Leftovers

• James G ☛ Liminal

  Travel is a between space: the thing on which you want to focus is the future, but there are logistics in the moment that one must consider. I enjoy this liminality and the surprise moments of peace between the bustle.

• The Straits Times ☛ Earthquake of magnitude 6.2 strikes New Britain Region, Papua New Guinea -GFZ

  An earthquake of 6.2 magnitude struck the New Britain Region in Papua New Guinea, on Monday, the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ)) said.

• Project Censored ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Op-Ed Abuse

• Project Censored ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Man Sentenced to Life Despite Not Guilty Verdict, Granted Evidentiary Hearing

• Science

  • APNIC ☛ Coherent optical transceivers

    How to extract greater capacity and reach from optical systems. Why is it useful?

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ The BBC Micro, Lovingly Simulated In VR

    The BBC Micro was many peoples’ first exposure to home computing, and thanks to [Dominic Pajak], you can fire up this beloved hardware in WebXR. Is it an emulator? Yes, but it’s also much more than that.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ How young Koreans find peace of mind in pet stones

    The rock-collecting culture in South Korea recently made a comeback during the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Project Censored ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Vast Majority of Service Workers in ‘Black Belt’ Injured on the Job in 2022, Study Finds

  • Project Censored ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Low-income, Minority Families Spend More on Bottled Water Due to Poor Water Infrastructure, Advertising

  • CBC ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Parents of autistic teen arrested by Alberta RCMP call for charges, improved training

  • CBC ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Undocumented woman says she was denied emergency C-section at Edmonton hospital

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • AWS to Cut Hundreds of Sales, Marketing, and Store Tech Jobs

    Channel Insider content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

    Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced significant restructuring measures affecting its global sales, marketing, and physical stores technology teams. The tech giant plans to cut several hundred roles across these three divisions to streamline its operations and concentrate efforts on key strategic areas.

    Redundancies in several job families, such as program management and sales operations, have contributed to the decision for layoffs. “These decisions are difficult but necessary as we continue to invest, hire, and optimize resources to deliver innovation for our customers,” Amazon spokesperson Duncan Neasham said in a statement.

  • The Print ☛ Factbox-US, Canadian companies kick off 2024 with layoffs

    Companies in the United States and Canada have kicked off 2024 with thousands of job cuts across sectors, signaling that the spate of layoffs seen in 2023 could persist as they scramble to rein in costs.

    While hopes of a soft landing have grown in recent months, companies continue to be cautious as the outlook on rate cuts by the Federal Reserve remains uncertain.

  • Factbox-US, Canadian companies kick off 2024 with layoffs By Reuters

    [...]

    * Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is cutting around 1,900 jobs at gaming divisions Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) and Xbox.

    * IBM (NYSE:IBM) plans to lay off some employees in 2024 but will hire more for AI-centered roles.

  • I don't understand how ChatGPT works

    I asked ChatGPT 4 to solve the puzzle. It got it wrong on the first try, matching "A" with the first fish, "B" with the second, and so on.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ KL airport shooting: Suspect’s photo sent to Malaysia’s northern borders, neighbouring country

    Security measures have been tightened at border “rat lanes”.

  • New York Times ☛ Jordan Says It Shot Down Iranian Drones As Act of Self-Defense

    The Arab kingdom said it took military action to defend its territory against Iranian drone and missile strikes. Critics assailed the country as having helped defend Israel.

  • New York Times ☛ Biden Seeks to Head Off Escalation After Israel’s Successful Defense

    The president told Israel that the interception of nearly all of the Iranian drones and missiles used to attack it constituted a major victory, and so further retaliation might not be necessary, U.S. officials said.

  • New York Times ☛ Iran’s Strikes on Israel Open a Dangerous New Chapter for Old Rivals

    Experts say Tehran does not want a broader war. But it is far from clear whether Iran or Israel will choose to escalate a conflict that has become more direct and out of the shadows.

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] East-West competition and security in the Middle East

  • New York Times ☛ Strikes Upend Israel’s Belief About Iran’s Willingness to Fight It Directly

    Israel had grown used to targeting Iranian officials without head-on retaliation from Iran, an assumption overturned by Iran’s attacks on Saturday.

  • New York Times ☛ With Iran’s Strikes, Arab Countries Fear an Expanding Conflict

    The Iranian attack on Israeli territory made the Middle East’s new reality undeniable: Clashes are getting harder and harder to contain.

  • France24 ☛ Middle East, world cannot 'afford more war', says UN chief Guterres

    "Neither the region nor the world can afford more war," United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned Sunday, calling for "maximum restraint" as the Security Council met to discuss Iran's weekend attack on Israel. The announcement came as Israel hailed its defence capabilities, with the Israeli military saying that 99% of some 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted.

  • France24 ☛ 'Serious escalation': World reacts to Iran's strikes on Israel amid fears of a widening conflict

    Countries around the world condemned Iran's strikes on Israel late Saturday, warning the attack threatened to further destabilise the Middle East.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Will Iran’s unprecedented strike on Israel lead to a regional war?

    Iranian forces launched more than two hundred drones and missiles against Israel. Atlantic Council experts share their insights on what might happen next.

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] US, Japan, Philippines Meet to Bolster Ties as Security Worries Mount

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] US, Britain, Australia Weigh Expanding AUKUS Security Pact to Deter China, FT Says

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-06 [Older] UK Security Firm Says Vessel Targeted Near Yemen's Hodeidah

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Australian Lawmaker Visiting Taiwan Broaches Sensitive Topic of Security Cooperation

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Sweden Expels a Chinese Journalist, Calling Her a Threat to National Security, Report Says

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-07 [Older] Miami-Area Shootout Leaves Security Guard and Suspect Dead, Police Officer and 6 Others Injured

  • NL Times ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Dutch-Syrian man arrested for randomly stabbing girl, 4, in German supermarket

  • NL Times ☛ 2024-04-10 [Older] Dutch police looking for witnesses of ISIS beheadings in Syria

  • ANF News ☛ 2024-04-05 [Older] DAANES: Turkish state commits war crimes in an attempt to conceal its collapse

  • ANF News ☛ 2024-04-08 [Older] Turkish state mercenaries torture a man and son

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Soccer-France, Spain Tighten Security for Champions League Games Citing Islamic State Threats

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Finland: Bullying motive in school shooting, police say

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] NATO stresses unity as foreign ministers wrap up summit

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] 75 years on: How is NATO faring?

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Bundeswehr starts preparing for war

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Cambodia: Ex-dictator Hun Sen returns as chief of Senate

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Congo: PM Tuluka eyes peace in volatile east

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Greek voters demand justice for Tempi train crash

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] EU investigates Chinese solar firms over unfair subsidies

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-04-10 [Older] Canada Risks Another 'Catastrophic' Wildfire Season, Government Says

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Why are forests so important?

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Stolen endangered monkey Ruma returned to Leipzig Zoo

  • Overpopulation

    • CBC ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Pay your bills or buy groceries? These are the hard choices as food insecurity rises in northwestern Ontario

    • CBC ☛ 2024-04-09 [Older] Water is in short supply in southern Alberta. Is a massive expansion of irrigation possible?

• Finance

  • Project Censored ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Florida Bill Sparks Debate Over Treatment of Houseless Individuals

  • Tesla plans to cut more than 10% of global workforce; two execs quit, reports say

    Elon Musk's company told managers to identify critical team members, and paused some stock rewards while canceling some employees’ annual reviews.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Why are more German firms moving from China to Japan?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Eurozone inflation drops faster than predicted in March

  • Middle East North Africa Financial Network, Inc. ☛ Tesla To Announce Layoffs

    The world's largest automaker by market value had 140,473 employees globally as of December 2023, its latest annual report shows. The memo did not say how many jobs would be affected.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Project Censored ☛ 2024-04-10 [Older] FBI’s Annual Crime Report May Demonstrate Political Maneuvering

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Peru: PM wins confidence vote amid Rolexgate scandal

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • BIA Net ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Turkey's public broadcaster under investigation for pro-government bias in election coverage

    • IT Jungle ☛ As I See It: With Deepfakes, Nothing Is Real Except The Consequences

      With an election looming that promises to be conducted with snake-oil ethics, the Congress recently turned its attention from its usual dysfunctional finger pointing to hear testimony about the growing plague of deepfakes.

      The usual suspects were represented, in this case Surveillance Giant Google and Meta, by a spokesman from the industry-funded lobbying group NetChoice. Not surprisingly, they wrapped themselves in the First Amendment and accepted little or no responsibility for what their users post online. They argued that existing laws governing fraud and harassment were sufficient to protect targets (aka victims) of deepfakes.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Scheerpost ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] US Supreme Court Does Not Go Far Enough in Determining When Government Officials Are Barred from Censoring Critics on Social Media

  • Project Censored ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) Poses Serious First Amendment Concerns

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • HRW ☛ 2024-04-04 [Older] Bulgaria: Alleged Beating of Detained Saudi Activist

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • HRW ☛ 2024-04-05 [Older] Saudi Arabia: Global Tennis ‘Sportswashes’ Abuses

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-04-03 [Older] Bavarian police go pantless in uniform protest

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Gizmodo ☛ 2024-04-10 [Older] How to Tell If Your Internet Provider Is Ripping You Off

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • 2024-04-07 [Older] Biomedical Device Consultants and Laboratories of Colorado, LLC  v. Vivitro Labs, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2024)

  • 2024-04-03 [Older] Edwards Lifesciences Corp. v. Meril Life Sciences Pvt. (Fed. Cir. 2024)

  • Software Patents

    • Gizmodo ☛ 2024-04-05 [Older] Roku’s New Idea to Show You Ads When You Pause Your Video Game Is Horrifying

• Copyrights

  • IT Wire ☛ Google puts California on notice of opposition to news law

    Google has made its opposition clear to a California bill aimed at making the company pay for using news snippets, threatening to delete links to news sites in what it calls "a short-term test for a small percentage of California users".