Links 16/12/2023: Britain Investigates Harms by Social Control Media, Data Dragnet Warrants Illuminated

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 16, 2023

Leftovers

Leftovers
- Hackaday ☛ Hackaday Podcast Episode 248: Cthulhu Clock Radio Transharmonium, Thunderscan, And How To Fill Up In Space
  
  This week, Elliot sat down with Dan for the penultimate podcast of 2023, and what a week it was. We started with news about Voyager; at T+46 years from launch, any news tends to be bad, and the latest glitch has everyone worried. We also took a look at how close the OSIRIS-REx mission came to ending in disaster, all for want of consistent labels.
- Manuel Moreale ☛ P&B: Jamie Thingelstad
  
  Jamie was the first person to become a supporter of the P&B series, even before the first edition was out, something I really appreciate. I really enjoy how his blog is a proper personal blog, with a mix of work related content, things he's passionate about, family posts, and everything in between. It's also great how he's been online with a blog for almost two decades, quite a stark contrast with the current state of the web where things tend to last 12 nanoseconds on average. And lastly, I love that his entire family has blogs. It's such a neat idea.
- Science Alert ☛ Arcane Navigation Device Holds a Hidden Clue That Reveals Its Origins
  
  Clever.
- Science
  - Scoop News Group ☛ National Science Foundation is looking to approve more uses of generative AI
    
    NSF’s guidelines will limit agency reviewers from uploading any proposal content, related records and review information to non-approved generative AI tools, according to a news release. Additionally, those submitting proposals for funding awards are “encouraged to indicate in the project description” if generative AI technology was used to develop their proposal, as well as the extent of usage and methodology.
    
    So far, NSF has only approved the use of publicly accessible, commercial generative AI that is “explicitly for the use of public information,” according to an agency spokesperson. NSF publicly disclosed its use cases earlier this month, and it does not include the use of generative AI that would interact with proposal content.
  - National Science Foundation ☛ Notice to research community: Use of generative artificial intelligence technology in the NSF merit review process
    
    A key observation for reviewers is that sharing proposal information with generative AI technology via the open internet violates the confidentiality and integrity principles of NSF's merit review process. Any information uploaded into generative AI tools not behind NSF's firewall2 is considered to be entering the public domain. As a result, NSF cannot preserve the confidentiality of that information. The loss of control over the uploaded information can pose significant risks to researchers and their control over their ideas. In addition, the source and accuracy of the information derived from this technology is not always clear, which can lead to research integrity concerns including the authenticity of authorship.
  - Science Alert ☛ 'Time Cells' in Human Brain Encode The Flow of Time, Study Finds
- Education
  - Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ Elon Musk is planning a new university
    
    The university will employ “experienced faculty” and feature a traditional curriculum “alongside hands-on learning experience including simulations, case studies, fabrication/design projects and labs”, according to the application, which was filed in October 2022 and approved in March. It will seek accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
  - India Times ☛ Britain weighs new consultation on social media impact on teens
    
    A Bloomberg report said the British government was studying a crackdown on social media access for children under the age of 16, including potential bans.
    
    Science Minister Andrew Griffith said on Friday that the government always sought to find a balance between important freedoms and putting parents in control.
  - Techdirt ☛ New Jersey Is The Latest To Push A Harmful Moral Panic ‘Think Of The Kids’ Social Media Bill
    
    It seems like the only “bipartisan” support around regulations and the internet these days is… over the false, widely debunked moral panic that the internet is inherently harmful to children. Study after study has said it’s simply not true. Here’s the latest list (and I have one more to write up soon):
  - Matthew Perry denounced ketamine in his memoir, said it made him think he was ‘dying’
    
    The late actor previously revealed he received ketamine transfusions during the pandemic, which is when he decided the anesthetic was not for him.
  - New York Times ☛ Matthew Perry Died of ‘Acute Effects of Ketamine,’ Autopsy Says
    
    The medical examiner said drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of an opioid also contributed to the death of the “Friends” actor, who was found in a hot tub in October.
  - MIT Technology Review ☛ Needle-free covid vaccines are (still) in the works [Ed: Will there actually be clinical trials this time around or will they mostly skip that on rely on the governments blackmailing people into prematurely taking mostly untested things?]
  - teleSUR ☛ California's Food Insecurity Deepens as Pandemic Aid Fades
    
    The U.S. Census Bureau's data showed record-high jumps in poverty across all age groups.
  - New York Times ☛ Bird Flu Is Still Causing Havoc. Here’s The Latest.
    
    The virus, which recently reached the Antarctic region for the first time, is surging again in North America.
  - European Commission ☛ Reports confirm the European Health Union is better prepared to combat health threats
    
    European Commission Press release Brussels, 15 Dec 2023 Health ranks among the top priorities of European citizens according to recent Eurobarometer surveys.
  - Mexico News Daily ☛ The Spanish you need to keep your health routine in Mexico
    
    This holiday season, don't lose your health routine while traveling in Mexico. Here is some of the Spanish you need.
  - Digital Music News ☛ How To Take Care of Your Mental Health as a Musician
    
    As a long-time independent musician, I know how hard this life can be on one’s mental health. I’ve taken a break before. I’ve felt like I should just quit. Things can get dark if you’re not careful. So I want to talk about how to care for your mental health as an indie musician.
  - Science Alert ☛ Identical Twins Mystery: When 1 Has Dementia, Both Face a Shorter Life
    
    We don't understand why.
  - New York Times ☛ China Braces for Cold Wave After Snow Causes Train Crash
    
    President Pooh-tin Jinping urged “all-out efforts” to ensure safety amid wintry conditions after a subway crash left hundreds injured in the capital.
- Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  - India Times ☛ Gen Z and millennials constituted over 70% of monthly active users on ShareChat this year
    
    A total of 287 million audio chat room sessions were hosted in a month. Further, it said a total of 14 billion minutes of audio was live-streamed on ShareChat in the past year.
  - India Times ☛ US judge tentatively rules Elon Musk must testify again in SEC's Twitter probe
    
    The SEC sued Musk in October to compel the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to testify as part of an investigation into his 2022 purchase of social media giant Twitter, which he subsequently renamed X. Musk refused to attend a September interview for the probe, the SEC said.
    
    The agency is examining whether Musk followed the law when filing the required paperwork with the agency about his purchases in Twitter stock, and whether his statements in relation to the deal were misleading.
  - [Old] Paul D Fernhout ☛ Reasons Not to Use Slack for Free Software Development
    
    Naturally, I'm now biased by cognitive dissonance to defend that choice related to Slack. :-) Still, I can hope that if the global software community argues well together about this issue of using Slack or other proprietary SaaS offerings in free software projects, we may together eventually come to a good understanding of the situation. Perhaps some of what I say below is perhaps inaccurate or inapplicable (especially with me not being a Slack user yet, although it is probably only a matter of time before I end up becoming one for reasons of financial survival if more companies adopt Slack). Feel free to blog about this issue in your own way on your own sites, agreeing or disagreeing with any of it as you see fit. :-)
  - Simon Willison ☛ The AI trust crisis
    
    The key issue here is that people are worried that their private files on Dropbox are being passed to OpenAI to use as training data for their models—a claim that is strenuously denied by Dropbox.
  - BGR ☛ If AI starts manipulating public opinion, we’ll never see it coming
    
    While I don’t necessarily share those doom-and-gloom opinions about AI, I’m aware that it can happen. When AI reaches AGI (artificial general intelligence), we could miss it, and bad AI could lead to world-ending events. Before that happens, I’m more worried about a different kind of danger that the current AI models might pose to society: Manipulating public opinion.
    
    It turns out that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also thinks that AI that sees everything you write online could then craft messages that might manipulate you more effectively than any previous algorithms could. He said as much in a new interview about the recent events at OpenAI, where he also shared his thoughts about the future of AI.
  - CNN ☛ Former Facebook employee pleads guilty to stealing $4 million
    
    Barbara Furlow-Smiles who worked as a lead strategist, global head of employee resource groups and diversity engagement at Facebook, Inc., now known as Meta, from about January 2017 to September 2021 according to U.S. Attorney Northern District of Georgia Ryan K. Buchanan’s Office.
  - CBC ☛ AI-generated fake nude photos of girls from Winnipeg school posted online
    
    Collège Béliveau is dealing with the dark side of artificial intelligence after AI-generated nude photos of underage students were discovered being circulated at the Winnipeg school.
  - India Times ☛ US regulators add artificial intelligence to potential financial system risks
    
    Some AI tools can be hugely technical and opaque, making it hard for institutions to explain or properly monitor them for shortcomings. If companies and regulators do not fully understand AI tools, then it is possible they could miss biased or inaccurate results, the report said.
    
    It also noted that AI tools increasingly rely on large external datasets and third-party vendors, which pose their own privacy and cybersecurity risks.
  - Interesting Engineering ☛ SITA report anticipates 97% AI integration in aviation landscape
    
    The most notable revelation is the meteoric rise of Generative AI, which has quickly become a focal point for airlines and airports.
- Security
  - Privacy/Surveillance
    - La Quadature Du Net ☛ Encryption discussion during the 8 December trial: from myth to reality
      
      For four weeks last October, the Paris criminal court held hearings in the “8 December” trial. In this case, seven people are being prosecuted for “terrorist criminal association”. All of them contest the charges, and after three years of investigation there is not the slightest evidence of a terrorist plot. Among the “proofs” put forward by the public prosecutor and intelligence agents to show the existence of a “terrorist” intent, there were elements relating to the use of privacy protection tools, supposed to illustrate a so-called clandestinity. Outraged by this dangerous attempt on right to privacy, we revealed and denounced vigorously this dishonest confusion. What place was given to this topic during the hearing by the criminal court? Here’s a look back at the hearings we attended, ahead of the announcement of the verdict scheduled for 22 December1To catch up with the full content of the trial, a number of media outlets reported regularly on the hearings, including the blog of the support committees, Le Monde, Mediapart, lundimatin, L’Obs or Libération..
    - EFF ☛ The Surveillance Showdown That Fizzled
      
      In the last week of legislative business before the winter break, Congress was scheduled to consider two very different proposals: H.R. 6570, the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act in House Judiciary Committee (HJC); and H.R. 6611, the FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2023 in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). However, as the conversation about how to consider these proposals grew heated, both bills have been pulled from the legislative calendar without being rescheduled.
    - Reason ☛ Is Compelled Decryption Heading to the Supreme Court?
      
      One of the major issues in the law of digital evidence investigations is how the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination applies to unlocking phones. As I wrote here at the Volokh Conspiracy back in 2020, the lower court caselaw is a total mess. No one can say what the law is. And I've been waiting for a case to come down that might be a good candidate for U.S. Supreme Court review to clear up the mess.
      
      Here's a possibility: The Utah Supreme Court's ruling today in State v. Valdez. In this post, I want to talk about Valdez and consider if it would be a good prospect for Supreme Court review.
    - BBC ☛ Controversial clothes hook spy cameras for sale on Amazon
      
      Spy cameras disguised as clothes hooks are for sale on Amazon, despite the firm being sued over the gadgets.
    - The Register UK ☛ To BCC or not to BCC – that is the question data watchdog wants answered
      
      Unsurprisingly, much of the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) guidance comes down to the correct use of address fields for recipients and considering the content of an email before hitting the bulk send button.
      
      The ICO warned companies that staff need training on how to properly use the Carbon Copy (CC) and Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) fields.
    - The Register UK ☛ Google hopes to end tsunami of data dragnet warrants with Location History shakeup
      
      Geofence warrants are demands for information from police and other authorities about all network-connected devices in a given area during a specific period of time. These warrants, presented to outfits like Google, therefore do not seek information on specific people, but anyone who passed through a particular area at a given time. It's used by law enforcement in the US to get a list of potential suspects based on their proximity to some crime or other.
      
      The Electronic Frontier Foundation and others have argued these data demands are unconstitutional in America based on the Fourth Amendment, because they amount to searches without the need to actually demonstrate suspicion.
    - SITA ☛ Meet the Megatrends: SITA’s innovation report explores 12 key trends that will shape the travel industry over the next decade.
      
      Biometrics and mobile technologies will make it seamless to access, pay, and track the journey purchases and experiences. Passengers will be able to walk out with purchases without stopping to verify identity or complete transaction processes. The interconnected nature of the ecosystem will mean passengers can seamlessly book all elements of their trip, whether hotel, excursions, or tickets for events, at a kiosk, or on their smartphones. Reward schemes will allow faster purchases, for example, buying a meal while going through security, so it’s ready when they arrive airside.
- Defence/Aggression
  - Spiegel ☛ Arrests Suggest Terrorist Organization Is Operating in Europe
    
    The suspected terror plan, now foiled, appears to represent a possible change in strategy.
    
    For Hamas members, Germany had generally been viewed as a safe haven and as a country where it could collect funds for acts of terror against Israel. But plans to attack here? There was nothing to suggest such a thing in recent years.
  - Meduza ☛ Man sets off grenades in village council meeting in western Ukraine — Meduza
  - The Nation ☛ Why Have Feminists Been So Slow to Condemn the Hamas Rapes?
    
    Is it so hard to say Hamas fighters committed war crimes including rape on October 7 and that Israel’s retaliatory mass bombing of Gaza is also a war crime? Must one negate the other? It is impossible to watch what is happening in Gaza now and not be appalled—the killing of some 18,000 innocent people, the horrific injuries to many more, the destruction of half, or by now maybe more than half, of the enclave’s housing and infrastructure, including hospitals. As always in modern warfare, women and children get the worst of it. All that state-sponsored mayhem is happening in the name of vengeance, which accomplishes nothing, and eradicating Hamas—a likely impossibility. How the siege of Gaza is supposed to lead to anything but more violence and mutual hatred is beyond me.
  - US News And World Report ☛ Ukraine Puts Head of Russian Church on 'Wanted' List
    
    (Reuters) - Ukraine's Interior Ministry on Friday placed the head of Russia's Orthodox Church, a backer of the Kremlin's 21-month-old war against Kyiv, on a wanted list after security services accused him of abetting the conflict.
  - JURIST ☛ Finland closes all land borders with Russia amid surge of illegal immigration
    
    Due to the surge of illegal immigration at the southeastern border between Finland and Russia, the Finnish government decided on November 16 this year to close four of the eight border crossing points on its eastern border with Russia, which came into effect on November 18 and is to remain in place until February 2024. On November 22, it further announced the closure of another three crossing points until December 23, leaving only one crossing point at Raja-Joosep open for individuals seeking asylum. However, as illegal immigration continued to grow, Finland made the decision on November 28 to close all border crossings, including the one at Raja-Joosep, until December 13.
  - The Straits Times ☛ US, South Korea to draw up joint nuclear defence guideline against North Korean threat: Report
    
    December 16, 2023 8:02 AM
    
    The US and South Korea are also expected to include nuclear operation exercises in 2024’s joint military drills.
  - RFA ☛ N Korea may launch long-range missile this month, S Korean official says
    
    A launch could test a missile alert system due to be activated soon by South Korea, Japan and the United States.
  - New York Times ☛ U.S. Military Returns to the Jungle, Training for a Very Different Threat
    
    Far from the deserts of the Middle East, the Army is instructing troops in Hawaii on the skills needed for a potential clash with China.
  - Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
    - Atlantic Council ☛ Russian War Report: Putin to run for re-election in annexed regions of Ukraine
      
      The Central Election Commission confirmed the possibility of holding presidential elections in illegally annexed Ukrainian territories.
    - teleSUR ☛ Russia Repels Ukrainian Landing Attempt in Kherson
      
      President Putin stated that Ukraine's attempts to cross the Dnieper River are doomed to fail.
    - Security Week ☛ In Other News: Ukraine Hacks Russia, CVE for Water ICS Attacks, New defective chip maker Intel Xeon CPUs
      
      Noteworthy stories that might have slipped under the radar: Ukraine hacks Russia’s federal tax agency, CVE assigned to PLC exploit, security in new defective chip maker Intel CPU.
    - Silicon Angle ☛ Three insights you might have missed from the Cyber Resiliency Summit event
      
      Notable cyberattacks, or the threat of one, are becoming a near daily headline in the news. Within the past seven days, Ukraine’s top mobile operator reported being hit by a major cyberattack during the country’s ongoing conflict with Russia, Toyota Motor Co.
    - Atlantic Council ☛ Experts react to the EU starting Ukraine membership talks while failing to agree on aid
      
      On Thursday, the European Council decided to open EU accession talks with Ukraine, even as Hungary blocked a proposed fifty billion euro EU aid package to Kyiv.
    - RFERL ☛ Air Assaults Persist, Including On Kyiv, As Zelenskiy Preps Ukrainians For 'Active' Weeks Ahead
      
      Russia and Ukraine each claimed on December 15 and 16 to have downed dozens of the other's attack drones above Ukrainian territory in Russian-occupied Crimea and other parts of southern and eastern Ukraine but also in Kyiv, with Ukraine saying the Russian attacks were aimed at many civilian targets.
    - RFERL ☛ EU, Von Der Leyen Seeking 'Potential Alternatives' On Ukraine Aid Amid Hungary Veto
      
      EU leaders expressed confidence on December 15 that they would clear a large package of aid for Ukraine early in 2024, despite a veto by Hungary.
    - RFERL ☛ Kyiv's Antiaircraft Units Engage As Late-Night Drone Attack Launched On Capital
      
      Ukrainian air-defense units fired at Russian drones over Kyiv late on December 15, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, advising residents of the Ukrainian capital to stay in shelters.
    - RFERL ☛ Ukraine Sets Increasing Domestic Weapons Production As Goal For 2024
      
      The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's main goal next year is boosting domestic weapons production, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on December 15, highlighting Ukraine's efforts to produce more of its own weapons in the face of uncertainty over deliveries from Western allies.
    - RFERL ☛ Russian Publisher, Stores Drop Writers Over Pro-Ukraine Comments
      
      One of Russia's largest book publishers and the country's biggest bookstore chain said on December 15 they were dropping two prominent Russian writers over pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian comments.
    - RFERL ☛ Village Council Member Detonates Grenades During Meeting In Ukraine's Zakarpattya, Killing One, Wounding Dozens
      
      A Ukrainian police spokeswoman told RFE/RL on December 15 that one person was killed when a local councillor in Keretsky, a village in the western Zakarpattya region, "detonated grenades" during a council session.
    - teleSUR ☛ Europeans Negotiate the Conflict Behind Ukraine's Back: Lavrov
      
      The Russian foreign affairs minister described the situation as an act of hypocrisy and cunning.
    - YLE ☛ PM Orpo: Hungary is "in a different camp to the rest" after blocking Ukraine aid
      
      Prime Minister Petteri Orpo was disappointed that Hungary did not accept an EU aid package for Ukraine.
    - YLE ☛ Finland starts preliminary war crimes investigation targeting Russian suspect
      
      Torden is suspected of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
    - JURIST ☛ Finland closes all land borders with Russia amid surge of illegal immigration
      
      The Finnish Ministry of the Interior announced on Thursday that all of its land borders with Russia would be closed from December 15 to January 14 due to the surge of illegal immigration, just a few hours after reopening two of the eight border crossings.
    - France24 ☛ Kremlin critic Navalny taken from Moscow prison to unknown location: spokesperson
      
      Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been removed from a prison near Moscow and taken to an undisclosed location, his spokeswoman said Friday, citing a court representative.
    - teleSUR ☛ Russia Demands to Clarify the Participation of Neutral Athletes
      
      So far, only "Individual Neutral Athletes" will be able to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
    - RFERL ☛ U.S. Envoy Visits Wall Street Journal Reporter Held In Moscow
      
      The U.S. Embassy in Moscow said on December 15 that Ambassador Lynne Tracy had visited Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen detained in Russia on spying charges.
    - teleSUR ☛ Finland Set to Sign Defense Deal With Washington
      
      This European country is also closing crossing points at its land border with Russia once again.
    - TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Russian musician helps to energize the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s ‘Messiah’
      
      Bounding with talent and oozing charisma, the Russian musician even adds a bit of percussion as he stamps his foot guiding the orchestra as well as the 43 vocalists in the Minnesota choral group The Singers.
    - YLE ☛ Frayed nerves at Vaalimaa border crossing as Finland-Russia traffic ends early
      
      Finland announced on Thursday that it would close the Russian border once again.
    - Marcy Wheeler ☛ Alex Cannon and the Missing Russian Binder
      
      All of Trump's stolen classified documents aren't accounted for. And the Russian binder may be only part of what's missing.
    - New York Times ☛ Material From Russia Investigation Went Missing as Trump Left Office
      
      A binder given to the Trump White House contained details that intelligence agencies believe could reveal secret sources and methods.
    - Meduza ☛ Presidential Interethnic Relations Council member warns that Russian youths studying Elvish language poses ‘serious threat’ — Meduza
    - RFERL ☛ Belarusian University Docent Detained On Unspecified Charges Amid Crackdown
      
      Belarusian police detained docent Alyaksey Semyantsou of the Belarusian State University on December 15 on unspecified charges amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent, independent media, and democratic institutions.
    - Meduza ☛ Independent survey finds majority of Russians oppose pardoning serious offenders for participating in war — Meduza
    - Meduza ☛ ‘Irritating to authorities’ How Russia’s Justice Ministry decides who’s a ‘foreign agent’ — Meduza
- Transparency/Investigative Reporting
  - CNN ☛ The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump
    
    A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
    
    Its disappearance, which has not been previously reported, was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government’s efforts to retrieve them, the sources said.
  - Futurism ☛ Zuckerberg Building $100 Million Compound With Secret Bunker
    
    Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife are building a top-secret $100 million mansion on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, which includes a sprawling, 5,000-square-foot bunker that has its own source of power.
    
    As Wired reports, the gargantuan estate — one of the most expensive properties in the world that cost an additional $170 in land purchases — is so shrouded in secrecy that any tradesperson or security personnel working at the site gets fired immediately for talking to the press.
  - Wired ☛ Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Top-Secret Hawaii Compound
    
    Nobody working on this project is allowed to talk about what they’re building. Almost anyone who passes compound security—from carpenters to electricians to painters to security guards—is bound by a strict nondisclosure agreement, according to several workers involved in the project. And, they say, these agreements aren’t a formality. Multiple workers claim they saw or heard about colleagues removed from the project for posting about it on social media. Different construction crews within the site are assigned to separate projects and workers are forbidden from speaking with other crews about their work, sources say.
- Environment
  - NPR ☛ The U.S. is unprepared for the growing threat of mosquito- and tick-borne viruses
    
    The signs have long been obvious to tropical disease researchers.
    
    "We don't pay enough attention in the United States to what is going on in other countries. We just kind of watch it spread and we don't prepare ourselves for that virus potentially coming to the U.S.," Laura Kramer, director of the Arbovirus Laboratory at State University of New York at Albany, told the workshop attendees. "That happened with Zika, chikungunya and West Nile."
  - The Nation ☛ The Poorest Nations Are Hit Hard by Climate Change
  - Wildlife/Nature
    - SETI Intsitute ☛ Whale-SETI: Groundbreaking Encounter with Humpback Whales Reveals Potential for Non-Human Intelligence Communication
      
      A description and analysis of the encounter appears in a recent issue of the journal Peer J. entitled: “Interactive Bioacoustic Playback as a Tool for Detecting and Exploring Nonhuman Intelligence: “Conversing” with an Alaskan Humpback Whale.” “We believe this is the first such communicative exchange between humans and humpback whales in the humpback “language,” said lead author Dr. Brenda McCowan of U.C. Davis. “Humpback whales are extremely intelligent, have complex social systems, make tools - nets out of bubbles to catch fish -, and communicate extensively with both songs and social calls,” said coauthor Dr. Fred Sharpe of the Alaska Whale Foundation.
    - Reason ☛ Why Are California's Animal Shelters Killing So Many Pets?
      
      Blame lingering pandemic-era restrictions that make it harder for people to find a dog or cat they'd like to adopt.
    - Science Alert ☛ 'Gifted' Dogs Are a Rare Phenomenon. Scientists Want to Know Their Secret.
      
      What sets them apart?
  - Overpopulation
    - Axios ☛ "The donut effect" is reshaping America's cities
      
      Today, the phenomenon is "quite evident in some of our top-performing cities, such as Dallas, Houston and Austin," says Maggie Switek, director of regional economics in the Milken Institute's research department. "What this is leading to is high commercial vacancy rates in these major places."
    - The Hindu ☛ Half of country’s population will be living in cities in few decades: Union Minister Kishore
      
      “Earlier, 20 per cent of our population lived in cities, while 80 per cent in villages. Now, the share of the urban population stands at 30 per cent, while 70 per cent live in rural areas. Today, we are seeing a trend wherein people want to own a house in the city (where they work) and in their village too,” said the Minister in his address.
      
      “The way cities are being developed and urbanisation is picking up pace in the country, we expect that the ratio of the urban and rural population will be 50:50 in the next few decades, which means nearly half of the population will be living in cities. In view of this, PM Modi has already launched various schemes for the city dwellers,” said Mr. Kishore.
- Finance
  - Meduza ☛ Russian Central Bank raises key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16 percent — Meduza
  - Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ Apple is now worth the same as entire French stock market
    
    The French stock market itself is at a record high this week, propelled by luxury goods companies including Louis Vuitton owner LVMH and Birkin bag manufacturer Hermes International. The stocks pulled back starting in midyear, only to rev up again in recent weeks as evidence grew that inflation is cooling and thus interest rates may have peaked, with no sign of a recession in the US.
  - New York Times ☛ Russia’s Central Bank Raises Rates to 16 Percent
    
    The bank warned that its tight monetary policy would continue “for a long period” as it attempts to slow an economy in danger of overheating.
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
  - Michael Geist ☛ Bill C-18 is Dead, Long Live Bill C-18: Government Rewrites Online News Act With Final Regulations
    
    The government this morning released the final Online News Act regulations, effectively gutting the law in order to convince Google to refrain from blocking news links in Canada and to fix some of the legislative mistakes that have been apparent from the start. While proponents of the law will point to the $100 million contribution from Google as evidence of success, privately most in the industry and government acknowledge the obvious: Bill C-18 was deeply flawed and a massive miscalculation that has created far more harm than good. Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge seemingly agrees as she was willing to make changes that were derided by the government throughout the legislative process. Indeed, by the time St-Onge took over the file that was a challenging salvage job, Meta’s $20 million in news deals were lost and blocked news links on Facebook and Instagram was a reality. The prospect of the same happening with Google was too much for the industry and the government since the lost deals would have been at least double that amount (many believe in the $40-50 million range) and lost news links in search would have been catastrophic.
  - Scoop News Group ☛ CISA urges vendors to get rid of default passwords
    
    The call to action comes shortly after CISA, the National Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence released additional secure-by-design guidance for open source software development. The release is a product of the Enduring Security Framework’s Software Supply Chain Working Group, which is made up of NSA, ODNI and CISA. The guidance is a part of a larger effort to secure the software supply chain that stems from an executive order on improving U.S. cybersecurity.
    
    “Software incorporated and/or utilized through open source may have embedded issues. It is imperative that we pay close attention to how these modules are bundled with the software at release,” the release said.
  - USDOD ☛ Securing the Software Supply Chain: Recommended Practices for Managing Open-Source Software and Software Bill of Materials [PDF]
    
    Similarly, the ESF Software Supply Chain Working Panel established this second phase of guidance to provide further details for several of the Phase I Recommended Practices Guide activities. This guidance may be used to describe, assess, and measure security practices relative to the software lifecycle. Additionally, the suggested practices listed herein may be applied across a software supply chain’s acquisition, deployment, and operational phases. The software supplier is responsible for liaising between the customer and software developer. Accordingly, vendor responsibilities include ensuring the integrity and security of software via contractual agreements, software releases and updates, notifications, and the mitigation of vulnerabilities. This guidance contains recommended best practices and standards to aid customers in these tasks.
    
    This document aligns with industry best practices and principles that software developers and software suppliers can reference. These principles include managing open-source software and software bills of materials to maintain and provide awareness about software security.
  - New York Times ☛ TikTok’s Bow Trend Gets Absurd
    
    In an unstoppable Fentanylware (TikTok) trend that is growing more satirical by the day, pretty pink ribbons keep popping up in all the wrong places.
  - Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
    - Vice Media Group ☛ X Lags Behind TikTok, Meta In Restricting ‘Nudify’ Apps for Non-Consensual Hey Hi (AI) Porn
      
      A week after Fentanylware (TikTok) and Meta blocked certain search terms related to so-called "nudify" apps, X has not taken the same measures, Motherboard found.
- Censorship/Free Speech
  - NPR ☛ 'Fear rather than sensitivity': Most U.S. scholars on the Mideast are self-censoring
    
    The poll found the scholars were also more likely to self-censor when talking about Israeli-Palestinian issues, with 82% saying they felt the need to do so.
  - RFERL ☛ Russian Publisher, Stores Drop Writers Over Pro-Ukrain comments
    
    One of Russia's largest book publishers and the country's biggest bookstore chain said on December 15 they were dropping two prominent Russian writers over pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian comments. [...]
  - The Straits Times ☛ Meta, Fentanylware (TikTok) report jump in Malaysia govt requests to remove content in 2023
    
    Malaysia made more requests to restrict content on Fentanylware (TikTok) than any other government in South-east Asia.
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
  - YLE ☛ Finland's editors' association pressing government for change in tax law
    
    The Supreme Administrative Court held that the funds paid by the employer to cover legal fees was a part of the journalist's taxable income.
    
    Finland's Association of Editors says that the decision could lead to self-censorship by reporters, and it has issued a demand for the government to make changes to tax legislation regarding legal aid for journalists.
  - CPJ ☛ Four DRC journalists attacked or threatened while covering election campaigns, one radio station closed
    
    “Attacks on journalists Jerry Lombo Alauwa, Mao Zigabe, and Neyker Tokolo, threats against reporter John Kanyunyu Kyota, and the closure of Radio Top Lisala are stark examples of the various dangers faced by Congolese press covering ongoing election campaigns,” said Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative, in Nairobi. “The safety of journalists is absolutely critical as the DRC approaches its nationwide elections on December 20, and authorities must ensure reporters are able to cover campaign events and voting without fear of reprisal.”
  - Democracy Now ☛ “Politics of Memory”: Masha Gessen’s Hannah Arendt Prize Postponed for Comparing Gaza to Warsaw Ghetto
    
    We speak with the acclaimed Russian American writer Masha Gessen, whose latest article for The New Yorker looks at the politics of Holocaust commemoration in Europe. Gessen was scheduled to receive the prestigious Hannah Arendt Prize in Germany on December 15, but the ceremony was postponed after some award sponsors withdrew support over Gessen’s comparison in the article of Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto. A smaller award ceremony is set for Saturday. Gessen says Germany’s culture of learning about and atoning for the sins of the Nazi regime has morphed into steadfast support for the state of Israel despite its actions, while banning most forms of pro-Palestinian solidarity as part of a flawed effort to fight antisemitism. The cornerstone of this form of “memory politics” is that “you can’t compare the Holocaust to anything,” says Gessen. “My argument is that in order to learn from history, we have to compare.”
- Civil Rights/Policing
  - RFA ☛ Tibetan activist and former political prisoner dies at 54
    
    Lodoe, who was born in Meldrogunkar county near Lhasa, was first arrested in 1992 for participating in a protest against the Chinese government.
    
    “Kunchok Lodoe, along with four other Tibetans, took to the streets on June 30, 1992, to protest the Chinese government,” Sangdrol recounted.
  - NPR ☛ No charges filed after police shot an 11-year-old who called for help, officials say
    
    Aderrien's mother, Nakala Murry, is asking for the body camera footage from the incident to be released publicly.
    
    "Watching that footage was nothing I was prepared for emotionally, but it was something I had to do," she said during a Wednesday press conference, Mississippi Today reports.
  - Nonprofit Mississippi News ☛ Grand jury clears Indianola officer who shot 11-year-old boy
    
    Moore filed a motion to compel the release of the video, which a judge approved last week but with restrictions: Nakala Murry, Moore and his legal team could view it, but they would not be allowed to share the video or any description about it publicly.
  - Gannett ☛ Springdale officer shoots, kills dogs during attack, strikes victim in the process
    
    When medics from the Springdale Fire Department began treating King, they realized one of the rounds struck him in the leg, officials said. He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
  - Axios ☛ Homelessness in the U.S. jumped to record level in 2023, government says
    
    The big picture: Homelessness increased by about 12% nationwide since last year, and it rose across all household types, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said in a new report.
  - The Register UK ☛ Europe inches closer to insisting gig workers are treated as employees
    
    Millions of contractors for digital platforms – often referred to as gig workers – may soon be classified as employees in the European Union.
    
    The European Council and the European Parliament on Wednesday announced a provisional agreement, after two years of negotiation, designed to clarify the employment status of such workers. These are the people who sign up to apps to deliver takeout, do DIY work, and perform other tasks for users.
- Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
  - Techdirt ☛ What’s Left Of Cable TV Is Slowly Going To Hell
    
    We just got done noting how 2023 was finally the year that streaming fully surpassed traditional TV in terms of overall paying subscribers. A very obvious “cord cutting” trend that executives spent years claiming was fake or a fad is now the majority norm.
  - Bruce Schneier ☛ A Robot the Size of the World
    
    In 2016, I wrote about an Internet that affected the world in a direct, physical manner. It was connected to your smartphone. It had sensors like cameras and thermostats. It had actuators: Drones, autonomous cars. And it had smarts in the middle, using sensor data to figure out what to do and then actually do it. This was the Internet of Things (IoT).
    
    The classical definition of a robot is something that senses, thinks, and acts—that’s today’s Internet. We’ve been building a world-sized robot without even realizing it.
  - December 2023 Web Server Survey
    
    In the December 2023 survey we received responses from 1,088,057,023 sites across 269,268,434 domains and 12,355,610 web-facing computers. This reflects a loss of 4.1 million sites, an increase of 238,593 domains, and a loss of 128,028 web-facing computers.
    
    nginx experienced the largest loss of 4.5 million sites (-1.79%) this month, and now accounts for 22.5% of sites seen by Netcraft. Abusive Monopolist Microsoft suffered the next largest loss, down by 2.5 million sites (-9.65%).
    
    OpenResty remains the largest growing vendor, gaining 3.3 million sites (+3.64%) and increasing its market share to 8.71%. Second to OpenResty is Google, which gained 1.5 million sites (+2.65%).

^* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.

Links 16/12/2023: Britain Investigates Harms by Social Control Media, Data Dragnet Warrants Illuminated

Contents

Leftovers

Hackaday ☛ Hackaday Podcast Episode 248: Cthulhu Clock Radio Transharmonium, Thunderscan, And How To Fill Up In Space

Manuel Moreale ☛ P&B: Jamie Thingelstad

Science Alert ☛ Arcane Navigation Device Holds a Hidden Clue That Reveals Its Origins

Science

Scoop News Group ☛ National Science Foundation is looking to approve more uses of generative AI

National Science Foundation ☛ Notice to research community: Use of generative artificial intelligence technology in the NSF merit review process

Science Alert ☛ 'Time Cells' in Human Brain Encode The Flow of Time, Study Finds

Education

Tech Central (South Africa) ☛ Elon Musk is planning a new university

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

India Times ☛ Britain weighs new consultation on social media impact on teens

Techdirt ☛ New Jersey Is The Latest To Push A Harmful Moral Panic ‘Think Of The Kids’ Social Media Bill

Matthew Perry denounced ketamine in his memoir, said it made him think he was ‘dying’

New York Times ☛ Matthew Perry Died of ‘Acute Effects of Ketamine,’ Autopsy Says

MIT Technology Review ☛ Needle-free covid vaccines are (still) in the works [Ed: Will there actually be clinical trials this time around or will they mostly skip that on rely on the governments blackmailing people into prematurely taking mostly untested things?]

teleSUR ☛ California's Food Insecurity Deepens as Pandemic Aid Fades

New York Times ☛ Bird Flu Is Still Causing Havoc. Here’s The Latest.

European Commission ☛ Reports confirm the European Health Union is better prepared to combat health threats

Mexico News Daily ☛ The Spanish you need to keep your health routine in Mexico

Digital Music News ☛ How To Take Care of Your Mental Health as a Musician

Science Alert ☛ Identical Twins Mystery: When 1 Has Dementia, Both Face a Shorter Life

New York Times ☛ China Braces for Cold Wave After Snow Causes Train Crash

Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

India Times ☛ Gen Z and millennials constituted over 70% of monthly active users on ShareChat this year

India Times ☛ US judge tentatively rules Elon Musk must testify again in SEC's Twitter probe

[Old] Paul D Fernhout ☛ Reasons Not to Use Slack for Free Software Development

Simon Willison ☛ The AI trust crisis

BGR ☛ If AI starts manipulating public opinion, we’ll never see it coming

CNN ☛ Former Facebook employee pleads guilty to stealing $4 million

CBC ☛ AI-generated fake nude photos of girls from Winnipeg school posted online

India Times ☛ US regulators add artificial intelligence to potential financial system risks

Interesting Engineering ☛ SITA report anticipates 97% AI integration in aviation landscape

Security

Privacy/Surveillance

La Quadature Du Net ☛ Encryption discussion during the 8 December trial: from myth to reality

EFF ☛ The Surveillance Showdown That Fizzled

Reason ☛ Is Compelled Decryption Heading to the Supreme Court?

BBC ☛ Controversial clothes hook spy cameras for sale on Amazon

The Register UK ☛ To BCC or not to BCC – that is the question data watchdog wants answered

The Register UK ☛ Google hopes to end tsunami of data dragnet warrants with Location History shakeup

SITA ☛ Meet the Megatrends: SITA’s innovation report explores 12 key trends that will shape the travel industry over the next decade.

Defence/Aggression

Spiegel ☛ Arrests Suggest Terrorist Organization Is Operating in Europe

Meduza ☛ Man sets off grenades in village council meeting in western Ukraine — Meduza

The Nation ☛ Why Have Feminists Been So Slow to Condemn the Hamas Rapes?

US News And World Report ☛ Ukraine Puts Head of Russian Church on 'Wanted' List

JURIST ☛ Finland closes all land borders with Russia amid surge of illegal immigration

The Straits Times ☛ US, South Korea to draw up joint nuclear defence guideline against North Korean threat: Report

RFA ☛ N Korea may launch long-range missile this month, S Korean official says

New York Times ☛ U.S. Military Returns to the Jungle, Training for a Very Different Threat

Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

Atlantic Council ☛ Russian War Report: Putin to run for re-election in annexed regions of Ukraine

teleSUR ☛ Russia Repels Ukrainian Landing Attempt in Kherson

Security Week ☛ In Other News: Ukraine Hacks Russia, CVE for Water ICS Attacks, New defective chip maker Intel Xeon CPUs

Silicon Angle ☛ Three insights you might have missed from the Cyber Resiliency Summit event

Atlantic Council ☛ Experts react to the EU starting Ukraine membership talks while failing to agree on aid

RFERL ☛ Air Assaults Persist, Including On Kyiv, As Zelenskiy Preps Ukrainians For 'Active' Weeks Ahead

RFERL ☛ EU, Von Der Leyen Seeking 'Potential Alternatives' On Ukraine Aid Amid Hungary Veto

RFERL ☛ Kyiv's Antiaircraft Units Engage As Late-Night Drone Attack Launched On Capital

RFERL ☛ Ukraine Sets Increasing Domestic Weapons Production As Goal For 2024

RFERL ☛ Russian Publisher, Stores Drop Writers Over Pro-Ukraine Comments

RFERL ☛ Village Council Member Detonates Grenades During Meeting In Ukraine's Zakarpattya, Killing One, Wounding Dozens

teleSUR ☛ Europeans Negotiate the Conflict Behind Ukraine's Back: Lavrov

YLE ☛ PM Orpo: Hungary is "in a different camp to the rest" after blocking Ukraine aid

YLE ☛ Finland starts preliminary war crimes investigation targeting Russian suspect

JURIST ☛ Finland closes all land borders with Russia amid surge of illegal immigration

France24 ☛ Kremlin critic Navalny taken from Moscow prison to unknown location: spokesperson

teleSUR ☛ Russia Demands to Clarify the Participation of Neutral Athletes

RFERL ☛ U.S. Envoy Visits Wall Street Journal Reporter Held In Moscow

teleSUR ☛ Finland Set to Sign Defense Deal With Washington

TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Russian musician helps to energize the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s ‘Messiah’

YLE ☛ Frayed nerves at Vaalimaa border crossing as Finland-Russia traffic ends early

Marcy Wheeler ☛ Alex Cannon and the Missing Russian Binder

New York Times ☛ Material From Russia Investigation Went Missing as Trump Left Office

Meduza ☛ Presidential Interethnic Relations Council member warns that Russian youths studying Elvish language poses ‘serious threat’ — Meduza

RFERL ☛ Belarusian University Docent Detained On Unspecified Charges Amid Crackdown

Meduza ☛ Independent survey finds majority of Russians oppose pardoning serious offenders for participating in war — Meduza