Now that Linux has achieved World Domination, seems it has nothing but friends. Big ones.
That was my first take-away from O'Reilly's 19th OSCON in Portland, Oregon. This one celebrated 20 years of Open Source, a category anchored by Linux, now aged 27. The biggest sponsors with the biggest booths—Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, Salesforce, Huawei—are all rare-metal-level members of the Linux Foundation, a collection that also includes pretty much every tech brand you can name, plus plenty you can't. Hats off to Jim Zemlin and the LF crew for making that happen, and continuing to grow.
My second take-away was finding these giants at work on collective barn-raising. For example, in his keynote, The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. (sponsored by IBM), Chris Ferris, IBM's CTO for Open Technology, told the story behind Hyperledger, a collaborative effort to foster cross-industry blockchain technologies. Hyperledger was started by Chris and friends at IBM and handed over to the Linux Foundation, where it is headed by Brian Behlendorf, whose long history with open source began with Apache in the mid-1990s.
In an interview I did with Chris afterwards, he enlarged on examples of collaboration between development projects within Hyperledger, most of which are led by large companies that are more accustomed to competing than to cooperating. A corollary point might be that the best wheels are the ones not re-invented.
If you need some Linux-related images to use on custom t-shirts or hoodies, stickers, or as posters, you may want to check out the linux.pictures website.
The website includes more than 100 awesome images (many more if you include picture variations) with Linux-related themes which can be used for free for any noncommercial purpose.
Package managers make life so easy that many of us have forgotten what things were like in the olden days when getting a piece of software to work with your system was a real test of patience and endurance.
But even so, not every piece of software comes readily packaged for your distribution of choice. Maybe you're lucky and it's a single file binary (from a trusted, verifiable source only, we hope!). Maybe it's a .tar.gz file that you simply need to decompress. Perhaps it comes as a Flatpak or Snap file which will work across distributions. Or maybe you're going to end up compiling from source. May the dependency gods smile upon your efforts!
MICROSOFT HAS RESPONDED to criticism about the amount of data Windows 10 exfiltrates by publishing all the various endpoints the operating system connects with.
I recently worked with the Mass.gov team to transition its development environment from Vagrant to Docker. We went with “vanilla Docker,” as opposed to one of the fine tools like DDev, Drupal VM, Docker4Drupal, etc. We are thankful to those teams for educating and showing us how to do Docker right. A big benefit of vanilla Docker is that skills learned there are generally applicable to any stack, not just LAMP+Drupal. We are super happy with how this environment turned out. We are especially proud of our MySQL Content Sync imageââ¬Å —ââ¬Å read on for details!
After unveiling its enterprise Cloud Services Platform on the first day of its Cloud Next conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA, Google used Day 2 of the event to announce two new products that the company says will help customers “develop and deploy intelligent connected devices at scale”.
AI has evolved dramatically in the last two decades. Technologies like image recognition and machine translation are now a part of everyday life for millions. AI has transformed industries all over the world, and created entirely new ones. And in the process, it promises an increase in quality of life and work never before imagined. But there’s still much more we can do—after all, AI is still a nascent field of many opportunities and challenges.
Google yesterday announced two new products: Edge TPU, a new "ASIC chip designed to run TensorFlow Lite ML models at the edge", and Cloud IoT Edge, which is "a software stack that extends Google Cloud's powerful AI capability to gateways and connected devices". Google states that "By running on-device machine learning models, Cloud IoT Edge with Edge TPU provides significantly faster predictions for critical IoT applications than general-purpose IoT gateways—all while ensuring data privacy and confidentiality."
If you aren't using Kubernetes, it’s probably a good time to familiarize yourself with a technology that is dramatically changing the way applications are being deployed today.
Linux Snappy, Flatpak, and AppImage. Which is best and how do they differ? Does it matter? This article I did recently on Datamation is a good place to get started and helps shed some light on the differences between Snappy, Flatpak, and AppImage for Linux.
Blockchain has finally gotten over the Wall Street hump. Now that BitCoin and Ethereum are essentially old news, the actual technology behind these commodities is beginning to trickle into real-world enterprise applications. Blockchain, it seems, has many useful use cases out there in the business world, and with the help of the Linux Foundation and IBM, enterprises can now take advantage of the open source Hyperledger implementation of blockchain technology.
Quincy is a teacher who founded freeCodeCamp.org in 2014. He leads the open source project, which millions of people use each month to learn to code and get developer jobs. Quincy didn't start programming until he was 31. Before that, he was a school director in the US and China.
In order to actually do anything, a kernel module must gain access to functions and data structures in the rest of the kernel. Enabling and controlling that access is the job of the symbol-export mechanism. While the enabling certainly happens, the control part is not quite so clear; many developers view the nearly 30,000 symbols in current kernels that are available to all modules as being far too many. The symbol namespaces patch set from Martijn Coenen doesn't reduce that number, but it does provide a mechanism that might help to impose some order on exported symbols in general.
Kernel code can make a symbol (a function or a data structure) available to loadable modules with the EXPORT_SYMBOL() and EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL() macros; the latter only makes the symbol available to modules that have declared a GPL-compatible license. There is also EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL_FUTURE(), which is meant to mark symbols that will be changed to a GPL-only export at some future time. The usage of this mechanism is also a matter for the future, though; it has not been employed since just after it was introduced in 2006. On the rare occasions when symbols have been changed to GPL-only exports, it has proved easier to just change them without putting advance notice in the code.
All underutilized systems are essentially the same, but each overutilized system tends to be overloaded in its own way. If one's goal is to maximize the use of the available computing resources, overutilization tends not to be too far away, but when it happens, it can be hard to tell where the problem is. Sometimes, even the fact that there is a problem at all is not immediately apparent. The pressure-stall information patch set from Johannes Weiner may make life easier for system administrators by exposing more information about the real utilization state of the system.
Mounting filesystems is a complicated business. The kernel supports a wide variety of filesystem types, and each has its own, often extensive set of options. As a result, the mount() system call is complex, and the list of mount options is a rather long read. But even with all of that complexity, mount() does not do everything that users would like. For example, the options for a mount operation must all fit within a single 4096-byte page — the fact that this is a problem for some users is illustrative in its own right. The problems with mount() have come up at various meetings, including at the 2018 Linux Storage, Filesystem, and Memory-Management Summit. A set of patches implementing a new approach is getting closer to being ready, but it features some complexity of its own and there are some remaining concerns about the proposed system-call API.
While the Linux 4.18 kernel is still likely a week and a half out from being released at least, a ton of new material has been staged already ahead of the Linux 4.19 cycle that has us excited.
For those curious about the current performance state for the recent wave of Vulkan-powered Linux games, which so far are primarily Linux game ports from Feral Interactive, aside from Valve's Dota 2 and Croteam's games, here are some fresh benchmarks using twenty different graphics cards on the latest drivers.
The AMD Radeon graphics card testing was using Mesa 18.2-devel via the Oibaf PPA as of 22 July. The Linux 4.17.8 kernel was in use for the latest stable AMDGPU DRM driver support. The Radeon graphics cards tested -- based upon what I had available -- were the Radeon HD 7950, R7 260X, R9 285, R9 290, RX 560, RX 580, R9 Fury, RX Vega 56, and RX Vega 64. Note that with the GCN 1.0/1.1 graphics cards they were booted with the AMDGPU DRM driver support being enabled in order to attain RADV Vulkan driver compatibility.
There are so many distractions and unproductive activities that affect our performance at the workplace, and so many methods to increase focus and work efficiency. If you’re looking for a way to improve your productivity and stay organized, consider using special software to create a productive work environment.
Every computerized device uses some form of software to perform its intended tasks. In the early days of software, products were stringently tested for bugs and other defects. For the last decade or so, software has been released via the internet with the intent that any bugs would be fixed by applying new versions of the software. In some cases, each individual application has its own updater. In others, it is left up to the user to figure out how to obtain and upgrade software.
Linux adopted early the practice of maintaining a centralized location where users could find and install software. In this article, I'll discuss the history of software installation on Linux and how modern operating systems are kept up to date against the never-ending torrent of CVEs.
As a review, what we are trying to accomplish is to create a standalone “leave behind” device that, when discovered, does not make it easy to figure out what you were doing. So we use the LUKS full disk encryption along with the LUKS Nuke capability to put this together. If you have a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, or really any other model or similar device, feel free to use the instructions below to set up your own secure system. This updated process is based on our previous documentation, and updated with some community suggestions.
As a hard core gamer, I had some reservations for installing and using Linux when I was first introduced to it way back in 2010. The only reason I was reluctant to install Linux was lack of support from game developers for Linux platform. But so much has changed in last few years, major game developers are extending their support for Linux platform and Valve also launched Steam for Linux distros. Earlier Linux users have to rely on likes on Wine and Arcane which used to required lot of workaround to play games on Linux. But 2017 was the breakthrough year for gaming on Linux when thousands of games were made available for Linux.
Recently we have done the Best 10 Games for Ubuntu in 2018, you can check that list too. As we are already in second half of 2018 and some popular games release around the corner, I am going to share list of Top 50 games for Linux in 2018. This article contains list of both released and unreleased games in various categories.
From developer Frozen District and publisher Fat Dog Games, Warlocks 2: God Slayers [Official Site] is the sequel to Warlocks vs Shadows that's due out this year.
Right now Humble Store is giving away copies of Guns of Icarus Alliance along with the start of their RPG Weekend Sale. You've only got around 2 days to grab the free key, so be quick if you want it.
Oxygen Not Included, the rather excellent colony building sim from Klei Entertainment was just updated with the Expressive Upgrade.
The rather good action-packed take on wizardry, Wizard of Legend, has sold 500K across all platforms and so it's on sale to celebrate.
In an interesting post aimed at the more casual reader, the CTO of Croteam has now written up a post about 'The Elusive Frame Timing'.
An issue that has been around for years, is that while a game may run at 60FPS you might experience stuttering, even though the FPS is good. It's not a problem with one particular developer either, many games do suffer from the same issue. It's written to go along with the talk they did at GDC this year (slides here). What's interesting, is how long they've been researching this and trying to solve it.
Star Traders: Frontiers, the space RPG developed by Trese Brothers Games is planning to leave Early Access on Wednesday next week.
While in Early Access, they've managed to push out around 80 patches to improve all aspects of the game including adding in: 24 new types of ships, more than 100 new ship components to customize the perfect craft, 2 new character Jobs, 32 new Talents, 52 new mission types and absolutely loads more.
Another game that's releasing next week is IRO HERO, a claustrophobic shoot 'em up from Artax Games and it looks pretty good.
I say claustrophobic, because the play area is pretty small which seems like it will certainly keep you on your toes. It also includes an interesting colour matching mechanic, which allows you to slip through enemy attacks of the same colour. Looks like a nice modern take on the classic style of shoot 'em up gameplay.
Hipster Cafe [Official Site] seems like an amusing take on the management sim game and the developer indicated their willingness to bring it to Linux.
This might seem a bit like Déjà vu since I only wrote about Voxel Turf recently! It has another update today and this is quite an exciting one.
Tomaz> How do you feel about representing Brazilian’s technical comics at Akademy?
Andre> Like a soccer player representing their National Team in Wolrd Cup. But without the fortune, the supermodels and the fancy cars. But, seriouly, I was very surprised by the invitation and right now I feel extremely flattered. It is a rewarding recognition.
Tomaz> Can people approach you to ask for a cartoon at Akademy?
Andre> Yes, absolutely! As long as they don’t ask for a cartoon of them naked!
Tomaz> What do you think of KDE’s drawing programs?
Andre> Krita is light, relatively easy to use and its features helps artists be more efficient.
Tomaz> MS Paint or Krita?
Andre> Krita. Krita has a lot more features. It’s a professional tool.
Just in time before the next total lunar eclipse of 2018, KStars v2.9.7 is out for Windows, Linux, and MacOS.
This is a feature-rich release while still continuing on making KStars more resilient and reliable.
A little bit less than a month and I will be at Akademy again, KDE's annual conference. This is the place where you can meet one of the most amazing open source communities. To me it's kind of my home community. This is where I have learned a lot about open source, where I contributed tons of code and other work, where I met a lot of awesome friends. I have been to most Akademy events, including the first KDE conference "Kastle" in 2003. But I missed the one last year. I'm more than happy to be back this year in Vienna on August 11.
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It's a special honor to me to present the Akademy Awards this year together with my fellow award winners from last year. It was hard to choose because there are so many people who do great stuff in KDE. But we have identified a set of people who definitely deserve this prize. Join us at the award ceremony to find out who they are.
As you may know, there are two events in every year that I try to attend, one is Campus Party and the resume of that is here, and the second is The Developers Conference.
And last week the edition of TheDevConf Sao Paulo happened, and I was able to see my friends, connect with new people, and for the first time, I was able to coordinate one of the tracks with my friends Gedeane Kenshima and Fernando Veiga.
The work to rebase KDE neon on Bionic is progressing. Apologies if it feels slow but it’s keeping our infrastructure busy while continuing with the xenial builds alongside. I’ve just managed to get the package version check to turn green which means all the packages are now built.
Did you come to GUADEC in Alméria? Did you decide to avoid the sweltering heat and stay home? Were you thwarted by visa bureaucracy?
From the 2th of July I have been travelling from Italy all the way to the south Spain by train, to attend GUADEC 2018. During this long trip, I didn’t just sleep, but I kept working on Fractal and some other cool things.
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I was travelling with Tobias, and at some point we randomly met Bastian on the train from Madrid to Almera, so the travel turned into a hackfest on the train.
During my Google Summer of Code project I implement message search for Dino, a XMPP client focusing on ease of use and security.
A hacker needs a security focused operating system to help discover the weakness in computer systems or network. Among Windows and MAC OS, Linux distributions have the most countless distributions for various purposes. Some are designed for general purposes, such as office suite like what windows and MAC OS do and others are for specific tasks and purposes, such as server, security, and penetration testing.I will not be debating Windows vs MAC vs Linux distributions much more, instead we will focus on what are the best Linux distribution for ethical hacking. For some beginners in the security field this article will help you get started. Because there are so many Linux distributions aimed specifically to do security assessment or penetration testing. The list below is based on combining my objective on this field and the most “popular forensics distribution category” listed on DistroWatch.com. DistroWatch is a page which display various Linux distributions, popularity rankings, news and another general information.
The authority reasons that many of its field workers and telephone support services already use Windows, so standardisation makes sense. An upgrade of some kind would in any case be necessary soon, as the PCs are running OpenSuse versions 12.2 and 13.2, neither of which is supported anymore.
According to the Lower Saxony's draft budget, €5.9m is set aside for the migration in the coming year, with a further €7m annually over the following years; it's not yet clear how many years the migration would take.
If the reports are believed to be true, around 13,000 workstations running OpenSuse will be migrated to a current version of Windows. The tax authority in German state Lower Saxony is planning to migrate 13,000 workstations to Windows 10 operating system from Linux.
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The timetable for Lower Saxony’s migration is not available and it’s not yet clear how many months or years the migration would take.
I have uploaded new packages for Chromium. The version 67.0.3396.99 was released a month ago but the source remained unavailable for a while and then I “went under” for a while. Now that I finally built and uploaded it, I noticed there’s a new version up today (68.0.3440.75) but I will wait a bit with that one and focus on Plasma5 next.
I assume that many of you will have been reading the recent Linux Questions thread “Donating to Slackware” and in particular Patrick Volkerding’s reply where he explains that the Slackware Store (an entity independent of Slackware with which he has a business arrangement involving a percentage of sales profit and medical insurance) has not been paying him any money for the last two years and that most likely all the PayPal donations through the Store have gone into the pockets of the Store owners. Read that thread if you have not done so yet. Basically Pat is broke. That thread lists a PayPal address which Pat eventually shared and where donations can be sent directly to him, so that he can fix his roof, his airco, his crashing server and his wife’s car. That would be a start.
That LQ thread is also perused to discuss possible ways forward for Pat (setting up a Patreon account, or a business PayPal account, etc) so that he can support his family and continue working on Slackware. To me it looks like the Store will be a thing of the past unless they change their attitude. Switching from a business model where revenue is generated from optical media sales, to a model where supporters set up a recurring payment in exchange for the prolonged existence of their favorite distro, and possibly get Pat to write up some hands-on stories as a reward, may ultimately benefit Pat, and Slackware, more than the way things are handled at the moment. If you are doubting the financial impact of a recurring payment through Patreon or PayPal, look at it this way: if you donate one euro per month, you will probably not even notice that the money is shifted out. But with 2000 people donating one euro per month, Pat would have a basic income (pre-tax) already. Not a lot, but it’s a start. The 2000 people is a rough estimate of the people who ordered a DVD or CD through the store: the owners told Pat that the earnings of the 14.2 release were 100K (and Pat got 15K out of that, go figure!). Divide that through ~50 euro per DVD, results in 2000 people. Then there’s all these people who donated money through the Store or bought shirts, caps and stickers. I think the amounts of money even a small community (like us Slackware users) can contribute should enable Pat to shed his financial worries. The fact that the Slackware Store basically has been ripping off the hand that feeds them is enraging and inexcusable. This is all about a community standing up to provide support for what (or who) bonds us together.
Patrick Volkerding, who is the founder and benevolent dictator for life of the Slackware Linux distribution, posted a note at LinuxQuestions.org detailing some financial problems. It appears they mostly stem from a deal that he made with the Slackware Store that has gone badly awry.
I am happy to announce that DevConf.US registration is now open and the schedule is live. DevConf events are free, but online registration is required. If you are available August 17–19, 2018, we would love for you to come and participate.
Similar to DevConf.CZ, DevConf.us 2018 is the 1st annual, free, Red Hat sponsored technology conference for community project and professional contributors to Free and Open Source technologies (FOSS) at the Boston University in the historic city of Boston, USA.
Red Hat Decision Manager provides a vast array of decision management functionality. From the Decision Tables feature in the new Decision Model and Notation (DMN) v1.1, which implements the full FEEL Compliance Level 3 of the DMN specification, to Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML).
Another powerful feature is the Complex Event Processing (CEP) engine. This engine provides the ability to detect, correlate, abstract, aggregate or compose and react to events. In other words, the technology provides techniques to infer complex events from simple events, react to the events of interest, and take actions. The main difference between CEP and normal rules execution is the notion of time. Where standard rules execution in Decision Manager deals with facts and reasoning over these facts, the CEP engine focusses on events. An event represents a significant change of state at a particular point in time or interval.
Red Hat's Road to A.I. film has been chosen as an entry in the 19th Annual Real to Reel International Film Festival. According to the Red Hat blog post, this "documentary film looks at the current state of the emerging autonomous vehicle industry, how it is shaping the future of public transportation, why it is a best use case for advancing artificial intelligence and how open source can fill the gap between the present and the future of autonomy." The Road to A.I. is the fourth in Red Hat's Open Source Stories series, and you can view it here.
Now in the multimedia repository you can now find Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr and Tautulli. This allows you to populate and maintain automatically your TV Shows, Movies and Music libraries without effort. Tautulli is not particularly useful if you are not hosting Plex for third parties, but gives you anyway statistics and information in a nice GUI for consumption and also notifies you any time one of the other tools adds something to a library.
Many Linux users think that working in a terminal is either too complex or boring, and try to escape it. Here is a fix, though — four great open source apps for your terminal. They’re fun and easy to use, and may even brighten up your life when you need to spend a time in the command line.
Deep-learning applications typically rely on a trained neural net to accomplish their goal (e.g. photo recognition, automatic translation, or playing go). That neural net uses what is essentially a large collection of weighting numbers that have been empirically determined as part of its training (which generally uses a huge set of training data). A free-software application could use those weights, but there are a number of barriers for users who might want to tweak them for various reasons. A discussion on the debian-devel mailing list recently looked at whether these deep-learning applications can ever truly be considered "free" (as in freedom) because of these pre-computed weights—and the difficulties inherent in changing them.
The conversation was started by Zhou Mo ("Lumin"); he is concerned that, even if deep-learning application projects release the weights under a free license, there are questions about how much freedom that really provides. In particular, he noted that training these networks is done using NVIDIA's proprietary cuDNN library that only runs on NVIDIA hardware.
Do you like to work on a slow machine? No, right? Therefore, there is a need for a utility that can keep a check on your system.
One of the popular applications that helps you to make your systems fast is CCleaner. It cleans out the junk from your devices, including invalid or expired registry entries and temporary files. Not only this, it can remove the browser's history and uninstall the dead programs automatically.
Unfortunately, there is no CCleaner for Linux machines. Therefore. If you were using CCleaner on Windows and recently switched to Ubuntu Linux, you must be looking for a system cleaner. We are going to list a few applications that give you the similar functionalities as CCleaner for Ubuntu Linux OS.
As you are aware, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) is the first long-term support release of the Ubuntu Linux operating system to ship with the GNOME desktop environment by default. The first Ubuntu release to adopt the GNOME desktop instead of Unity was Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark), which reached end of life on July 17, 2018.
While Ubuntu 17.10 was considered a testbed for Ubuntu's new GNOME-based look and feel, Canonical did their best to resemble the Unity interface used until now with a dock placed on the left side of the screen and panel on top of it. However, the new dock does not yet support interactive icons like the Rubbish Bin/Trash one.
Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS is the first of five scheduled point releases that Canonical plans to release for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver), and it includes all the latest software and security updates that were published on the official repositories since April 26, 2018, when Ubuntu 18.04 LTS was unveiled.
Unfortunately, Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS doesn't bring an updated kernel, nor graphics stacks because there's no new Ubuntu version to backport them from. Ubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish) is still in development, due for release on October 18, 2018, and it's currently running the same kernel and graphics stack as Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.
For those that tend to wait for the first point release of a new Ubuntu LTS relase before upgrading, Ubuntu 18.04 "Bionic Beaver" is now available.
The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS (Long-Term Support) for its Desktop, Server, and Cloud products, as well as other flavours of Ubuntu with long-term support.
As usual, this point release includes many updates, and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.
Ubuntu Budgie 18.04.1 LTS, Kubuntu 18.04.1 LTS, Ubuntu MATE 18.04.1 LTS, Lubuntu 18.04.1 LTS, Ubuntu Kylin 18.04.1 LTS, and Xubuntu 18.04.1 LTS are also now available.
Today sees the first point release of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, conveniently named 18.04.1 LTS. Point releases for an LTS include a roll-up of all bug fixes and security updates which have been pushed out since the original 18.04 LTS ISO was published in April. If you’re already running 18.04 LTS, and you have been updating regularly, then you will already have all of these applied and so essentially you’re already running 18.04.1 LTS. The point release is an opportunity for us to make a new ISO image, and so people downloading and installing from the release of the new images will benefit from having those updates available immediately.
Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS combines all the bug fixes, app updates, and security patches that have been issued to the OS since the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS release back in April to create a brand new download image.
Thanks to all the hard work from our contributors, we are pleased to announce that Lubuntu 18.04.1 LTS has been released!
I’m happy to announce that the current MAAS development release (2.5.0 alpha 1) is now officially available in PPA for early testers.
It’s Season 11 Episode 20 of the Ubuntu Podcast! Alan Pope, Mark Johnson and Ryan are connected and speaking to your brain.
Electron is one of the most popular frameworks for creating cross-platform desktop applications right now. Many developers use electron-builder to do the heavy-lifting of package management for their Electron apps.
AI and ML adoption in the enterprise is exploding from Silicon Valley to Wall Street. Ubuntu is the premier platform for these ambitions — from developer workstations, to racks, to clouds and to the edge with smart connected IoT. One of the joys that come with new developer trends are a plethora of new technologies and terminologies to understand.
Adlink’s has launched a rugged, customizable Apollo Lake panel PC series called “SP-AL” with IP65-protected 7- to 25-inch capacitive or resistive screens, expansion via mini-PCIe and Adlink FM modules, and extended temperature, shock, and vibration resistance.
Just like our computer programs, there are so many Android applications used for many different tasks, and here we will discussing the best Android applications meant to do Penetration Testing or Ethical Hacking.The best Android apps below was chosen by comparing users experience, and my personal experience with the apps (I use most of these tools for daily use). Some of the tools require root access of your Android phone, and absolutely, the best applications below are all in active development.
Smart Speakers the likes of Amazon’s (AMZN) Alexa and Google (GOOGL) Home Max are part of the AI-powered voice assistant technological revolution currently sweeping across the globe, making the new category already the fastest-growing technology product ever (yes, EVER). Control and innovation of these products currently rests primarily in the hands of the major tech giants, essentially contained to closed, black box models. As they battle vehemently with each other to protect their IP of the hardware and software—and more importantly, the data that they collect from the speakers—the rest of the world is left largely in the dark as to their intentions.
Reading the trends for a more open approach toward voice user interfaces, and the rising need for consumer privacy, a startup by the name of Mycroft has emerged on the scene as a formidable alternative to its bigger peers. The company has developed the world’s first open source voice AI platform and has attracted developers around the globe and millions of dollars in institutional support.
Today’s topics include IBM and Google announcing their new Knative serverless cloud project, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology updating recommendations for mobile application security.
On July 24 at Google Next ’18 in San Francisco, IBM and Google announced an open-source serverless cloud computing project called Knative, which has the potential to redefine how serverless computing can be used to build cloud architectures and expand the use of the serverless genre beyond mere functions.
Knative will serve as a bridge for serverless computing to coexist and integrate with containers atop Google Kubernetes in a cloud-native computing system.
Oregon-based FLIR Systems has a clear dog in the fight, being the largest commercial manufacturer specializing in thermal imaging sensors, components, and cameras. But the company is taking a unique approach to the issue by adopting open source.
In July, the company released a machine learning dataset of over 10,000 thermal images for researchers, engineers, and manufacturers working on self-driving vehicles and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). Those images can be leveraged in training the neural network artificial intelligence behind autonomous and connected vehicles.
Since its inception in 1998, open source has become the de-facto standard for software development and proven itself as a viable business model. While making source code freely available for redistribution and modification may seem counterintuitive, the success of companies like Red Hat and Canonical are proof that an open source model can turn a profit.
The event was fantastic. We had over 200 great attendees (from all manner of backgrounds, disciplines, and experience), 8 keynotes, 40+ discussion sessions, and a raft of fantastic hallway discussions, social events, and more. Thanks also to Todd Lewis, Aaron Griswold, Van Riper, Catharine Lipton, and others who helped make this a success.
While CLS is in it’s ninth year, this year felt even more energized than usual. There were some deep, complex discussions getting to the heart of how people collaborate, and these conversations covered a wide range of topics.
Open Source Summit North America is right around the corner. There will be hundreds of sessions, workshops, and talks, all curated by experts in the Linux and open source communities. It’s not an easy feat to choose the topics and sessions you want to attend at the event because there are so many topics and only so much time.
In this article, we talk with Laura Abbott, a developer employed by Red Hat, and Bryan Liles, a developer at Heptio, a Kubernetes company, based in Seattle, Washington, about the upcoming event. Abbott is on the program committee for Open Source Summit, and Liles is one of the program chairs, working hard “to build out a schedule that touches on many aspects of Open Source.”
Mozilla sees intellectual property [sic] legislation as a threat to the open Internet because it stifles creativity and innovation. The foundation, best known for its development of the Firefox browser, is now asking the NTIA to shield the Internet from bad policies while reforming outdated laws.
Considering that high-profile data breaches make headlines on a regular basis these days, it’s no wonder that more users than ever want to reclaim the ownership of their data using self-hosted file-sharing solutions.
If you think that running your own alternative to Dropbox and OneDrive requires more technical expertise than you have, think again. Modern self-hosted file-sharing solutions make it very simple to set up a cloud storage system on your own web server, and their features are difficult it live without once you’ve spent some time with them.
While IRC (Internet Relay Chat) may not feel as fresh today as it did during its golden era, which spans from the 1990s to early 2000s, this application layer protocol that facilitates communication in the form of text isn’t going away anytime soon.
Open source developers and enthusiasts have a particularly rosy relationship with IRC, and the Freenode network alone encompasses more than 90,000 users and 40,000 channels.
If you would like to explore what IRC communities are all about, this list of top 5 best self-hosted IRC clients will help you pick the best IRC client for your home server so that you can connect from anywhere and any device.
Prior to the digital era, classes were restricted to lectures whose availability to the general public ranged from okay to abysmal. Fortunately, the times have changed and it’s now easier than ever to access high-quality educational content from the most prestigious universities in the world and independent educators with a passion for sharing knowledge. In fact, the e-learning market worldwide is forecast to surpass $243 billion by 2022, and learning management systems (LMS) are a major driver of this growth.
There’s no denying that Google Maps has made travel much easier: you simply pick your destination and follow a route picked for you by a sophisticated algorithm that takes into consideration hundreds of different factors, including the current traffic situation.
But even though Google Maps is free, there’s a price all users have to pay, and that price is your personal data. By default, Google Maps records your every move and sells the recorded data to advertisers, who are hungry to know where you shop, how long you stay there, and how often you return.
The photos we take and the videos we record can bring us back in time and remind us of who we were, what we’ve accomplished, and who was there with us. But despite how precious photos and videos are to us, we willingly hand them over to corporations running image and video hosting services, social media networks, and file hosting sites.
It was Sir Francis Bacon who first said that knowledge is power. Today, most of our collective knowledge about the world around us can be found on various wikis, which are websites or databases developed collaboratively by a community of users.
Wikipedia is by far the most popular wiki in the world, currently featuring over 45 million pages in 301 languages. Nearly 500 visitors visit Wikipedia each month, and most of them have no idea that it’s possible to create a website just like Wikipedia for free and without any previous web development experience.
Scotiabank today announced it will share bank-developed applications with the open-source software community, marking a significant milestone in the Bank's digital transformation.
It is a fact that many organisations believe that by simply choosing the right testing tools and downloading them for free you automatically have a competent test regime in place – we have, unfortunately, experienced this mistake first hand on client visits
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There’s often a misconception around OSS that it is an automatically cost-effective choice because it is ‘free’. Although a well-selected OSS testing tool or platform may well be the best choice, there are strings attached. The most important question is whether your enterprise has the skills in-house to use and operate the tool already, and if not whether investing in training or recruitment is an option. We regularly encounter clients who have either not fully thought through the implications of adopting a particular tool, or who have incurred significant training costs that had not been initially budgeted for. This is especially true of those tools that require very specific technical skills to use and operate, and these skills can carry a significant technical cost to acquire, sometimes being non-transferable – it is important to check the technical requirements first!
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Written by Iain Finlayson, Senior Technical Test Engineer, Edge Testing Solutions
File systems are older than UNIX itself. And ever since we started digitizing our lives onto tapes, disks and SSDs one threat has been eminent. That is of hardware failure. Data stored on disks is often more expensive than the disks themselves and this data need all the redundancy we can muster.
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RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent (Inexpensive) Disks. This refers to the industry wide practice of storing data not just on one disk but across multiple disks so that even when there’s a disk failure the data can be reconstructed from other disks. The way data is spread across disks is different for different types of redundancies accordingly they are named RAID 0, RAID 1, etc. We are not going to be dealing with them here. We would focus on a RAIDZ which is specific to OpenZFS.
RAID (and also RAID-Z) is not the same as writing copies of data to a backup disk. When you have two or more disks set up in RAID the data is written to them simultaneously and all the disks are active and online. This is the reason why RAID is different from backups and more importantly why RAID is not a substitute for backups. If your entire server burns out, then all the online disks could go with the server, but backups will save your day. Similarly, if there’s single disk failure and something was not backed up, because you can’t do it everyday, then RAID can help you retrieve that information.
Backups are periodically taken copies of relevant data and RAID is a real-time redundancy. There are several ways in which data is stored in traditional RAID systems, but we will not go into them here. Here, we would dive deep into RAIDZ which is one of the coolest features of OpenZFS.
As worrisome as it is, FreeNAS is still probably the only solution you can consider if you value your data. Monopolies are never good, and FreeBSD/FreeNAS with OpenZFS have quite a monopoly when it comes to reliable storage solution.
unRAID may develop into a strong competitor in the future but for now, sticking to FreeNAS seems like the wisest option.
The GNU Compiler Collection version 8.2 has been released.
GCC 8.2 is a bug-fix release from the GCC 8 branch containing important fixes for regressions and serious bugs in GCC 8.1 with more than 99 bugs fixed since the previous release.
Jakub Jelinek of Red Hat today announced the relase of GCC 8.2 stable as the first point relase to the stable GCC 8 compiler that debuted earlier this year.
GCC 8.2 just contains bug/regression fixes over GCC 8.1. Coming in though as perhaps the most notable fix for GCC 8.2 is fixed tuning when using -march=native on Intel Skylake CPUs and newer with this glaring shortcoming having been part of the GCC8 release for several months. If you tune for "-march=native" on GCC 8 with newer Intel CPUs, this fix may be noticeable for performance-sensitive workloads.
OSM is a crowdsourced online project that follows the same model as Wikipedia where anyone can create and update information based on his or her knowledge.
Taxi-hailing giant Uber has readied plans to contribute to community-owned OpenStreetMap (OSM) project which allows anyone to edit and update online maps of cities around the world. The company will be rolling out this project in India soon, starting with Delhi.
DARPA announced the first grants for its $1.5 billion Electronic Resurgence Initiative for accelerating chip development. More than $35 million went to a “Posh Open Source Hardware” project for developing and verifying hardware IP.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced the first grants for its Electronic Resurgence Initiative (ERI). The initial round, which will expand to $1.5 billion over five years, covers topics ranging from automating EDA to optimizing chips for SDR to improving NVM performance. Of particular interest is a project called POSH, (posh open source hardware), which intends to create a Linux-based platform and ecosystem for designing and verifying open source IP hardware blocks for next-generation system-on-chips.
In the past decade, many technologists have adopted the mantra that software is eating the world. However, all of that software has to run on something. And that something is silicon.
Unfortunately, the chip world has hit a roadblock with the fade-out of Moore’s Law.
The challenge of building circuits that require years of research and development, combined with rapid advancements in software, is making it more difficult for silicon designers to predict the future. Given the multimillion-dollar stakes associated with new chip architectures, every investment is a big risk.
Meanwhile, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Samsung have decided to build their own silicon instead of relying on Intel, Qualcomm, or others. Thus, investing hundreds of millions of dollars into a new chip architecture becomes even riskier, with less potential to win a major new customer.
These shifts have produced a boom of interest in a chip architecture called RISC-V (pronounced “risk-five”), which was created eight years ago at the University of California, Berkeley. RISC-V is the fifth generation of the “reduced instruction set computer” type of architecture. Just like the instruction sets for the ARM, PowerPC, or x86 architectures, RISC-V defines how the computer operates at the most basic software level.
Over the last few months, it became clear that the battle over PEP 572 would be consequential; its scale and vehemence was largely unprecedented in the history of Python. The announcement by Guido van Rossum that he was stepping down from his role as benevolent dictator for life (BDFL), due in part to that battle, underscored the importance of it. While the Python project charts its course in the wake of his resignation, it makes sense to catch up on where things stand with this contentious PEP that has now been accepted for Python 3.8.
We first looked at the discussion around PEP 572 back in March, when the second version of the PEP was posted to the python-ideas mailing list. The idea is to allow variable assignment inline, so that certain constructs can be written more easily. That way, an if or while, for example, could have a variable assignment in the statement and the value of the variable could be used elsewhere in the block (and, perhaps, beyond). The scope of those assignments is one of the areas that has evolved most since the PEP was first introduced.
There's a gap between learning the syntax of the Python programming language and being able to build a project from scratch. When you finish reading your first tutorial or book about Python, you're good to go for writing a Fibonacci suite calculator, but that does not help you starting your actual project.
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It's not a secret that Python has several versions that are supported at the same time. Each minor version of the interpreter gets bugfix support for 18 months and security support for 5 years. For example, Python 3.7, released on 27th June 2018, will be supported until Python 3.8 is released, around October 2019 (15 months later). Around December 2019, the last bugfix release of Python 3.7 will occur, and everyone is expected to switch to Python 3.8.
It would demean Sam and Karl’s reading passion merely to say that they both ended up at terrific colleges. They had deeper purposes. They used books to build identities.
Historically, that used to be common. Scholars have described how reading transformed people’s faith lives in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuries, started revolutions in the eighteenth, and refashioned individuals’ sense of self in the nineteenth and twentieth. Reading formed the spine of a “civilizing process” that curbed societal violence in early-modern times. Reading created a “public sphere” of ideas that became prerequisite for the American, French, and Latin American revolutions as well as subsequent democratic politics. Reading, everything from scripture to novels, was fundamental in creating the modern Western-World self.
Much of the coverage around Qualcomm’s recent quarterly results announcement has not surprisingly focused on the company’s decision to walk away from its proposed takeover of semiconductor rival NXP. The breakdown of the deal, almost two years after it was originally announced, came in light of the failure by Chinese authorities to give the tie-up a green light. As it licked its wounds from what has been a particularly tortuous deal-making process, Qualcomm launched a $30 billion share buy-back to help cushion the blow for stockholders; notably it also revealed that its third quarter numbers reflected a $500 million payment...
Taking a proactive approach to designing trade and investment policies that align with public health priorities and that do not undermine the right to health is therefore an important human rights obligation of governments. I would argue that this is an important minimum core obligation because it is one that can be implemented with immediate effect, without large investment of resources. But many countries – particularly small developing countries – that have little economic or political clout in trade negotiations are faced with difficult trade-offs between joining trade and investment agreements to benefit from the global economy, and the need to protect policy space for pursuing their public health priorities. It is incumbent on all countries therefore to work collectively to promote systemic change and develop global principles and mechanisms for a more equitable policy framework for financing medical innovation. Many proposals have been made, not least by the series of global commissions that have addressed the contradictions between trade and health over the years. Pursuing these measures that would work towards greater equity in access to medicines – particularly all lifesaving medicines, and not just the inexpensive ones that are on the WHO essential medicines list – is surely a minimum core obligation of states necessary for the fulfillment of the human right to health.
Running Windows 10 in the enterprise? Took the advice of Microsoft when it said the April 2018 Update was ready for the big leagues? You probably want to install last night's "quality improvements".
In what is starting to feel a little more frequent than it should, Microsoft pushed out a raft of fixes for the 1803 incarnation of Windows 10 (aka the April 2018 Update), marking the third such update in July and taking the build number to 17134.191.
Arjan van de Ven agreed it was extremely unlikely that anyone would claim to be skylake unless it was to take advantage of the RSB issue.
That was it for the discussion, but it's very cool that Intel is consulting with the kernel people about these sorts of hardware decisions. It's an indication of good transparency and an attempt to avoid the fallout of making a bad technical decision that would incur further ire from the kernel developers.
Philip Guenther (guenther@) and Bryan Steele (brynet@) have added more mitigations against speculative execution CPU vulnerabilities on the amd64 platform.
We all know that the Internet is not a fundamentally safe place. With the tremendous gains in information sharing and the conveniences that the Internet brings, come opportunities for exploitation. Fraud, harassment, surveillance, censorship, social and political manipulation, industrial and political espionage, data theft and discrimination have all taken hold in one of the greatest tools ever created by mankind.
This article is intended to show you those failings in design, and the challenges ahead that engineers around the world have to imagine their way out of. I will focus heavily on network equipment, but this problem extends far beyond that horizon. PCs, mobile devices, industrial systems, the cloud, and databases around the world all face serious issues that beyond the scope of this writing.
Google's key, similar to Yubico's YubiKey, will now be made available to the general unwashed, with Google announcing that it'll first be made available for Cloud customers before going on sale in the coming months.
The Titan uses multifactor authentication to protect people against phishing attacks and will be made available in multiple forms, such as a Bluetooth fob or USB stick, acting as an extra layer of security layer when logging into Google accounts.
The attack, which was disclosed in a research paper published Wednesday, is serious because it allows people to perform a man-in-the-middle attack on the connection between vulnerable devices. From there, attackers can view any exchanged data, which might include contacts stored on a device, passwords typed on a keyboard, or sensitive information used by medical, point-of-sale, or automotive equipment. Attackers could also forge keystrokes on a Bluetooth keyboard to open up a command window or malicious website in an outright compromise of the connected phone or computer.
Donald Trump may be taking us to war on Iran and those who should be trying to stop him–from Congress to the grassroots–are too obsessed with Russia to even pay attention. Trump is well aware that a war with Iran would be a good diversion from his domestic and Russia travails, and could even help Republicans in the November elections. In 2012, when President Obama was down in the polls, Trump tweeted: “Looks like he’ll have to start a war or major conflict to win. Don’t put it past him!” So we certainly shouldn’t put it past Donald Trump.
On July 22, just after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had wrapped up a speech in which he compared Iran’s leaders to the Mafia, Trump sent out this threatening tweet, in all caps, to Iran’s President Rouhani.
Claims that US President Donald Trump is undermining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by criticizing some of its members and having a cordial meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin have sent establishment media into a frenzy to sanctify NATO as a force for peace and democracy.
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What the Times called “defending Muslims in the Balkans” was actually NATO’s invasion of Yugoslavia, an important tool in the dismantling of that country, which only under the most curious of definitions could be described as an act of “peace” or an exemplar of “the rule of law,” since the attack was illegal. Likewise, in “fight[ing] terrorists in Afghanistan,” NATO has hardly shown itself to be an agent of “peace” in a war that’s gone on for almost 17 years, during which NATO members have demonstrated their regard for “civil and human rights” by killing thousands of Afghan civilians and supporting torturers.
Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Celiz, 32, who was killed in Afghanistan earlier in July, was part of a secret CIA program, according to the news website Politico.
The report from writer Wesley Morgan cites three special operations soldiers who knew Celiz. They told the site he was an Army Ranger supporting the CIA in an effort to kill or capture top militant targets.
An Army Ranger from Summerville killed in Afghanistan this month was part of a secret CIA program focused on tracking down militant leaders, according to Politico.Citing military sources, the news magazine reported Wednesday Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Celi
President Trump presides over the largest and most expensive intelligence apparatus in the world, but he often seems to view his spies as a phantom army opposing him.
So he has waged a battle against the people he sees as their public proxies — former officials who have rebuked him in opinion articles, in books, in strident Twitter posts and on cable television. On Monday, the White House said it was considering pulling the security clearances for a half-dozen of them, prompting criticism that Mr. Trump was trying to use his power to silence high-profile critics.
Britain has used drone strikes as “payback” for jihadist atrocities in possible contravention of international law, Boris Johnson suggested yesterday.
Well, lordy be. A lawyer for The New York Times has figured out that prosecuting WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange might gore the ox of The Gray Lady herself.
The Times’s deputy general counsel, David McCraw, told a group of judges on the West Coast on Tuesday that such prosecution would be a gut punch to free speech, according to Maria Dinzeo, writing for the Courthouse News Service.
Curiously, as of this writing, McCraw’s words have found no mention in the Times itself. In recent years, the newspaper has shown a marked proclivity to avoid printing anything that might risk its front row seat at the government trough.
Stating the obvious, McCraw noted that the “prosecution of him [Assange] would be a very, very bad precedent for publishers … he’s sort of in a classic publisher’s position and I think the law would have a very hard time drawing a distinction between The New York Times and WikiLeaks.”
That’s because, for one thing, the Times itself published many stories based on classified information revealed by WikiLeaks and other sources. The paper decisively turned against Assange once WikiLeaks published the DNC and Podesta emails.
More broadly, no journalist in America since John Peter Zenger in Colonial days has been indicted or imprisoned for their work. Unless American prosecutors could prove that Assange personally took part in the theft of classified material or someone’s emails, rather than just receiving and publishing them, prosecuting him merely for his publications would be a first since the British Governor General of New York, William Cosby, imprisoned Zenger in 1734 for ten months for printing articles critical of Cosby. Zenger was acquitted by a jury because what he had printed was proven to be factual—a claim WikiLeaks can also make.
As Ecuador's president Lenín Moreno visits the UK, there is growing speculation about a possible deal between the two countries to end years of a diplomatic saga after Julian Assange obtained asylum inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
WikiLeaks founder and former hacker Julian Assange could be evicted from the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has lived for six years while claiming diplomatic asylum, according to reports. The embassy cut off Assange's internet connections, computers and phones several months ago, though he still speaks with his lawyers.
The first scenario Greenwald identifies is that British authorities could prosecute Assange for “failure to surrender,” or the more significant charge of “contempt of court,” for failure to comply with bail conditions in his attempt to resist extradition to Sweden on rape charges. He could be held in jail, especially for the latter, given his history.
Organised at short notice, a small group, mainly Latin American migrants and exiles, condemned the new President for his right-wing social policies and threats to withdraw protection from WikiLeaks’ editor Julian Assange.
The formally given reason for Moreno’s visit to the UK was to attend the Summit. A growing number of credible reports, however, suggest that Moreno’s real purpose was to discuss secret plans with British government officials to evict Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London and then arrest him.
Assange has spent over six years inside the embassy, seeking asylum from ultimate extradition to the United States, where he could face a Grand Jury on possible charges of espionage that can carry a death sentence. The UK is playing a key role by maintaining breach of bail charges against Assange—relating to a case that no longer exists—as a pretext for taking him into custody if he steps out of the Embassy. A United Nations working group ruled in February 2016 that this amounted to arbitrary detention.
More than 1300 people have signed a petition asking the Government to give WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum in New Zealand.
Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012, fearing he would be extradited to the US if he was forced to answer questions from Swedish authorities investigating rape complaints against him.
The charges were dropped last year, but Assange remains in the embassy - UK police have said they still plan to arrest him, since he breached his bail by hiding the embassy.
Since Julian Assange is now an Ecuadorian citizen, President Moreno must protest his rights, says Alfred de Zayas, former UN independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order...
The Socialist Equality Party of Australia held a rally on Sunday, June 17 in Sydney's Town Hall Square to demand the freedom of Julian Assange. The rally was attended by several hundred people who supported the demand that the Australian government act to secure the right of Assange, an Australian citizen, to leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London and return to Australia with guarantees that he not be arrested or extradited to the United States. Below is the speech given to the rally by SEP National Secretary James Cogan.
Thank you for coming for Julian and thank you to the SEP for organizing this very important rally.
The persecution of Julian Assange must end. Or it will end in tragedy.
The Australian government and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have an historic opportunity to decide which it will be. They can remain silent, for which history will be unforgiving. Or they can act in the interests of justice and humanity and bring this remarkable Australian citizen home.
An emergency vigil took place outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London yesterday following credible reports that Ecuador’s government, under intense pressure from the United States and UK, is about to renege on the political asylum the former administration granted to WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange in 2012.
Protesters outside the Ecuadorian embassy are increasing their efforts amid reports that Julian Assange’s political asylum may soon be up.
As Julian Assangeââ¬â¹ looks set to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy soon, what have been Wikileaksââ¬â¹' biggest revelations?
It went on to state that the reason for the petition is due to the fact that Assange “is under effective house arrest in UK. On 5 February 2016, the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Assange had been subject to arbitrary detention since 7 Dec 2010.”
The petition has obtained over 1,400 signatures in just over two weeks despite issues with the New Zealand government petition website, according to Scoop News Independent.
The request is being made because supporters of WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief believe that he may be imminently handed over to U.K. authorities by the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. Supporters claim that if this occurs his human rights, asylum rights and liberty will be placed in jeopardy.
Richard Creswick writes: Julian Assange’s situation should make us all ashamed at the lack of any defence from our government and opposition -- though the government’s position is understandable, given their attacks on the freedoms and privacy of its domestic citizens.
The U.K. could be close to a deal on evicting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from London's Ecuadorean Embassy.
As part of our ongoing project to document Central Intelligence Agency activities around the planet, we’re compiling a curated list of links to records in the CIA archives, divided by country and presidential administration. Today we’re looking at the Near East (the Middle East and North Africa).
PayPal projected third-quarter revenue of $3.62 billion to $3.67 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of $3.71 billion. The San Jose, California-based company forecasts adjusted earnings per share at 53 cents to 55 cents, about in line with analysts’ estimates of 54 cents.
Every day, tens of thousands of people stream into Google offices wearing red name badges. They eat in Google’s cafeterias, ride its commuter shuttles and work alongside its celebrated geeks. But they can’t access all of the company’s celebrated perks. They aren’t entitled to stock and can’t enter certain offices. Many don’t have health insurance.
As public housing deteriorated in Illinois’ southernmost city, bureaucrats at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development delayed stepping in because they wanted to avoid “political repercussions” and negative attention, according to a scathing audit released today.
HUD’s inspector general, the agency’s investigative arm, said HUD officials bickered over whether a series of internal reports dating back to 2010, citing widespread mismanagement and worsening conditions in apartment complexes in Cairo, were sufficient to seize operations of the Alexander County Housing Authority, which owned the buildings. HUD officials also worried whether the agency could afford to run the local authority if it did take it over.
Donald Trump’s recent trip to Britain – happening against the backdrop of the sweltering heat of an unusually protracted summer heatwave – took place at a time when Britain’s political system is closer to breakdown than at any time in my memory.
The immediate crisis centres on a Brexit plan which British Prime Minister Theresa May unveiled to her top ministers at a closed meeting at Chequers (the British Prime Minister’s official country residence) earlier this month.
It is fair to say this plan ( two years in the making and details still to be worked out), which proposes a relationship between Britain and the EU similar to those agreed by Ukraine and Moldova, satisfies no-one.
The hardline Brexiteers, who account for a significant minority of the elected members of Parliament (MPs) of May’s Conservative Party and an overwhelming majority of the Conservative Party’s membership and supporters in the country, are unhappy because they are not getting the clear break from the EU which they expected and which they believed they had been promised after Leave won the 2016 referendum.
Opponents of Brexit, made up of the overwhelming majority of opposition Labour Party MPs and its membership, as well as a small number of Conservative MPs, the bulk of the civil service, the business community and the labour unions basically don’t want Brexit to happen and want Britain to remain in the EU. They are unhappy because despite the continued connection to the EU Britain would still be leaving the EU.
At the end of 2017, congressional Republicans drafted a new tax bill and rushed it to President Donald Trump for signature in just seven weeks. No congressional Democrats were permitted in the drafting sessions, and no hearings were held after the draft legislation was released.1 As a result, no other members of Congress and no members of the public whom the bill’s sweeping provisions would affect had adequate opportunity to review the proposed changes and identify potential problems—much less offer suggestions for how to improve the bill. To the surprise of no one in Washington, the final law that emerged from this secret and partisan process overwhelmingly benefits the wealthy and large corporations. The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) and the Tax Policy Center—both nonpartisan organizations—have confirmed this fact.2
Provisions of the new tax law, informally known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), that directly benefit the wealthy and corporations include: lowering the top individual income tax rate to 37 percent; weakening the individual alternative minimum tax, which originally was designed to ensure that the wealthy pay a minimum amount of tax; gutting the estate tax; allowing a giveaway to wealthy pass-through business owners; and slashing the statutory corporate tax rate.
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In their rush to deliver huge tax cuts to wealthy individuals and businesses and big corporations, the proponents of the TCJA passed a sweeping bill with an unprecedented number of mistakes, ambiguities, and loopholes—opening the door to increased gaming of the nation’s tax system. Wealthy individuals and profitable corporations, with the help of their well-paid tax advisers, will be in the best position to take advantage of the gaming opportunities. The associated revenue loss will further threaten funding for infrastructure improvements, education, Medicare, and other federal initiatives that ensure broad participation in the U.S. economy over the long run, as well as economic stability. Left unchecked, tax gaming will both undermine trust in the tax system and exacerbate inequality in America.
The hearing is a follow-up to the panel's hearing in November, in which lawmakers grilled lawyers from each firm for how their platform was manipulated by Russian trolls seeking to influence the election.
In an exclusive investigation, the Advocate has obtained emails from a whistleblower from inside the Columbus Police Department that outline the arrest of Stormy Daniels earlier this month may have been pre-planned days before she ever arrived in town.
“Question time”, “spending review”, “moral suasion” are among the countless English locutions used by Italian politicians and journalists alike. It makes them sound important; and Italian sound inadequate.
“Tassa piatta,” the editor-in-chief of Lettera43 Paolo Madron said on national radio this month, “sounds a bit ugly.” He prefers saying “flat tax”. A useful translation was dismissed by someone who could help make it relevant – because it's not nice.
Madron is not the only one with such views. The constant and wholly arbitrary undermining – by professionals – of viable new Italian words has spawned a national fear of sounding provincial. It seems as if the media casually drop English terms into their Italian to look cool – to make their analyses appear at the forefront – which is really the most provincial thing you can do.
What's the point in using so much English when speaking to an Italian audience about Italian matters? If only pronunciations were more precise, at least you could learn how to say 'th' properly; or make 'uncle' and 'ankle' sound different. (Mind you, even the New Statesman made an epochal mistake not long ago with “Who sunk Brexit?” on the 15 June cover.)
"You have corrupted discourse for the entire world by going along with these lies."
We got a harsh reminder of this reality Monday, when Tronc, the ridiculous excuse for a media company that owns a number of the nation’s larger metropolitan dailies, laid off half of the editorial staff of the once-magnificent and still exceptionally necessary New York Daily News.
The cuts, coming after previous rounds of cuts, and cuts, and cuts, are turning a newspaper that had one of the more accurate slogans in American media—”The Eyes, the Ears, the Honest Voice of New York”—into a visionless, tone-deaf, whispering version of its former self.
It’s not as if newspaper closures and layoffs are anything new. What is it about the layoffs at the New York Daily News that have aroused more talk of the death of print or an end of an era than other media bloodlettings?
The recent news wasn’t a total surprise; staff had been bracing for layoffs since Tronc, which publishes the Chicago Tribune, bought the paper last year for $1, in addition to assuming its liabilities. On July 23, it was announced Tronc was laying off half of the editorial workforce, including its two top editors. The enormity of this carnage isn’t just industry news. For New York City, it feels like an offense to the entire city, and a testament to how much the city has changed.
The very word “tabloid” implies something trashy—celebrity reporting, sensational headlines, paparazzi and fluff. It’s not really fair, especially since this description carries an anti-working-class sentiment, but also because the Daily News over the past several years had realigned itself to be the pinnacle of local reporting. The New York Times focuses on big-picture analysis of metro politics, but the local coverage tends toward culture matters, and the bulk of its focus is as a national paper, not a local one. The New York Post sometimes lets a nuanced feature slip past an editor, but the Page Six stories and right-wing venom outweigh real reporting.
In that void, the Daily News, which during the 1975 financial crisis delivered one of history’s greatest headlines, “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” built a non-pretentious but also non-condescending voice that’s easily readable on a subway commute, that had as its focus the issues facing working New Yorkers. While the Times may treat eastern Queens like a remote village in the Amazon, the Daily News is as much Greenwich Village as it is Parsons Boulevard.
It appears the government wishes to monopolize the creation of fake news, cutting out amateur bloggers, podcasters, and Facebook users who can't reliably sway foreign elections. Now it can expand its control of worldwide media past its stake in Sputnik and RT to every medium-to-large social media platform providing service to Russian users. Much like every other law enacted to govern online speech, the actual perpetrators will be ignored in favor of directly targeting social media platforms. Possible fines of $800,000 await any platform hosting more than 100,000 users for not removing alleged "fake news" within 24 hours of being notified. This should result in plenty of over-moderation, much like what followed in the wake of Germany's ridiculous speech laws. Those coupled 24-hour takedown demands with hefty fines, resulting in the immediate targeting of satirical posts and comments made by politicians who support government censorship. Unfortunately, the generated irony isn't going to be enough to offset the losses suffered by users who will see their posts vanish into the ether to keep social media platforms one step ahead of the g-men.
Progressives should figure it out. Amplifying the anti-Russia din helps to drown out the left’s core messages for economic fairness, equal rights, environmental protection, diplomacy and so much more. Echoing the racket of blaming Russia for the USA’s severe shortages of democracy plays into the hands of Republicans and corporate Democrats eager to block progressive momentum.
When riding on the “Russiagate” bandwagon, progressives unwittingly aid political forces that are eager to sideline progressive messages. And with the midterm elections now scarcely 100 days away, the torrents of hyperbolic and hypocritical claims about Russia keep diverting attention from why it’s so important to defeat Republicans.
As a practical matter, devoting massive amounts of time and resources to focusing on Russia has reduced capacities to effectively challenge the domestic forces that are assaulting democratic possibilities at home — with such tactics as state voter ID laws, purging of voter rolls, and numerous barriers to suppress turnout by people of color.
So, does threatening nuclear annihilation upon an entire country get you the boot from the social network? Twitter’s policy states that threats of violence can get you kicked off. For instance, if somebody were to tweet a threat to kill his neighbor with a sawed-off shotgun, they could easily be kicked off for violating Twitter’s policies.
Snowflake students have become the target of a new rightwing crusade. But exaggerated claims of censorship reveal a deeper anxiety at the core of modern conservatism.
Protests continue over the vaccine scandal that hit the pharmaceutical company Changsheng Biotech. Even China’s President Xi Jinping waded into the affair, calling it “appalling”. Yet, mainstream and social media have been censored.
According to a project run by the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong, which monitors censorship on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like service, the Chinese word for “vaccine” was one of the most restricted on Sunday and Monday.
One post that was removed by the censors said: “People from the drug and vaccine regulator should resign immediately, this is shameful!”
Another that disappeared said: “When everyone in the country is rushing to get milk powder and vaccines elsewhere … more people will understand why Hong Kong and Macau are rejecting the [mainland] system.”
Fu King-wa, an assistant professor who heads Weiboscope, which monitors microblogs with more than a thousand followers, said also that censorship was higher now than in 2016.
It’s good to see that Rep. Keith Ellison’s shocking letter to Amazon, calling for blatant censorship, has been removed from his website. But has he publicly renounced his letter, both in spirit and in substance? If not, then Ellison’s missive represents just one more example of the radical left’s attempt to suppress and silence opposing views.
On July 17, Fortune.com reported, “Prime Day is here, but Amazon is facing backlash for selling merchandise promoted by known hate groups. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Tuesday, voicing concerns about the company’s income from such items.”
Augur has endured controversy as the emergence of ‘assassination’ markets has left the blockchain community to debate the role of morality and censorship resistance on the platform, and whether such markets should exist as open betting rings.
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As their name might imply, assassination markets gamble on predictions that certain public figures may be murdered within a set duration of time. A common candidate, for example, is US President Donald Trump – with several polls offering predictions as to whether the incumbent US leader might see out his term of office in 2018.
In announcing results for the second quarter, Facebook said that not only will it cost much more to harden the platform than Wall Street was expecting, it also expects revenue growth to slow through at least the end of 2019. Translation: Facebook will be a much less profitable company for the next several years.
On Wednesday a government database showed Facebook had been approved to set up an office in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Facebook said it was interested in opening “an innovation hub” in Zhejiang, similar to others it has started elsewhere. Then on Thursday, the filing had disappeared and terms related to the operation were censored on Chinese social media.
On Tuesday, for the first time in three years, Facebook failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations for revenue and user growth. The company’s user base of 185 million users in the United States and Canada remained flat over the last quarter, and added just 22 million users worldwide — the lowest number of additions since at least 2011. The stock declined more than 20 percent.
As part of its second quarter of 2018 earnings announcement on Wednesday, the company trumpeted a huge jump in both year-over-year revenue (42 percent) and profit (31 percent).
But there’s also been a notable slowdown in user growth. (Anyone recently delete their Facebook accounts?)
Shares tumbled as much as 20 percent in New York on Thursday as sales and user growth disappointed investors. This translates to a $124 billion decline in market capitalization, which is the largest ever loss of value in one day for a U.S. traded company.
The Indian Government has indicated to Facebook that it will have to introduce "traceability and accountability", in order to ensure that provocative messages sent on WhatsApp can be traced to their source, or face legal action.
A few weeks back we wrote about the awful situation in India where mob violence has been leading to people being lynched. Often this is coming as misinformation is being spread online. Rather than deal with the root causes of this violence, people have been pointing fingers at WhatsApp, the messaging software (owned by Facebook) that has been the main source of the disinformation. As we pointed out in our original post, it seemed silly to blame the messaging app. We pointed to a compelling argument that the Indian government should be the one taking most of the blame here.
[...]
This truly is incredible, if not entirely surprising. The Indian government has failed to put in place adequate institutions for a functioning society, and when things break down into mob violence, rather than seeking the (admittedly difficult) job of fixing those institutions and setting up for adequate governance, they just point their fingers at messaging app. What an utter failure.
The broad requests that do make it through post additional issues that are rarely discussed. While FISA court orders authorizing surveillance (including domestic surveillance) stress minimization of non-target info, demands for data from service providers aren't subject to these restrictions. Data/communication dumps can expose a lot of info about non-targets and there's almost zero recourse for non-targets whose privacy has been violated. "Incidental" collection isn't just something the NSA does. It's the inevitable byproduct of overbroad requests and few, if any, rules governing the collection and use of this info.
The report details a large number of deficiencies in the process which has made law enforcement's job far more difficult than it needs to be. Tech advances don't solely benefit crafty criminals. They also aid law enforcement, but there's been no cohesive effort made by the federal government to ensure local agencies can make the most of the tools available. Until this is nailed down, worrying about defeating or bypassing encryption is a waste of time.
That the FBI's director has decided that's how he's going to use his time and energy, suggests the agency -- the most frequent contact for local agencies seeking tech help -- isn't going to prioritize sharing knowledge over seeking legislative mandates. The FBI is hurting itself and others by limiting their ability to do everything they can right now in hopes of getting a law enforcement-sized hole drilled in encryption at some point in the next few decades.
Gargac has given about 700 rides in the area since March through Uber, plus more with Lyft. Nearly all have been streamed to his channel on Twitch, a live video website popular with video gamers where Gargac goes by the username “JustSmurf.”
Powers given to GCHQ by the UK Government to collect massive amounts of personal customer information from telecoms companies has been declared unlawful by the the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT).
According to a ruling yesterday (July 24) by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) granting such unfettered discretion to GCHQ was an unlawful delegation of power from the Foreign Secretary.
However, it added there was no evidence GCHQ had misused the system.
Privacy International, which brought the legal challenge, criticised the sharing of personal data in what it called the "cavalier manner".
Millie Graham Wood, the solicitor acting for Privacy International, said: "The history of the case is living proof of the dangers of closed hearings.
Browser extensions and phone apps used by a combined 11 million people are recording users’ complete browsing history, a clear violation of privacy.
The snooping wares affect both Android and iOS users, as well as those who installed Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox extensions, according to a blog post published Tuesday by AdGuard, a developer of ad blockers and privacy tools. AdGuard cofounder Andrey Meshkov said in the post that the extensions and apps make a list of every exact address of every page visited and combine it with a unique identifier he believes is generated when the extension or app is first installed.
The deal between CloudWalk and the Zimbabwean government will not cover just CCTV cameras. According to a report in the Chinese state newspaper Science and Technology Daily, smart financial systems, airport, railway, and bus station security, and a national facial database will all be part of the project. The deal—along with dozens of other cooperation agreements between Harare and Chinese technology and biotech firms—was signed in April. Like every other foreign deal done by a Chinese firm of late, it has been wrapped into China’s increasingly all-encompassing Belt and Road Initiative.
During negotiations for Chicago’s 2012 budget, newly elected Mayor Rahm Emanuel and then-City Clerk Susana Mendoza agreed to hike the price of what was already one of the priciest tickets vehicle owners can get in the city. Citations for not having a required vehicle sticker rose from $120 to $200.
The increase, approved unanimously by the City Council, was pitched by Mendoza as an alternative to raising the price of stickers as well as generating much-needed revenue from “scofflaws.”
A ticket hike, Mendoza told aldermen, could generate $16 million a year for the city.
That did not happen. The increase has brought in a just few million dollars more a year, while it’s unclear if it led to greater compliance. Sticker sales have been largely stagnant.
The NYPD's stop and frisk program was declared unconstitutional in 2013. As deployed by the NYPD, the program involved high numbers of suspicionless stops disproportionately targeting the city's minorities. Judge Shira Scheindlin heavily modified the program to steer it back in the direction of the Constitution, resulting in claims of a criminal apocalypse that completely failed to materialize.
One of the modifications was the deployment of body cameras. These were supposed to record stops, preserving a record of these incidents. Officers were also given additional paperwork to fill out for each stop/frisk to provide evidence of the perceived suspicion supporting the stop.
Neither of these mandates worked out particularly well. The number of stops was already decreasing rapidly before Judge Scheindlin issued her order. The stops that were still being made, however, weren't by the (new) book. A court monitor report suggested plenty of unconstitutional stops were still being made by officers without filling out the mandated form.
Judge Analisa Torres of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has ordered the New York Police Department (NYPD) to create a "pilot program" to record all police interactions. The NYPD says this is "neither practical nor feasible."
Torres' decision stems from lawsuits over the department's controversial stop-and-frisk policy. In 2013, Torres was assigned to Floyd v. City of New York, a case that challenged the practice on the grounds that it was being used in a racially discriminatory fashion. A few months prior to the case, another federal judged ruled the practice unconstitutional.
These days, more police officers are using body-worn cameras, or BWCs. That's why it's more important than ever we have clear guidelines around the public's right to access those police recordings. To that end, EFF is supporting [PDF] A.B. 748, a bill currently pending in the California legislature that would mandate public access to police recordings of so-called “critical incidents.”
In 2015, following high-profile police shootings of civilians, a survey found that 95 percent of large police departments were planning to use them in the future. Body-worn cameras can serve a valuable function in increasing police accountability. Without proper policies, though, they can also be use to surveil people who interact with police, or those who may not be aware that filming is taking place. BWCs can’t function as a proper police accountability tool unless the public has a clear right of access to police video and audio recordings.
The government wants secrecy just because and the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court isn't having it. The government entity requesting extra secrecy with zero justification is the DEA. And it's likely requesting it so other doctors it's abused won't come asking for similar settlements.
The specifics of the case trace back almost two decades. Two doctors -- both working for the Henderson County Community Hospital in Tennessee -- surrendered their prescription licenses to the DEA while working through their own chemical addictions. One doctor, Tom McDonald, surrendered his all the way back in 1999. The other doctor suing the DEA, John Woods, surrendered his to the DEA in 2012. Both were reinstated a few years later -- McDonald's in 2002 and Woods in 2014. Since that point, they've worked without incident at HCCH. (And prior to that, as well.)
Things changed in 2016 when the DEA showed up and ordered them to stop working until they'd obtained a waiver from the agency. This sudden enforcement effort was prompted by the addition of this clause to US code in 2014. In McDonald's case, there was 12 years of uninterrupted good behavior before the rule changed. It was Woods' more recent reinstatement that may have triggered this burst of regulatory activity. Whatever the case, it meant the two doctors were out of work until the DEA decided their years of service without abusing prescription pads meant something.
In another example of the extraordinary lengths Canadian immigration officials go to deport failed refugee claimants, the Canada Border Services Agency has been collecting DNA from migrants and using ancestry websites to find and contact their distant relatives and establish their nationality.
“I think it is a matter of public interest that border service agencies like the CBSA are able to obtain access to DNA results from sites like Familytreedna.com and Ancestry.com,” said Subodh Bharati, a lawyer who is representing a man who says he’s Liberian, but who the government is now trying to prove is actually Nigerian. “There are clear privacy concerns. How is the CBSA able to access this information and what measures are being put in place to ensure this information remains confidential?”
Trump: FCC should help Sinclair because it's a "much needed Conservative voice."
The FCC last week voted unanimously against approving the Sinclair/Tribune deal. Sinclair needed to divest some stations in order to stay under federal ownership limits, but FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the company's proposal to divest certain stations "would allow Sinclair to control those stations in practice, even if not in name, in violation of the law."
So back in 2015 you might recall that Republicans threw a tremendous hissy fit when the then Obama administration surprisingly threw its full support behind Title II classification of ISPs and real net neutrality. It was surprising in large part because Obama's first FCC boss pick, Julius Genachowski, was comically wishy washy, often refusing to take hard positions on much of anything. It was also surprising because Genachowski's replacement, Tom Wheeler, appeared to be the type of person to change their mind after being presented with hard evidence, a notably unfashionable trait in DC these days.
The histrionic claim at the time, you might recall, was that Obama had broken some long-established law by expressing a preference for a direction of FCC policy. This despite the fact that there is no law preventing the White House from doing so, and history is filled with examples of both sides of the aisle doing just that (from George W. Bush urging former FCC Chairman Michael Powell to eliminate media ownership rules, to when Bill Clinton urged former Chairman Reed Hundt to ban hard liquor advertising on TV).
In our ongoing coverage of Denuvo, the DRM once thought unbeatable that since has been very much beaten in record timelines, one internet handle wove a common weave through most of those stories: Voksi. Voksi, a singular human being, had done much of the work that had brought Denuvo to its knees. In fact, we recently wrote a post about how illuminating it should be when corporate DRM makers with the kind of financial backing of Denuvo could be brought down essentially by one guy with a grudge. The lesson there was if that was the state of things, it was a clear sign that Denuvo's entire business was on shaky, unsustainable grounds.
Denuvo appears to have taken the opposite lesson instead, believing apparently that this one grudge-haver was something of a single point of failure in the anti-Denuvo realm. To that end, Denuvo has recently, and quite gleefully, announced that it worked with Bulgarian police forces to arrest Voksi and sieze his equipment.
Denuvo’s notorious anti-piracy tech used to be seen as uncrackable. It held up against hackers’ best efforts for years, contorting itself into obtuse new shapes every time anybody broke through. In 2016, a Bulgarian hacker calling himself Voksi came along with a breakthrough that revitalized the whole Denuvo cracking scene. He’s been a pillar of it ever since. Now he’s in deep trouble.
In a post today on CrackWatch, a subreddit dedicated to removing DRM and other copy protection software from games, Voksi explained the sudden outage of the website of his hacker group, REVOLT. Yesterday, he got arrested, and the police raided his house.
Substantial evidence supported a jury’s finding that Raytheon Company failed to show that infrared imaging equipment manufacturers Indigo Systems and FLIR Systems Incorporated (collectively, “Indigo”) misappropriated trade secrets relating to sequential vacuum baking procedure and in situ solder sealing package assemblies, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled, because a reasonable jury could have found that Indigo employees independently developed the trade secrets rather than misappropriated them by improper means in violation of the the California Uniform Trade Secret Act. T
Intel’s patenting activity has enjoyed a resurgence in recent times, as the US tech giant has been pumping out significantly more and – better quality – patents over the last 10 years, an exclusive IAM-commissioned analysis has found. Although already a dominant player in the patent world, the company has strengthened its position further with a flurry of filings in its main playing field of semiconductors, as well as in other key sectors such as the Internet of Things and cybersecurity.
The UK Government has given assurances to holders of EU intellectual property rights that after Brexit those rights will remain protected in the UK.
Speaking during a debate in the House of Commons last week, Robin Walker MP, Undersecretary of State for the Department for Exiting the EU, announced that existing EU trade marks and registered community designs will be cloned onto the UK register “automatically and for free”. This will create over 1.7 million comparable UK rights. Existing unregistered community designs will also continue to enjoy protection in the UK after Brexit.
I like the opinion because the court’s analysis fits neatly with my conceptual explanation of how enablement analyses are actually performed: it’s a two-step process, with the first step being the articulation of the relevant target and the second asking whether the patentee managed to hit that target. Here, the court defined the target as consisting of one of six possible permutations under the claim construction the patent owner had sought. Unfortunately, the evidence did not support the conclusion that a person having ordinary skill in the art could make that permutation without undue experimentation.
In the Federal Circuit’s words, Patent No. 5,686,738 “relates to the preparation of monocrystalline GaN films via molecular beam epitaxy.” Slip Op. at 4. These films are used in creating blue light LEDs. The plaintiff, Trustees of Boston University (BU), sued defendants for infringing the ‘738 patent. Following a jury trial, BU obtained a verdict of infringement and no invalidity. The district judge subsequently denied defendants’ renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law, in which defendants had argued that the asserted claim was not enabled. Defendants appealed.
NHL fans will likely still have fresh in their minds the surprising rookie season of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, an expansion team that took the league by storm and lost in the Stanley Cup finals. Readers here may remember the team more for the fairly odd trademark dispute it was in with the -- checks notes -- United States Army, which for some reason opposed the team's trademark application due to the Army's college and paratrooping teams that go by the same name.
At the time, we pointed out that the opposition seemed worrisome for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it seems plainly ridiculous for the Army to suggest that anyone was going to be confused between its college teams, its paratrooping team, and an NHL franchise. Was anyone really worried about the public thinking that the United States military had suddenly gotten into the professional hockey business? But we added to that the gross nature of a branch of the United States military, with a long and storied and proud tradition, dabbling in trademark bullying for apparently no legitimate reason.
The key question in the dispute was how would the average consumer perceive the signs LNDR and LDNR in context. The average consumer was identified as a purchaser of clothing, in particular ladies’ sportswear, who is a member of the general public and exercises a moderate degree of care and attention.
On 27 February 2018 Nike won the copyright contest over its iconic Jumpman logo when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion of non-infringement in a 2-1 decision. However, on 13 July 2018 photographer Jacobus Rentmeester managed to keep the game against Nike alive by convincing a three-judge panel of the court to stay the mandate confirming its decision.
I’m excited to share an update on the implementation of the CC Global Network Strategy, and to move forward on an important next step that will, for the first time, put the Network in the hands of the Network: the first meeting of Chapter representatives to the Global Network Council.
We started this process together in 2015, at the Global Summit hosted by CC Korea, in Seoul, South Korea. Many leaders in our community wanted to revitalize our network and help it grow, and it was soon after I had joined CC with a mandate from the Board of Directors to put community back at the center of our work.
The previous affiliate structure was top-down, where each affiliate was selected by CC HQ, and only those with a memorandum of understanding with HQ were permitted to join. The affiliates had only the rights granted by MOU, and their workplans were approved by HQ. While much good work was done, there was a desire from the community to do more, and work more collaboratively. Together, we initiated a community-driven process to evaluate, evolve, and invigorate the network.
A small group of community leaders — both new and longstanding contributors from around the world — formed a strategy committee, chaired by myself and Alek Tarkowski from CC Poland. We designed a global consultation and collaborative design process to create a new network. We commissioned independent research, and a committee of affiliates and community members explored new models and ways of engagement and governance. They reviewed hundreds of comments, and drafted a new strategy, a new charter, and a new code of conduct.
January 1, 2019 will be the first time in twenty years that works in the United States will once again join the public domain through copyright expiration. A growing public domain means more access to works and the ability of other artists to build on what came before. And as we get closer and closer to finally growing the public domain, big content holders are going to push harder and harder to lock it all down again. CLASSICS is the first step in that direction.
CLASSICS is a very bad bill that has been bundled with the largely-good Music Modernization Act (MMA). That bundle was passed in the House of Representatives and is currently sitting in the Senate. The original text of MMA created a new way to compensate songwriters and publishers for music played on digital services. CLASSICS, on the other hand, took advantage of a messy and confusing situation—not unusual in copyright—in order to let labels find new ways to make money off of music that should be in the public domain.
The situation is this: sound recordings didn’t used to be protected by federal copyright law. As a result, states came up with their own laws, creating a patchwork. Congress did eventually get around to bringing sound recordings under federal copyright law, but only for recordings made in 1972 and later. Older recordings remained under the old crazy quilt of state law. This meant they did not enter the public domain when they should have. State laws continue to govern the pre-1972 sound recordings until 2067. Music from World War I is locked under copyright until nearly the 150th anniversary of the war. After so much time, even finding the rightsholders to ask for permission to copy a recording is a daunting task.
On 25 April 2018 the Japanese IP High Court released a decision which has made Twitter users feel uneasy.
A photographer who owned the copyright in a photo demanded that Twitter, Inc and Twitter Japan disclose the information of the user who had posted it on Twitter without the photographer's permission, as well as the information of those who had retweeted it.
The court ruled that the tweet constituted copyright infringement and ordered Twitter, Inc to disclose to the photographer the user information (ie, email address) of the user who originally tweeted the image. However, the court denied copyright infringement on the part of the users who retweeted the infringing tweet. This decision was in accordance with the lower-court ruling, but the IP High Court judges disagreed, finding that a retweet represents moral rights infringement and ordered the disclosure of user information.
Whether the “registration of [a] copyright claim has been made” within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. €§ 411(a) when the copyright holder delivers the required application, deposit, and fee to the Copyright Office, as the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the 5th and 9th Circuits have held, or only once the Copyright Office acts on that application, as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 10th and, in the decision below, the 11th Circuits have held. CVSG: 05/16/2018.