Leftovers

• Tedium ☛ Ruminating On Replies

  Last week, a debate on replies picked up in the fediverse, as the news source Mastodon Migration pointed out the widespread problems that large accounts were having with snipe-y or even cruel replies.

• Juha-Matti Santala ☛ People and Blogs newsletter

  Couple of weeks ago, I ran into a newsletter called People and Blogs by Manuel Moreale. It’s a weekly newsletter (with RSS feed ❤️) where each week, Manuel interviews someone who writes a blog. They discuss how they got started, what they blog about, how they blog, what’s their view on monetizing blogs and few other things. I find it very delightful. One thing I enjoy about about the format is how everyone suggests blogs they enjoy as that exposes me to new people and their writing which is a win every time.

• Kev Quirk ☛ Pen Pal November 2023 - Jarrod Blundy 02

  If you haven't read it already, here's the first edition of mine and Jarrod's conversation. Our relationship continues to blossom and we're having an interesting conversation about all kinds of topics.

• Ryan Mulligan ☛ Site Rebuild, Here We Go!

  There are still a few bits to work out, but why wait any longer? The latest version of my site is here and it has been rebuilt from the ground up. I'm feeling pretty good about it and invite you all to celebrate the magic with me! ✨

• Science

  • Vice Media Group ☛ Archaeologists Discover Vast, Complex Prehistoric Society That Rewrites History

    The Pannonian Basin is a region that centers on modern-day Hungary and touches upon multiple nations in Central Europe. Thousands of years ago, Bronze Age humans settled there and built a complex and influential society that lasted for centuries before it was mysteriously abandoned in 1600 BC. Ancient sites examined by experts show signs of depopulation over several decades, leading to the theory of a “regional scale collapse” and a relatively “abrupt end” for this prehistoric social order. However, the authors of a paper published this month in PLOS One write, based on a remote survey and excavations “a fully opposite trajectory can be identified–increased scale, complexity and density in settlement systems and intensification of long-distance networks.” Rather than disappear, ancient people adapted.

  • The Conversation ☛ Florence Bell died unrecognised for her contributions to DNA science – decades on female researchers are still being sidelined

    Almost 80 years ago, Florence Bell quietly laid the foundations for one of the biggest landmarks in 20th century science: the discovery of the structure of DNA. But when she died on November 23 2000, her occupation on her death certificate was recorded as “housewife”.

• Education

  • The Drone Girl ☛ Ask Drone Girl: what’s the best drone education path for a young adult?

    There’s also one more thing to consider when it comes to drone education. I often recommend absolute beginners start off with a cheap practice drone. These types of drones tend to actually be more difficult to fly than expensive, high-end drones with automated control software — and that’s a good thing. Pick up a toy drone for cheap, make sure it’s a hobby you like, and then invest the multi-hundred-dollars into a truly excellent quality drone.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ German teachers bullied from school receive prize

    Max Teske would rather not say where he's working now, which is understandable. In July this year, the teacher and his colleague Laura Nickel were effectively hounded out of their school by far-right bullies in the town of Burg, in the eastern state of Brandenburg, after writing an open letter about the far-right structures they faced at school.

  • New Statesman ☛ The Booker Prize is becoming irrelevant

    The prize has faced repeated existential crises: should it celebrate innovation, even when that results in an inaccessible and obscure shortlist, or succumb to the populism of the so-called readability factor? In 2011 Chris Mullin, one of the judges, declared his belief that books should “zip along”. Such base, lowbrow proclivities were derided – not least by former judges (“self-congratulatory philistinism”, said the 2008 judge Alex Clark). The Booker Prize is no longer an institution at ease with itself.

  • [Repeat] ADF ☛ In Burkina Faso, ‘A New Town or Village Comes Under Siege Every Day’

    For months, those groups have committed war crimes against civilians and blocked access to food and water in 46 localities, Amnesty International reported. Attacks commonly occur in areas controlled by terrorist groups, an estimated 30% of Burkina Faso.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Islamic Resistance in Iraq appears to be responsible for attacks in the country and there’s no end in sight

    Instead, a group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has named itself responsible for most of the attacks, posting claims on a Telegram channel called Iraq Flood (“Tufan al-Iraq” in Arabic), mimicking the name of Hamas’ al-Aqsa Flood (“Tufan al-Aqsa”) operation. The majority of these attacks have targeted the Ain al-Asad military base in Anbar province, the Harir airbase near Erbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, and the Conoco gas field and al-Tanf base in neighboring Syria. On November 9, militant groups likely carried out an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack on a ground convoy belonging to the US-led anti-Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) coalition near Ninewa province’s Mosul Dam, indicating a widening of tactics.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • What is “medical freedom”? Not what “health freedom” advocates claim

    Any science-based physician or skeptic who dips their toe into the waters of countering quackery, antivaccine activism, and anti-(conventional) medicine propaganda will very soon run into a concept known as “medical freedom” or “health freedom.” (The two terms tend to be used more or less interchangeably, and I will probably do the same.) The concept basically argues that personal autonomy to do what one wishes with their own body trumps science and, as a result, a person should be able to choose any treatment desired, regardless of whether it’s based in science or not or even whether there’s any evidence that it works or not.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong schools report 27 suspected student suicides in first 10 months of 2023

    Hong Kong schools have reported 27 suspected student suicides in the first 10 months of 2023. The Education Bureau pointed to “greater challenges” faced by students after the full resumption of classes following the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • [Old] Kepios ☛ Digital 2023 Deep-Dive: How much time do we spend on social media?

    Despite an overall decrease in the amount of time that people spend using the internet as a whole, new research from GWI shows that people are spending more time than ever using social media at the start of 2023.

    The company’s latest data reveals that the typical working-age internet user now spends more than 2½ hours per day using social platforms, which is up by 2 percent (+3 minutes) compared with the daily average that the company reported at the start of 2022.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Meta’s responsible AI team disbanded for generative AI focus [Ed: This was always a PR charade to appease the media, with surveillance spun as "Hey Hi"]

    In a significant shift of focus, Meta, the tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram, has reportedly disbanded its Responsible AI team, pivoting more resources toward the development of generative artificial intelligence. This move, first reported by The Information, indicates a strategic realignment within the company’s AI division.

  • Boston Globe ☛ Broadcom to complete purchase of VMware

    Computer chip and software maker Broadcom has announced it has cleared all regulatory hurdles and plans to complete its $69 billion acquisition of cloud technology company VMware on Wednesday.

  • GO Media ☛ The Future Of ChatGPT Just Became A Circus

    You don’t have to look any further than Shear’s involvement to see that. The former Twitch boss exited the Amazon-owned streaming platform for video game culture and content creator drama earlier this year amid layoffs and malaise.

  • Idiomdrottning ☛ Butlerian Jihad

    The risk isn’t primarily “Skynet” or “Reign of Steel” or “Matrix”. It’s that we leave ourselves vulnerable to other humans who can wield their machines more effectively and wield our machines against us.

    We’re already seeing this with inventions like Facebook and television. So many people have made themselves dependent on machines and algorithms out of their own control.

  • Axios ☛ Behind the Curtain: Myth of AI restraint

  • Tedium ☛ Bubble Busters

    While I don’t necessarily think it’s the case, I’d like to think Apple’s decision to finally support RCS was an admission that they created this situation where companies were ready to weaken end user security just to get inside Apple’s walled garden.

    Because, Sunbird’s obviously shoddy security aside, this problem exists because Apple decided to take something that people commonly do—talk to their friends in a text message—and make it a status symbol thing.

  • SANS ☛ CVE-2023-1389: A New Means to Expand Botnets

    My honeypot was attacked by an actor trying to exploit a fairly new vulnerability (CVE-2023-1389) that was publicly released in March of this year. This particular exploit is found in vulnerable TP-Link Archer routers, and has been primarily been exploited by threat actors as a means to add devices to their botnets which are used for DDoS attacks. I will be going over the vulnerability, and how to protect yourself from it.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Federal News Network ☛ The risk of trusted websites from a federal perspective

      With nearly 50% of the government’s roughly two million civilian employees teleworking, the federal government continues to embrace digital transformation. And, just like organizations in the private sector, web browsers have emerged as essential tools for how government employees and contractors do their daily work. The shift to hybrid work models, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, has firmly cemented the browser’s pivotal role, yet this reliance comes with risks as cybercriminals increasingly exploit the trust placed in browsers by federal employees and American workers at large.

      Fortunately, browser security solutions exist and will be key to helping organizations and individuals prevent attacks and ensure the safety of their data and networks. To learn how, it’s important to understand how we got here.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • TruthOut ☛ Senator’s Letter Exposes Disturbing Extent of Phone Surveillance Program

    • EDRI ☛ The EU wants to make facial recognition history — but it must be done for the right reasons

      Despite these systems having been tied to human rights violations around the world, and recently condemned by Amnesty International for facilitating Israel’s system of oppression against Palestinians, the European Parliament’s commitment to a strong ban is at risk.

    • CBC ☛ Former RCMP intelligence official found guilty of violating secrets act

      The former civilian RCMP member faced six charges in total, including multiple counts under the Security of Information Act, the law meant to protect Canada's secrets.

• Defence/Aggression

  • BBC ☛ American bully XLs: Ban leads to 'tsunami' of dogs being killed - BBC News

    Hundreds of healthy dogs are being put to sleep every week, the BBC understands.

  • Science Alert ☛ Global Temperature Exceeds 2 °C Threshold For First Time on Record

    ​Months of extraordinary heat are expected to make 2023 the hottest year in history, with droughts, massive wildfires and fierce storms ravaging swathes of the planet.

    According to new data, global temperatures on November 17 were 2.07 °C above the pre-industrial average, the EU's Climate Change Service (C3S).

  • El País ☛ An X-ray of 171 years’ worth of greenhouse gases: From those historically responsible for the climate crisis to the largest emitters today

    The data comes from the UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report, which warns that greenhouse gases continue to increase: in 2022, they grew by another 1.2%. The authors highlight that progress has been made since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, although the climate plans that the world’s nations have in place will still lead to a warming of between 2.5 and 2.9 degrees Celsius, far below above the safety levels established in the pact eight years ago.

  • El País ☛ Exit poll says Dutch anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders wins most votes with a landslide margin

    If confirmed when votes are counted, a Wilders victory would send a seismic shock through European politics. His election program calls for a referendum on the Netherlands leaving the European Union, a total halt to accepting asylum-seekers and migrant pushbacks at the Dutch borders. It also advocates the “de-Islamization” of the Netherlands.

  • New Statesman ☛ The flawed logic of progressives’ support for Islamist movements

    Yet in a manner Huntington, the Harvard sage, could not have foreseen, geopolitical rivalries are spilling over into civilisational strife. The West is retreating because divisions within its societies make sustaining a consistent strategy against its enemies impossible. In an international order that is descending into anarchy, liberal democracies are too internally fragmented to be able to defend themselves effectively.

  • RFA ☛ Report: Hundreds of mosques in China converted or closed since 2018

    Police have also removed domes, minarets and other Islamic architectural features from other mosques as part of Beijing’s “mosque consolidation” policy, the New York-based group said.

  • Site36 ☛ Europol deletes NoBorder initiatives from terror report, Dutch police doesn’t see them as “extremists”

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Scholz Tells Putin To 'End His Attack On Ukraine'

      German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on November 22 that he urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end Moscow's war in Ukraine and withdraw all troops during the first Group of 20 video call Putin participated in since the conflict.

    • New York Times ☛ Putin Bristles as G20 Leaders Criticize Aggression in Ukraine

      For Mr. Putin, it was a rare interaction with Western leaders since the start of the war last year. It was also the first time he had to listen to direct public criticism at an international event.

    • New York Times ☛ Putin Eyes Another Term as President, With War as Backdrop

      There is little doubt about the outcome, should he run, but the election in March carries more significance as the first one since the invasion of Ukraine.

    • Meduza ☛ At virtual G20 summit, Putin responds to criticism of war on Ukraine, blaming Kyiv for lack of peace talks — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ Peace mural unveiled on Rīga Ukrainian High School

      Two women harvesting and a dove – a mural, titled "Daughters of the Sun" has appeared on the facade of the Rīga Ukrainian High School on November 22. The women represent Latvia and Ukraine.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian businesses warned about Poland-Ukraine border blockade

      Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 22 issued advice to Latvian hauliers and other businesses over the situation at the border between Polad and Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ Germany pledges $1.4 billion for Ukraine's army on 10-year Maidan anniversary

      Germany on Tuesday unveiled another large military aid package for Ukraine during an unannounced visit to Kyiv by the defence minister that coincided with the 10th anniversary of the historic Maidan protests.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania sends 3m rounds of ammo, remote detonation systems to Ukraine

      Lithuania has handed over 3 million rounds of ammunition, remote detonation systems, and winter equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s defence system to have drone capabilities in 2024 – committee chair

      The lessons of the war in Ukraine have been learnt, and the Lithuanian defence system will already have drone capabilities next year, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chair of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK), has said.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Shells Civilian Infrastructure In Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson Regions

      Russian troops have targeted infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson, causing damage, regional officials said on November 23, as Ukraine braces for an uptick in attacks on its energy facilities during the upcoming winter.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Teen Sentenced To Six Years For Throwing Molotov Cocktails At Recruitment Centers

      A Russian court on November 22 sentenced a 17-year-old to six years in prison for attempting to set fire to two military recruitment offices in protest at Moscow's war in Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Poll: Nearly Half Of Americans Think U.S. Is Spending Too Much On Ukraine Aid

      As lawmakers in Washington weigh sending billions more in federal support to Kyiv to help fight off Russian aggression, close to half of the U.S. public thinks the country is spending too much on aid to Ukraine, according to a new poll.

    • RFERL ☛ Former Coach Of Daghestan's Kickboxing Team Wanted On High Treason Charge For Joining Ukrainian Troops

      Local media cited officials in Russia's North Caucasus region of Daghestan on November 22 as saying that the former head coach of Daghestan's kickboxing team, Akhmad Akhmedov, is wanted in Russia on a high treason charge for joining Ukraine's armed forces to help repel Moscow’s ongoing invasion.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Receives $1.6 Billion Tranche Of Macro-Financial Assistance From EU

      The European Union on November 22 released a new 1.5 billion euro ($1.64 billion) tranche of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    • RFERL ☛ Poland Charges 16 Foreigners With Spying For Russia

      Poland has charged 16 foreign nationals with spying for Russia, for allegedly preparing acts of sabotage and gathering information on military equipment deliveries to Ukraine.

    • teleSUR ☛ Germany and Italy Agree on Common Action Plan

      Meloni and Scholz confirmed that their countries will continue to guarantee assistance to Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Heads Into Winter With a Fragile Power Grid

      Facilities remain hobbled by Russian attacks, repair work is unfinished and there is little spare equipment, although air defenses have been strengthened.

    • Meduza ☛ Zelensky says willing to hear Trump’s peace plan, but giving up parts of Ukraine to Russia not a solution — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Ukrainian state language protection commissioner says concept of separate ‘Russian-speaking’ population product of Russian ideology, ‘we are all Ukrainians’ — Meduza

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Pro Publica ☛ Podcast: The Kids of Rutherford County

    When a video surfaced of an after-school scuffle, 11 Black children were arrested. Their crime: not stepping in to stop a fight. The arrests set off a firestorm of controversy — and an investigation into the juvenile justice practices in one Tennessee county.

    Reporters Meribah Knight with Nashville Public Radio and Ken Armstrong with ProPublica obtained years’ worth of personnel files, state inspection reports, emails, depositions and other records, and reports from all 98 juvenile courts in the state.

  • Pro Publica ☛ How “The Kids of Rutherford County” Sets Investigative Reporting to Music

    The Serial podcast series “The Kids of Rutherford County” begins with a hum. It’s a low hum, sort of ominous, that lasts for two or three seconds before the podcast’s host, Meribah Knight, comes in with, “It was a March afternoon in Rutherford County, Tennessee …”

    The hum is a bass note, a low F, the lowest note J.R. Kaufman can play on his accordion in the Los Angeles home-slash-studio he shares with his half-brother and bandmate Justin Rubenstein. Once Knight begins speaking, Kaufman’s note slips beneath her voice, still there, but in the background.

  • The Dissenter ☛ JFK Assassination: What US Government Is Still Hiding Sixty Years Later

  • Axios ☛ JFK visited with Latino civil rights leaders on his last night

    Former President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy were only supposed to drop by and say hi during a Nov. 21, 1963, gathering of Mexican American activists in Houston.

  • The Gray Zone ☛ JFK assassination at 60: Oswald ‘doubles’ show CIA hand in plot

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • David Rosenthal ☛ Desperately Seeking Retail

      Source The SEC has a long history of refusing to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs, on the reasonable basis that the Bitcoin market was heavily manipulated. Crypto-skeptics like Bitfinex'ed and Davd Gerard have been pointing out obvious instances of manipulation for many years, and there is a considerable academic literature demonstrating manipulation, such as Crypto Wash Trading by Lin William Cong et al, which demonstrates: [...]

    • DeSmog ☛ UK Advertising Watchdog Bans Toyota SUV Ads on Environmental Grounds

      The UK advertising watchdog has banned two adverts for Toyota SUVs, ruling that images of cars racing over plains and through rivers condoned a style of off-road driving that “disregarded” the impact on nature. 

      Climate advocates calling for tighter rules on advertising of heavily polluting products welcomed the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) move — the first time it had banned SUV ads for promoting driving that harms the environment.

    • DeSmog ☛ Report: Oil and Gas Production Set to Escalate Under Landmark U.S. Climate Law

      A new report warns that oil and gas production in the United States is expected to rise under Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), even as the legislation helps to moderately lower fossil fuel demand through billions of dollars in clean energy investments.

      The report, “Biden’s Fossil Fuel Fail: How U.S. Oil and Gas Supply Rises under the Inflation Reduction Act, Exacerbating Environmental Injustice,” details how, despite the IRA’s significant spending on renewable energy, electric vehicles, and batteries, the policy will not be enough for the U.S. to meet its 2030 climate target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 to 52 percent  below 2005 levels.   

• Finance

  • Bloomberg ☛ McKinsey and Its Peers Face Fallout After Scandals and Layoffs

    Years of rapid expansion and a spree of costly ethics scandals have left the $860 billion consulting industry slashing budgets and thousands of jobs. And new blow ups keep coming.

    Calls for greater oversight are growing, and some companies and government departments to rethink their reliance on the sector. But for some senior partners, glamorous events and seven-figure salaries are still on offer. Last month, McKinsey hosted a soiree for senior partners with high-profile corporate guests and a performance from Psy, the South Korean star famous for viral hit Gangnam Style.

  • Many Tech Workers Moving From US To Canada Due To H-1B Visa Woes

    Many highly-skilled foreign nationals with H-1B visas in the United States are looking north to Canada for work due to massive layoffs in the American tech sector, reports CNBC.

    The American business news channel has reported that 6,000 H-1B visa holders moved to Canada this year alone.

    “The highly educated foreign national is really at the mercy of the U.S. employers,” Annie Beaudoin, a former Canadian immigration officer, reportedly told CNBC.

    Under sweeping changes made by then-U.S. President Donald Trump, the H-1B visa program made it more expensive and difficult to get highly-skilled immigrant workers into the United States.

    That was a massive blow to American tech companies but a boon to Canada’s high-tech sector.

  • New York Times ☛ OpenAI Staff Threatens Exodus, Jeopardizing Company’s Future

    The future of OpenAI is in jeopardy after more than 700 of its 770 employees signed a letter on Monday saying they may leave the company for Microsoft if the ousted chief executive, Sam Altman, is not reinstalled at the high-profile artificial intelligence start-up.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Nation ☛ Why Bill Gates’s Philanthropy Is a Problem

    A sober analysis of Gates shows he is just as worthy of the titles of hoarder and miser as he is philanthropist and mensch. Relative to his vast wealth, Gates is giving away a tiny amount of money—that he doesn’t need and that he could never possibly spend on himself. So the question is: Instead of celebrating the million-dollar gifts his foundation donates, why aren’t we interrogating the $184 billion that Gates isn’t giving away? Why aren’t we asking: How is it that the world’s most generous philanthropist is becoming richer and richer, year over year?

    It’s the kind of contradiction that defines Gates, one of the most misunderstood people in the world. Much of what we know about Gates, or think we know, comes from Gates himself—from the research his foundation funds, the think tanks it sponsors, the journalism it underwrites, and the megaphone Gates has cranked up to 11. Arguably the most effective aspect of Gates’s philanthropic career has been its PR. And, arguably, the single biggest beneficiary of the Gates Foundation has been Bill Gates, himself.

  • Scheerpost ☛ Patrick Lawrence: What Died 60 Years Ago?

    President Kennedy was assassinated a decade after The Post registered its concern about the CIA’s activities and Dulles assumed control in Langley, Virginia. Turning time in the other direction, it was 60 years ago Tuesday that JFK keeled over in the back seat of his Lincoln Continental while driving through Dallas. There is no danger of overstating the significance of Kennedy’s murder: The consequences of his death cannot be overstated.

  • Axios ☛ The many ways JFK's assassination reshaped Dallas

    Why it matters: Those five seconds changed the arc of global history. They also permanently reshaped North Texas in ways that are still reverberating 60 years later.

  • Gizmodo ☛ After OpenAI's Blowup, It Seems Pretty Clear That "AI Safety" Isn't a Real Thing

    The “coup,” as many have referred to it, has largely been attributed to an ideological rift between Sam and the OpenAI board over the pace of technological development at the company. So this narrative goes, the board, which is supposed to have ultimate say over the direction of the organization, was concerned about the rate at which Altman was pushing to commercialize the technology, and decided to eject him with extreme prejudice. Altman, who was subsequently backed by OpenAI’s powerful partner and funder, Microsoft, as well as a majority of the startup’s staff, subsequently led a counter-coup, pushing out the traitors and re-instating himself as the leader of the company.

  • Gizmodo ☛ Former OpenAI CEO: My Job Here Is Done

    “It’s not just human-level extinction, it’s the potential destruction of all value in the light cone,” said Shear on The Logan Bartlett podcast four months ago when discussing doom scenarios for artificial intelligence, which he gives a 5 to 50% chance of happening. “Not just for us, for any species caught in the wake of the explosion. It’s like a universe-destroying bomb.”

  • Security Week ☛ Sam Altman is Back as OpenAI CEO Just Days After Being Removed, Along With a New Board

    The board, which replaces the one that fired Altman on Friday, will be led by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, who also chaired Twitter’s board before its takeover by Elon Musk last year. The other members will be former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo.

    OpenAI’s previous board of directors, which included D’Angelo, had refused to give specific reasons for why it fired Altman, leading to a weekend of internal conflict at the company and growing outside pressure from the startup’s investors.

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ OpenAI: Metaphysics in the C-Suite

    On Friday, OpenAI, the Microsoft-funded operator of ChatGPT, fired its CEO, Sam Altman. Then, after five days of popcorn-emoji chaos, they hired him back. The sudden move, which billion-dollar investor Microsoft only learned about moments before it was released to the public, seems to have come from a fight between Altman and engineer Ilya Sutskever, who is in charge of “alignment” at the company. Sutskever’s faction, including board member Helen Toner, whose feud with Altman may have precipitated these events, is out. Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary and Harvard president who doubted that women are good at science, is in. Altman’s return means that, in a fight about profit versus safety, profit won.

  • India Times ☛ What does Sam Altman's firing and quick reinstatement mean for the future of AI?

    Altman, who helped start OpenAI as a nonprofit research lab back in 2015, was removed as CEO Friday in a sudden and mostly unexplained exit that stunned the industry. And while his chief executive title was swiftly reinstated just days later, a lot of questions are still up in the air.

  • India Times ☛ OpenAI researchers warned board of AI breakthrough ahead of CEO ouster

    The maker of ChatGPT had made progress on Q* (pronounced Q-Star), which some internally believe could be a breakthrough in the startup's search for superintelligence, also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), one of the people told Reuters. OpenAI defines AGI as AI systems that are smarter than humans.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Bloomberg ☛ Chinese Live Streaming Is Now on Life Support

    At some point, executives will decide that live content is not worth the hassle, or the jail time. It’s another hit to internet companies in the sluggish economy

  • The Straits Times ☛ Protests and court appeals as Nepal’s TikTokers decry government ban on [Fentanylware (TikTok)] app

    Nepal's centre-left coalition government is the latest to ban the app.

  • Techdirt ☛ Nikki Haley Reinvigorates The GOP’s Breathless TikTok Hysteria… For The Children

    We’ve noted many times how the GOP’s obsession with TikTok is stupid, performative, and utterly hollow. For example, the party desperately wants to ban TikTok for “privacy reasons,” yet consistently opposes passing privacy laws, or regulating data brokers that traffic in far more data — at a far greater international scale — than TikTok executives could ever dream of.

  • JURIST ☛ Russia places Ukraine singer on wanted list

    Russia placed Ukrainian singer Jamala on a wanted list Monday based on an undisclosed criminal charge.

  • Meduza ☛ Russian singer who burned Russian ID in protest against war in Ukraine arrested at St. Petersburg airport, apologizes in police video for his actions — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ ‘Retaliatory strike’: Actress Polina Menshikh killed during live performance for Russian soldiers in occupied Ukrainian territory — Meduza

  • France24 ☛ North Korea to deploy new weapons to border after Russia-assisted spy satellite launch

    North Korea said Thursday it would deploy new weapons and stronger armed forces to the border with the South, as Seoul's spy agency said Pyongyang had received Russian help to successfully put a military spy satellite into orbit.

  • France24 ☛ Finland erects barriers at border with Russia to control migrant influx

    Finnish border guards and soldiers began erecting barriers including concrete obstacles topped with barbed-wire at some crossing points on the Nordic country’s lengthy border with Russia to better control an influx of migrants, officials said Wednesday. Finland said it will close three more crossing points, leaving only one Arctic point open for migrants seeking asylum.

  • Meduza ☛ Finnish chancellor of justice’s office rejects proposal to further tighten restrictions at Russian border — Meduza

  • LRT ☛ Estonia accuses Russia of ‘hybrid attack’ with migrants on its border

    The Estonian interior minister has accused Russia of conducting a “hybrid attack operation” by bringing migrants to its border.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania identifies 2,000 threats in questionnaires for Russians, Belarusians

    Lithuania’s authorities have identified more than 2,000 instances of threats in the first year since the introduction of a special questionnaire for Russian and Belarusian citizens, the Migration Department said on Wednesday.

  • RFA ☛ N Korea sends rocket data to Russia for advice: spy agency

    Pyongyang provided data, blueprints of its rockets to Moscow that helped Tuesday’s satellite launch

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea received Russian aid for satellite launch: South Korea lawmakers

    The launch on Nov 21 was North Korea’s third attempt after two failed tries.

  • RFERL ☛ Russia's Kaliningrad Introduces Fines For 'Inducing' Abortions

    The regional assembly of the western Russian exclave of Kaliningrad has approved imposing fines of up to 50,000 rubles ($566) for "inducing" women to have abortions.

  • Meduza ☛ Russia’s Kaliningrad region introduces fines for ‘coercing’ women to have abortions — Meduza

  • YLE ☛ Finland to close three more checkpoints on Russia border

    The decision means that from midnight on Thursday only one checkpoint will be open on Finland's eastern border.

  • YLE ☛ Finland receives 'diplomatic note' from Russia

    The Finnish foreign ministry declined to comment on the note's contents, but Russian media report that it's about a destroyed Russian tank on display in downtown Helsinki.

  • Meduza ☛ Finland to close all but one of its border crossings with Russia — Meduza

  • RFERL ☛ Finland To Close All But One Border Crossing With Russia In Effort To Halt Flow Of Migrants

    Finland will close all but one of the border crossing points still open along its frontier with Russia from November 24 in a bid to stem a flow of asylum seekers, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said.

  • YLE ☛ Thursday's papers: "Russian pawns" at the border, bus strikes in Tampere and Jakomäki's glass classrooms

    Tensions along the eastern border continue to take the media limelight after Wednesday evening’s announcement that only the Raja-Jooseppi border will remain open.

  • RFERL ☛ Navalny Associate In Daghestan Sentenced To More Than Six Years In Prison

    A coordinator of imprisoned Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's team in Russia's North Caucasus region of Daghestan has been sentenced to six years and five months in prison on charges of illegally possessing weapons, explosives, and drugs.

  • Latvia ☛ Kozlovskis: Reduction in illegal migration on Latvia-Belarus border

    There is currently a decrease in illegal migration on the Latvian-Belarusian border, said Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) in an interview with Latvian Television Thursday, November 23.

  • Meduza ☛ Electrical substation near Moscow catches fire, locals report explosion, speculate drone attack — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Train collision in Russia injures 25 — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ One of Russia’s biggest investors in Crimea is arrested in Moscow — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Suspect in Russia’s Far East faces seven years in prison for celebrating local man who tried to burn down military enlistment office — Meduza

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Local newspaper started by Ralph Nader saved from closure by national media company

    A small Connecticut newspaper that began publishing in February with the help of Ralph Nader has been saved from a planned shutdown after a national media company swooped in to buy it.

    American Business Media said Wednesday that it has acquired the Winsted Citizen, whose oversight board had decided only two days earlier that it could no longer operate because of financial woes. Terms were not disclosed.

    Vincent Valvo, chief executive, publisher and editor in chief of American Business Media, said the company made its offer to buy the Citizen on Monday after he heard about its possible demise. He said he wanted the newspaper to be successful.

    Valvo has longtime ties to Connecticut, having worked at the Hartford Business Journal and Connecticut Law Tribune and led the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information. He also has a home near Winsted, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Hartford.

  • Meduza ☛ Putin transfers control over printing presses to Moscow officials. (The assets had been promised to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov.) — Meduza

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • The Gray Zone ☛ Before viral Islamophobic rant, ex-Obama official harassed women, Russian diplomat’s dog

    Prior to going viral after footage emerged showing ex-State Department official Stuart Seldowitz spewing Islamophobic slurs at a Halal food cart operator, he spent his spare time harassing female Russian diplomats and an ambassador’s pet dog, the Grayzone has learned.

    The viral footage of Stuart Seldowitz berating a Halal food cart operator with Islamophobic diatribes and calls for the death of more Palestinian children has laid bare the link between extremism and American foreign policy. Seldowitz, a former national security advisor in the Obama White House and number two at the State Department on Israel-Palestine Affairs, was caught in the streets of New York spewing naked bigotry about Arabs and Muslims raping their daughters.

  • Site36 ☛ EU migration deal with Cairo: Military in Egypt also receives money for border surveillance

  • ACLU ☛ Lifting the Veil on the Design of Predictive Tools in the Criminal Legal System

    Recently, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) — the research arm of the Department of Justice (DOJ) — put out a call for researchers to participate in what they called the “Recidivism Forecasting Challenge”. The challenge was designed to use information about people on parole in Georgia to “improve the ability to forecast recidivism using person-and place-based variables,” encourage “non-criminal justice forecasting researchers to compete against more ‘traditional’ criminal justice researchers,” and provide “critical information to community corrections departments.” Challenge contestants were awarded a collective total of $723,000 for their submitted models.

    While heralded by the NIJ as a successful effort that “demonstrate[d] the value of open data and open competition,” in reality, the challenge was marked by serious and fundamental flaws. One of the winning papers encapsulated the issues with the challenge best when they said, “We are hesitant to accept any insights gained from submitted models and question the reliability of their performance. We would also discourage the use of any submitted models in live environments.” Six of the other 25 winning papers also expressed their concerns about the use of models created for the challenge in real-world environments.

• Monopolies

  • CoryDoctorow ☛ Don't Be Evil

    While some services have fallen harder and/or faster, they're all falling. When a whole cohort of services all turn sour in the same way, at the same time, it's obvious that something is happening systemically.

    After all, these companies are still being led by the same people. The leaders who presided over a period in which these companies made good and useful services are also presiding over these services' decay. What factors are leading to a pandemic of rapid-onset enshittification?

    Recall that enshittification is a three-stage process: first surpluses are allocated to users until they are locked in. Then they are withdrawn and given to business-customers until they are locked in. Then all the value is harvested for the company's shareholders, leaving just enough residual value in the service to keep both end-users and business-customers glued to the platform.

  • Patents

    • TruthOut ☛ Bernie Sanders Invites Pharma CEOs to Testify on High Drug Prices

    • Unified Patents ☛ Senate innovation hearing long on assertions, short on support

      Earlier this month, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held a hearing on the PREVAIL Act, legislation that aims to limit and weaken patent monopoly quality reviews at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

      The USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is a public way to review bad patents, and serves as a streamlined alternative to time-consuming, expensive patent monopoly infringement lawsuits. PTAB review allows experts to take a second look at some of the many patents the agency issues and pull them back if they do not meet baseline quality standards. This helps innovative companies from all industries fend off wasteful lawsuits from patent monopoly trolls; which use thousands of poor-quality patents every year to make baseless patent monopoly infringement claims against businesses that are, unlike the trolls, contributing to our economy.

  • Trademarks

    • TTAB Blog ☛ CAFC Affirms TTAB's Dismissal of RANGER TREK Opposition: Not Confusable With TREK for Non-Bicycle Goods

      The CAFC upheld the Board's dismissal [TTABlogged here] of Trek Bicycle's Section 2(d) opposition to registration of the mark RANGER TREK , in standard character and design form, for bags and clothing. The Board found confusion unlikely with the allegedly famous common law and registered mark TREK for bags and bicycling apparel. The appellate court determined that substantial evidence supported the Board's factual findings and the Board did not err in concluding that "the difference between the [parties'] marks [were] sufficient to avoid likely confusion." Trek Bicycle Corporation v. Christina Isaacs, 2023 USPQ2d 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2023) [not precedential].

  • Copyrights

    • Torrent Freak ☛ ISP Optimum Questions 'Evidence' For Billion Dollar Piracy Lawsuit

      Internet provider Optimum faces a billion-dollar damages claim for allegedly turning a blind eye to pirating subscribers. These allegations are made by several music companies based on evidence provided by tracking company Rightscorp. Optimum is not convinced that the evidence is reliable and accurate; the ISP also questions Rightscorp's business practices.

    • Torrent Freak ☛ €300m Per Year Rightsholder 'Private Copying' Payouts Face Scrutiny

      In 1985, France introduced a levy on blank media, such as cassette tapes and CDs, to compensate rightsholders for copies of their works made for private use. The main source of revenue today is smartphones; a levy of roughly 17 euros per sale means an annual payout to rightsholders of almost €300m. Alongside the streaming explosion and a system unchanged for a decade, one that critics describe as "dysfunctional", the levy now faces renewed scrutiny.

    • The Register UK ☛ Author hopes to throw the book at OpenAI, Microsoft with copyright class action

      According to the complaint, Sancton spent five years and tens of thousands of dollars on the book, secure in the knowledge that the US Copyright Act gives "exclusive rights" as well as "the rights to reproduce the copyrighted work[s]."

      Sancton's complaint states: "This case is about defendants OpenAI and Microsoft's complete disregard for those exclusive rights.

      "Defendants [OpenAI and Microsoft] have made commercial reproductions of millions, maybe billions, of copyrighted works without any compensation to authors, without a license, and without permission.

    • Walled Culture ☛ Organisations call on UK government to safeguard AI innovation from being throttled by copyright

      In an attempt to undo some of the damage caused by the UK government’s retrograde move, a broad range of organisations, including Knowledge Rights 21, Creative Commons, and Wikimedia UK, have issued a public statement calling on the UK government to safeguard AI innovation as it draws up its new code of practice on copyright and AI. The statement points out that copyright is a serious threat to the development of AI in the UK, and that: [...]

    • Digital Music News ☛ OpenAI and Microsoft Face New Copyright Lawsuit for Allegedly ‘Taking the Combined Works of Humanity Without Permission’

      Julian Sancton, the author of 2021’s Madhouse at the End of the Earth, only recently submitted the suit to a New York federal court. As highlighted, the case is one of several levied against OpenAI (which reinstated Sam Altman as CEO today) owing to the alleged unauthorized use of copyrighted works.

      But contrasting the complaint from Sarah Silverman as well as a separate action from the Authors Guild, Sancton’s suit centers on both OpenAI and Microsoft – and not solely because the latter’s invested billions in the AI startup.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Microsoft, Proprietary Chaffbot Company sued over alleged unauthorized use of nonfiction authors’ work in Hey Hi (AI) training

      Artificial intelligence startup Proprietary Chaffbot Company and Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Corp. have been hit with a new lawsuit alleging that the companies violated copyright monopoly by using the works of nonfiction authors to train Hey Hi (AI) models, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

    • Techdirt ☛ Copyright Bot Can’t Tell The Difference Between Star Trek Ship And Adult Film Actress

      Given that the overwhelming majority of DMCA takedown notices are generated by copyright bots that are only moderately good at their job, at best, perhaps it’s not terribly surprising that these bots keep finding new and interesting ways to cause collateral damage unintentionally. From publishers taking down YouTubers because of an oopsie to Viacom DMCAing its own Star Trek Comic-con panel thinking it was infringing content, the point is that these bots kinda suck.

Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal/Opinions

  • Razors

    Note: if you want my thoughts on safety razors, you can skip to the section below, otherwise, directly following this is my background on how I got to using safety razors.

    When I started shaving I remember asking my father how to do it. I remember thinking to myself this is some kind of father-son rite-of-passage to manhood and that he hadn't offered yet to show me so I figured I might as well ask. I think I had these visions in my head of a father showing the son to go "with the grain" and whatever other sage advice he could give. And while my father did tell me, it was less than climactic and I remember him giving me a look that said to me that he hadn't really thought about it and it wasn't all that hard because he'd been doing it for years. This has stuck with me all these years later but not because I was mad or disappointed, but it was still a defining moment in our relationship and my progressing towards adult-hood.

  • Razors

    I had my first shave with this safety razor since my trial subscription with Harry's ran out. I'm quite convinced I'm not going back to the disposable plastic razors anytime soon. I'm pleased with the result.

  • How to tie your shoes fast

    A while ago, I learned an alternate method of tying my shoes by combining a few techniques. Compared to the traditional method usually taught, it's a lot faster and easier to teach. It's also fun to surprise people with how fast it is.

    Tying shoes is boring. It's something that needs to be done daily, sometimes multiple times a day. A speed boost here helps get past the monotony and saves a lot of time in the long run.

    I've been tying my shoes this way for at least 10 years now. It works. I'm certain they stay tied. So here it is.

    I'm not going to omit important steps here like some other places do to make it look faster. Still, I'm certain you can finish in ten seconds flat.