03.23.23

GNU/Linux

• Desktop/Laptop

  • Liliputing ☛ Kubuntu Focus Xe Gen 2 is a 14 inch Linux laptop with Intel Alder Lake-P for $895 and up

    The Kubuntu Focus Xe Gen 2 is a thin and light notebook computer with a 14 inch full HD display, support for up to up to an Intel Core i7-1260P processor, up to 64GB of RAM, and PCIe 4 NVMe storage. It ships with the Kubuntu 22.04 LTS GNU/Linux distribution pre-installed.

    An upgrade over the original Focus Xe, which launched in 2021, the new model brings up to a 60-percent boost in multi-core performance while keeping the same $895 starting price as its predecessor. It’s available now from Kubuntu Focus website.

  • HowTo Geek ☛ The New Kubuntu XE Could Be the Linux Laptop for You

    There are more choices than ever for a great Linux laptop, especially from companies like System76 and Framework. Now, the Kubuntu Focus team wants to launch the definitive Linux laptop — with the new, second-gen Focus XE laptop.

    The Kubuntu Focus XE Gen 2 laptop has arrived, promising to deliver the best out-of-the-box Linux experience for users that don’t necessarily need what a dedicated GPU has to offer. By ditching things like a dedicated GPU, the Kubuntu Focus team said that it can sell a pretty affordable package all-in-all. We wouldn’t exactly call it affordable at $895, but at least its specs make up for it.

• Kernel Space

  • LWN ☛ Heuristics for software-interrupt processing

    The kernel’s software-interrupt (“softirq”) mechanism was added prior to the 1.0 kernel release, but it implements a design seen in systems that were already old when Linux was born. For much of that time, softirqs have been an impediment to the kernel community’s scalability and response-time goals, but they have proved resistant to removal. A recent discussion on a proposed new heuristic to mitigate a softirq-related performance problem may have reinvigorated interest in doing something about this subsystem as a whole rather than just tweaking the parameters of how it operates.

    Hardware interrupts are generated when some component of the system needs the CPU’s attention to, for example, deal with a completed I/O operation. The processing of hardware interrupts is one of the highest-priority tasks in the kernel; an interrupt will preempt almost anything else that might be running, so the amount of work done in interrupt handlers must be kept to a minimum to avoid adversely affecting the rest of the system. The softirq mechanism was designed to allow hardware-interrupt handlers to set aside work to be done urgently — but not quite as urgently as hardware-interrupt processing.

  • LWN ☛ An EEVDF CPU scheduler for Linux

    The kernel’s completely fair scheduler (CFS) has the job of managing the allocation of CPU time for most of the processes running on most Linux systems. CFS was merged for the 2.6.23 release in 2007 and has, with numerous ongoing tweaks, handled the job reasonably well ever since. CFS is not perfect, though, and there are some situations it does not handle as well as it should. The EEVDF scheduler, posted by Peter Zijlstra, offers the possibility of improving on CFS while reducing its dependence on often-fragile heuristics.

• Applications

  • Neowin ☛ RSS Guard 4.3.3

    RSS Guard is a simple (yet powerful) feed reader. It is able to fetch the most known feed formats, including RSS/RDF and ATOM. It’s free, it’s open-source. RSS Guard currently supports Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian. RSS Guard will never depend on other services – this includes online news aggregators like Feedly, The Old Reader and others.

  • LWN ☛ Interview: the FreeCAD Project Association

    The sustainability of free software continues to be mostly uncharted waters. No team is the same as any other, so copying, say, the Blender Foundation’s approach to governance will, most likely, not work for other projects. But there is value in understanding how various non-commercial organizations operate in order to make informed decisions for the governance of new ones. In late 2021, the FreeCAD team launched the FreeCAD Project Association (FPA) to handle the various assets that belong to this free 3D CAD project. In this interview, Yorik van Havre, a longtime FreeCAD developer — and current president of the Association — guides us through the process of starting and managing the FPA.

• Instructionals/Technical

  • FOSSLinux ☛ The guide to configuring PulseAudio in Linux Mint

    PulseAudio is a sound server used in many Linux distributions, including Linux Mint. It provides advanced features like network transparency, software mixing, and per-application volume controls. However, configuring PulseAudio can be challenging for new users. In this article, we will guide you through the process of setting up and customizing PulseAudio in Linux Mint.

  • ZDNet ☛ How to share folders across your network from Fedora Linux | ZDNET

    Fedora Linux makes it incredibly easy to share your Public folder, without having to install any third-party software or touch the command line.

  • Beebom ☛ How to Shutdown Linux Using Command Line and GUI | Beebom

    For a fairly new Linux user, things can be a bit overwhelming in the beginning. While the robustness and unlimited customizability options are attractive, performing basic tasks can be daunting, especially if you are unaware of the proper commands to use. For instance, you need to shut down your system, but as a new user, you are struggling to figure out the right commands to turn off your Linux computer. Though shutting down may seem like an easy task, if done incorrectly, can result in loss of data or worse – could end up corrupting your system. So, if you are a novice Linux user looking to avoid any mishaps, follow this guide to learn the safest methods to shutdown a Linux system, both through the command line and the graphical user interface (GUI).

• Games

  • Can you play Counter-Strike 2 on Linux or macOS? – Dexerto

    Valve announced a limited-time playtest for Counter-Strike 2, and fans want to know what platforms they can play on. For macOS and Linux users, here is everything you need to know about CS2.

Distributions and Operating Systems

• Linuxiac ☛ Proxmox VE 7.4 Comes with an Updated Virtualization Stack

  Proxmox VE (Virtual Environment) is an open-source server virtualization management platform. Based on Debian GNU/Linux, Proxmox VE supports a variety of virtualization technologies, including KVM and LXC Linux Containers. In addition, Proxmox VE also supports various storage types, including local storage, networked storage, and software-defined storage solutions.

  The platform is often used in data centers and other large-scale IT enterprise environments where server virtualization is critical for efficient resource utilization and management. However, due to its ease of use and flexibility, it is also suitable for smaller-scale deployments, such as home labs and small businesses.

• BSD

  • OpenBSD Webzine ☛ OpenBSD Webzine #13

    - support for xonly code
    - new security innovation pinsyscall(2)
    - sshd dynamic relinking
    - full disk encryption handled by the installer
    - OpenBSD 7.3 will be out soon

  • DragonFly BSD Digest ☛ OpenBSD zine 13

    Lots of links in the newest OpenBSD webzine issue.

• SUSE/OpenSUSE

  • OpenSUSE ☛ GCC, EFI Boot Manager Update in Tumbleweed

    Rolling-release distribution openSUSE Tumbleweed had a large number of security patches, bug fixes, and new features in snapshots released this week.

    Users who did a zypper dup had a full distribution rebuild with GNU Compiler Collection 13, which is the distro’s new default compiler.

    This rebuild 20230319 snapshot provided a GCC 13.0.1+git update that rebased a patch and enables a mutual exclusion (mutex) link. An update of flatpak 1.14.4 updated translations and eliminated two Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures; CVE-2023-28101 and CVE-2023-28100, which was specific to virtual consoles and users were recommended to use a graphical user interface like GNOME Software rather than graphical terminal emulator such as xterm , gnome-terminal or Konsole. The C++ library for Single Instruction, Multiple Data highway 1.0.4 provides faster KV128 sorting. The package also updated RISC-V Vector Extension Intrinsics for the 1.0-draft. Other packages to update was libstorage-ng 4.5.86 along with several libqt5 packages.

• Debian Family

  • The Register UK ☛ Tails 5.11: Secure-surfing ‘amnesiac’ live distro arrives

    The latest version of TAILS has improved memory management, which means it should work a little better on memory-constrained computers. It’s the go-to option for secure private internet access.

    Tails 5.11, just released, has some worthwhile improvements that may make it run a little better on machines lacking large amounts of memory. Tails now uses ZRAM as standard, like the unofficial Ubuntu DDE remix and Debian variant Spiral Linux.

• Canonical/Ubuntu Family

  • OMG Ubuntu ☛ Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS Released with Major Secure Boot Fix

    A point-six release?! They’re a bit unusual. Long-term support releases typically only receive five point releases during their support cycle so what’s going on?

    I’ll quote Ubuntu’s Graham Inggs. They explained why this exceptional release was required in a mailing list post sent earlier today (March 23): [...]

  • Ubuntu ☛ Canonical collaborates with NVIDIA to unlock advanced capabilities for IoT industry

    Canonical today announced plans to certify NVIDIA platforms powered by the Orin architecture to run on Ubuntu. Ubuntu will run on the full range of NVIDIA IoT platforms, bringing Ubuntu to the automotive industry with the NVIDIA DRIVE® platform, to industrial applications with the NVIDIA IGX Orin™ platform, as well as to advanced embedded systems with NVIDIA Jetson Orin™ system-on-modules. The optimised kernel and images will combine software features from NVIDIA with unparalleled security, reliability, and support for regulated enterprise deployments.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Liliputing ☛ Orange Pi 5B is a single-board PC with RK3588S, WiFi6, BT 5.0 and an eMMC storage module

    The Orange Pi 5B is a single-board computer that features a Rockchip RK3588S processor, support for up to 32GB of RAM and plenty of I/O options including an HDMI 2.1 port, Gigabit Ethernet, and several USB ports.

• Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Android Central ☛ Pebble founder eyes comeback with the small Android phone of our dreams | Android Central

  • GO Media ☛ Stop Hackers From Taking Over Your Android With Just Your Phone Number

  • 9to5Google ☛ Check who can see your Android phone’s location

  • XDA ☛ Android 14 may let you finally set different live wallpapers for the home and lock screens

  • Ars Technica ☛ The Leia Lume Pad 2 is a $1,100, glasses-free 3D Android tablet | Ars Technica

  • XDA ☛ Google’s new app sync feature makes it easier to download your favorite apps across Android devices

  • PC Mag ☛ Save Your Stuff: How to Back Up and Restore Your Android Device | PCMag

  • Make Use Of ☛ GPS Isn’t Working on Your Android Smartwatch? Here Are 6 Ways to Fix It

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

• LWN ☛ Zephyr: a modular OS for resource-constrained devices

  Writing applications for devices with a lot of resource constraints, such as a small amount of RAM or no memory-management unit (MMU), poses some challenges. Running a Linux distribution often isn’t an option on these devices, but there are operating systems that try to bridge the gap between running a Linux distribution and using bare-metal development. One of these is Zephyr, a real-time operating system (RTOS) launched by the Linux Foundation in 2016. LWN looked in on Zephyr at its four-year anniversary as well. Seven years after its announcement, Zephyr has made lots of progress and now has an active ecosystem surrounding it.

  Zephyr is an RTOS for connected, resource-constrained devices, such as Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, Bluetooth trackers, heart rate monitors, smartwatches, and embedded controllers. A typical device running Zephyr has a microcontroller with a clock frequency below 100MHz, no MMU, 32KB to 256KB of static RAM, and 512KB or less of on-chip flash memory.

• LWN ☛ Rules as code for more responsive governance

  Using rules as code to help bridge the gaps between policy creation, its implementation, and its, often unintended, effects on people was the subject of a talk by Pia Andrews on the first day of the inaugural Everything Open conference in Melbourne, Australia. She has long been exploring the space of open government, and her talk was a report on what she and others have been working on over the last seven years. Everything Open is the successor to the long-running, well-regarded linux.conf.au (LCA); Andrews (then Pia Waugh) gave the opening keynote at LCA 2017 in Hobart, Tasmania, and helped organize the 2007 event in Sydney.

  Andrews said that she has a dream of a world where government policy is built in a way that is accountable, participatory, humane, adaptive, and accessible. Those who are affected by these policies should be able to easily understand, apply, and question them; policies should not be written in some ivory tower, but should be created in conjunction with those who must follow them. She dreams of policies that are based on human values, rather than only on what is good for the economy, since relying solely on the latter has not worked out so well, she said; “make what’s good for people and then the economy will follow”. Rather than just writing policy once and “throwing it out in the ether and hoping”, it should be iterated upon, so that even bad policy has a chance to become good based on looking at its actual impact on people. That description of her public-policy dream was met with a good bit of applause.

• Web Browsers/Web Servers

  • Mozilla

    • It’s FOSS ☛ Firefox 112 on Ubuntu Linux Can Now Help You Switch Away from Chromium

      Firefox is a popular open-source alternative to Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome and Opera.

Leftovers

• France24 ☛ Earthquake in Afghanistan, Pakistan kills at least 13

  At least 13 people were killed and more than 90 injured in Pakistan and Afghanistan after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck late on Tuesday, government officials said.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Zimbabwe ☛ They are 3D-printing cakes now, edible and everything. They can do chicken too

    Just when you think you have seen it all, you see something like this. They are printing cakes now. Do those words mean what they traditionally meant?

• Security

  • LWN ☛ Security updates for Thursday [LWN.net]

    Security updates have been issued by CentOS (firefox, nss, and openssl), Fedora (firefox, liferea, python-cairosvg, and tar), Oracle (openssl and thunderbird), Scientific Linux (firefox, nss, and openssl), SUSE (container-suseconnect, grub2, libplist, and qemu), and Ubuntu (amanda, apache2, node-object-path, and python-git).

  • Bleeping Computer ☛ Windows 11, Tesla, Ubuntu, and macOS hacked at Pwn2Own 2023

    The first to fall was Adobe Reader in the enterprise applications category after Haboob SA’s Abdul Aziz Hariri (@abdhariri) used an exploit chain targeting a 6-bug logic chain abusing multiple failed patches which escaped the sandbox and bypassed a banned API list on macOS to earn $50,000.

  • Dark Reading ☛ Epidemic of Insecure Storage, Backup Devices Is a Windfall for Cybercriminals

    Companies in every industry continue to leave backup and storage platforms unsecured, with more than a dozen issues, including insecure network settings and unaddressed CVEs, affecting the average device. That leaves these repositories — often the first line of protection in the event of a ransomware attack — as sitting ducks for cybercriminals.

    That’s according to a data analysis published on March 22 by storage security firm Continuity Software, which found that the average device had 14 security risks, including three critical issues, which are considered those capable of allowing a significant compromise. The top three risks affecting companies’ storage systems are insecure network settings, unaddressed vulnerabilities, and lax access privileges.

  • Seattle Times ☛ Shoreline College website hacked; officials investigating

  • Data Breaches ☛ Kroger notifies more than 82,000 Postal Prescription Service patients of mistaken information sharing

    On March 10, Kroger’s Healthy Options program, Postal Prescription Services (PPS), issued a statement about a privacy breach.

    According to their statement, some PPS patients’ names and email addresses were erroneously shared with the grocery side of Kroger’s business due to an internal error.

  • TechCrunch ☛ New victims come forward after mass-ransomware attack [Ed: Microsoft issue, as covered by 'former' Microsoft employee Zack Whittaker]

    The number of victims affected by a mass-ransomware attack, caused by a bug in a popular data transfer tool used by businesses around the world, continues to grow as another organization tells TechCrunch that it was also hacked.

  • Cyber attack disrupts Spanish medicine distribution

    A cyberattack on a leading pharmaceutical supply company has disrupted the distribution of medicines to Spanish pharmacies.

    The attack, which started last Friday and is still ongoing, has affected wholesale supplier Alliance Healthcare’s servers and delayed and even prevented the normal delivery of some medicines to pharmacies in Spain, according to Spanish daily El País. Alliance Healthcare is the fourth biggest supplier in Spain.

  • Oak Ridge malware attack: Police investigating as city offices remain closed

    As city of Oak Ridge employees continued to work offline because of a malware attack on the city’s computer network, officials announced Wednesday afternoon they are working with law enforcement to investigate the attack.

    When asked if foul play was suspected, city senior communications specialist Lauren Gray said an investigation is considered standard practice for a malware attack.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Digital Music News ☛ Apple Music Users Seeing Other People’s Playlists in Their Libraries

      Some Apple Music users are reporting seeing user-made playlists they didn’t create in their libraries. These seemingly user-created playlists are showing up in libraries of people who did not create them. Users have taken to reddit to discuss the issue, where several reports have surfaced about the bug.

    • SANS ☛ Windows 11 Snipping Tool Privacy Bug: Inspecting PNG Files, (Wed, Mar 22nd)

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ The AMX-10-RC: The French tank on its way to Ukraine

    In January this year, French president Emmanuel Macron announced the country would send a number of light tanks to Ukraine to help Kyiv in its fight against invading Russian forces. The tank in question is the AMX-10-RC, an armoured vehicle mounted on wheels rather than tracks but renowned for its speed and effectiveness in the field.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Russia’s Black Sea blockade is part of Putin’s war on international law

    By preventing the free passage of merchant shipping in the Black Sea, Russia deprives world markets of vital Ukrainian agricultural produce while also challenging the core principles of international maritime law.

  • The Strategist ☛ ASEAN’s institutional vulnerabilities are driving minilateralism

    ASEAN centrality was the key principle that drove regional integration beginning with the Asian financial crisis in 1997 through to the mid-2000s.

  • The Strategist ☛ Uncertain haven: Afghan refugees in India

    Since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s seizure of power in August 2021, the Afghan refugee crisis, already one of the worst in the world, has intensified.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ The 5×5—Conflict in Ukraine’s information environment

    Experts provide insights on the war being waged through the Ukrainian information environment and take away lessons for the future.

  • Defence Web ☛ ISS: Reducing murder must be a top SA government priority

    There were, on average, 520 murders a week in South Africa during the 2022 calendar year. According to available data, this is one of the highest murder rates in the world. For years, chronic violence has been part of the South African reality.

  • Defence Web ☛ Finns see for themselves in Mozambique

    A Finnish delegation was in Mozambique earlier this month (March) to keep up with European Union (EU) interests and developments in the east African country, involved in a low-intensity war with Islamist terrorists in its north.

  • Danish supreme court overturns decision to revoke citizenship from woman who supported ISIS

    The Danish supreme court, Højesteret, has overruled a 2020 decision to revoke the citizenship of a Danish-Iranian woman who travelled to Syria in support of the Islamic State (Isis) terror group.

  • RFERL ☛ International Criminal Court Regrets ‘Threats’ After Putin Arrest Warrant

    The legislative body of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on March 22 that it regretted “threats” against the tribunal over its war crimes arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  • RFA ☛ China’s Xi wraps up show-of-solidarity trip to Moscow

    Russian and Chinese presidents eye a new world order but a Ukraine peace deal remains elusive.

  • RFA ☛ Talking like ‘capitalist’ South Koreans can lead to prison or death in North Korea

    Publicly calling your spouse ‘honey’ – not ‘comrade’– could put your life at risk.

  • RFA ☛ Blinken pushes for $2 billion for US rival to China’s Belt-and-Road

    Senators question price tag of foreign infrastructure package, call for more money for Taiwan’s defense.

  • France24 ☛ Why these images do not prove that Vladimir Putin sent a ‘body double’ to Mariupol

    Did Vladimir Putin really use a body double during his recent visit to Mariupol, Ukraine? That’s the question posed by several posts that began circulating on social media on March 20, 2023. However, while these posts claim to show evidence of physical differences in the president’s face, the images they rely on are far from conclusive.

  • France24 ☛ N. Korea fires several cruise missiles off its east coast, says S. Korea

    North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, the latest launch which comes as South Korea and the United States stage major joint military drills.

  • JURIST ☛ US Department of Justice asks Supreme Court to reinstate ban on firearms for persons under domestic violence restraining orders

    The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Tuesday filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking a reversal of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision in United States v. Rahimi, in which the court ruled that a law prohibiting access to firearms to persons under domestic violence restraining orders was unconstitutional.

  • JURIST ☛ UN official: ‘limited accountability’ for human rights violations in Belarus

    Tens of thousands of people — many of them peaceful protesters — have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in Belarus over the past two and a half years, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif said Tuesday.

• Environment

  • JURIST ☛ UN climate body announces latest policy and abatement recommendations

    After gathering in Interlaken, Switzerland last week, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Monday announced the release of its Sixth Assessment Report, analyzing the current state of climate change knowledge, the impact of climate change and possible abatements. The report outlines a multitude of response efforts and abatement measures.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Copenhagen to get 1,000 new electric car charging ports

      Copenhagen Municipality has signed a deal with contractors to install an additional 1,000 new charging ports for electric cars in the Danish capital.

    • Danish transport minister backs plan to introduce road congestion charges

      Denmark’s transport minister Thomas Danielsen says he backs a long-term plan to impose road pricing, meaning car drivers would pay charges based on where they drive.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ In Pictures: Hundreds of dead fish wash ashore at Hong Kong beach after algae bloom spotted in water

      Hundreds of dead fish have washed ashore as an algae bloom was spotted at a Hong Kong beach on Wednesday morning. Red tides were seen in the waters off St. Stephen Beach, in Stanley.

  • Overpopulation

    • teleSUR ☛ Inadequate Access To Water Affects 3.6 Billion People: WMO

      Currently, over 100 countries are not on track to have sustainably managed water resources by 2030.

    • teleSUR ☛ Yemenis Struggle to Prepare for Ramadan Amid Soaring Prices

      The war, blockade, and currency collapse have caused prices to skyrocket and pushed most of the Yemenis into extreme poverty.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ World Water Day: Hong Kong’s ‘hidden’ water problem – a false sense of security is breeding unsustainable habits

      Dr Lina Vyas and Dr Stuti Rawat On Wednesday, World Water Day, the United Nations 2023 Water Conference will take place in New York City, 46 years after the first UN Water Conference was held.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin hail ‘new era’ of ties in united front against West

      The leaders of China and Russia hailed a “new era” in their relationship on Tuesday, putting on a united front in Moscow as Vladimir Putin accused the West of rejecting Beijing’s proposals to end the Ukraine conflict.

    • France24 ☛ UN warns ‘vampiric’ water use leading to ‘imminent’ global crisis

      Humanity’s “lifeblood” — water — is increasingly at risk around the world due to “vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment,” the UN warned in a report, published hours ahead of a major summit on the issue was set to begin Wednesday.

• Finance

  • Digital Music News ☛ Amazon Layoffs Impact Over 400 Twitch Employees — No Word Yet on Amazon Music

    Twitch has announced layoffs impacting around 400 people as part of Amazon’s broader layoffs. Details on other Amazon divisions, including Amazon Music, remain scant. Twitch CEO Emmett Shear stepped down from his role just weeks before the layoffs were announced.

  • France24 ☛ Macron breaks silence on France’s bitter pension battle: the key takeaways

    French President Emmanuel Macron broke his silence on the bitter pension battle roiling the country in a televised interview on Wednesday, stressing that his contentious reform raising the pension age is necessary and will come into force later this year.

  • France24 ☛ French opposition says Macron shows ‘contempt’ for workers in TV interview

    French union leaders and opposition politicians on Wednesday reacted with outrage to a televised interview with President Emmanuel Macron in which he discussed planned pension reforms recently forced through government.

  • France24 ☛ Macron holds firm on pension reform bill as protests escalate

    French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday defiantly vowed to push through a controversial pension reform, saying in a TV interview that he was prepared to accept unpopularity in the face of sometimes violent protests, and that he plans to enact the new law by the end of the year.

  • France24 ☛ King Charles set to face strikes and disruption in France on first foreign visit

    King Charles III risks facing rubbish-strewn streets, transport strikes and disruption to his visit when he travels to France next week for his first foreign trip.

  • The Local SE ☛ ‘Slap in the face’: Swedish supermarket leaders take out huge bonuses

    The leaders of Swedish supermarket giants Axfood and Ica took out multi-million kronor bonuses last year off the back of high food prices, bonuses which Swedish politicians have described as “offensive” and “a slap in the face”.

  • The Local SE ☛ ‘New era’: Swedish bank warns interest rate could hit five percent

    A new property report from Swedish bank Handelsbanken predicts that property prices will continue to fall throughout the spring as the average interest rate on mortgages rises to over five percent.

  • RFERL ☛ IMF Staff Reaches Agreement With Ukraine For $15.6 Billion Program

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on March 21 it reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine for a four-year financing package worth about $15.6 billion, offering the country needed funds as it continues its battle against Russia’s invasion.

  • CNN ☛ Accenture slashes 19,000 jobs worldwide | CNN Business

    Accenture plans to slash 19,000 jobs worldwide as it attempts to cut costs amid a gloomy economic picture.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • France24 ☛ Ethiopia’s parliament removes Tigray rebel party from terror list

    Ethiopia’s parliament on Wednesday removed the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) from an official list of terrorist groups, a key step in the peace process following the two-year conflict in the country’s north.

  • France24 ☛ Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party will not field candidate in election setback for Erdogan

    Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party said Wednesday it would not field a presidential candidate in May elections, giving tacit support to Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rival in the crucial vote.

  • France24 ☛ French pension reforms: Macron ‘won on the parliamentary side’ but he lost ‘politically’

    French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said he was prepared to accept unpopularity as a consequence of imposing a controversial pensions reform that has sparked uproar and mass protests. Macron, in an interview with the TF1 and France 2 TV channels, said his government will aim to bring France back to normal “as soon as possible”, speaking two days after his government barely survived a no-confidence vote. For more, FRANCE 24 is joined by French political scientist Jean-Christophe Gallien.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Digital Music News ☛ Cardi B’s $4 Million Defamation Judgement Against YouTuber Upheld By US Court of Appeals

    In another win for Cardi B, the US Court of Appeals upheld the original decision after her defamation lawsuit against YouTuber Tasha K was ruled in her favor in January 2022.

  • RFERL ☛ Man In Germany Fined For T-Shirt Supporting Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine

    A German court has fined a man for wearing a T-shirt with the letter “Z” — a sign of support for Russia’s war against Ukraine — stenciled on it. The 49-year-old naturalized German citizen, who moved from Russia to Germany in 1992, was ordered to pay 1,500 euros.

  • RFERL ☛ Russian University Student Expelled For Commemorating Writer Killed By Soviet Regime

    A university in Russia’s Mari El region has expelled Viktor Novogorsky, an activist of the Mari Ushem (Union Of Mari People) organization, after he took part in a commemoration of the founder of the Mari people’s literature, Sergei Chavain, who was executed by Josef Stalin’s regime in 1937.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong democrat charged under national security law remanded after violating bail condition

    A Hong Kong democrat charged under the Beijing-imposed national security law has been remanded in custody after a magistrate ruled that he had violated his bail conditions.

  • JURIST ☛ Singapore human rights lawyer suspended for five years over remarks criticizing judiciary

    Singapore’s highest court Tuesday suspended human rights lawyer M. Ravi for five years over comments criticizing the city-state’s attorney general., the maximum sentence possible.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong Security chief defends ongoing protest mask ban, despite security law and easing of Covid rules

    Secretary for Security Chris Tang told lawmakers on Wednesday that it was necessary to retain the mask ban introduced during the extradition bill protests of 2019, as national security concerns remain in the city.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong martial arts coach jailed for 5 years under national security law files appeal against sentence

    A Hong Kong martial arts coach handed a five-year jail term under the Beijing-imposed national security law has filed an appeal against his sentence. Denis Wong was jailed after pleading guilty to inciting subversion under the sweeping security legislation and one count of possession of arms without a licence last month.

  • RFA ☛ Shanghai court jails blogger for seven years over ‘subversive’ posts

    ‘They said the crime was of a serious nature because it had a very bad impact’ on society, wife says

  • RFA ☛ Distributors pull plug on Winnie the Pooh cult horror flick in Hong Kong

    Many assume a link to the fictional bear’s ban from mainland China, where he has been likened to leader Xi Jinping

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • RFERL ☛ Andrew Tate To Remain In Romanian Detention For 30 More Days

    A Romanian court has ruled for the fourth time to extend by 30 days the preventative arrest of Andrew Tate, the divisive social media influencer who is held on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking.

  • JURIST ☛ Kenya dispatch: anti-government national strike prompts brutal police crackdowns

    Aynsley Genga is a JURIST Staff Correspondent in Kenya.  On Monday, a nationwide strike occurred in Kenya. We had towns like Kiambu, Muranga that had go-slow strikes while in towns such as Trans-Nzoia, Homabay, Kakamega, Kisumu and Nairobi there were actual demonstrations.

  • JURIST ☛ Hawaii bill seeks to prevent suicide in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations

    The Hawaii Senate Committee on Health and Human Services Monday passed a bill that directs the Prevent Suicide Hawaii Task Force (PSHTF) to further focus its efforts on preventing suicide in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations.

  • JURIST ☛ Liberia deaf advocates criticize government for inaccessible election process

    Deaf advocates in Liberia Wednesday criticized the Liberian government and National Elections Commission (NEC) for failing to make the voter registration and election process accessible for deaf Liberians.

• Monopolies

  • Patents

    • JUVE ☛ Race to the top [Ed: JUVE has been reduced to outright SPAM for the firms that not only pay for such spam but also fake "rankings" and propaganda, like face news in favour of the illegal UPC]

      Security or a new challenge? When Tobias Hessel was deciding whether or not to accept Clifford Chance’s offer to join its German patent litigation practice, he faced precisely this question.

    • JUVE ☛ EPO revokes Amgen antibody patent amid ongoing battle with Sanofi [Ed: EPo granted fake patents again; it keeps happening]

      In first-instance proceedings, biopharmaceutical company Amgen has lost a patent at the European Patent Office. EP 26 41 917 protects aspects of PCSK9 antibodies, which are used in Amgen’s drug Repatha via active ingredient evolocumab. Sanofi’s competing drug, which also uses PCSK9 antibodies, is sold under the brand name Praluent.

  • Copyrights

    • Digital Music News ☛ Post Malone Settles ‘Circles’ Copyright Suit With Alleged Co-Writer, Avoiding a Trial

      Earlier this week, a copyright infringement lawsuit concerning Nickelback’s “Rockstar” was dismissed with prejudice, and The Weeknd settled a separate action over “Call Out My Name.” Now, yet another infringement battle, centering on Post Malone’s “Circles,” has drawn to a close.

Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal

  • The day after a hard day’s work

    It’s been a particularly wet and windy winter here in northern California.

    My parents run a horse boarding operation and they’ve had close to 20 trees come down over the past few months. They’re both getting older now and things that they used to be able to do have gotten a lot harder, especially for my dad. They’re both still very mobile and capable, but they can only do physically intensive tasks for a few hours, with breaks. Before my job at the store, I was working there a few days a week to do what my parents either didn’t have time for or physically couldn’t do. In the first few weeks of January, before school started, any day I didn’t have work at the store, I was up there helping clear out the trees that had fallen. When school started up I had to cut it down to once a week, and then when my manager tacked on an additional shift, it was dropped down to just the afternoon on one day.

  • Relocating Gornate Forest to Burdock’s Valley

    OK, def do not read this post if you are playing in an Arden Vul campaign.

    It’s for DMs only.

    I found that the module The Forest of Gornate fits pretty well in Burdock’s Valley and it’s also for 1e. Hopefully a good mashup.

  • Re: Computer Addiction

    Edward Willis over at encw.xyz wrote recently* about computer
    addiction[1]. No earth-shattering revelations, especially for people
    who use gopher I think. But still worth reading and remembering.

• Technical

  • Search Result Quality For Multiple Terms

    Marginalia’s search result quality has, for a long while, been pretty good as long as your search query is a single term, but for multiple search terms it’s been a bit hit-and-miss. Marginalia was never great at this, but the quality of results in this usage pattern has taken a bit of a dive recently due to a re-write of the index last fall.

    During The Grand Restructuring, the opportunity arose to isolate the code responsible for result ranking and expose it to some well-needed scrutiny. It turns out it was pretty broken.