Leftovers

• CBC ☛ 2024-05-01 [Older] Ontario vinyl record collector draws big attention on social media with chill vibes

• Science

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] China launches uncrewed probe to far side of the moon

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] Post-tuberculosis lung disease: A patient's story

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] Germany has already exceeded its annual ecological limits

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] Why B.C. is making drugs illegal in public again | About That

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Canada expanding surveillance, testing milk for H5N1 avian flu amid U.S. dairy cattle outbreak

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] I am a cancer researcher. When the disease hit close to home, I was overwhelmed with guilt

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] Manitoba to use tobacco company settlement funds to pay for new CancerCare building

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Firefighter mental health a priority, wildfire service says

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Americans arrested for allegedly swindling Canada out of 12 million COVID masks

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • CWA asks Microsoft 'where is the respect and compassion?' following studio closures

    The Communications Workers of America (CWA) released a statement regarding the recent layoffs at Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and other Microsoft subsidiaries.

    In it, the worker-led organization said the layoffs "highlight the need for [game developers] to organize." With layoffs becoming so common, the CWA noted unions at Sega of America and ZeniMax (which was unaffected) can help establish some saftey measures.

  • Forbes ☛ Microsoft Is Finally Ending Its Focus On Big Budget Gaming Nonsense [Ed: So why did Microsoft buy Blizzard?]

    Back when the Xbox 360 launched, Microsoft pushed the big budget game as a differentiator. Following all the recent layoffs, it’s clear this strategy has run its course.

    I’ve been warning about the dangers of big and unsustainable budgets in gaming since 2015. The recent industry-wide layoffs are very much a result of that strategy failing.

  • Hellblade 2 Might Be Headed to PS5 as Xbox Plans More Layoffs – Report

    A pair of new reports claim that Microsoft is considering releasing Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 on the PS5, and that more Xbox layoffs are on the way. Xbox-owned Bethesda recently underwent devastating cuts, resulting in Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin being shut down. But it looks like Microsoft isn’t done.

  • Beebom ☛ Xbox Planning Additional Layoffs After Studio Closures: Report

    Earlier this week, Microsoft sent shockwaves through the gaming community when the Xbox team revealed that it was closing three prolific studios, including Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog Studio. The gaming community was justifiably upset after the news surfaced. However, it seems that is only the tip of the iceberg, as Microsoft is planning more layoffs as part of the ongoing restructuring efforts at Xbox.

  • Xbox Budget Cuts Won’t Stop Here & Game Pass Prices Are Going Up

    Microsoft and Xbox have been on the game industry’s front page these past few days with bad news upon bad news for fans of Team Green, and that streak isn’t stopping now. Xbox shut down four studios: Arkane Austin, Roundhouse Games, Alpha Dog Studios, and the biggest blow to fans of Hi-Fi Rush, Tango Gameworks. Not only that, but the upcoming Perfect Dark reboot is also reportedly in turmoil. Now, according to Bloomberg, the mass layoffs and cutbacks aren’t slowing down, and fans of Xbox Game Pass should also brace for possible bad news relating to the price of the service.

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-05-01 [Older] Lawsuit Against Meta Asks if Facebook Users Have Right to Control Their Feeds Using External Tools

  • Gizmodo ☛ 2024-05-01 [Older] 'This Will Ruin My Life and Career': Cheating Site Ashley Madison Is Overflowing With Sextortionists

  • International Business Times ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Human Sex Workers Slam Facebook, IG For Not Cracking Down On NSFW AI Girlfriend Ads

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Dangerous Instagram? Iraq's LGBTQ+ community loses last safe space

  • More Xbox cutbacks hit ZeniMax with only Microsoft’s mobile ventures now unscathed

    More cutbacks are in progress days after Microsoft closed down three Xbox studios. Just days ago Microsoft shuttered Alpha Dog, Arkane Austin, and Tango Gameworks. Now it seems cost-cutting measures are materialising via voluntary severances at Bethesda owner ZeniMax.

  • Windows TCO

    • CBC ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] London Drugs begins to gradually reopen stores after cyberattack

    • CBC ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Hacker demands ransom from B.C. libraries after data breach

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] German police bust Europe's 'largest' scam call center

    • CBC ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Inside the bold B.C. campaign to crush child sextortion

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • International Business Times ☛ 2024-05-01 [Older] S. Africa To Build Bullet-Proof Playgrounds With Facial Recognition and Panic Button To Fend off Gangs

• Defence/Aggression

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] How should the German media deal with the AfD?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] Middle East updates: Biden calls for 'order' amid protests

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] Philippines summons Chinese diplomat over water cannon attack

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] Greece: Jailed neo-Nazi Golden Dawn leader granted early release

  • HRW ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Arrest Warrant Issued for Former Central African Republic President

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-01 [Older] South Africa's apartheid-era victims demand reparations

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2024-04-29 [Older] A Sombre Mood in South Africa Thirty Years After Apartheid

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] Antisemitism rising dramatically across the world, report finds

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] Australian police shoot dead 'radicalized' teen

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] Germany: Protests called after attack on EU lawmaker

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] China's Xi visits Europe: A divide-and-charm offensive?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Berlin offers up villa owned by Nazi propagandist Goebbels for free

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Migration: What next for the EU's asylum reform plans?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] For German voters, immigration is main issue in EU elections

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] I left my life in India for rural Canada. My first thought upon arrival was, 'Where is everyone?'

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Canada's Arrests of Three Indian Men in Sikh Leader's Death 'Bittersweet,' Friend Says

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] India Waits for Details on Arrests in Canada Over Sikh Separatist's Murder

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Canada Probe Finds Evidence of Foreign Meddling in Elections, but Results Not Affected

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Factbox-What Led to Canada's Arrests Over Killing of Sikh Separatist?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Canada police make arrests over killing of Sikh activist

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Canadians have 'fundamental right to live safely,' PM says after arrests in B.C. Sikh activist's killing

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Gunnar Wolf ☛ Hacks, leaks, and revelations • The art of analyzing hacked and leaked data

    Imagine you’ve come across a trove of files documenting a serious deed and you feel the need to “blow the whistle.” Or maybe you are an investigative journalist and this whistleblower trusts you and wants to give you said data. Or maybe you are a technical person, trusted by said journalist to help them do things right–not only to help them avoid being exposed while leaking the information, but also to assist them in analyzing the contents of the dataset. This book will be a great aid for all of the above tasks.

    The author, Micah Lee, is both a journalist and a computer security engineer. The book is written entirely from his experience handling important datasets, and is organized in a very logical and sound way. Lee organized the 14 chapters in five parts. The first part–the most vital to transmitting the book’s message, in my opinion–begins by talking about the care that must be taken when handling a sensitive dataset: how to store it, how to communicate it to others, sometimes even what to redact (exclude) so the information retains its strength but does not endanger others (or yourself). The first two chapters introduce several tools for encrypting information and keeping communication anonymous, not getting too deep into details and keeping it aimed at a mostly nontechnical audience.

• Environment

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Brazil: Death toll rises as record flooding continues

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Indonesia: Over dozen killed in Sulawesi flood

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] Alberta outlines the drought conditions that would lead to state of emergency

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Kenya: Cyclone Hidaya threatens flood-hit region

  • Energy/Transportation

    • CBC ☛ 2024-05-01 [Older] Charter plane overruns runway at St. John's airport

    • CBC ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] WestJet issues lockout notice to mechanics' union

    • CBC ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Ontario Provincial Police to require breath samples from any driver stopped in Toronto area — no matter the reason

    • CBC ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Deadly crash highlights risks of police chases. Do policies need to be tougher?

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Deadly dam failures: cause, effect and prevention

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Germany: Fire breaks out at Berlin metal factory

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2024-05-01 [Older] US Regulators Maintain Fishing Quota for Valuable Baby Eels, Even as Canada Struggles With Poaching

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Chinese fishing fleets in Indian Ocean accused of abuses

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Spain set to scrap top bullfighting prize

  • Overpopulation

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] Germany: Births, marriages hit lowest level since 2013 [Ed: From the perspective of overpopulation, this might be desirable]

• Finance

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] Provincial governments facing higher debts and more financial pressure

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Canada Post lost $748 million last year, warns of 'critical' financial situation

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] How can the United States and the EU tame inflation?

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] 'We are getting closer' to cutting interest rates, Bank of Canada governor tells MPs

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] B.C. Housing accused of using affordable-home lawsuits for 'political purposes'

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-02 [Older] Germany's foreign minister reaches Australia — finally

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] Panama: Polls open in presidential election

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] Togo: Ruling party wins overwhelming parliament majority

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Argentina: Milei blasts Madrid after 'substances' comment

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] Georgian PM brushes off concerns over 'foreign agent' bill

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] German, New Zealand research institutes sign Antarctic deal

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] German schools see rise in violence

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-04 [Older] UK: Tories lose ground as Sadiq Khan wins again in London

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] UK Conservative defeats pile pressure on PM Rishi Sunak

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • CBC ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] How prepared are we for deepfakes? Researchers call for shift in AI to protect women

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Press freedom under attack, watchdog index shows

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2024-05-03 [Older] Press Freedom Day: Why are journalists fleeing Pakistan?

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • CBC ☛ 2024-05-05 [Older] An Indigenous land claim with parallels to Canada could redraw Norway's map

Monopolies/Monopsonies