the person who was killed.” # ⚓ Murder_verdict_in_death_of_Australian_woman_Justine_Damond overturned⠀⇛ Noor was the first police officer in the state’s history to be found guilty of murder for killing a civilian. His conviction was followed by a 22-and-half year sentence for Derek Chauvin, the white Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty of murdering black man George Floyd by pressing his knee into his neck for almost 10 minutes. After a trial that captivated the midwestern state in 2019, Noor was convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for shooting Damond, a dual US-Australian citizen, after she called police to report a possible sexual assault behind her home. # ⚓ Minnesota_Supreme_Court_overturns_murder_conviction_of_ex- cop_who_killed_Justine_Damond⠀⇛ Mohamed Noor, a Somali-American former police officer, was convicted in 2019 of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Justine Ruszczyk Damond on the night of July 15, 2017. Damond, a dual citizen of Australia and the US, had called to report a possible sexual assault taking place outside her home; Noor shot her as she approached his squad car. # ⚓ Former_Minneapolis_police_officer’s_murder_conviction reversed_in_deadly_shooting_of_Australian_woman⠀⇛ The ruling in Noor’s case was also closely watched for its possible impact on three other former Minneapolis officers awaiting trial in Floyd’s death. Prosecutors had wanted to add charges of aiding and abetting third-degree murder against them, but that’s unlikely to happen now. The trio are due to go on trial in March on charges of aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. # ⚓ Minnesota_Supreme_Court_Allows_The_Ballot_Question_On Changing_The_Minneapolis_Police⠀⇛ Yes 4 Minneapolis, which spearheaded the initiative, insists that the city would continue to have police if voters approve the amendment, but that the new department would be free to take a fresh approach to public safety that could reduce excessive policing against communities of color. # ⚓ Minneapolis_Inches_Closer_to_Disbanding_Its_Police Department⠀⇛ Both groups agree that the city’s police force has a problem. But how to solve that problem has remained a point of contention—one that’s led to months-long political feuds and legal battles over ballot language that will allow voters to decide this fall whether to replace the Minneapolis police force with a public safety agency. The latest episode came Thursday evening when the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that knocked down the ballot question. That means Minneapolis voters will have the chance to weigh in on the future of the police department. Early voting begins today. o § Internet Policy/Net Neutrality⠀➾ # ⚓ Data_Again_Shows_That_U.S._Broadband_Is_Painfully Mediocre⠀⇛ For literally twenty-five years we’ve thrown billions in subsidies, tax breaks, merger approvals, and regulatory favors at U.S. telecom giants in exchange for the promise of amazing, competitive, ultra-fast, widely-available broadband (and oodles of high paying jobs). And time and time again, studies show that what Americans got back in exchange was…something notably less than that. # ⚓ How_California’s_Broadband_Infrastructure_Law_Promotes Local_Choice⠀⇛ EFF will explain below why local communities need to take charge, and how the new law will facilitate local choice in broadband. No state has taken this approach yet and departed from the old model of handing over all the subsidies to giant corporations. That’s why it’s important for Californians to understand the opportunity before them now. If the bankruptcy of Frontier Communications has taught us anything, it is the following two lessons. First, large national private ISPs will forgo 21st-century fiber infrastructure in as many places they can to pad their short-term profits. Government subsidies to build in different areas do not change this behavior. Second, the future of broadband access depends on the placement of fiber optic wires. Fiber is an investment in long-term value over short-term profits. EFF’s technical analysis has also laid out why fiber optics is future-proof infrastructure by showing that no other transmission medium for broadband even comes close, which makes its deployment essential for a long-term solution. AT&T and cable companies, such as Comcast and Charter, are going to try to take advantage of this program by making offers that sound nice. But they will leverage existing legacy infrastructure that is rapidly approaching obsolescence. While they may be able to offer connectivity that’s “good enough for today” at a cheaper price than delivering fiber, there is no future in those older connections. It’s clear that higher uploads are becoming the norm, and at ever-increasing speeds. As California’s tech sector begins to embrace distributed work, only communities with 21st- century fiber broadband access will be viable places for those workers to live. Fiber optics’ benefits are clear. The challenge of  fiber optics is that its high upfront construction costs require very long-term financing models to deliver on its promise. Here is how the state’s new program makes that financing possible. o § Monopolies⠀➾ # § Patents⠀➾ # ⚓ Ivantis_to_pay_$60M_in_patent_litigation_settlement with_Glaukos⠀⇛ Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS) announced today that it entered into a settlement with Ivantis to terminate a three-year-old patent infringement lawsuit. # ⚓ FOSS_Patents:_China_extends_hand_to_EU_over_standard- essential_patent_enforcement,_prefers_dialog_over escalation:_judges_from_three_jurisdictions_spoke_at today’s_Renmin_University_conference⠀⇛ China’s response to the EU’s request for information via the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding standard-essential patent (SEP) enforcement was rather succinct. But that is only because China is confident of its compliance with the TRIPS Agreement–and should not be confused for an unwillingness to discuss SEP enforcement policies with a major trading partner. In 2012, seven judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit attended what the U.S. appeals court’s website still describes as “an historic three-day conference to discuss the adjudication of intellectual property disputes.” That event took place at Renmin University of China (RUC), as did the first International Symposium on Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property Rights–Transnational Dialogue and Normative Coordination a few years ago. Today, RUC hosted the “sequel” to that event, and I followed it via Zoom because it represented a splendid opportunity to listen to multiple patent-specialized judges from China, the UK, and Germany. If the European Commission that if they missed any details in China’s official answer, the EU might just ask for a recording of today’s conference (approximately five hours). The presentations by multiple Chinese judges as well as two German (Judge Klaus Bacher of the Federal Court of Justice and Judge Tobias Pichlmaier of the Munich I Regional Court) and two British judges (Justices Richard Meade and James Mellor, both of the England & Wales High Court of Justice) summarized and explained various landmark SEP rulings I’ve previously looked at, all the way up to the very recent jurisdictional decision in OPPO v. Sharp. No surprises there, obviously. Those presentations were all well-structured and informative. Judge Bacher didn’t mention that his court expects implementers to take global portfolio licenses–maybe he omitted it because it was so obvious to him, but in this international context it bears reiterating. I think Justice Meade stole the other European judges the show in terms of content, structure, and presentation (despite not switching into full-screen mode): low-key but world-class. # ⚓ DABUS:_An_AI_inventor_or_the_Emperor’s_New_Clothes? [Ed: Stop calling bots "Hey Hi" and stop playing into the hands of people who provoke the patent courts/ offices to turn them into a total farce]⠀⇛ The question of whether it should be possible to name artificial intelligence (AI) code as an inventor on a patent application continues to dog patent offices and courts around the world. However, despite the global attention on the so-called “AI inventor” patent applications, we are no nearer to understanding how the AI (“DABUS”) actually goes about the process of inventing, or even if it can be said to really invent at all. Meanwhile, the main commercial players in the AI field, such as Google DeepMind, continue to navigate the patent system without apparent concern about the issue of AI inventorship. DABUS and the Emperor’s New Clothes The team behind the fight for an algorithm to be named as an inventor on a patent application have had some recent success. The South African patent office accepted DABUS as an inventor of a South African patent (IPKat), although it must be noted that South Africa takes a very light touch with respect to patent examination. The Australian Federal Court also found that DABUS could be named as an inventor (Thaler v Commissioner of Patents [2021] FCA 879) (currently under appeal). The US District Court, by contrast, recently found against naming an algorithm as an inventor (IPWatchDog). In the UK, we are imminently expecting the decision from the Court of Appeal (expected in September), whilst the oral proceedings in the case before the EPO are scheduled for December. # ⚓ FOSS_Patents:_OpenRAN_is_certain_to_increase standard-essential_patent_licensing_costs:_more_SEPs, more_SEP_holders,_more_implementers,_more_injunctions⠀⇛ The stated goal of the O-RAN Alliance (O-RAN = OpenRAN = Open Radio Access Network) is to “enable a more competitive and vibrant RAN supplier ecosystem with faster innovation” by virtue of modularizing mobile network infrastructure through standardized interfaces. If OpenRAN (or “O-RAN”) is clearly superior over the current architecture, it’s striking that even the most optimistic projections come down to approximately 10% of the global RAN market by 2025. There are hurdles to be taken and concerns to be addressed. In this post I can’t talk about them all. To give just one example of a serious technical question, it is debatable whether a mobile network that runs partially on the cloud (“vRAN” or “virtual RAN”) could ever match the reliability and performance of traditional equipment, and whether the optimized use of resources that cloud-based solutions potentially offer outweigh security and other risks. I may very well discuss some of those architectual and practical issues on other occasions. Today I’m going to focus on what is–for this blog–the obvious starting point of the analysis: standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing and litigation. From that angle, O- RAN has zero upside–literally zero–but comes with a significant downside: # § Software Patents⠀➾ # ⚓ Ideahub_patent_held_unpatentable⠀⇛ On September 16, 2021, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a final written decision in Unified Patents, LLC v. Ideahub Inc. holding all challenged claims of U.S. Patent 9,641,849 invalid and denied the motion to amend. The IPR was filed as part of Unified’s ongoing efforts in its SEP Video Codec Zone. The ’849 patent relates to a video compression technique known as intra prediction. The ’849 patent is a part of the Access Advance patent pool. Access Advance claims that certain claims of the ’849 patent are essential to the HEVC standard. # § Trademarks⠀➾ # ⚓ Judge_In_Scouts_BSA_Trademark_Case_Says_He’s_Going_To Rule_In_Scouts_BSA’s_Favor_On_Summary_Judgement⠀⇛ Well, well, it appears that this particular story is going to move faster than I had thought. And, to be frank, I kinda sorta get it. We had just discussed Scouts BSA, formerly The Boy Scouts of America, seeking summary judgement in the trademark suit brought by The Girl Scouts of America. You can go back through the old posts for the detailed context, but the short version is that the Boy Scouts decided girls aren’t as icky as they previously thought and rebranded as Scouts BSA to be more inclusive. This created a bunch of confusion with The Girl Scouts, some of it very much due to the actions of local Scouts BSA chapters, such as: # § Copyrights⠀➾ # ⚓ Instagram_Beats_Photographers’_Suit_Over_Embed Feature⠀⇛ Two photographers in May sued Instagram on behalf users who uploaded content to the app that was later embedded elsewhere without permission. Alexis Hunley and Matthew Brauer argue that Instagram’s embed feature lets third parties display content without licensing it and therefore the app is secondarily liable for enabling their copyright infringement. # ⚓ Yout_Files_Refocused_Lawsuit_Against_RIAA_to_Have YouTube-Ripping_Service_Declared_Legal⠀⇛ YouTube-ripping service Yout.com sued the RIAA in 2020, hoping to have its platform declared legal. As time went on the case became more complex. As a result, it was dismissed last month to allow Yout time to revise its arguments. Yout has now done just that via a focused amended complaint, providing precise detail on why the court should rule in its favor. # ⚓ RIAA_and_Rightscorp_Counter_Renewed_‘False_and Fraudulent’_DMCA_Notice_Claims⠀⇛ Internet provider RCN accused the RIAA and Rightscorp of sending “fraudulent” piracy notices based on flimsy evidence. The anti- piracy outfits recently asked the court to dismiss the allegations, arguing that these are fatally flawed. This includes the finding that Rightscorp operates without a private investigator’s license. ䷩ 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 3327 ╒═══════════════════ 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 ═════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ⠀⌧ █▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁ 09.18.21⠀▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█ ⌧ Gemini_version_available_♊︎ ✐ Links_18/9/2021:_LibreOffice_8.0_Plans_and_Microsoftcosm_Uses_WSL_to_Badmouth ‘Linux’⠀✐ Posted in News_Roundup at 5:31 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz 🄸🄼🄰🄶🄴 🄳🄴🅂🄲🅁🄸🄿🅃🄸🄾🄽 ⦇GNOME bluefish⦈ § Contents⠀➾ * GNU/Linux o Distributions o Devices/Embedded * Free_Software/Open_Source * Leftovers * § GNU/Linux⠀➾ o § Audiocasts/Shows⠀➾ # ⚓ GNU_World_Order_426⠀⇛ GNU **make** and some listener email. # ⚓ Sioyek:_A_PDF_Reader_For_Researchers??_–_Invidious⠀⇛ Today we’re looking at an odd PDF reader, it’s not just intended to be used for regular PDFs, obviously it works great for that. But where it shines is working with research papers and provides a few interesting functions to make that easier. # ⚓ Give_Boring_Video_Cinematic_Color_Grading_With_LUTs_– Invidious⠀⇛ In recent weeks, I’ve been playing around a bit with color grading my videos. One of the neat things that I’ve discovered are LUTs (look-up tables) which are templates that can be applied to videos (and images) to add color grading effects. o § Kernel Space⠀➾ # ⚓ #TGIQF_–_The_quiz_about_the_30th_Linux_birthday⠀⇛ The first version of the Linux open source operating system appeared 30 years ago. The former nerd system has turned into a versatile software substructure that now exists in a wide variety of application areas and hundreds of distributions that now run on billions of devices every day. Starting with conventional computers and servers, it has spread over the decades via Android to smartphones, smartwatches, on-board computers in cars and even industrial and rocket technology. The 22-year-old software developer Linus Torvalds, who was significantly involved in the creation of the first Linux version, is also the inventor of Git, the free version management software. More than a million commits were received in the Linux versions by August 2020 – over ten every hour and the trend is rising. # ⚓ Linux_5.14.6⠀⇛ I'm announcing the release of the 5.14.6 kernel. All users of the 5.14 kernel series must upgrade. The updated 5.14.y git tree can be found at: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/ stable/linux-stable.git linux-5.14.y and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser: https://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/ linux-s... thanks, greg k-h # ⚓ Linux_5.13.19⠀⇛ # ⚓ Linux_5.10.67⠀⇛ # ⚓ Linux_turns_30:_Success_factors_then_and_now [Ed: Automated translation]⠀⇛ Congratulations on your 30th Linux! You saw the light of day on Friday thirty years ago, after Linus Torvalds had previously announced that you would appear on August 25th. You have retained some rough edges from your early days to this day. Don’t worry if someone holds them against you: critics often fail to realize that some of them are the reason for your triumph. On the anniversary, it is therefore a good idea to take a closer look at some of your characteristic properties. # ⚓ DRM_Driver_Posted_For_AI_Processing_Unit_–_Initially Focused_On_Mediatek_SoCs_–_Phoronix⠀⇛ BayLibre developer Alexandre Bailon has posted a “request for comments” of a new open-source Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) driver for AI Processing Unit (APU) functionality. Initially the driver is catering to Mediatek SoCs with an AI co-processor but this DRM “APU” driver could be adapted to other hardware too. Alexandre Bailon sums up this DRM AI Processing Unit driver as “a DRM driver that implements communication between the CPU and an APU. This uses VirtIO buffer to exchange messages. For the data, we allocate a GEM object and map it using IOMMU to make it available to the APU. The driver is relatively generic, and should work with any SoC implementing hardware accelerator for AI if they use support remoteproc and VirtIO.” # ⚓ Apple_M1_USB_Type-C_Linux_Support_Code_Sent_Out_For_Testing –_Phoronix⠀⇛ he latest patches sent out for review/testing on the long mission for enabling Apple M1 support on Linux is the USB Type-C connectivity. Sven Peter has sent out the initial USB Type- C enablement work for the Apple ACE1/2 chips used by Apple M1 systems. In turn this Apple design is based on the TI TPS6598x IP but various differences. The Linux kernel support is being added onto the existing TIPD driver. # § Graphics Stack⠀➾ # ⚓ AMD_+_Valve_Focusing_On_P-State_/_CPPC_Driver_With Schedutil_For_Better_Linux_Efficiency_–_Phoronix⠀⇛ As reported at the start of August, AMD and Valve have been working on Linux CPU performance/frequency scaling improvements with the Steam Deck being one of the leading motivators. As speculated at that time, their work would likely revolve around use of ACPI CPPC found with Zen 2 CPUs and newer. Published last week was that AMD P-State driver for Linux systems indeed now leveraging CPPC information. AMD formally presented this new driver yesterday at XDC2021. o § Applications⠀➾ # ⚓ Top_20_Open-source_solutions_for_Photographers⠀⇛ In today world, editing photos is a critical component in the overall photography process, and it was taken a new level of importance. As demand continues to rise and the market is filled with plenty of capable options, we will suggest top 20 apps to enhance your photography workflow. We take many free high-quality photo editors without having to pay for an expensive program to edit your image like a pro. # ⚓ EasyEffects_(Formerly_PulseEffects)_–_Apply_Audio_Effects to_PipeWire_Apps⠀⇛ The popular audio manipulation tool, PulseEffects, finally adds supports for PipeWire sound server by re-naming to EasyEffects. EasyEffects is a GTK4 app designed for only PipeWire sound server. For PulseAudio, default sound service in current Ubuntu releases, PulseEffects is still available. The UI looks almost same as before, and it may apply effects including Auto gain, Bass enhancer, Bass loudness, Compressor, Convolver, Crossfeed, Crystalizer, De-esser, Echo Canceller, Equalizer, Exciter, Expander, Filter, Gate, Limiter, Loudness, Maximizer, Multiband compressor, Multiband gate, Noise reduction, Pitch, Reverberation, Stereo tools. # ⚓ Mike_Gabriel:_X2Go,_Remmina_and_X2GoKdrive⠀⇛ In this blog post, I will cover a few related but also different topics around X2Go – the GNU/Linux based remote computing framework. Introduction and Catch Up For those, who haven’t come across X2Go, so far… With X2Go [0] you can log into remote GNU/Linux machines graphically and launch headless desktop environments, seamless/published applications or access an already running desktop session (on a local Xserver or running as a headless X2Go desktop session) via X2Go’s session shadowing / mirroring feature. Graphical backend: NXv3 For several years, there was only one graphical backend available in X2Go, the NXv3 software. In NXv3, you have a headless or nested (it can do both) Xserver that has some remote magic built-in and is able to transfer the Xserver’s graphical data to a remote client (NX proxy). Over the wire, the NX protocol allows for data compression (JPEG, PNG, etc.) and combines it with bitmap caching, so that the overall result is a fast and responsive desktop experience even on low latency and low bandwidth connections. This especially applies to X desktop environments that use many native X protocol operations for drawing windows and widget onto the screen. The more bitmaps involved (e.g. in applications with client-side rendering of window controls and such), the worse the quality of a session experience. The current main maintainer of NVv3 (aka nx-libs [1]) is Ulrich Sibiller. Uli has my and the X2Go community’s full appreciation, admiration and gratitude for all the work he does on nx-libs, constantly improving NXv3 without breaking compatibility with legacy use cases (yes, FreeNX is still alive, by the way). # ⚓ The_8_Best_Wireless_Penetration_Testing_Tools_for_Linux⠀⇛ Wi-Fi penetration tools aid cybersecurity analysis by delving deeper into the details of the security framework. Before hackers use these tools to infiltrate your system, it is a wise decision to examine your network for any such vulnerabilities. For this purpose, many organizations are beginning to use Wi-Fi penetration testing tools to uncover the vulnerabilities on their wireless networks. Read on to know some of the potent and popular Wi- Fi penetration tools. o § Instructionals/Technical⠀➾ # ⚓ How_to_Install_VirtualBox_on_Debian_11_(Bullseye)⠀⇛ As we all know that VirtualBox is a free virtualization tool which allows us to install and run multiple virtual machines of different distributions at the same time. VirtualBox is generally used at desktop level where geeks used to create test environment inside the virtual machines. Recently Debian 11 (bullseye) is released with latest updates and improved features. In this post, we will cover how to install VirtualBox and its extension pack on Debian 11 system. # ⚓ How_To_Install_Opera_Browser_on_Debian_11_–_idroot⠀⇛ In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Opera Browser on Debian 11. For those of you who didn’t know, Opera is one of the most popular cross-platform web browsers in the world. Opera offers many useful features such as free VPN, AdBlocker, integrated messengers, and private mode help you browse securely and smoothly. Share files instantly between your desktop and mobile browsers and experience web 3.0 with a free crypto wallet. 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 through the step-by- step installation of Opera Web Browser on a Debian 11 (Bullseye). # ⚓ Get_your_Own_URL_Shortening_Service_With_YOURLS_and Raspberry_PI⠀⇛ Online URL shortening are services able to transform a long, hard to manage url into a shorter one, usually composed by a domain ana a short casual string (the most famous being Bitly, Adfly and Shortest). With YOURLS and Raspberry PI you can create your own, private shortening service In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to install and configure YOURLS with a Raspberry PI computer board and publish it. Please note that this can’t be performed with a Raspberry PI Pico as it is a microncotroller and not a Linux computer. YOURLS stands for Your Own URL Shortener. It is an open source software, running on a LAMP server and using a small set of PHP scripts that allow you to run your own URL shortening service. # ⚓ How_to_play_Orcs_Must_Die!_2_on_linux⠀⇛ Create your own, self hosted url shortener service with YOURLS and Raspberry PI. Step-by-step guide to have it working in a very few time # ⚓ Configure_External_RAID_on_Ubuntu/Centos/RedHat_–_Unixcop⠀⇛ RAID: Stands For Redundant Array Of Independent Disks (Hardware Raid) or Redundant Array Of Inexpensive Disks (Software Raid) and that is technology that keeps data redundant to avoid data loss if any disk falls or is corrupted . # ⚓ Don’t_like_Visual_Studio_Code?_Try_these_5_Alternatives Apps_–_itsfoss.net [Ed: Some of the 'alternatives' are also Microsoft and also proprietary software. Rather awful list...]⠀⇛ When it comes to programming, we are going to need a plain text editor that allows us to easily modify files or take notes. One of the most complete and professional tools is Visual Studio Code. Although this Microsoft program is not indicated for users with little experience, so, if it is our case, surely we want to know what the best alternatives are. Anyone can download Virtual Studio Code, since it is completely free, but without a doubt, it has been designed to be used by programmers. In this field we find many other good options for professional work, especially if we are interested in knowing anything about a program developed by Microsoft. # ⚓ How_to_Access_BBSes_in_Linux_Using_Telnet⠀⇛ In the ’80s and early ’90s, the most popular way to get online in the US was through Bulletin Board Systems or BBSes. While they’re nowhere near as numerous as they were during their mid-90s heyday, there are still hobbyists operating these systems scattered around the world. And you can access them from Linux, without a dial-up modem. # ⚓ How_to_solve_the_undefined_variable/index/offset_PHP_error –_Anto_./_Online⠀⇛ This guide will you how to solve the notice undefined variable, index, or offset error that you are experiencing in PHP. This error is easy to spot in the warning and error message logs. Consequently, you will typically see a descriptive error message like this… # ⚓ Missing_Standard_Apps_on_elementary_OS_and_Guide_To_Install Them⠀⇛ elementary OS is a fast replacement to Windows or macOS. It comes with basic apps you need without ones you don’t. Because of that, several standard apps like LibreOffice not included by default. This article presents you the apps and guide to install them to help you every time you have new elementary OS. We hope this would be useful to you! # ⚓ How_to_install_Deltarune_Chapter_2_on_a_Chromebook⠀⇛ Today we are looking at how to install Deltarune Chapter 2 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. # ⚓ How_to_Install_Spotify_on_Ubuntu_20.04_Linux⠀⇛ Spotify is an on-demand music company that gives us access to listen to millions of songs and podcasts for a monthly fee. It has been a revolution in music consumption on the Internet. The right music or podcast is always at your fingertip You can access it on your phone, your computer, your tablet, and more. Some of the most prominent features of Spotify are Equalizer, Listening history, Spotify Connect, Search, Listen offline and you can also listen offline. You can visit the official site to learn more about the features. Spotify is available for Android, iOS, and Windows. A great sign that Linux is also being taken into account. There is a Spotify client for the Linux family and mainly for Ubuntu 20.04 which is perhaps one of the most popular distributions. # ⚓ How_to_Completely_Uninstall_Google_Chrome_From_Ubuntu⠀⇛ So, you managed to install Google Chrome on Ubuntu. It is the most popular web browser in the world, after all. But perhaps you dislike Google products for the heavy tracking and data mining they employ on its users. You decided to opt for other web browsers on Ubuntu, perhaps a non-Chromium browser. Now that you are no longer using it, it would be wise to remove Google Chrome from Ubuntu. # ⚓ How_to_uninstall_applications_in_GNU_/_Linux_– itsfoss.net⠀⇛ Either because the latest program we installed does not convince us, or because we are determined to ‘lighten up’ our equipment, it is important to know how we can uninstall software (or rather, using the correct terminology, ‘packages’) from our Linux system . However, one thing we should know about Linux is that there is not just one way to uninstall (or install, since we are) packages , but multiple. In the first place, it will differ according to the distribution we are using, and secondly according to how we prefer to carry out this task using graphical tools or the command line terminal. # ⚓ How_To_Install_Apache_Airflow_on_Ubuntu_20.04_–_idroot⠀⇛ In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Apache Airflow on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Airflow is one of the most popular workflow management solutions, it authors, schedules, and monitors workflows. Airflow is written in Python, and workflows are created via Python scripts. Airflow is designed under the principle of “configuration as code”. 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 Apache Airflow workflows management tool on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian-based distribution like Linux Mint. # ⚓ How_to_Install_Cockpit_on_AlmaLinux_8_or_Rocky_Linux_8⠀⇛ The Cockpit is an open-source web-based server management tool that allows administrators to manage and monitor their Linux server systems remotely. It provides a nice Dashboard to administer your Linux servers from a web browser. With Cockpit, you can check the system performance, the load, start/stop services, disk space, CPU & memory usage, running process, and more. One notable feature of Cockpit is that you can access the terminal from the dashboard and install various packages over the remote server. # ⚓ Perfect_Server_Automated_ISPConfig_3_Installation_on_Debian 10_and_Ubuntu_20.04⠀⇛ This tutorial will take you through installing your own ISPConfig 3 single server setup using the ISPConfig auto-installer. This installer follows the old Perfect Server guides but is more modular and easy to follow. If you want to set up a multiserver setup with dedicated servers for each service instead, see the Perfect Multiserver guide. This guide works for both Debian 10 and Ubuntu 20.04. We will use the hostname server1.example.com. Replace it where necessary. # ⚓ Auto_Logout_Inactive_Users_After_A_Period_Of_Time_In_Linux –_OSTechNix⠀⇛ This brief tutorial explains three different ways to auto logout inactive users after a particular period of time in Linux and Unix-like systems. Picture this scenario. You are managing a shared server that is regularly being accessed by many users from all systems in the network. There are chances that some user may forget to logout his session and left the session open. Leaving an user session open is dangerous and some users may misuse it intentionally. # ⚓ 13_Top_Command_In_Linux_(Monitor_Linux_Server_Processes)_| LinuxTeck⠀⇛ In this article, we will learn how to monitor running processes on Linux. The Linux OS offers several commands that can be used to monitor a running process, but for checking dynamic real-time processes, we can use a command called ‘TOP. This tool enables System Administrators to determine how fully real-time processes are utilized by their current system. With every Linux distribution, the ‘top’ utility comes pre-installed. We can utilize the interactive command to see the summary of the current system stats, and also customize the list of processes, threads, and many other features. This guide shows you how to use the top with various options to view all the current system activities. System administrators will be able to manage system resources as well as optimize their hardware utilization by analyzing uptime, CPU usage, memory utilization, swap space usage, load average, and all the other processes that are running on their system to ascertain how much real-time processing is being used. o § Games⠀➾ # ⚓ Steam_Next_Fest_gets_a_fresh_trailer_ahead_of_the_event_on October_1_|_GamingOnLinux⠀⇛ Steam Next Fest is fast approaching with it set to go live on October 1 so Valve has made a fresh trailer to give a little tease on what to expect from it. # ⚓ What_is_Proton?_|_TechRadar⠀⇛ You may have seen lots of mentions of Proton with the upcoming launch of the Steam Deck handheld game console, but what is it, and how does it work? Proton is a piece of software created by Valve and CodeWeavers that acts as a compatibility layer that allows games designed for the Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems to run in Linux with a minimal impact on performance. Proton is based on the existing WINE tool, which allowed Windows applications to run in Linux, with Valve and CodeWeavers taking the tech and using it to specifically run games. This is incredibly useful, as the vast majority of games are coded for Windows, due to the sheer popularity of Microsoft’s operating system. Linux, a free and open-source operating system, is relatively niche, which meant that many game developers couldn’t – or wouldn’t – spend resources on making a port of their games to run natively on Linux. # ⚓ Neptune_15_v2_from_Juno_is_a_Linux_Gaming_Laptop_with_240 Hz_Display⠀⇛ The Neptune 15″ V2 from Juno Computers is powered by Intel’s 10th-gen Comet Lake chipsets, and can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM. Nowadays, it is a little difficult to choose a perfect Linux gaming laptop, but it is not impossible to get it. As well as, these laptops are prepaid with full advantages like an additional graphic card with a brilliant CPU. In fact, some of the best Linux gaming laptops offer up the same durability and premium design as their Windows counterparts. They’ll also cost less since there’s no Windows license included with the laptop. # ⚓ Humble_has_a_nice_looking_VR_bundle_if_you_need_some_more games_|_GamingOnLinux⠀⇛ Do you have a VR kit that’s begging to be played? Check out the Fall VR Emporium Bundle over on Humble Bundle. Sadly, there’s not many native / supported Linux VR games and so you’re going to need Steam Play Proton to enjoy this set of games. o § Desktop Environments/WMs⠀➾ # § K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt⠀➾ # ⚓ KDE_Sees_Another_Big_Batch_Of_Plasma_Wayland Improvements_–_Phoronix⠀⇛ Along with releasing Plasma 5.23 Beta this week, KDE developers have been busy on driving in a bunch of Plasma Wayland fixes and other refinements to their stack. This week was yet another busy push of Plasma Wayland fixes ahead of next month’s official v5.23 release. Among the changes this week were: - KWin will no longer crash the Plasma Wayland session when disconnecting a Bluetooth drawing tablet. # ⚓ Plasma_5.23_Anniversary_Edition_Beta_available_for testing⠀⇛ Are you using Kubuntu 21.04 Hirsute Hippo, our current Stable release? Or are you already running our development builds of the upcoming 21.10 Impish Indri? We currently have Plasma 5.22.90 (Plasma 5.23 Anniversary Edition Beta) available in our Beta PPA for Kubuntu 21.04, and 21.10 development series. However this is a beta release, and we should re-iterate the disclaimer from the upstream release announcement… # ⚓ Using_KNotifications_in_QML⠀⇛ KDE Frameworks provides a cross-platform notification API, and with a proposed change still in review this would also become directly usable from QML. # § GNOME Desktop/GTK⠀➾ # ⚓ The_Truth_they_are_not_telling_you_about_“Themes”⠀⇛ Before we start, let’s get this out of the way because the week long delirium on social media has dragged enough. Yes, libadwaita “hardcodes” Adwaita. Yes, applications, as is, will not be following a custom system theme. Yes this does improve the default behavior of application for GNOME when run on other platforms like Elementary OS. However, this is was the result of a technical limitation, and not some evil plot as Twitter will keep telling you… The reason is that in order for High Contrast (and the upcoming Dark Style) to work, libadwaita needs to override the theme name property so it doesn’t fallback to GTK’s “Default” High Contrast style. The “Default” style is an older version of Adwaita, not your system style. Compared to GTK 3, there isn’t a new way to enforce the “hardcoded” style. The GTK_THEME variable still works, as does gtk.css and probably 3 other ways of doing this. Likewise, if you are developing a distribution, you have control of the end product and can do anything you want with the code. There is a plethora of options available. Apparently complaining on social media and bullying volunteers into submission was one such option… And I guess this also needs to be stated: this change only affects apps that choose to use libadwaita and adopt the GNOME Design Guidelines, not “every” GTK 4 application. As usual, the fact that the themes keep working doesn’t mean they are supported. The same issues about restyling applications when they don’t expect it apply and GNOME can not realistically support arbitrary stylesheets that none of the contributors develop against and test. o § Distributions⠀➾ # § New Releases⠀➾ # ⚓ Kali_Linux_2021.3_is_now_more_fun_in_VMs [Ed: Automated translation]⠀⇛ The special distribution Kali Linux based on Debian GNU / Linux has been released in version 2021.3. The developers particularly emphasize that the system should now run better in virtual machines. As can be seen from a post In addition to various updates for the ARM architecture and a visual revision, the current version brings more support for older encryption algorithms. The Android version of the system, NetHunter, can now be installed on a smartwatch for the first time. Kali Linux is aimed at everyone who wants to track down and investigate security gaps in IT systems as part of their professional or private activities. It comes with a large number of preconfigured tools, the use of which is helpful or even necessary in the context of security analyzes. # § IBM/Red Hat/Fedora⠀➾ # ⚓ [IBM's_IWB:]_Why_Our_Judgements_Are_Often_Flawed_and What_to_Do_About_It⠀⇛ A few weeks ago I listened to a very interesting Freakonomics podcast hosted by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt. In the podcast, Why Our Judgment is Flawed — and What to Do About It, Levitt interviewed Daniel Kahneman about his recent book, Noise: A Flow in Human Judgement, co- authored with Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. Kahneman is Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs Emeritus at Princeton University. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics “for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty.” Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman’s 2011 bestseller, was about the major discoveries by psychologists and cognitive scientists that have led to our current understanding of judgement and decision-making over the past several decades. Up to the 1970s, the prevailing view among social scientists was that people are generally rational and in control of the way they think and make decisions. It was thought that people only departed from rational behaviors because powerful emotions like fear, hatred or love distorted their judgement. These assumptions were challenged by the pioneering research of Kahneman and his long time collaborator Amos Tversky, who died in 1996. In a series of experiments, they demonstrated that human behavior often deviated from the predictions of the previous rational models, and that these deviations were due to the machinery of cognition, that is, to the biases and mental shortcuts or heuristics that we use for making everyday decisions, rather than to our emotional state. # ⚓ redhat_subscription_alternative_|_Local_Repo⠀⇛ we need to know although redhat provide open source software products for enterprises but it have payment subscription to install packages and updates in RedHat Enterprise Linux distribution and that supports diverse workloads in physical, virtualized and cloud environments , RHEL editions are available for servers, mainframe, SAP applications, desktops and OpenStack. o § Devices/Embedded⠀➾ # § Open Hardware/Modding⠀➾ # ⚓ Repurposing_the_VFD_unit_from_an_old_Epson_POS display_using_Arduino_|_Arduino_Blog⠀⇛ For many makers, it’s always fun to take some piece of old technology and give it a new lease on life, especially when the item in question was destined for the landfill. This is what prompted Alastair Aitchison — better known on YouTube as Playful Technology — to grab a deprecated vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) module from an Epson point-of-sale device and interface it with an Arduino Nano as a real-time display. VFDs can be thought of as character LCDs, but rather than having many dot-matrix units that use the alignments of suspended crystals to block light, tiny phosphor crystals light up when a current is applied. The module isn’t driven directly by the Arduino Nano since it requires a far higher voltage so a special display controller chip is integrated, which receives commands/data over an RS-232 port and manipulates the onscreen graphics accordingly. This meant a MAX232 had to be used to convert the Nano’s 5V TTL voltage into the -15V to 15 range. # ⚓ Unique_Clock_Doubles_as_a_Development_Board⠀⇛ Most clocks these days have ditched the round face and instead prefer to tell time through the medium of 7-segment displays. [mihai.cuciuc] is bringing the round face to digital clocks with his time-keeping piece, MakeTime. # § Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications⠀➾ # ⚓ 5_of_the_best_free_Android_chat_and_communication apps_for_gamers_–_How_smart_Technology_changing_lives⠀⇛ # ⚓ The_Best_New_Games_for_Android_This_Week_–_Knight’s Edge,_Relumine,_Core_In_Fusion_and_More_–_Droid Gamers⠀⇛ # ⚓ 8_new_and_notable_Android_apps_from_the_last_week including_Media_Bar,_Stationhead,_and_Barquode_(9/11/21 –_9/18/21)⠀⇛ # ⚓ Oppo_unveils_ColorOS_12-based_on_Android_12:_Here’s when_OnePlus_phones_will_get_it_|_Technology_News,The Indian_Express⠀⇛ # ⚓ Realme_UI_2.0_(Android_11)_update_released_for_Realme XT_|_Technology⠀⇛ # ⚓ India_says_Google_abused_Android_dominance⠀⇛ # ⚓ Motorola_to_reveals_its_new_Tablet_featuring_Stock Android_–_TechStory⠀⇛ o § Free, Libre, and Open Source Software⠀➾ # ⚓ World_Free_Software_Day:_why_it_is_celebrated_today_and what_are_the_advantages_of_these_programs [Ed: Automated translation]⠀⇛ Linux, Firefox, WordPress and even the very popular Android are, each in their own way, examples of the software free. Today is celebrating the move that involves a specific way of distributing and using computer programs: just like every third Saturday in September since the Free Software Day. The event arose in 2004 and on the occasion it was held on August 28, but around 2006 the third Saturday of the ninth month of the year was set. # § Web Browsers⠀➾ # § Mozilla⠀➾ # ⚓ Firefox_could_come_to_Ubuntu_21.10_in_Snap format_instead_of_Deb⠀⇛ Canonical is willing to convert Snap, at least, into the new package format for Ubuntu applications (and if possible for the rest of the distributions ), so after the rivers of ink that ran through the Chromium case, now we comes a “sequel” with Firefox, which in Ubuntu 21.10 indicates that it will be served in Snap format . # ⚓ Running_the_AWSY_benchmark_in_the_Firefox profiler_—_Paul_Bone⠀⇛ The are we slim yet (AWSY) benchmark measures memory usage. Recently when I made a simple change to firefox and expected it might save a bit of memory, it actually increased memory usage on the AWSY benchmark. We have lots of tools to hunt down memory usage problems. But to see an almost “log” of when garbage collection and cycle collection occurs, the Firefox profiler is amazing. I wanted to profile the AWSY benchmark to try and understand what was happening with GC scheduling. But it didn’t work out-of-the-box. This is one of those blog posts that I’m writing down so next time this happens, to me or anyone else, although I am selfish. And I websearch for “AWSY and Firefox Profiler” I want this to be the number 1 result and help me (or someone else) out. The normal instructions # § SaaS/Back End/Databases⠀➾ # ⚓ Why_the_Future_of_Database_Management_Lies_In_Open Source⠀⇛ # § Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra⠀➾ # ⚓ LibreOffice_8.0_New_tabbed_interface_layout available⠀⇛ Muttakin Rizal ( Rizal Muttaqin ), one of the designers LibreOffice office suite, has published in his blog, the user interface possible development plan LibreOffice 8.0. The most notable innovation is the built-in support for tabs, through which you can quickly switch between different documents, similar to how switching between sites is carried out in modern browsers. If necessary, each tab can be unpinned in the form of a separate window, or vice versa, convert the window into a tab. It is also possible to collapse all tabs into a drop- down list accessible by pressing the “^” button. The header also shows a LibreOffice button to launch the initial interface, which was previously shown when starting or closing all documents, to open a file, visually evaluate recently opened documents, or create a new document based on a template. # § CMS⠀➾ # ⚓ AllAboutApps_Disclosed_a_List_of_Top_Drupal_Web Development_Companies_in_2021⠀⇛ # § FSF⠀➾ # § GNU Projects⠀➾ # ⚓ GIMP_2.10.28_is_Here_as_a_Bugfix_Release, Version_2.10.26_Was_Skipped⠀⇛ GIMP 2.10.28 features all of the usual stuff like bug fixes and performance adjustments mainly aimed at Windows users. Whenever anyone asks for a free alternative to Adobe Photoshop, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is always the first app that people talk about. It is a bitmap/pixel-based image manipulation program for photo editing and retouching and creating images and animations. Today open source image editor GIMP has been updated to version 2.10.28. Because GIMP 3.0 is pretty far away from becoming a stable release, we recommend that you stick with the new 2.10.28 release for now if you use GIMP regularly and you do not want random crashes or unexpected behavior. # § Programming/Development⠀➾ # § Java⠀➾ # ⚓ Oracle_Releases_Java_17⠀⇛ # ⚓ Oracle_Releases_Java_17,_Here’s_All_The_Latest Updates⠀⇛ # ⚓ Oracle_Releases_Java_17⠀⇛ Oracle today announced the availability of Java 17, the latest version of the world’s number one programming language and development platform. Java 17 delivers thousands of performance, stability, and security updates, as well as 14 JEPs (JDK Enhancement Proposals) that further improve the Java language and platform to help developers be more productive. Java 17 is the latest long-term support (LTS) release under Java’s six-month release cadence and is the result of extensive collaboration between Oracle engineers and other members of the worldwide Java developer community via the OpenJDK Community and the Java Community Process (JCP). Since the previous JDK 11 LTS released three years ago, over 70 JEPs have been implemented. # ⚓ Oracle_Releases_Java_17⠀⇛ # ⚓ Oracle_releases_Java_17⠀⇛ Oracle has announced the availability of Java 17, which delivers thousands of performance, stability, and security updates, as well as 14 JEPs (JDK Enhancement Proposals). Java 17 is the latest long-term support (LTS) release under Java’s six-month release cadence and is the result of extensive collaboration between Oracle engineers and other members of the worldwide Java developer community via the OpenJDK Community and the Java Community Process (JCP). Since the previous JDK 11 LTS released three years ago, over 70 JEPs have been implemented. # ⚓ Oracle_makes_JDK_free⠀⇛ Oracle this week made Oracle JDK “available for free,” for personal, commercial and production use, including quarterly security updates, for a limited time. # ⚓ Oracle_Releases_Java_17⠀⇛ Next Java long-term support release delivers thousands of updates, further improving the language and platform to help developers be more productive Oracle JDK 17 gives customers security, performance, and bug-fix updates through September 2029 # ⚓ Java_17_dons_features_for_safe,_concise_code; Oracle_changes_JDK_licensing,_pushes_for_more frequent_LTS_releases ⠀⇛ Java 17 reference implementation JDK 17 as well as GPL-licensed OpenJDK builds have been made available this week. The first long-term support release in three years sports 14 JEPs and is meant to improve not only the language but also the way it interacts with external functions and data. To make the programming language a little more intuitive to use, Java 17 includes a preview of a pattern- matching feature for switch expressions and statements. Up until now developers could use switch for limited types only and were restricted to constants for their case labels, which often made more complex queries tricky to construct (and read). Allowing patterns in labels and introducing new patterns altogether is therefore hoped to help devs in formulating more concise code for such scenarios. # ⚓ Oracle_Releases_Java_17,_Here’s_All_The_Latest Updates⠀⇛ # ⚓ Oracle_Java_17_released_under_a_free-to-use license [Ed: That's not what the licence is or says]⠀⇛ Oracle announced the availability of Java 17, the latest version of the world’s number one programming language and development platform. o § Standards/Consortia⠀➾ # ⚓ Improving_the_New_York_Times’_line_wrap_balancer⠀⇛ I looked into options to improve the breaking points for line wrapping on the web. I found a few “text balancer” programs that use different methods to even out the number of words per line on the fewest number of lines possible. I wasn’t happy with any of them, but ended up improving on the New York Times’ text balancer. It wasn’t how I imagined spending my weekend. Web browsers follow a simple algorithm for laying out text: one word after the other, and wrap onto a new line when there’s no more room on the current line. It’s fast and produces good enough results in most cases. However, it doesn’t guarantee an even distribution of words and you can end up with a single word on a line by itself (known as a “widow”). An uneven distribution of words can make the design heavier on one side; making it unbalanced. It can be a small eye-sore at the end of a large paragraph of text. However, it draws unwanted attention to itself when it appears in a headline and other large type. The simplest solution is to rewrite the text until you get a better fit. However, you can’t rely on rewriting a text to get a perfect fit for every visitor. The fit will depend on the screen size and the font and platform (or require a webfont). You also end up doing more work and possibly awkward wording for the sake of the design. A text wrapping balancer is a program that tries to more evenly distribute words over multiple lines. There are at least two dozen algorithms used to achieve this. The most common one found on the web is the Adobe BalanceText project. * § Leftovers⠀➾ o § Integrity/Availability⠀➾ # § Proprietary⠀➾ # § Security⠀➾ # ⚓ Security_researchers_have_discovered_a_new_type of_malware_that_makes_use_of_Windows_Subsystem for_Linux_as_a_way_to_stealthily_attack_systems. [Ed: Microsoft boosters find the audacity to badmouth "Linux" because Microsoft's attack on Linux (WSL is attack on GNU/Linux) is defunct]⠀⇛ # ⚓ Researchers_Find_Malware_Hiding_in_Windows Subsystem_for_Linux⠀⇛ # ⚓ Serious_Warning_Issued_For_Millions_Of_Apple iPhone_Users⠀⇛ iPhone owners around the world were recently warned that a seemingly harmless WiFi hack was not just potentially dangerous, but ultimately a dangerous threat. And now that threat level has skyrocketed. o § Defence/Aggression⠀➾ # ⚓ Eritrean_and_Tigrayan_forces_killed_and_raped_refugees_– HRW⠀⇛ Eritrean soldiers and Tigrayan militias raped, detained and killed Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, an international rights watchdog said on Thursday. Human Rights Watch’s report detailed attacks around two camps in Tigray, where local forces have battled the Ethiopian government and their Eritrean allies since November in a conflict that has rocked the Horn of Africa region. Tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees live in Tigray, a mountainous and poor province of about 5 million people. o § Censorship/Free Speech⠀➾ # ⚓ Google_extends_right-to-be-forgotten_to_app_permissions_on older_Android_devices⠀⇛ In December, Google plans to have app runtime permissions expire on older versions of Android for apps that haven’t been opened for several months, extending the availability of a privacy protection feature introduced in Android 11. “In Android 11, we introduced the permission auto- reset feature,” explained Google software engineers Peter Visontay and Bessie Jiang in a blog post on Friday. “This feature helps protect user privacy by automatically resetting an app’s runtime permissions – which are permissions that display a prompt to the user when requested – if the app isn’t used for a few months.” That behavior is the default in Android 11 and in Android 12, expected in a few weeks. Come December, it will become the default in older versions of Android that rely on Google Play services, specifically Android 6 (API level 23) through Android 10 (API level 29). o § Monopolies⠀➾ # ⚓ WIPO_Proof_to_end_in_2022_after_poor_demand⠀⇛ Director general Daren Tang told the CIPA Congress that WIPO should not be offering services that compete with the private sector # ⚓ KOL357_|_Free_Man_Beyond_The_Wall_Ep._631_with_Pete Quiñones:_Biden’s_Mandate_and_Getting_to_a_Hoppean Framework⠀⇛ Pete and Stephan discuss the Constitutionality of Biden’s vaccine mandate and then get into discussions about Hoppe’s plan for local politics and how it can fight against overreach by the Feds. # § Patents⠀➾ # ⚓ Japan:_The_IP_High_Court_has_clarified_that_the Japanese_Bolar_exemption_covers_clinical_testing_for not_only_“generic”_but_also_“innovator”_drugs⠀⇛ In the pharma industry, constant battles have been taking place for many decades between innovators and generics. More recently, battles among innovators have also started to occur. This post concerns a case which may have an impact on the development strategies of innovators, as well as licensing strategies of universities and public research institutions which do not commercialize patented drugs by themselves. # ⚓ EPO_welcomes_new_trainees,_bids_farewell_to_graduates [Ed: Funny that EPO mentions EUIPO, which is its_EU corruption_pipeline]⠀⇛ During an online Commencement Ceremony held earlier today, the EPO welcomed a record intake of 117 new Pan-European Seal (PES) trainees from 50 universities in 27 member states and celebrated the valuable contribution made by the 77 graduates from the 2020/21 cohort. In his welcome address, EPO President António Campinos that extending the Programme partnerships to Europe’s leading technical universities is an important step in integrating IP into technical and scientific education. He also highlighted the programme’s growing success: and female trainees accounted for 60% of the 2020/21 cohort, underlining the EPO’s commitment to diversity and social responsibility. The graduates were congratulated for their adaptability, resilience and above all their valuable contribution to the Office. [...] This year marks the seventh consecutive programme run jointly with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The EPO and EUIPO work together with 94 partner universities in 35 member states and two extension states, to enhance IP education and to bridge the gap between academia and the labour market. It gives graduates the opportunity to experience work in a collaborative, multicultural environment, undertake challenging assignments, and build their professional networks. Despite the challenges faced with the pandemic, the programme continues to grow: fourteen new universities, including technical universities, joined this year and contributed to the highest-ever intake of trainees in its history. # ⚓ EPO_holds_cloud_event_for_IP_offices [Ed: Corrupt EPO has put its head in the “clown”, just_like_confidential data]⠀⇛ The European Patent Network cloud event was held digitally on 15 September 2021. A total of 71 IT experts from national patent offices, as well as the World Intellectual Property Organization, European Union Intellectual Property Office and European Patent Institute, took part. The aim was to establish common ground on major topics affecting the European patent system when it comes to cloud security, service providers and operations. EPO Vice President for Corporate Services Nellie Simon opened the meeting by emphasising the central importance of the cloud to the EPO’s ongoing digital transformation and to the future success and sustainability of all IP offices. Ms Simon highlighted the opportunities that cloud technologies provide for delivering better, faster and more flexible services, as well as potentially greener IT solutions. Further insights into the range of secure and scalable solutions, as well as best practice at leading finance and public sector organisations throughout Europe, were presented by senior management from major cloud service providers. # ⚓ Sonos_withdraws_PI_application_against_Google_in Hamburg⠀⇛ Wireless sound systems manufacturer Sonos has apparently withdrawn its two preliminary injunction applications from the Hamburg patent courts. That Higher Regional Court Hamburg confirmed to JUVE Patent that Sonos withdrew its appeal against a negative decision from the Regional Court (case ID: 3 U 47/21). The latter court had not granted the PI against the German Google company. However, in the second case, the Hamburg Regional Court granted a PI against the European Google company in April. Google appealed the ruling (case ID: 3 U 74/21) and requested a stay of enforcement. But in June, the Hamburg Higher Regional Court rejected the initial application. Nevertheless, Google persisted and filed a second application. At that time, the written PI judgment of the first instance was unavailable. Google asked the court for a stay of enforcement following the court making the written judgment available. Now Sonos has withdrawn its PI application. This renders the PI against Google moot. [...] In Germany, Google claims that Sonos infringes its patents. As such, Google demanded that Sonos cease and desist. The wireless sound systems manufacturer immediately challenged both Google patents. The Federal Patent Court has not yet ruled on their validity. In March this year, with the consent of both parties, the Munich Regional Court suspended the lawsuit concerning EP 491 (case ID: 21 O 7264/20). Now, the court is waiting on the Federal Patent Court’s decision on the validity. In June, the Munich Regional Court handed down a first ruling, dismissing a lawsuit filed by Google (case ID: 21 O 7265/20). The court ruled that Sonos has not infringed Google’s EP 621. However, Google has appealed against the ruling. # ⚓ Latest_news_on_IP_and_coronavirus_in_Europe [Ed: JUVE‘sAmy Sandys seems to be under the impression that copy-pasting press releases from gangsters who hijacked the EPO is “journalism”…]⠀⇛ # § Software Patents⠀➾ # ⚓ Using_File_Prevalence_To_Inform_Aggressiveness Of_Behavioral_Heuristics:_Non-technical [Ed: Software patent litigation profiteers in Europe still looking for ways around the law]⠀⇛ This decision relates to an European patent application for a method for adjusting an aggressiveness level to use in behavior based heuristics malware detection. Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 2386/16 (MALWARE DETECTION USING FILE PREVALENCE TO INFORM AGRESSIVENESS OF … of 27.4.2021 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.01… # ⚓ Report_suggests_UKIPO-EPO_dual_filings_for software_patents⠀⇛ Software patent applicants face different outcomes depending on whether they go to the UKIPO or EPO, according to a report published on Wednesday, September 15. The report by patent and trademark attorney firm Mewburn Ellis, which is based on applications filed at the UKIPO and EPO over a decade, recommended that applicants file in both offices. According to Mewburn’s report, eligibility issues were less likely to be raised by the EPO – yet in some scenarios, more favourable outcomes could be obtained at the UKIPO. The disparity was due, at least in part, to the different approaches taken by the two offices when examining software invention eligibility for patent protection. The report noted that the EPO used the Comvik approach, which coupled patent eligibility with the assessment of inventive step. This approach was clarified by the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal in the G1/19 case in March, which centred on computer-implemented simulations. The UKIPO used the Aerotel-Macrossan test, which originated from a 2006 England and Wales Court of Appeal decision in Aerotel v Telco and Macrossan’s Application. The report suggested that the two approaches should produce the same result but weren’t, and that applicants should consider a dual filing strategy in certain circumstances. Following such a strategy could be preferable, Mewburn noted, in situations where the inventions were of a high value, where UK protection was particularly important, and where inventive step arguments over known prior art were marginal. James Leach, partner at Mewburn Ellis, said: “It is difficult to predict with any certainty whether a given software invention will fare better at the UKIPO or EPO. “We have already seen anecdotal evidence that some large US tech companies are pursuing a dual filing strategy.” # § Copyrights⠀➾ # ⚓ Microsoft’s_expensive_security_add-ons_for_Office_365 are_basically_ransomware_—_software_company_CEO⠀⇛ One software firm’s CEO says Microsoft is ripping businesses off with expensive premiums on its most secure enterprise solutions, effectively holding them to… ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ ¶ Lines in total: 5095 ➮ Generation completed at 02:40, i.e. 13 seconds to (re)generate ⟲