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Links 15/05/2022: GNU libiconv 1.17



  • GNU/Linux

    • Make Use Of6 Practical and Real-World Applications of Linux

       Everyone knows that Linux powers millions of servers and desktops worldwide. But are there any other applications of this open-source OS?

      If you use Linux on your desktop, you might have wondered if the operating system you're messing around with has any practical uses. Fortunately, there are plenty of real-world applications of Linux today. Here are some of them.

    • Linux Made SimpleLinux Weekly Roundup #182

      Welcome to this week's Linux weekly roundup. We had another full week in the world of Linux releases with Fedora 36, Bluestar Linux 5.17.7, ALT Linux 10.0, and LXLE Focal beta.

      I hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy every moment!

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • XDAChromebooks are the perfect place to teach yourself about Linux

         The best Chromebooks you can get today have come a long way from the early days. No longer is Chrome OS just a fancy browser running on a laptop. It has grown to incorporate Android and Linux and the platform is now a lot more capable than you might have thought.

        The second of those is particularly important. I’m not about to preach about how everyone should immediately switch to Linux. Or that 2022 is the year of the Linux desktop. Or anything like that. However, it is in the limelight right now with the immensely popular Steam Deck on the shelves.

        Why am I talking about learning Linux? Well for one, it’s never too late or a bad idea to learn something new. Linux isn’t just some other desktop operating system you don’t currently care about. It has plenty of applications out in the big wide world. All those cloud servers? Running Linux. On a smaller scale, the Raspberry Pi is a tiny, extremely flexible Linux computer you can use to do many wonderful things. A Chromebook is a great place to play around with Linux in relative safety.

    • Server

      • The Register UKOpenVMS 9.2 hits production status for x86-64 ● The Register

        VMS Software Inc. has announced the release of OpenVMS 9.2, the first production-supported release for commercial off-the-shelf x86 hardware.

        The expectation is that customers will deploy the new OS [PDF] into VMs. Most recent hypervisors are supported, including VMware (Workstation 15+, Fusion 11+ and ESXi 6.7+), KVM (tested on CentOS 7.9, openSUSE Leap 15.3, and Ubuntu 18.04), and Oracle VirtualBox 6.1.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

    • Applications

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Linux Cloud VPSHow to Install Code-Server IDE platform on Ubuntu 20.04 | LinuxCloudVPS Blog

        In this tutorial, we are going to install the code-server IDE platform on Ubuntu 20.04 OS.

        Code-Server IDE is a development platform running remotely on a server that can be accessed via a web browser. The main purpose of this code IDE platform is to be accessible from everywhere for better collaboration between developers. It is an open-source project integrated with Git support that allows developers to run Visual Studio Code.

        Installing the code-server IDE platform on Ubuntu 20.04 is a very easy and straightforward process that can take up to 20 minutes. Let’s get started!

      • Linux Host SupportHow to Install Varnish 7 on AlmaLinux | LinuxHostSupport

        Varnish is a free, and open-source web application accelerator used for caching website content in memory. It is designed for HTTP to speed up caching of heavy dynamic websites. It is capable of speeding up your website page loading time by a factor of 10x to 300x. This will helps you with your Search Engine Results Page and also improve the user experience on your website.

        In this post, we will show you how to install Varnish 7 on AlmaLinux.

      • [Old] Sailfish OS Tips & Tricks
      • ID RootHow To Install HPLIP on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS - idroot

        In this tutorial, we will show you how to install HPLIP on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, as well as some extra required packages by HPLIP

      • Linux HintBash Check If String Is Empty

        While coding in any programming language, we use many variables of different types. One well-known and most used variable type is the “string”. The string is a group of characters and special symbols including space in programming. While working in Linux provides us the opportunity to utilize string variables in our code. Today, we will demonstrate some of the examples to check whether a string variable is empty or not using some of the most well-known Bash options.

        So, let’s get started now. Let’s start with the Bash file creation, as all of our work will be done within the Bash file. So, use the “touch” instruction of Ubuntu to create a Bash file named “empty” with the “sh” extension. The GNU Nano editor can be utilized to open this newly created Bash file.

      • Linux Hint3 Methods to Install MPV Media Player on Ubuntu 22.04 and Linux Mint 20

        The media players are used to play the videos of different formats and the MPV media player is one of the command line media players which is free to download as well as supports many formats of video, audio, and subtitles type.

        Since MPV is a command-line-based media player, it does not contain the GUI but a small menu bar that contains all the options to control the media file.

        The MPV media player can be installed on different operating systems like Windows, macOS, and the Linux distributions, but in this write-up, we specifically discussed the installation methods of the MPV media player on the Ubuntu 22.04 and Linux Mint 20.

      • PSA: Potential libstdc++ hang in std::filesystem::symlink_status

        Something I caught while running TLGS's crawler. Due to how drogon works. It needs to always successfully open a new socket on TCP connection. Otherwise the entire process is killed. But Gemini does not support multiple requests on the same connection. So it's easy to endup with a lot of open sockets (though most are waiting to be closed). My hack to solve this conflict is to periodically walk `/proc/self/` and check how many sockets are open. And rest if there're too many.

      • The New StackScan Container Images for Vulnerabilities with Grype – The New Stack

        Grype, an open source package managed by security company Anchore, is a vulnerability scanner for both images and filesystems.

      • LinuxiacHow to Install Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP (LEMP) on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

        This guide shows you step-by-step the installation process of the LEMP stack, Nginx, MariaDB, and PHP, in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

      • Linux HintHow to Install TeamViewer on Ubuntu 22.04

        A TeamViewer is the application by which we can access the other computer remotely and can perform various tasks on it. We can also share the files among both machines as well as the screen of the device.

        The TeamViewer can be installed on different operating systems including Windows, but in this write-up, we will focus on the installation of the TeamViewer on Ubuntu 22.04.

      • Fixing Houdini startup error on Linux - Darryl Dias

        After installing Houdini you may come across this error. This error appears in the Terminal, if you open it from the application launcher you maybe be getting this error but it does not show in any way.

    • Games

      • Linux HintBest PlayStation 2 (PS2) Emulators for Android in 2022

        The Google Play Store is packed with interesting games, but most of them pale in comparison with the best PlayStation 2 titles, such as Silent Hill 2, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, the Ratchet and Clank series, Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2, Wild Arms, or Persona 4, just to give some examples.

        These and many other games are still fun to play, even though it’s been more than two decades since Sony released the PlayStation 2 console to great success. You can play them even if you don’t own the console or any of its successors’ thanks to PlayStation 2 emulators for Android.

      • Linux HintBest Roblox Anime Games

        Roblox is a unique gaming platform with a library that has millions of games created by a community of millions of developers, allowing endless hours of gameplay. If you are a fan of anime and looking for games that resemble them then we have mentioned some of the top anime games in this article.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

        • KlipperScreen: All You Need to Know [Ed: Not about KDE per se. This could be a trademark problem because of KDE. Klipper started in the 1990s.]

          KlipperScreen is a program that runs on Klipper firmware and provides a GUI to control your printer. Read on to learn more about it!

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Top 10 Best Linux Distributions in 2022 For Everyone

      A list of best Linux Distributions in 2022 for every user - students, creators, developers and casual users with guidance to pick one.

    • Barry Kaulereasy.sfs recompress with LZ4_HC

      Thanks to forum member rufwoof, who got me thinking about this. File 'easy.sfs' has the entire EasyOS filesystem -- we don't split up into smaller SFS files as is done in Puppy. Except, still have the separate 'devx' SFS.

      To keep the download file small, easy.sfs is xz-compressed. This is the smallest file-size; however, decompression when in use is also slower than other compression methods. With a fast CPU, you probably won't notice it, but with a somewhat older CPU there may be noticeable sluggishness, perhaps in app startup.

    • Fedora Family / IBM

    • Debian Family

      • Overpaid lawyer & Debian miss WIPO deadline

        Debian gangsters promise to continue their vendetta despite missing WIPO's deadline.

        We have all seen those horrendously long discussion threads that take place in Debian from time to time. We wonder if the Debian trademark team, Brian Gupta and Taowa Munene-Tardif (Rosetwig) have involved the lawyer in one of those endless threads. The lawyer's phone may well be chiming with the sound of a cash register each time a new Debian email comes in.

        Nonetheless, apart from the budget blowout, the other problem with these endless email discussions from indecisive volunteers is that it is impossible to meet deadlines.

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • Linux Hint5 Easy Ways to Connect Raspberry Pi Remotely

        To connect Raspberry Pi remotely means that we can access the Raspberry Pi using some other computer and can perform different tasks on the Raspberry Pi.

        The Raspberry Pi can be connected to the display screen by using the mini HDMI port but it can also connect to the desktop remotely by using different approaches which are being discussed in this article.

      • Linux Hint3 Methods to Play Spotify on Raspberry Pi

        Spotify is an application that is used to stream millions of music tracks from all around the world on mobile phones, tablets, and desktops. The users of Spotify not only listen to their favorite music but also can make the albums of favorites to store their favorite collection. These albums can be shared with their friends as well as they can also access the albums or songs collections of their favorite people.

      • Linux HintBest Raspberry Pi for Gaming

        Raspberry Pi is a highly effective device that can be used for various purposes. The major advantage of this device is that it can be an ideal option to play large varieties of games, including Final Fantasy, Dragon Ball Z, Minecraft and so on. However, playing these games on Raspberry Pi will require an emulator and device performance that can handle these emulators providing you with a smooth and fast gaming environment.

      • Linux HintBest RetroPie Controllers in 2022

        The RetroPie is an operating system that enables your Raspberry Pi to be a retro-gaming machine so you can play retro games on the Raspberry Pi including the arcade and classic PC games.

      • Linux HintArduino Uno Pinout Guide

        For beginner and advanced level projects the Arduino provides a platform for the user that gives the assistance regarding programing the microcontroller as well as also helps in creating the hardware for the projects

        This platform provides a variety of the microcontroller boards also known as Arduino boards having different specifications. So before using any Arduino board one must know the specification of the boards and most importantly the pins of the boards and their usability. So, we have explained the pinouts of the Arduino Uno board l and the use of each pin in detail.

      • ArduinoMotorize a manual wheelchair with this adaptable electronic system | Arduino Blog

        Motorized wheelchairs can be very expensive, and for those who are unable to afford them, getting around the house can become a challenge. This is what inspired Wesley Gardner from element14 Presents to design a series of wheelchair modifications that can improve a person’s mobility.

        Gardner began by coming up with a few parts in CAD for the battery mount, an electronics enclosure, and a whole host of clamps for attaching steel tubing to the chair. Next, he added a pair of crossmembers below the wheelchair to secure the 12V lead-acid battery in place. Three more tubes were attached vertically to the back as a way to hold the stepper motors against the wheels which rotate them via friction.

      • CNX SoftwareTrying out Edge Impulse machine learning platform on XIAO BLE Sense board - CNX Software

        I had seen the Edge Impulse development platform for machine learning on edge devices being used by several boards, but I hadn’t had an opportunity to try it out so far. So when Seeed Studio asked me whether I’d be interested to test the nRF52840-powered XIAO BLE Sense board, I thought it might be a good idea to review it with Edge Impulse as I had seen a motion/gesture recognition demo on the board.

        It was quite a challenge as it took me four months to complete the review from the time Seeed Studio first contacted me, mostly due to poor communications from DHL causing the first boards to go to customs’ heaven, then wasting time with some of the worse instructions I had seen in a long time (now fixed), and other reviews getting in the way. But I finally managed to get it working (sort of), so let’s have a look.

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Linux LinksBest Free and Open Source Alternatives to Apple FileMaker

       In 2020, Apple began the Apple silicon transition, using self-designed, 64-bit ARM-based Apple M1 processors on new Mac computers. Maybe it’s the perfect time to move away from the proprietary world of Apple, and embrace the open source Linux scene.

      FileMaker is a cross-platform relational database application from Claris International, a subsidiary of Apple.

      A relational database matches data using common characteristics found within the data set. The resulting groups of data are organized and are much easier for people to understand.

    • Leftovers

      • Senses

        .

        I'd say that the traditional five senses are more like classes of things than distinct things. Simplifying and lumping together is one of those tools a lot of people use to grok a really complicated universe. I wouldn't call the five senses a myth, but I'd say that confusing it with reality is confusing the map with the territory.

      • Hardware

        • The Register UKTSMC, Samsung plan price hikes for chip designers – reports

          Just as costs for some components have started to come down, TSMC and Samsung, the two largest contract chip manufacturers in the world, are reportedly planning to increase prices of production, which may affect Nvidia, AMD, Apple, and others that rely on the foundries.

          Reports emerged earlier this week stating that Taiwan-based TSMC is planning price hikes in the single-digit percentages for legacy and advanced chip manufacturing technologies next year. Citing industry sources, Nikkei reported that the price hike will be around five to eight percent.

        • The Register UKCisco warns of premature DIMM failures
        • The Register UKGermany makes new move to attract chip manufacturers

          Germany's government is looking to attract chipmakers to the country by offering €14 billion ($14.7 billion) in financial support, apparently spurred on by global semiconductor supply chain problems.

          The move follows the European Chips Act from the European Commission and Intel's decision earlier this year to build a new fabrication plant in Germany.

        • The Register UKRansomware hits global farm machinery giant AGCO ● The Register [Ed: Likely Windows TCO]

          According to the FBI, the three top variants of ransomware that were deployed against critical infrastructure companies last year were Conti, LockBit and REvil/Sodinokibi.

        • The Register UKTablet PC sales decline as consumers consider inflation

          Shipments from nearly all of the major tablet manufacturers are declining as consumers and educators find other things to do with their money.

          Distribution data collated by tech analyst Canalys shows 38.59 million units were sent into retail and business channels in calendar Q1, down 3 percent year-on-year, albeit against a tough comparison period when sales in the same period of 2021 went through the roof.

        • The Register UKEuropean tech businesses cool on China due to coronavirus lockdowns

          Supply chain issues and other disruptions in China caused by strict COVID-19 lockdown measures have seen 23 percent of European businesses operating in the Middle Kingdom consider moving elsewhere, according to a recent report.

          The report, from the European Chamber of Commerce in China and released on Thursday, said the number of European businesses considering leaving nearly doubled since the onset of 2022, a mere five months ago.

        • China’s COVID-19 policy and Russia’s war in Ukraine cause severe disruptions to European business in China
        • The Register UKInfineon more than doubles profit as semiconductor shortages persist

          Infineon joined the ranks of chipmakers that are benefiting from the industry-wide global semiconductor shortages, more than doubling profits in a sector where lead times are severely protracted.

          Formerly Siemens Semiconductor, the German-based company reported revenue of €3.298 billion ($3.48 billion), up 22 percent year-on-year for Q2 of fiscal 2022 ended March 31 [PDF]. Profit bounced 131 percent to €469 million ($494 million).

      • Proprietary

      • Pseudo-Open Source

      • Security

        • The Register UKFive Eyes turn spotlight on MSPs: Potential weak links in IT supply-chain security [Ed: Microsoft resellers a threat to national security]

          Case in point: the SolarWinds attack in 2020, when Kremlin-backed miscreants slipped malware into SolarWinds' Orion software, which was then pushed to some 18,000 SolarWinds' customers. This allowed the criminals to infiltrate nearly 100 US government and private-sector networks.

        • The Register UKFalse-flag cyberattacks a red line for nation-states, says Mandiant boss [Ed: Microsoft Windows TCO]

          "When you get a White House podium statement that X did Y, like we did with with everything from Sony Pictures to NotPetya, that's 100 percent" confidence in the attribution, Joyce said.

          In 2014, the FBI attributed the Sony Pictures cyberattack to North Korea, and US law enforcement blamed the 2017 NotPetya attacks on the Russian military.

        • The Register UKColonial Pipeline faces nearly $1m fine one year after ransomware attack [Ed: Microsoft Windows ransomware; they have left out important details]

          Colonial Pipeline is facing an almost $1 million fine for control room management failures after the US Department of Transportation alleged they contributed to the nation's fuel disruption in the wake of the 2021 ransomware attack.

        • The Register UKRansomware the final nail in coffin for small university [Ed: Likely Microsoft Windows]
        • The Register UKAnatomy of a campaign to inject JavaScript into compromised WordPress sites [Ed: These need to be compromised in the first place; unlike Windows, WordPress does not have NSA back doors]

          A years-long campaign by miscreants to insert malicious JavaScript into vulnerable WordPress sites, so that visitors are redirected to scam websites, has been documented by reverse-engineers.

        • The Register UKMost organizations hit by ransomware would pay up if hit again [Ed: Usage of Microsoft Windows is extremely expensive]

          Kaspersky claims that in 88 percent of organizations that have had to deal with a ransomware incident, business leaders said they would choose to pay the money if faced with another attack. In contrast, among those that have not so far suffered a ransomware attack, only 67 percent would be willing to pay, and they would be less inclined to do so immediately.

        • The Register UKIf you've got Intel inside, you probably need to get these security patches inside, too

          Intel has disclosed high-severity bugs in its firmware that's used in datacenter servers, workstations, mobile devices, storage products, and other gear. These flaws can be exploited to escalate privileges, leak information, or stop things from working.

        • The Register UK âš“ https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-to-lock-and-protect-away-secret-files-with-gnu-privacy-guard ä·‰ Source: nasdaq

          Pangolin8RAT is modular malware that emerged in 2019 and is regularly updated. It is believed to be the successor of the PlugX and ShadowPad malware families, and has been used to target industries beyond gambling – transportation, telecom and governments have all been attacked.

          [...]

          TeamT5 also found threat actors collect and store victim credentials, software source code and business info for future use.

        • The Register UKAnother ex-eBay exec pleads guilty to cyberstalking critics ● The Register
        • The Register UKIran-linked Cobalt Mirage extracts money, info from US orgs – report [Ed: Microsoft Windows TCO]

          In the financially-motivated "cluster" of attacks, the group is using BitLocker and DiskCryptor to hold victims' documents to ransom.

        • The Register UKResearchers find 134 flaws in the way Word, PDFs, handle scripts

          Security researchers have devised a tool that detects flaws in the way apps like Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat process JavaScript, and it's proven so effective they've found 134 bugs – 59 of them considered worthy of a fix by vendors, 33 assigned a CVE number, and 17 producing bug bounty payments totaling $22,000.

        • The Register UK[Older] Critical vulnerabilities found in 'millions of Aruba and Avaya switches'
        • The Register UKCommunication around Heroku security incident dubbed 'train wreck'

          Efforts by Salesforce-owned cloud platform Heroku to manage a recent security incident are turning into a bit of a disaster, according to some users.

          Heroku has run security incident notifications for 18 days and appears to have upset several of its customers due to a perceived lack of openness and communication.

        • Heroku resetting passwords for “a portion” of their users immediately

          Just received this email from Heroku. Given the timeline it seems like the breach is pretty serious.

        • The Register UKIt costs just $7 to rent DCRat to backdoor your network [Ed: Microsoft Windows TCO]

          The backdoor Windows malware, dubbed DCRat or DarkCrystal RAT, was released in 2018, then redesigned and relaunched the following year. An individual who goes by the handles boldenis44, crystalcoder, and Кодер (Coder) developed the RAT, we're told, and works to improve it on a daily basis.

        • The Register UKIndustry pushes back against India's data security breach reporting requirements

          Opposition is building to India's recently introduced rules on reporting computer security breaches, which have come under fire for being impractical, ineffective, and impinging on privacy.

          The rules were introduced without fanfare in late April by CERT-In, the nation's government-run computer emergency response team that has responsibility for incident management and wider infosec guidance.

          [...]

          India's Internet Freedom Foundation has offered an extensive criticism of the regulations, arguing that they were formulated and announced without consultation, lack a data breach reporting mechanism that would benefit end-users, and include data localization requirements that could prevent some cross-border data flows.

          The foundation also points out that the privacy implications of the rules – especially five-year retention of personal information – is a very significant requirement at a time when India's Draft Data Protection Bill has proven so controversial it has failed to reach a vote in Parliament, and debate about digital privacy in India is ongoing and fierce.

        • The Register UKBiden signs cybercrime tracking bill into law [Ed: How about a more constructive approach like banning Windows and other back-doored software?]

          US President Joe Biden has signed into law a bill that aims to improve how the federal government tracks and prosecutes cybercrime.

        • The Register UKF5, Cisco admins: Stop what you're doing and check if you need to install these patches

          F5 Networks and Cisco this week issued warnings about serious, and in some cases critical, security vulnerabilities in their products.

          F5 officials said Thursday its most serious issue, a critical flaw in its iControl REST framework with a severity score of 9.8 out of 10, could be exploited to bypass the authentication software, used by its BIG-IP portfolio, and hijack equipment. Specifically, the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-1388, can be abused by miscreants to, among other things, run malicious commands on BIG-IP devices via their management ports unimpeded.

      • Defence/Aggression

      • Environment

        • Energy

          • The Register UKDon't hate on cryptomining, hate the power stations, say Bitcoin super-fans

            Big names in Bitcoin have defended cryptocurrency mining, issuing a jointly signed letter hitting back at US lawmakers who last month urged a government watchdog to probe the practice.

            Twitter founder and Bitcoin champion Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Bitcoin-collecting MicroStrategy Michael Saylor, and others on Monday signed the letter [PDF] that is a point-by-point rebuttal to a memo [PDF] sent last month to America's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA) and a couple dozen other Democrats.

          • The Register UKDemand for GPUs used to mine crypto 'disappearing', says ASUSTeK

            Taiwanese hardware giant ASUSTeK says demand for GPU used to mine cryptocurrency is "disappearing" – and so is about ten percent of demand for personal computers.

            Speaking on the company's Q1 earnings call, co-CEO S.Y. Hsu said the fall in demand for GPUs was caused by the crypto industry responding to critics of its energy consumption. They're moving away from proof of work to proof of space – verifiable creation of data occupying space in a storage medium – as the means of mining tokens.

          • The Register UKCoinbase CEO says everything's OK after SEC filing gives netizens the jitters [Ed: Beginning of the end of fakecoins?]

            Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has scrambled to alleviate fears that customers storing cryptocurrencies at the digital cash exchange will lose everything if the biz goes under.

            This concern stemmed from Coinbase's quarterly 10-Q report [PDF] filed this month to the SEC. It disclosed that customers who kept their cryptocurrencies at the exchange could see their assets seized in the event the business went bankrupt, thus:

          • The Register UKUS Treasury sanctions cryptocurrency mixer Blender ● The Register

            The US Treasury has sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Blender for its role in helping North Korea's Lazarus Group launder stolen digital assets.

            As a result, among other limitations, anyone in the United States or a US person can no longer do any business with Blender without special permission from the government.

            This marks the Feds' first-ever sanctions against a crypto mixer, which cybercriminals can use to cover their tracks. As the name might suggest, cryptocurrency mixing, or tumbling, can obscure the source of some digital money. The laundered coins cannot be traced back to, say, a wallet robbed of its contents, allowing crooks to spend their ill-gotten gains without being linked to their crimes.

            Such services have legitimate privacy uses, though Uncle Sam isn't happy that it can be used to make life easy for criminals, and so it's cracking down on the practice.

      • Finance

        • The Register UKSoftBank to stop investing 'randomly' after losing billions of dollars

          SoftBank lost a lot of money over the past 12 months.

          The Japanese giant's founder and CEO Masayoshi Son today told analysts on a conference call marking the end of its fiscal 2022 year that the SoftBank group as a whole lost $13.15 billion. Its two Vision Funds, which account for 50 percent of SoftBank's net asset value, alone lost $27.4 billion between them. If your technology stock or cryptocurrency portfolio has taken a dive lately in these bumpy economic times, perhaps you can manage a wry grin here.

        • The Register UKSEC adds Tencent, JD.com, China Mobile to group facing potential delisting [Ed: Companies that do not need to fake their market value?]

          More Chinese tech companies including Tencent, JD.com, and China Mobile face delisting by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) thanks to opaque disclosures.

          Tencent-affiliated gaming outfits Huya and Douyu, internet datacenter services provider Vnet Group, and online game services provider NetEase were among more than 80 fresh additions to a provisional list of companies on May 4.

      • Censorship/Free Speech

        • The Register UKAppeals court unleashes Texas's anti-content-moderation law ● The Register

          On Wednesday, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided to undo a preliminary injunction that for the past few months has been blocking Texas's law prohibiting online content moderation while that legislation is being challenged.

          Two judges of a three judge panel – all Republican appointees – granted Texas's motion to stay the preliminary injunction, granted last December, that suspended HB 20 amid the dispute over its constitutionality.

        • The Register UKChina wants its youngsters to stop paying streamers ● The Register

          China's internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has published guidelines that aim to stop minors from giving tips or other forms of payment to livestreamers, watching after 10pm, or livestreaming themselves.

          "Website platforms must not develop functional applications that attract minors to tip or induce minors to give 'gifts.' If it is found that the website platform violates the aforementioned requirements, measures such as suspending the tipping function and shutting down the live broadcast business will be implemented," said the recently published Opinions on Regulating Online Live Rewards and Strengthening the Protection of Minors (in Chinese).

      • Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

        • The Register UKCable giants, ISPs, telcos end legal fight against California's net neutrality law

          California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday welcomed the decision by a group of telecom and cable industry associations to abandon their legal challenge of the US state's net neutrality law SB822.

          "My office has fought for years to ensure that internet service providers can't interfere with or limit what Californians do online," said Bonta in a statement. "Now the case is finally over.

        • Attorney General Bonta: California’s Net Neutrality Law Is Here to Stay | State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General

          OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement on a decision by associations representing major internet service providers to dismiss their lawsuit challenging California’s net neutrality law. Senate Bill 822 protects Californians from blocking, throttling, harmful forms of zero-rating, and other anti-competitive practices that harm

        • The Register UKFTC says Frontier lied about its internet speeds amid $8.5m settlement

          The FTC has settled a case in which Frontier Communications was accused of charging high prices for under-delivered internet connectivity.

          The US telecommunications giant has promised to be clearer with subscribers on connection speeds, and will cough up more than $8.5 million, or less than a day in annual profit, to end the matter.

          Frontier used to primarily pipe broadband over phone lines to people in rural areas, expanded to cities, and today supplies the usual fare to homes and businesses: fiber internet, TV, and phone services.

        • Loopy links

          One thing I found by looking at where my #hashtag crawler went was that some people have a bottomless pit of links.

          The first one I saw was someone exposing a repository of the site content. That included a link to the content itself. Not a link to the actual site, but to the copy of it in the repo. That had a repo link, where you could find a site link, and so on. I spotted this when it got to several levels of site/repo/site/repo/site/repo and told the crawler to give up. I'm mildy curious how deep that could go. I suppose it's limited by the maximum length of a gemini request (assuming that either the server or the client respected that limit).

          [...]

          to give up on those too.

          Having read Sean Connor's experiences with the crawlers that won't give up on an infinite redirect loop, I think that some crawlers are probably probing the limits of those two capsules.

        • Re: The Disappearence of Sincere Conversations

          I've had similar thoughts, I mean, the immediate of 'social' media, designed for engagement has a lot of problems.

          [...]

          I don't know, I was born in the 80's so I can't talk about what happened before, rather than what older friends and parents told us. That said, the lifestyle is always being broken by innovations, cheapest ways. I think travelling abroad was 'impossible' for a middle-class citizen 50 years ago, now it's kind of common. Talking in English with random people from the world was kind of unthinkable. Now you are doing it.

          When things become easier, they are less appreciated, I have seen. And then they come the greedy technological companies, fighting against the opposite. 'Everything has to be for profit', 'Everything has to be open and free'. I don't want to take a side, both parts have something I like. And I think being in the middle is kind of healthy.

      • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • Monopolies

        • The Register UKTesla sues former engineer, claims he stole Dojo supercomputer trade secrets

          Tesla has started legal action against a former employee the company alleges was copying confidential data from its Project Dojo supercomputer onto his own systems outside the company. It further alleges he tried to conceal his actions by submitting a substitute laptop for inspection by the carmaker's information security team.

        • Patents

        • Software Patents

          • $4,000 for CPC Patent Technologies '208 & '705 prior art

            On May 9, 2022, Unified Patents added two separate PATROLL contests with an opportunity to collect up to $4,000 in cash for prior art on at least claim 10 of U.S. Patent 9,269,208 and at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 9,665,705. The patents are owned by CPC Patent Technologies Pty., Ltd., an NPE and Charter Pacific Corp. entity. The '208 and ‘705 patents generally relate to systems using wireless transmission of security code information. They have both been asserted against Apple.

          • $2,000 for CPC Patent Technologies '039 prior art

            On May 9, 2022, Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 13 of U.S. Patent 8,620,039, owned by CPC Patent Technologies Pty., Ltd., an NPE and Charter Pacific Corp. entity. The '039 patent is generally related to a biometric security card device. It has been asserted against Apple.

        • Trademarks



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