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Links 30/05/2023: LibreOffice 7.6 in Review and More Digital Restrictions (DRM) From HP



  • GNU/Linux

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • OMG! LinuxThis App Lets You Apply Dither Effects to Images on Linux

        Using Halftone you can evoke a computer graphic aesthetic reminiscent of the late 1980s/early 1990s. We’re talking pixels, dots, dither, low color count, and more — all that’s missing is the flicker of a CRT-monitor and the garble of a dial-up modem.

      • John GoerzenRecommendations for Tools for Backing Up and Archiving to Removable Media

        Backups are designed to recover from a disaster that you can fairly rapidly detect.

        Archives are designed to survive for many years, protecting against disaster not only impacting the original equipment but also the original person that created them.

      • Connor TumblesonCSS Framework Evolution

        A long time ago I wanted to build a website and I did using nothing but my own code for the interface and logic behind the scenes. This site was absolutely garbage from a design perspective and was quickly abandoned after it became obvious that any change would break 15 other things. The site had no support for any screen size except for the one it was built on, so I went on the hunt for a mobile friendly CSS framework.

      • Andrew HealeyBuilding Family Websites

        Here's why it's the worst: every time we want to update it, we need to log onto Google Drive (where we store our photos), download a zip file, extract the photos, run two scripts (turn HEIC files into JPG, resize with a max width), run the build script, and push everything into source control (the HTML pages and the images).

      • TecMintLearn the Basics of Git to Manage Projects Efficiently {Beginner’s Guide}

        Git is the most popular version control system (VCS) used by developers and development teams to keep track of changes made to source code. In fact, it is the most popular version control system used in DevOps.

        A Version Control System is software that tracks or records changes made to software code over time in a special database referred to as a repository. With Git, you can track project history and see what changes were made and who made them.

      • TecMint20 Basic ‘ls’ Command Examples in Linux

        Listing files is one of the most widely undertaken tasks by ordinary Linux users and system administrators. In Linux, the ls command, short for “list” is used to list or display the contents of a directory.

        This could either be your current directory or any other directory on the system. The command displays both files and subdirectories and in most cases distinguishes between different file types using color codes.

      • Linux HandbookAppending to Arrays in Bash

        Unlike many programming languages, bash doesn't have any pre-built function that lets you append data to arrays in bash.

    • WINE or Emulation

    • Games

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • HaikuOS[GSoC 2023] First course of action: fix memory leaks

      The coding period has started today! In the last blog post related to GSOC, I said “Here are the plans that I currently have. As with all plans, they are subject to change.” They did indeed change since I found a tool to find memory leaks.

      Before I was accepted into GSOC, I had been thinking about porting AddressSanitizer to Haiku to find memory leaks. I decided against it. During the community bonding period, I found a file called leak_analyser.sh, which was made for finding memory leaks, exactly like AddressSanitizer! It was a good thing I had decided against porting AddressSanitizer to Haiku. I now want to work on getting rid of the memory leaks from Icon-O-Matic.

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • UndeadlyNew versions of LibreSSL released

      The LibreSSL project has announced the release of versions 3.6.3 and 3.7.3, and (development) version 3.8.0 of the software.

    • Events

      • LWNVideos from LSFMM+BPF 2023

        Thanks to an LWN comment from "engla", we have learned that the videos from the recently completed 2023 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-Management and BPF Summit are now available on YouTube. LWN sat in on many of the talks, of course, and we are still chugging along on our coverage of the conference.

    • Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra

      • DebugPointLibreOffice 7.6: Discover the Best New Features

        LibreOffice 7.6 is currently under development. The Document Foundation released the first Alpha (alpha1) on May 17, 2023. However, it is now unstable, and many bug fixes are ongoing.

        Feature-wise, as usual, many changes have arrived in Calc and Writer. A few minimal updates to Impress and no such update on the Base or Math module. In addition, a good number of compatibility updates to Microsoft Office 365 are also promised in this version.

        Here are the highlights.

    • Education

      • Adolfo OchagavíaOn being paid to learn

        Regular readers of my blog know I have been planning to write on my recent contract contributing to Quinn, the popular Rust implementation of the QUIC protocol. I originally intended to write a deep-dive into the QUIC features I implemented, but the blog post took a life of its own and ended up as a short essay on being paid to learn. Enjoy!

      • HackadayHackaday Prize 2023: Scratch Made 8-Bit Educational Computer

        To demonstrate the functionality of an 8-bit computer processor at a very basic level,€  [Mazen Gomaa] assembled a Homemade 8-Bit Educational Computer using common CMOS logic chips, a handful of prototyping boards, and an impressive number of carefully connected wires. [Mazen] was inspired by Ben Eater’s 8-bit TTL Breadboard Computer but opted to solder the chips and other components onto proto boards instead of using solderless breadboards.

    • Licensing / Legal

    • Programming/Development

    • Standards/Consortia

      • European CommissionUpdate of standards for the 112-based eCall in-vehicle systems

        All new types of passenger cars and vans are equipped with eCall. This is the system that automatically dials the European emergency number 112 in the event of a serious road accident and helps saving lives. Currently, eCall systems work over 2G/3G networks. Given that these networks are to be switched off in the coming years, this initiative sets out provisions for the transition of eCall to 4G/5G network.

  • Leftovers

    • Shirish Agarwal: Pearls of Luthra, Dahaad, Tetris & Discord.

      Pearls of Luthra is the first book by Brian Jacques and I think I am going to be a fan of his work. This particular book you have to be wary of. While it is a beautiful book with quite a few illustrations, I have to warn that if you are somebody who feels hungry at the very mention of food, then you will be hungry throughout the book. There isn’t a single page where food isn’t mentioned and not just any kind of food, the kind of food that is geared towards sweet tooth. So if you fancy tarts or chocolates or anything sweet you will right at home. The book also touches upon various teas and wines and various liquors but food is where it shines in literally. The tale is very much like a Harry Potter adventure but isn’t as dark as HP was. In fact, apart from one death and one ear missing rest of our heroes and heroines and there are quite a few. I don’t want to give too much away as it’s a book to be treasured.

    • ScheerpostThank You For Our Disservice
    • Unix MenUnlocking the Power of Unix: A Guide for Aspiring Bloggers and Writers [Ed: Several links in this bizarre 'article' reek of linkspam]
    • Science

      • HackadaySouth Korea Successfully Sends Satellites To Orbit

        South Korea’s KARI ( Korea Aerospace Research Institute ) successfully put a commercial satellite into orbit Thursday, achieving another milestone in their domestic space program. The Nuri rocket (aka KLSV-2) left the Naro Space Center launch pad on the southern coast of the peninsula at 18:24 KST, after a communications glitch in the pad’s helium tank facility caused a one-day slip. The primary payload was the 180 kg refrigerator-sized Earth observation satellite NEXTSat-2. It uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and also has instruments to observe neutrons in near-Earth orbit due to the impact of solar activity on cosmic radiation. In addition, seven CubeSats were successfully deployed:

    • Education

      • HackadayYour Engineering Pad In Browser

        It was always easy to spot engineering students in college. They had slide rules on their belts (later, calculators) and wrote everything on engineering pads. These were usually a light brown or green and had a light grid on one side, ready to let you sketch a diagram or a math function. These days, you tend to sketch math functions on the computer and there are plenty of people willing to take your money for the software. But if you fire up your browser, head over to EngineeringPaper.xyz and you might save a little cash.

    • Hardware

      • HackadayGoogle Nest Hub Teardown

        Seeing the guts of devices is a fascination that many hackers share. [Txyz] tore down a 2nd gen Google Nest Hub for all of us to enjoy. The video after the break is well produced and relaxing to watch as various heat shields are removed and debug cables are soldered on.

      • HackadayAutomate Handwritten Postcards With Robots

        As someone notorious for not doing things the old-fashioned manual way, we’re not sure by [Shane] of Stuff Made Here was thinking when he promised to send out a few hundred handwritten letters. Predictably he built an automated production line for the task. Video after the break.

      • HackadayAll Your Robots Are Belong To Us: You Just Rent Them

        Monthly bills. Everyone has them. Except if you go far enough back, not everyone had them. After all, you might live in a home your family has owned for generations. You might be able to produce all the basic necessities using your homestead: food from a garden, water from a well, textiles, soap, and candles. You might have to buy the occasional animal, but your recurring bills could be modest outside of the ever-present tax burden.

      • HackadayMat Boards Are Spendy, So DIY CNC Tool To The Rescue

        Mats are flat pieces of paper-based material that fill the space between a frame and the art within. They perform a number of aesthetic and practical functions, and they can also be expensive to purchase. Making them by hand is an option, but it’s an exacting process. [wooddragon48] felt that a CNC solution would serve this need nicely, and began designing a DIY CNC tool to do exactly that.

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

      • teleSURRussia Sends 30,000 Tons of Free Fertilizer to Kenya

        "We cannot but assess the actions of the European Union as open sabotage of the goals set in the field of food security," the€ Russian FM said.

      • NPRA 'natural death' may be preferable for many than enduring CPR

        But the true odds are grim. In 2010 a review of 79 studies, involving almost 150,000 patients, found that the overall rate of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest had barely changed in thirty years. It was 7.6%.

        Bystander-initiated CPR may increase those odds to 10%. Survival after CPR for in-hospital cardiac arrest is slightly better, but still only about 17%. The numbers get even worse with age. A study in Sweden found that survival after out-of-hospital CPR dropped from 6.7% for patients in their 70s to just 2.4% for those over 90. Chronic illness matters too. One study found that less than 2% of patients with cancer or heart, lung, or liver disease were resuscitated with CPR and survived for six months.

      • Federal News NetworkTeenager walks at brain injury event weeks after getting shot in head for knocking on wrong door

        Ralph Yarl — a Black teenager who was shot in the head and arm last month after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell — walked at a brain injury awareness event Monday in his first major public appearance since the shooting.

        The 17-year-old suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was shot while trying to pick up his younger brothers in April, the Kansas City Star reported.

      • Broadband Breakfast‘Urgent’ Social Media Advisory, Tribal Broadband Awards, Permitting Reform Progress, BroadbandNow Podcast

        United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Tuesday issued an advisory warning that social media carries a “profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents,” naming it an “urgent public health issue.”

        The advisory called on Congress to develop age-appropriate safety standards for technology platforms, require a higher standard of data privacy for children and pursue policies that limit children’s access to social media.

    • Proprietary

      • The EconomistNvidia is not the only firm cashing in on the AI gold rush

        The most obvious winners from surging demand for computing power are the chipmakers. Companies like Nvidia and AMD get a licence fee every time their blueprints are etched onto silicon by manufacturers such as TSMC on behalf of end-customers, notably the big providers of cloud computing that powers most AI applications. AI is thus a boon to the chip designers, since it benefits from more powerful chips (which tend to generate higher margins), and more of them. UBS, a bank, reckons that in the next one or two years AI will increase demand for specialist chips known as graphics-processing units (GPUs) by $10bn-15bn.

      • International Business TimesFrench Open uses AI to protect players from online abuse

        Other tennis players have opened up about receiving death threats and other forms of abuse online. Some say that even their families are not safe from nasty comments and malicious messages sent by the general public.

        With this in mind, organisers of the ongoing French Open at Roland Garros have decided to make use of the wildly popular albeit controversial Artificial Intelligence technology to help protect players.

      • Terence EdenThe limits of General Purpose Computation

        Sage of the Internet, and general Sooth Sayer, Cory Doctorow once gave an impassioned speech on "The Coming War on General Computation". I'll let you read the whole thing but, I think, the salient point is that some people want to restrict the maths we're allowed to do on our computers.

      • arXivThe False Promise of Imitating Proprietary LLMs

        An emerging method to cheaply improve a weaker language model is to finetune it on outputs from a stronger model, such as a proprietary system like ChatGPT (e.g., Alpaca, Self-Instruct, and others). This approach looks to cheaply imitate the proprietary model's capabilities using a weaker open-source model. In this work, we critically analyze this approach. We first finetune a series of LMs that imitate ChatGPT using varying base model sizes (1.5B--13B), data sources, and imitation data amounts (0.3M--150M tokens). We then evaluate the models using crowd raters and canonical NLP benchmarks. Initially, we were surprised by the output quality of our imitation models -- they appear far better at following instructions, and crowd workers rate their outputs as competitive with ChatGPT. However, when conducting more targeted automatic evaluations, we find that imitation models close little to none of the gap from the base LM to ChatGPT on tasks that are not heavily supported in the imitation data. We show that these performance discrepancies may slip past human raters because imitation models are adept at mimicking ChatGPT's style but not its factuality. Overall, we conclude that model imitation is a false promise: there exists a substantial capabilities gap between open and closed LMs that, with current methods, can only be bridged using an unwieldy amount of imitation data or by using more capable base LMs. In turn, we argue that the highest leverage action for improving open-source models is to tackle the difficult challenge of developing better base LMs, rather than taking the shortcut of imitating proprietary systems.

      • [Repeat] Silicon AngleFacebook users lose access after violations of linked spam Instagram accounts they don’t own

        Where the case becomes strange is that hackers have found a way to link Instagram accounts to unrelated Facebook profiles before they violate community guidelines. This not only results in the newly linked Instagram accounts getting disabled but also the Facebook profiles of unrelated users, as they’re seen as being guilty by association.

        Exactly how this happens is not clear. An analysis by SiliconANGLE can find no evidence of hacking, although this cannot be categorically ruled out. There is no sign of account compromise and best practices were used with passwords. The Facebook account was never compromised, the only evidence being that the spam Instagram account had become linked to the user’s Meta account, hence the eventual ban.

    • Security

      • LWNSecurity updates for Monday

        Security updates have been issued by Debian (docker-registry, gpac, libraw, libreoffice, rainloop, and sysstat), Fedora (bottles, c-ares, edk2, libssh, microcode_ctl, python-vkbasalt-cli, rust-buffered-reader, rust-nettle, rust-nettle-sys, rust-rpm-sequoia, rust-sequoia-keyring-linter, rust-sequoia-octopus-librnp, rust-sequoia-openpgp, rust-sequoia-policy-config, rust-sequoia-sop, rust-sequoia-sq, rust-sequoia-sqv, rust-sequoia-wot, and xen), SUSE (opera), and Ubuntu (Jhead, linuxptp, and sudo).

      • Email Phishing Using Kali Linux

        No matter how often you go online and how or why you primarily use the Internet, you’ve probably seen phishing attack attempts. They’re now so common and problematic that cybersecurity professionals regularly provide information to help people spot and avoid phishing attacks.

        Phishing can be extremely damaging and have widespread consequences for victim organizations including financial losses, data theft, and severe, lasting reputational harm. For this reason, many cybersecurity teams have in-house training that tests how employees respond to phishing attacks. Cybersecurity teams use phishing training tools to send spoofed emails, create fake login pages and otherwise behave as genuine scammers would.

        Kali Linux is an open-source, Debian-based Linux platform for digital forensics and penetration tests. Using open-source tools with it allows people to run phishing simulations. The results of those efforts can illuminate vulnerabilities and indicate what leaders should do to make phishing attacks less likely. This article will demonstrate how you can conduct your own email phishing training using open-source tools on Kali Linux to improve your organization’s security posture and protect against cyberattacks and data breaches.

      • The Register UKNew York county still dealing with ransomware eight months after attack

        The fallout from an eight-month-old cyber attack on a county in Long Island, New York has devolved into mud-slinging as leaders try to figure out just what is going on.

        Suffolk County was hit with a ransomware attack in early September 2022, which led county executive Steve Bellone to issue nine separate emergency declarations, Long Island publication Newsday said – the most recent of which was enacted earlier this month.

      • Data BreachesNew York county still dealing with ransomware eight months after attack

        The fallout from an eight-month-old cyber attack on a county in Long Island, New York has devolved into mud-slinging as leaders try to figure out just what is going on.

      • Insurance regulators examining Point32Health data breach

        The Division of Insurance is monitoring the Point32Health data breach, which may have compromised personal data including addresses, medical history and Social Security numbers of current and former Harvard Pilgrim Health Care policyholders, according to Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development spokesperson Margaret Quackenbush.

      • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

        • Nicholas Tietz-SokolskyEmail addresses are not primary user identities

          A lot of applications treat your email address as something immutable that is linked to you and which will never change. It can't be linked to someone else, and it can't change.

          This is, of course, not true. Email addresses do change. I changed my work email address recently (associated with the same account) and let me tell you: almost no software handled it correctly.

          This is the story of how badly applications handled this, how a surprising application handled it perfectly, and how you should handle this in your own code.

        • Eesti RahvusringhäälingElectoral Committee: M-voting entails too many risks

          In mid-May, the Estonian National Electoral Committee said that allowing voters to use a voting app on their smartphones would prevent the state from carrying out necessary checks on the app and its authenticity and would leave the distribution of the app in the hands of Google and Apple.

          The committee said that it is important to be aware of all the risks associated with m-voting; the technical solutions developed to date do not mitigate these risks sufficiently and implementing m-voting does not only require the decision of the Electoral Commission, but also requires a change in electoral laws.

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Environment

      • Energy/Transportation

        • Positech GamesSolar Farm Update: New connection plans

          I’m going to try to get into the habit of more frequent updates to my ongoing solar-farm-project, because stuff is starting to happen now. Here is a brief run-down on whats happened since the last blog post on April 3 2023.

        • Eesti RahvusringhäälingStudy: Only half of cars in Estonia driven every day

          Half of cars in Estonia are not driven every day, with car use heavily dependent on where the owner lives, a study published on Tuesday reveals.

        • Michael West MediaMandatory gas code of conduct still being finalised

          Energy market intervention has been defended at a parliamentary hearing, despite another round of price hikes for many in the coming year.

          Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy€ said he did not believe the success of gas market intervention over the past nine months would deter investment in new supply.

        • Michael West MediaAfter McGowan exit, Palaszczuk insists she has energy

          Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk insists she still has the energy for the top job following the shock resignation of West Australian counterpart Mark McGowan.

          Mr McGowan on Monday announced he was stepping down from WA’s helm citing exhaustion after nearly three decades in politics.

        • Michael West MediaBattery industry investors wary as plug pulled on grant

          Electric car batteries with a smaller environmental footprint are still possible but international investors are wary after the federal government pulled the plug on a $120 million grant.

          Brisbane-based Pure Battery Technologies’ planned refinery in Western Australia has lost taxpayer backing despite the Albanese government’s push for Australia to be part of the global battery supply chain.

        • Michael West MediaLabour hire firm banned from rail projects amid probe

          A labour hire firm embroiled in an alleged fraud scandal involving Victoria’s Big Build has been suspended from major rail projects.

          Morson International, a third-party supplier for the multibillion dollar Metro Tunnel project, has been banned by network operator Metro Trains amid a probe into alleged overcharging and fraud.

      • Wildlife/Nature

    • Finance

      • AxiosInsurer cites "growing catastrophe exposure" as it stops new sales in California

        State Farm says it's no longer accepting homeowner insurance applications in California due to "historic increases in construction costs outpacing inflation" and "rapidly growing catastrophe exposure" to extreme weather events like wildfires.

      • RFERLBelarus Has No Immediate Plans To Adopt Russian Currency, Lukashenka Says

        Belarus and Russia have no plans to adopt a joint currency in the near future, Belarus's strongman leader announced on May 29.

      • Michael West MediaTax office thwarted tax dodging based on PwC breach

        Swift action by the tax office stopped Australian taxpayers from losing roughly $180 million in revenue each year to multinationals acting on PwC’s tax-dodging advice.

        Australian Taxation Office commissioner Chris Jordan said the regulator acted “immediately” to crack down on a handful of multinationals trying to skirt new multinational tax laws back in 2016.

      • Michael West MediaShrinking households, migration return driving rents up

        The pursuit of extra home space in the latter stages of the pandemic and throughout the recovery has added around 130,000 households compared to pre-pandemic levels.

        The top Treasury official said the shift to smaller households, such as adult children moving out of their parents’ homes, was contributing to housing demand alongside the return of migration.

      • Michael West MediaConsumers have their most pessimistic month since 1990

        High prices in the shops and aggressive interest rate hikes have pushed consumer confidence to its lowest monthly level in more than three decades.

        The weekly measure of consumer confidence from ANZ and Roy Morgan has been stuck at low levels, and in May returned its worst calendar month average since December 1990.

      • ScheerpostProgressives Condemn Biden-GOP Debt Ceiling Deal as ‘Cruel and Shortsighted’

        "For no real reason at all, hungry people are set to lose food while tax cheats get a free pass."

      • Michael West MediaTreasury officials set to be questioned on PwC scandal

        Treasury officials are set to be questioned on their knowledge of the PwC tax advice leak, as the consultancy firm stood down multiple partners involved in the scandal.

        Officials, including department secretary Steven Kennedy, will appear before Senate estimates on Tuesday, where questions on the tax advice scandal are set to feature prominently.

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

    • Censorship/Free Speech

      • RFERLFormer Chief Of Navalny's Team In Bashkortostan Calls Her Trial Politically Motivated

        Lilia Chanysheva, the former leader of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's team in the Republic of Bashkortostan, has told a court that her trial on charges of extremism is politically motivated.

      • The EconomistThe speech police are coming for social media

        The debate about who can say what online is heating up once more globally. Twitter, the favoured network of politicians and the press, is under the mercurial new management of Mr Musk, a self-declared free-speech absolutist who has restored the accounts of previously banned users like Mr Trump. Meta, a larger rival, is reportedly readying a text-based network of its own, to launch this summer. Social-media platforms face a test over the next 18 months as America’s presidential election approaches, one of the world’s great festivals of online bile and misinformation.

      • France24'No amateur': Identity politics, media crackdown help propel Erdogan to victory

        But culture war has been at the heart of Turkish politics ever since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk made the country a modern nation-state in 1923, introducing strict secularism as he transformed Turkey along Westernising lines. Erdogan’s traditional constituency of socially conservative Muslim voters in the Anatolian heartland have always seen him as their champion in this culture war. A gifted orator and political strategist, Erdogan has already gone down in history as the leader who smashed secular Kemalism’s long hegemony over Turkish politics.

      • VarietyJohn Cleese Won’t Cut Controversial ‘Life of Brian’ Scene for Stage Adaptation: ‘All of a Sudden We Can’t Do It Because It’ll Offend People’

        Monty Python star John Cleese has expressed disdain for modern sensibilities and “PC culture” on several occasions in recent years. The comedian found a new battleground for those convictions by claiming that his plans to mount a stage adaptation of the 1979 comedy “Life of Brian” have been “misreported” by the Daily Mail (in a now amended article), particularly in regards to the potential decision to revive a controversial scene involving a transgender character.

      • Project CensoredCensorship and Book Banning in Texas…and Going Remote: A Teacher’s Journey

        Cameron Samuels, Hayden Cohen, and Angel Wong are recent high-school graduates in Texas, now attending universities, who lobby against efforts by state and local authorities to ban books or impose restrictions on publishers and school librarians. They spoke with Mickey on May 22 from the state capitol building in Austin.

      • Project CensoredTrans Right Activist Morgan Artyukhina, and Community Organizer Kamau Franklin

        The Official Project Censored Show Trans Right Activist Morgan Artyukhina, and Community Organizer Kamau FranklinPlay EpisodePause EpisodeMute/Unmute EpisodeRewind 10 Seconds1xFast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 /SubscribeShareThe Official Project Censored Show Trans Right Activist Morgan Artyukhina, and Community Organizer Kamau FranklinPlay EpisodePause EpisodeMute/Unmute EpisodeRewind 10 Seconds1xFast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 /SubscribeShare

      • ScheerpostState Department Won’t Say If It’s Working to Free US Citizen Detained in Ukraine

        Gonzalo Lira, a popular YouTuber and writer, was arrested by the SBU for his political views on the war

      • ScheerpostOur Fight Against Censorship Must Go Beyond Resisting Book Bans

        In the chaotic fight against historical and cultural erasure, we must remember that we, ourselves, have stories to tell.

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

      • BIA NetJournalists Union of Turkey: 'We will not allow journalism to be destroyed in this country'

        Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) President Gökhan DurmuÅŸ voiced concern about the continuence of oppressive policies and measures against journalists in the evaluation he made about the re-election of Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan to the presidendy.

        DurmuÅŸ declared that they will continue to struggle for press freedom. Regarding the possibility that the government will continue its old oppressive policies towards the journalists, he said, "It is not possible for us to accept this."

        The full statement DurmuÅŸ made was as follows: [...]

      • RFERLPoland Puts Sanctions On 365 Belarusians Over Journalist's Jailing

        Poland has imposed sanctions on a further 365 Belarusian citizens over the imprisonment of a journalist of Polish origin in Belarus, the Interior Ministry said on May 29, amid rising tensions between Warsaw and Minsk. [...]

      • Michael West MediaBruce Lehrmann settles defamation case with News Corp

        Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann will not receive any damages after settling his defamation case over News Corp’s coverage of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations.

        The settlement was reached on Tuesday, and the Federal Court case dropped against€ News Life Media and national political editor Samantha Maiden.

      • Michael West MediaOn captured media: we respond to Nine Entertainment and the AFR's tepid hit-job

        Nine Entertainment’s media title the AFR has had a crack at Michael West Media. Michael West responds, gently encouraging the Liberal Party and Big Business-led media outlet to expand its activities in journalism.€ 

        On Monday, mingling amid the AFR’s reverential Rich List “how-great-are-billionaires” stories and the usual reworded press releases from the Big End of Town, was a Rear Window item ($) about this reporter, yes yours truly, and Geoff Shannon from Unhappy Banking.

      • Michael West MediaCrown to pay $450m penalty for money laundering breach

        Casino giant Crown has agreed to pay a $450 million penalty after it failed to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.€ 

        Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth on Tuesday confirmed it had reached the agreement with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.€ 

    • Civil Rights/Policing

    • Digital Restrictions (DRM)

      • The VergeHP has found an exciting new way to DRM your printer!

        I’m not talking about how printers quietly waste their own ink, or pretend cartridges are empty when they’re not, or lock out official cartridges from other regions. Heck, I’m not even talking about “Dynamic Security,” the delightful feature where new HP firmware updates secretly contain malware that blocks batches of third-party cartridges while pretending to harden your printhead against hacks.

        [...]

        “In fact, the only way a customer can get rid of HP+ once activated is to buy a new printer,” the IITC writes. HP didn’t answer our questions about the firmware update, including why it isn’t prominently disclosed that there’s no way to uninstall it.

    • Monopolies

      • Copyrights

        • Torrent FreakBungie's 'DoNotPay' Sleuth Doubtful That Destiny 2 Cheat Lives at Copyright Office

          After a $16 million damages award early May, Bungie has requested more time to track down foreign defendants behind Destiny 2 cheat operation, Elite Boss Tech. That task is the responsibility of investigator Kathryn Tewson, who rose to fame after tearing down DoNotPay's artificial intelligence product earlier this year. After a suspected cheater told Tewson they live at the Romanian Copyright Office, motivation to disprove that claim won't be in short supply.

        • Torrent FreakYout Counters RIAA in Court, Quoting Lyrics & Highlighting YouTube's Absence

          Popular stream-ripping site Yout.com has responded to the RIAA's answering brief at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The site points out YouTube's notable absence, despite being at the center of the dispute. Yout's attorneys further try to make a point by partially quoting Carly Simon lyrics: "You’re so vain, I Bet You Think this Software’s About You," they write.



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Cory Doctorow Explains Why Software Freedom Matters, Whereas "Open Source" Misses the Point and Helps Monopolies
It's a very long article
BillPR (EpsteinGate-Bribed NPR) is Turning Into a Partial Slopfarm that Promotes Slop
"I went on a date with a chatbot!"
Two Weeks Passed Since Latest Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, More Expected Next Month
Blaming the debt on "AI" is just self-serving storytelling
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 14, 2025
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Gemini "Style Sheets" and Switching From Microsoft GitHub to Codeberg
Links for the day
Coming Soon: Another OSI Scandal, This One Implicating Molly de Blanc
OSI has been fairly quiet lately
Outreachy & Debian pregnancy cluster, Meike Reichle evidence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Again, "Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People"
Microsoft Lunduke is not trying to "protect" Linux
One of the Most Hilarious Things About the Microsoft SLAPPs
It's so ridiculous
Financial Support for the Free Software Foundation or the GNU Project
The FSF has extended until Friday its fund-raising campaign
Illegally Hiding (or Demanding Secrecy Around) Illegal Requests or Attempts at Extortion
unlawful communications like threats
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: BOFH Archive, Updating Old Palm PDAS, and Nginx vs Slop Bots
Links for the day
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More
Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025