Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Wear Testing Different 3D Printer Filaments

  Over the couple of decades or so since it started to be available at an affordable level, 3D printing has revolutionized the process of making custom objects. But as anyone with a 3D printer will know, sometimes the materials don’t quite live up to the application. There is a huge variety of available filaments to help make better prints, but which one really is the most hard-wearing? [My Tech Fun] set out to measure the resistance to wear of a variety of different 3D printed materials.

• Hackaday ☛ Lamp Becomes Rotating, Illuminated Sign For Festival Table

  Two things we love are economical solutions to problems, and clever ways to use things for other than their intended purpose. [CelGenStudios] hits both bases with a simple illuminated and spinning sign made from a lamp and a couple economical pieces of hardware: an LED bulb, and a solar-powered product spinner. Both are readily and cheaply available from your favorite overseas source.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Aphantasia Is a Spectrum. Here's What It's Like to Have a Completely 'Blind Mind'.

    What do you imagine?

  • Science Alert ☛ Ever Wanted a Brain Transplant? Here Are The Challenges We Face.

    Do not try this at home.

  • Science Alert ☛ Rare Genetic Variants Are Curiously Connected With Being Left-Handed

    A surprising twist.

  • Science Alert ☛ Wild Birds Seen Using Their Wings to Politely Gesture in a Surprising First

    No, please, after you.

• Education

  • Reason ☛ More Than 1 in 4 Kids Are Chronically Absent From School, Report Shows

    Since COVID-era school closures, chronic absenteeism has increased from 15 to 26 percent, with poor districts struggling the most.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Multiply Your Multimeter With Relays And USB

    Multimeters are a bit like potato chips: you can’t have just one. But they’re a lot more expensive than potato chips, especially the good ones, and while it’s tempting to just go get another one when you need to make multiple measurements, sometimes it’s not practical. That’s why something like this 2×4 relay-based multiplexer might be a handy addition to your bench

  • CubicleNate ☛ 3D Printed Whiteboard Marker Clips

    I purchased a whiteboard at the request of my oldest son for his bedroom to help him be more organized or maybe just to get away with drawing on the wall with markers. Either way.

  • CNX Software ☛ Murata Type 2GT tiny LoRa module features Semtech LR1121 with Sub-GHz ISM, 2.4GHz, satellite S-Band support

    Murata Type 2GT module is a tiny multi-band, low-power radio LoRa module based on the Semtech LR1121, the successor of the LR1120, that supports 860 to 930 MHz and 2.4GHz ISM bands, as well as the 2.1 GHz Satellite S-Band meaning it can work globally. The Type 2GT module measures just 9.98 x 8.70 x 1.74mm and is built on a PCB housed in a metal case and packaged as a land grid array.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Reason ☛ The Bad Science Behind Jonathan Haidt's Call to Regulate Social Control Media

    Only 22 of the 476 studies in The Anxious Generation contain data on either heavy social control media use or serious mental issues among adolescents, and none have data on both.

  • Pro Publica ☛ What Is Toddler Milk? What Parents Should Know About the Companies That Market It.

    If you’re a parent, you might have noticed toddler “milk” while browsing the formula aisle. The powdered drink, aimed at children between 1 and 3, often pledges benefits like “improved brain development” or “improved immune function.”

    But you may not know that these products are largely unregulated and make claims that are not supported by science, according to studies. For this reason, among others, public health authorities around the world have long sought to police such advertising. Yet despite these efforts, toddler milk has grown to become a $20 billion global business.

  • Mark Sircus tries to rebrand quackery as “natural allopathic medicine”

    “Allopathy” or “allopathic medicine” is commonly defined as “system in which medical doctors and other health care professionals (such as nurses, pharmacists, and therapists) treat symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation, or surgery,” with synonyms including—but not limited to—terms like biomedicine, conventional medicine, mainstream medicine, orthodox medicine, and Western medicine. Regular readers, of course, will immediately see the problem with this definition, as well as the synonyms, most of which are favored by quacks, but what many people don’t realize is where the term “allopathic medicine” came from in the first place. The term “allopathy,” and hence “allopathic medicine,” was originally coined by the inventor of The One Quackery To Rule Them All, homeopathy, in order to distinguish homeopathy from conventional medicine. According to Hahneman the word “allopathy” derives from the Greek word allos, meaning other or opposite. Hahnemann meant it to describe what he viewed as a medical system that treats a symptom with something that causes its opposite, as in using a laxative to treat constipation. In comparison, his quackery homeopathy was based on the Law of Similars, which is often phrased as “like cures like” and states that to treat a disease you should use massively something that normally causes the symptom being treated (diluted to nonexistence according to the Law of Infinitesimals, of course). Basically, because Hahnemann viewed homeopathy as superior, his use of the term “allopathy” was coined with an implied denigration of any medicine that wasn’t homeopathy.

  • New York Times ☛ To Curb Bird Flu, Taxpayers Pay Millions to Kill Poultry. Is It Needed?

    Big poultry farms have received millions of dollars for their losses. Animal welfare groups contend that aid reinforces inhumane cullings of birds exposed to the virus.

  • Science Alert ☛ If You Want to Feel Young And Rejuvenated, One Habit Is Key

    It could make a perceived 10-year difference.

  • New York Times ☛ The Organ Is Still Working. But It’s Not in a Body Anymore.

    Perfusion keeps a donated organ alive outside the body, giving surgeons extra time and increasing the number of transplants possible.

  • RFA ☛ Vietnamese political prisoner denied traditional medicine

    Nguyen Thi Tam’s health is getting worse, her daughter says.

  • Stanford University ☛ Central Valley hospital extends critical cardiac care with Stanford Med

    Kaweah Health, the largest hospital in Tulare County and a critical healthcare services provider to underserved populations in Central Valley, recently affiliated with Stanford Medicine’s Cardiac Surgery Program. Surgeons are employed by Stanford Medicine, but live and work in Visalia.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Amazon to lay off hundreds of workers in its cloud computing division

    Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing division of Amazon.com, is set to cut hundreds of jobs as part of cost-cutting measures.

    These cuts will impact both sales and marketing teams, as well as the team working on technology for Amazon’s physical stores.

  • Neowin ☛ Microsoft reportedly reduced its Teams workforce to put more people on Copilot [Ed: Microsoft-connected site offers Microsoft spin on Microsoft layoffs]

    Microsoft Teams remains a very popular service, but in a new report from Business Insider, it looks like Microsoft is reducing the number of its employees who work on Teams. Some of them may have moved over to work on Copilot.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Techdirt ☛ Indianapolis PD Test Drives Three Gunshot Detection Systems, Decides None Are Worth Paying For

      No matter who’s pitching the system, gunshot detection just doesn’t seem to be having any affect on crime rates or clearing investigations.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong privacy watchdog finds ‘clear oversight’ in tech park data leak

      Hong Kong technology park Cyperport’s infrequent security audits and unnecessary retention of personal data were among the deficiencies that allowed its servers to be attacked by malicious ransomware last August, the city’s privacy watchdog has found.

    • Google ☛ Fighting cookie theft using device bound sessions [Ed: But Google steals all your cookies at the browser and Web level; that's considered OK?]

      Cookies – small files created by sites you visit – are fundamental to the modern web. They make your online experience easier by saving browsing information, so that sites can do things like keep you signed in and remember your site preferences. Due to their powerful utility, cookies are also a lucrative target for attackers.

    • Security Week ☛ Chrome to Fight Cookie Theft With Device Bound Session Credentials [Ed: Only Google can steal cookies, according to Google]

      Google is bringing to Chrome new features to bind browser sessions to the device and protect users against cookie theft.

• Defence/Aggression

  • ADF ☛ Terrorist Blockades Prevent Aid from Reaching 500,000 in Burkina Faso

    Hawa left her Burkina Faso home due to terrorist attacks five years ago and went to a town in the nation’s Sahel region. There, she depended on humanitarian aid to feed her family and picked vegetation from the bush to sell and eat. Although Burkina Faso’s ruling military junta led by Capt.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea says it test-fired new solid-fuel hypersonic missile

    SEOUL - North Korea successfully test-fired a new mid- to long-range solid-fuel, hypersonic missile, state media KCNA said on Wednesday.

  • RFA ☛ Hainan collision anniversary stokes South China Sea tension

    Chinese netizens praise dead pilot’s heroism and condemn US interference

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar junta hosts China’s envoy for border issue talks

    The talks come after a week of conflict between the junta and a rebel army on the Chinese border.

  • RFA ☛ Xi and Biden hold first phone call in nearly 2 years

    The call comes ahead of trips to Beijing by the US secretaries of Treasury and State.

  • RFA ☛ China names 30 places in Indian-controlled Arunachal Pradesh

    India rejects Beijing’s move, which seems aimed at bolstering its claims to disputed territory.

  • RFA ☛ Did China Coast Guard ships ignore ‘prohibited waters’ around Taiwan’s Kinmen area?

    Verdict: Misleading

  • Defence Web ☛ Chinese naval task force visiting Mozambique

    Fresh after a stop in Tanzania, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN’s) 45th naval escort task force is now visiting Mozambique. On the morning of 1 April the task force arrived in Maputo and began a five-day goodwill visit, the PLAN reported.

  • teleSUR ☛ Israeli Airstrike Kills World Central Kitchen Aid Workers

    Seven WCK members died while traveling in a car helping Gazans facing severe food shortages.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia outraged by death of aid worker in Israeli airstrike

    Israel said it had mistakenly killed seven people working for the aid charity World Central Kitchen in Gaza.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Fatal strike on World Central Kitchen workers ripples across aid delivery

    Seven international aid workers and their Palestinian driver were killed by an Israeli airstrike hours after they delivered a shipload of food to northern Gaza, which has been pushed to the brink of famine by Israel’s offensive.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel’s Attack on Aid Workers Can Only Make Hunger in Gaza Worse

    The strikes on World Central Kitchen damaged Israel’s credibility, and are an embarrassment to the U.S.

  • New York Times ☛ Middle East Crisis: Israeli Strikes on Aid Convoy Prompts Condemnation and an Apology From Netanyahu

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “deeply regrets” the strikes that killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen in Gaza.

  • New York Times ☛ Wednesday Briefing: Aid Workers Killed in Gaza

    Plus, President Biden talked to Pooh-tin Jinping.

  • New York Times ☛ What We Know About the World Central Kitchen Strike Victims in Gaza

    The group said one of the seven workers who was killed was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, while the others were from Australia, Britain, Gaza and Poland.

  • New York Times ☛ What We Know About the Strike That Killed World Central Kitchen Workers in Gaza

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel acknowledged on Tuesday a “tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people.”

  • New York Times ☛ Gaza Aid Groups Fear for Safety After Strike on World Central Kitchen

    “Gaza right now is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a humanitarian worker,” a spokeswoman for Save the Children said after a strike killed World Central Kitchen workers.

  • New York Times ☛ Israeli Strikes Kill 7 Aid Workers in Gaza

    The attack on clearly marked vehicles run by the World Central Kitchen shows how dangerous relief work has been during the war, and adds fuel to accusations that Israel has bombed indiscriminately.

  • France24 ☛ 🔴Live: Israel’s Herzog apologises for strike that killed Gaza aid workers

    Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday expressed his “deep sorrow and sincere apologies” for the “tragic loss of life” after at least seven foreign aid workers and their Palestinian driver were killed in an Israeli air strike on Monday. The Israeli military said that an independent, professional expert body would investigate the killing of the World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza.

  • France24 ☛ Iran warns Israel that it will 'punish' deadly strike on Damascus consular building

    Iran warned arch foe Israel on Tuesday that it will "punish" an air strike that killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals, at its consular annex in Damascus.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China condemns Israeli air strikes that destroyed Iranian consular annex in Syria

    China condemned on Tuesday deadly air strikes that destroyed the consular annex at the Iranian embassy in Damascus, killing two high-level members of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iranian and Syrian officials blamed Israel for Monday’s attack, though Israel declined to comment.

  • New York Times ☛ A Timeline of Iran and Israel’s Shadow War Across the Middle East

    The regional rivals have for decades targeted each other’s interests, including with a recent strike in Syria that killed three Iranian commanders. Here are some other notable flash points.

  • New York Times ☛ Strike in Damascus Escalates Israel’s Undeclared War With Iran

    Tehran promises major retaliation, and the danger of a miscalculation is ever-present. But neither side wants a major shooting war, given the stakes.

  • RFERL ☛ U.S. Says It Had 'Nothing To Do' With Strike On Iranian Consulate In Syria

    The United States had no involvement in an air strike on Iran's consular annex building in the Syrian capital, Damascus, that Tehran blamed on Israel, the White House said on April 2.

  • New York Times ☛ Fears Grow That Syria Strikes Could Spur Retaliatory Attacks on Israel and U.S.

    Current and former American officials say the airstrikes on an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus were a serious blow to Tehran.

  • New York Times ☛ Iran Says the Deadly Israeli Strike in Damascus Will Not Go Unanswered

    Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said Israel would be punished for the strike, which killed three top commanders.

  • New York Times ☛ What We Know About the Iranian Commanders Killed by Israel in Syria

    The leaders included Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the senior most leader in Iran’s armed forces assassinated since Qassim Suleimani was killed in 2020.

  • RFERL ☛ Tehran Vows Revenge For Damascus Embassy Attack It Blames On Israel

    Tehran has vowed revenge after several people, including a senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), were killed in an air strike on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus over the weekend that has been attributed to Israel.

  • France24 ☛ French FM Séjourné 'strongly condemns' killing of Gaza aid workers

    French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné on Tuesday "strongly condemned" the Israeli air strike that killed seven people working for the US charity World Central Kitchen in Gaza during a press conference in Paris with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The top diplomats also reiterated the need for Western support of Ukraine in its war with Russia.

  • JURIST ☛ Libya leader’s home targeted with rocket-propelled grenades

    The home of Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah was hit by rocket-propelled grenades on Sunday, in what is believed to be a targeted attack. No casualties and minimal damages were reported by an anonymous Libyan minister, and no one has currently claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack could further separate an already divided country.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ Not so long ago, Tajikistan blamed an ISIS attack on its political enemies. Now it’s helping Russia ‘investigate’ the Crocus shooting. — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ Russian and Belarusian real estate in Latvia revealed by Latvian Radio

      Latvian Radio's 'Atvērtie Faili' (Open Files) investigative show has tackled an important topic in its latest show – the large real estate portfolios in Latvia of dictators Vladimir Putin of Russia and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvians asked to keep up donations to Ukraine

      There are still plenty of needs in war-torn Ukraine but the amount of donations has shrunk. In spite of this, another convoy of vans of the society “Tev” (For You) goes to Kherson with a load of aid. One of them will take help to a bomb shelter, Latvian Television reported on April 1.

    • AntiWar ☛ Ukraine’s Economy Will, Ultimately, Lose It the War

      In his recent article on attritional warfare, Alex Vershinin at the Royal United Services Institute remarked that ‘war is won by economies, not armies’. Put another way, the country that can outspend its rival in military endeavour will ultimately prevail.

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky lowers army conscription age from 27 to 25

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday signed into law a measure lowering the country's army mobilisation age from 27 to 25, the parliament said on its website.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Signs Bill On Lowering Mobilization Age From 27 To 25

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on April 2 signed into law a bill lowering the mobilization age from 27 to 25, the website of the Ukrainian parliament -- the Verkhovna Rada -- said.

    • France24 ☛ Russia reports drone attacks on industrial site over 1,000 km from Ukraine

      A Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's central Tatarstan region – hundreds of miles from the countries' shared border – wounded over a dozen people, health officials said Tuesday.

    • LRT ☛ More Ukrainian war refugees in Lithuania seek mental help

      Ukrainian war refugees have started seeking more mental help in Lithuania, says Mantas Jersovas, a psychologist at the Vilnius Office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM Lithuania).

    • LRT ☛ Over half of Lithuanians are against sending troops to Ukraine

      More than half of people in Lithuania are against any deployment of Lithuanian forces to Ukraine, according to a new Vilmorus poll conducted for BNS following French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent suggestions that deployment of Western troops to Ukraine cannot be ruled out.

    • RFERL ☛ NATO Chief Floats 100 Billion-Euro Fund To Arm Ukraine

      NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has proposed creating a 100 billion-euro ($108 illion), five-year fund for Ukraine in a push to get the alliance more involved in sending weapons to Kyiv.

    • RFERL ☛ In Paris, Blinken Warns Of 'Critical Moment' For Ukraine

      Ukraine is at a "critical moment" in its war with Russia and urgently needs more Western support, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 2, bemoaning the stalemate in Congress over a multibillion dollar military package for Kyiv.

    • RFERL ☛ Ex-Mediazona Publisher Sentenced In Absentia In Moscow

      A Moscow court on April 2 sentenced Pyotr Verzilov, the former publisher of the independent media website Mediazona, to eight years and four months in prison in absentia in a retrial on a charge of distributing fake news about Russian troops involved in the invasion of Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Germany To Support Ukraine With 180,000 Artillery Shells Via Czech Initiative

      Germany will support Ukraine with 180,000 rounds of artillery shells as a contribution to a Czech-led plan to buy ammunition for Ukraine, with a price tag of 576 million euros ($618 million), the Defense Ministry said.

    • RFERL ☛ Missiles Hit Ukraine's Dnipro After Drone Attack On Industrial Targets Deep Inside Russia

      Drones struck industrial facilities, including drone-production sites, in Russia’s Tatarstan region on April 2, injuring 18 people, local officials said, in what appears to be the deepest such strike inside Russia.

    • RFERL ☛ Kyiv Tells War Crimes Conference That Ukrainians 'Want To See Justice Delivered'

      Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has announced that Ukrainians can now file claims for damages suffered in Russia's invasion at a newly established register based in The Hague.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. House Speaker Says 'Important Innovations' Could Help Bring Hard-Liners Along On Ukraine Aid

      U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (Republican-Louisiana) said he wants new Ukraine aid approved “right away” and cited “important innovations” to a potential assistance package that Kyiv said it desperately needs to battle against Russian forces.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Drones Hit Oil Refinery and Factory Deep in Russia

      Ukrainian media and analysts, and Russian officials, said Ukraine had carried out the attack some 700 miles from the land it controls. Ukraine’s military and intelligence forces declined to comment.

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Arms Industry Is Growing, but Is It Growing Fast Enough?

      Kyiv is aiming to build its own weapons to bring the fight to Russia. But it will take time Ukraine might not have.

    • Latvia ☛ Security service sees no sanction breach in sale of Russian billionaires' helicopter

      At the end of March, the State Security Service (VDD) terminated the criminal proceedings on the alleged attempt to violate European Union (EU) sanctions against billionaire Petr (Pyotr) Aven in connection with the sale of a Bell 429 helicopter owned by him and "Amber Latvijas balzams"owner, billionaire Yuri Shefler, LETA news agency reports.

    • Defence Web ☛ Russian frigate Marshall Shaposhnikov arrives in Massawa, Eritrea

      The Russian Pacific Fleet frigate, Marshal Shaposhnikov (BPK543), arrived in the Eritrean port of Massawa on Thursday 28 March for a five day visit. En route, the frigate, part of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, negotiated without incident through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into the lower Red Sea.

    • RFERL ☛ Fire-Safety Violations Alleged As Lawsuits Filed Over Crocus City Hall Terror Attack

      A lawyer for several survivors and relatives of victims of the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall entertainment center near Moscow said many have filed lawsuits against the venue's owners, accusing them of fire safety violations.

    • RFERL ☛ U.S. 'Deeply Concerned' Over Extension Of RFE/RL Journalist's Detention In Russia

      The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has slammed a Russian court ruling to extend the pretrial detention of RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until June 5, calling the country’s crackdown on independent media “unacceptable.”

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Activist Detained For Displaying Historical Flag Of Belarus

      Police in Russia's Komi Republic on April 2 detained activist Dmitry Makhov for using a picture of the historical flag of Belarus online.

    • RFERL ☛ Chief Engineer Of Russian Mine Detained Following Deadly Landslide

      Police in Russia's Far Eastern region of Amur on April 2 detained the chief engineer of a mine where 13 miners were trapped following a landslide last month and were declared dead two weeks later.

    • RFERL ☛ Kyrgyz President Signs 'Foreign Representatives' Bill Into Law, Amid Criticism

      Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has signed into law a controversial bill that allows authorities to register organizations as "foreign representatives," legislation critics say mirrors a repressive Russian law on "foreign agents."

    • RFERL ☛ Chancellor Says Austria Needs To Deter Russian Infiltration Amid Spying Allegations

      The arrest in recent days of a former Austrian intelligence officer on serious allegations of spying for Russia suggests that Vienna needs to boost its security to thwart Russian infiltration, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said.

    • RFERL ☛ 10th Person Charged Over Crocus City Hall Terror Attack

      A Moscow court has ordered two months' pretrial detention for a suspected accomplice of the perpetrators of the March 22 terror attack on the Crocus City Hall near the Russian capital, which killed 144 people.

    • YLE ☛ Tuesday's papers: Losing money, betting on Nokia and a mystery smell

      Was Russia the source of Sunday's mysterious stench around Helsinki?

    • New York Times ☛ U.S. Intelligence Warning to Moscow Named Specific Target of Attack

      The C.I.A. told Russia that Islamic State terrorists were plotting an attack on Crocus City Hall, a concert venue.

    • Latvia ☛ Belarusian citizen detained in Latvia for migrant transportation

      A Belarusian citizen was detained in Latvia last week, March 28, for transporting persons crossing the State border illegally, the State Border Guard reported.

    • LRT ☛ Belarusian timber continues to enter Lithuania, EU – investigation

      Belarusian timber is still entering Lithuania and other EU countries in circumvention of the existing Western sanctions against Belarus, a new investigation has found.

    • JURIST ☛ Moscow court arrests tenth person in relation to Crocus City Hall terror attack

      The Basmanny District Court of Moscow announced on Monday that a tenth person, a Tajik citizen named Yakubjoni Yusufzoda, was arrested for the Crocus City Hall terror attack that killed 134 people. 

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Science Alert ☛ Korean Fusion Reactor Sets New Record For Sustaining 100 Million Degree Plasma

      Another step forward.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ US ratification of the ocean treaty will unlock deep sea mining

      Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries including China and Russia have secured permits to explore the deep seabed’s vast supply of critical minerals. The authors argue that the United States, which has been hesitant to ratify the treaty, has much to gain by doing so now.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Korea Zinc agrees 40% fee cut to turn Teck's mined zinc into metal, sources say

      LONDON/SEOUL - Canadian miner Teck Resources has agreed to pay Korea Zinc $165 per metric ton, a three-year low, to turn its zinc concentrate into refined metal, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

• Finance

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Trading in debt-laden Chinese property developer Country Garden suspended in Hong Kong

    Trading in debt-ridden Chinese property developer Country Garden was suspended in Hong Kong on Tuesday, days after it postponed the release of its 2023 results.

  • Hackaday ☛ Giant Sails Actually Help Cargo Ships Save Fuel, And The Planet In Turn

    Shipping is not a clean business. The global economy is fueled by trade, and much of that trade involves hauling product from point A to point B. A great deal of that product goes by water. Shipping it around uses a great deal of fuel, and creates a great deal of greenhouse gas emissions. It’s bad for the environment, and it’s costly for shipping companies.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ Canadian Lawmaker Says China Had Chinese Students Vote for Him

    Han Dong, a member of Parliament who is accused of benefiting from the Chinese government’s help, testified at a public hearing on foreign interference.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • ADF ☛ Russia Flooding Africa With Disinformation

      A new report shows disinformation is having a major impact on the lives of Africans, as digital campaigns are weakening stability, security and freedom. Russia stands out as the chief source of disinformation in Africa and is well-known for aggressively using social control media and publishing fake news to gain influence.

    • AccessNow ☛ “Votes will not be counted”: Indian election disinformation ads and YouTube

      A new joint investigation by Access Now and Global Witness has found that YouTube is approving election disinformation ads in India ahead of the country’s general election.

    • AccessNow ☛ YouTube approves disinformation ads in India ahead of general election

      YouTube is approving election disinformation ads in India ahead of the country’s general election, a new joint investigation by Access Now and Global Witness has found.

    • BBC ☛ Conor Gallagher: Chelsea condemn abuse and say video clip 'taken out of context'

      In the widely shared clip, Gallagher does not acknowledge a high five from the child in the tunnel before Saturday's 2-2 draw with Burnley.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • RFA ☛ China bans ‘former good friend’ from talking about Hong Kong

    Stephen Roach says he was prohibited from raising worries about the city’s future at a high-level forum.

  • Reason ☛ Journal of Free Speech Law: "Epistemic Disagreement, Institutional Analysis, and the First Amendment Status of Lies," by Prof. Mark Tushnet

    The ninth of twelve articles from the Knight Institute’s Lies, Free Speech, and the Law symposium.

  • Reason ☛ Journal of Free Speech Law: "Democracy Harms and the First Amendment," by Prof. Deborah Pearlstein

    The eighth of twelve articles from the Knight Institute’s Lies, Free Speech, and the Law symposium.

  • RFERL ☛ Belarus Files Charges Against Activist Who Attempted To Pay Tribute To Navalny

    Authorities in Belarus have arrested a well-known activist on charges punishable by up to four years in prison, the Vyasna human rights group said on April 2.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • CS Monitor ☛ Israel says Al Jazeera is a security threat. The network says that’s a dangerous lie.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, acting on new parliamentary authority, said he planned to shutter Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel. The Qatar-owned broadcaster called his accusations dangerous, and others warned of unwarranted censorship.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • France24 ☛ Online cosmetics stores thrive in Taliban’s Afghanistan despite beauty parlour ban

    From eyeshadows and lipsticks to “vaginal rejuvenation” pills, women in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan can find a wide range of beauty and health products in stores and online, despite a nationwide ban on beauty salons. With women’s movements in public tightly restricted, online stores on Instagram and Telegram offer discreet door-to-door deliveries.

  • Pro Publica ☛ New York Lawmakers Weigh Funding for Broken Guardianship System

    As New York lawmakers hammer out a more than $200 billion budget this week, they may include $5 million to improve the state’s troubled guardianship system, which oversees the physical and financial welfare of tens of thousands of New Yorkers who the courts have said cannot care for themselves.

    The modest allotment, which was advanced by the state Senate, would continue to fund a statewide hotline that launched last June and has advised hundreds of people considering guardianship for their relatives or friends. And it would give new support to nonprofits that provide services to poor adults who have nobody else to help them — known in the industry as “the unbefriended.”

  • Citizen Lab ☛ Citizen Lab submission to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China about the State of Human Rights in China

    Emile Dirks, Research Associate at the Citizen Lab, prepared a written submission for the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) about the state of human rights in the country.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Techdirt ☛ Charter Lobbyists Sneak Language Into NY State Budget Bill To Hamstring Community Broadband

    Lobbyists for Charter Communications (Spectrum) have snuck some sneaky language into New York State’s latest budget bill in an effort to undermine popular community-owned broadband networks.

  • APNIC ☛ Making the case for a multistakeholder approach

    Guest Post: The ‘multistakeholder approach’ to Internet governance has always been challenging. Is it worthwhile?

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ $4,000 for Atlantic IP Services entity Croga Innovations software patents prior art

    Unified Patents added two new PATROLL contests, each with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on the list below. The patents are owned by by Croga Innovations, Ltd., an entity of Atlantic IP Services Limited. The patents generally relate to software applications. The ‘780 patent monopoly has been asserted against IBM, Cisco, and Fortinet.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Patent Rights and Cell-Free DNA cancer testing [Ed: Patent are not rights, they are a monopoly franchise and aren't protected like real rights]

    I have been following the ongoing case of Natera v. NeoGenomics that is currently on appeal before the Federal Circuit. Docket No. 24-1324. The technology in these cases has amazing potential and I have several friends who have used these techniques to detect early stage cancer.

  • JUVE ☛ Why Bayer is fighting so hard for Xarelto

    Patent protection secures Bayer millions in additional revenue every day. According to Statista, sales of Xarelto alone amounted to around €4 billion in 2023. Today, the basic patent monopoly EP 1 261 606 for active ingredient rivaroxaban expires in Europe, but the company still has a dosage patent monopoly with which it can monopolise the market...

  • Software Patents

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Federal Circuit Affirms Invalidity of Blockchain Gemstone Tracking Patent Under Section 101

      In Rady v. The Boston Consulting Group, Inc., No. 2022-2218 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 27, 2024), the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a patent monopoly infringement lawsuit, holding that the asserted claims of Rady’s US10469250 were ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101.  The patent, owned by Max Rady, patent monopoly describes scanning a physical item, determining its unique pattern of imperfections (i.e., “signature”), and recording that signature to a blockchain if not previously registered.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Says "No Dice" to Opposer's Claim of Functionality of Dice Box Configuration

    The Board dismissed this opposition to registration of a mark comprising the product configuration of boxes for storing board game components or dice, rejecting Opposer Chris Taylor's claims of de jure functionality and lack of acquired distinctiveness. The Board found that, although the configuration has utility, it is not functional in the "utilitarian sense," nor is it functional in the aesthetic sense. Chris W. Taylor Jr. v. Three Frog, LLC, Opposition No. 91255161 (March 29, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Elizabeth A. Dunn).

• Copyrights

  • Techdirt ☛ Riot Games, Moonton Settle Copyright Dispute After 7 Years Of Drama

    Nearly seven years ago, we discussed a copyright dispute between Riot Games and a Chinese game publisher, Moonton. At issue were mobile games published by Moonton, such as Mobile Legends, that sure looked like fairly straight clones of Riot Games titles, chiefly League of Legends. We don’t typically cover what look like legit copyright disputes, since they aren’t really our flavor of news. We did so in this case primarily because of comments Moonton put out publicly, including a flat denial of the copyright claims as well as some cryptic comments about the publisher “protecting” itself from media that was putting out good-faith reporting on the dispute. Here is that snippet from Moonton’s statement.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Edith Wharton’s Italian Villas and their Gardens (1904)

    A guide to Italian landscape architecture by Edith Wharton, written to accompany colourful images of villas by Maxfield Parrish.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Mimesis, Expression, Construction: Fredric Jameson’s Seminar on Aesthetic Theory

    By meticulously translating his recordings of Jameson’s seminars into the theatrical idiom of the stage script, Octavian Esanu asks, playfully and tenderly, if we can see pedagogy as performance? Teaching and learning, about art — as a work of art?

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Personal/Opinions

    • 🔤SpellBinding: BDFLOTU Wordo: MOONS

    • On the notion that tops need to have experienced what they do to their bottoms

      i encountered this topic again on FetLife recently: someone posted that they feel that tops should have experience of what they do to their bottoms (modulo needing to be conscious that their experience(s) might not be identical to what their bottom might experience).

      i won't repeat the issues i covered in my previous post; i'd just like to add some additional comments.

      To begin with, i think it's important to make a distinction between ‘experience’ in the sense of:

      “literally going through a scene as a bottom, and having certain things done to oneself as part of that scene”

    • “Only the best bottoms make it to the top”: wut [Ed: In the eyes of money collectors who only ever hangs out and speak to other money collectors, the size of your income or pile of money determines how good a person you are...]

      In both cases, it could be actively dangerous to draw universal conclusions about what it's like to bottom, and to base one's topping on those conclusions. In theory, pre-scene negotiations will draw out whether or not those conclusions are appropriate in a particular case; in practice, the saying seems to promote a mindset in which one can draw ‘objective’ conclusions about what it's like to bottom, such that those conclusions can be taken as given and don't need to be discussed.

      [...]

      Finally, as a partner noted, the saying seems to suggest that bottoming is merely a waystation on one's journey to the ultimate destination: being A Top™[b]. That is, bottoms are second-class; not being a top means you're not a sufficiently good bottom.

  • Politics and World Events

    • Political compasses

      I read Tyson Yunkaporta's "Write Story / Wrong Story" over Easter. At one stage he talks about compulsively filling in the ABC Political Compass to see whether he comes up with anything other than the bottom left-hand corner, and not feeling that the labels are adequate.

    • Wednesday of Easter Week(W)

      Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the Kingdom, alleluia, which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

      Psalm: Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle; sing to the Lord the whole earth.

      Glory be to the Father. Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the Kingdom, alleluia, which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.