Leftovers

• New York Times ☛ A Show That Makes Young Japanese Pine for the ‘Inappropriate’ 1980s

  A surprise television hit, now on Netflix, has people talking about what Japan has lost with today’s changed sensibilities.

• Michael Lynch ☛ I Sold TinyPilot, My First Successful Business

  My first two years as a bootstrapped founder went poorly. I could barely find any paying customers, and all of my businesses lost money. I began questioning my decision to quit my cushy Surveillance Giant Google job.

  In mid-2020, yet another of my businesses had flopped, and it was only kind of COVID’s fault. Desperate for a distraction, I made a little contraption that controlled my home servers through my web browser. I called it TinyPilot.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ A Tiny Satellite Made From Wood Is Actually Going Into Earth's Orbit

    Made to be destroyed.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Mysterious Layer Deep Inside Earth Could Be Remnants From Its Earliest History

    Way down deep.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Change in The Development of Our Ovaries Could Have Led to Bigger Brains

  • Science Alert ☛ Changes in Gut Bacteria Could Help Explain Success of Protein Pacing Diets

    There are multiple benefits.

• Education

  • Pro Publica ☛ How an Alabama Town Staved Off School Resegregation

    I recently traveled to rural Wilcox County, in Alabama’s Black Belt, to understand the origins of the local “segregation academy” and how it still divides the broader community. It was the first story in our series about segregation academies, private schools that opened across the Deep South after the U.S Supreme Court released its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Pixel Graphics From An HD44780, By Cutting Wires

    [Felipe Tavares] wasn’t satisfied with the boring default fonts on an HD44780-based display. And while you can play some clever tricks with user-defined characters, if you want to treat the display as an array of pixels, you’ve got to get out your scalpel and cut up a data line.

  • Hackaday ☛ The Genius Of Slide Rule Precision

    Most people have heard of or seen slide rules, with older generations likely having used these devices in school and at their jobs. As purely analog computers these ingenious devices use precomputed scales on slides, which when positioned to a specific input can give the output to a wide range of calculations, ranging from simple divisions and multiplications to operations that we generally use a scientific calculator for these days. Even so, these simple devices are both very versatile and can be extremely precise, as [Bob, the Science Guy] demonstrates in a recent video.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia's Medon digital clinic eyes expansion in India and UAE

    Medon, a digital clinic founded in Latvia, said May 29 has secured investments of EUR 320 000 from several Latvian entrepreneurs, describing the move as "a significant step towards strategic expansion into new markets. This investment will help Medon achieve its vision of making healthcare accessible both in Latvia and globally."

  • Science Alert ☛ People Who Experience 'Flow' Have Healthier Hearts And Minds

    What's the secret?

  • NYPost ☛ Denver pet food plant sued by neighbors over ‘noxious odor’ that ‘makes you gag’: ‘Like someone barfed in your backyard’

    The stench has forced residents to file complaints with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. They allege the department found the odors exceeded state standards.

  • Science Alert ☛ Keep Your Fruit And Veg Fresher For Longer With These Science-Backed Hacks

    It starts from the moment you buy them.

  • RFA ☛ Chinese citizens stole ‘billions’ in COVID relief funds, US says

    Based in the Thai beach resort of Pattaya, the group took control of Americans’ computers to apply for funds.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Variety ☛ Layoff Surge Highlights Disconnect Between Job Volume, Success at Gaming Companies [Ed: Microsoft #1 at layoffs (chart)]

    It’s a striking indication of just how large Take-Two grew after its acquisition of mobile giant Zynga in 2022. While the publishing group includes “Grand Theft Auto” and “Red Dead Redemption” steward Rockstar, among other popular franchises at sister label 2K, having a workforce that matches the size of PlayStation underscores how complicated the AAA games space has become. Electronic Arts’ workforce is even bigger.

  • IT Pro Today ☛ Big Tech Layoffs Are Hitting Diversity and Inclusion Jobs Hard

    At Twitter, the diversity, equity and inclusion team is down to just two people from 30, one former employee said. A DEI worker who was let go from a popular ride-share company said their job search has stalled as other technology companies assess their finances. And just before getting the axe at separate tech giants this fall, two DEI specialists said leadership had stopped setting long-term goals for their departments entirely.

    The layoffs sweeping the technology industry are gutting diversity and inclusion departments, threatening company pledges to boost underrepresented groups in their ranks and leadership.

  • Federal News Network ☛ How the pandemic changed IRS technology for good [Ed: Well, it is still proprietary and they let the rich off the hook]

    Former IRS CIO Nancy Sieger, who will retire on June 1 after more than 40 years in government, said she found success during the pandemic by managing its risks.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Hackaday ☛ How Facebook Killed Online Chat

      In the early days of the internet, online conversations were an event. The technology was novel, and it was suddenly possible to socialize with a whole bunch of friends at a distance, all at once. No more calling your friends one by one, you could talk to them all at the same time!

    • EFF ☛ The Alaska Supreme Court Takes Aerial Surveillance’s Threat to Privacy Seriously, Other Courts Should Too

      In arguing that Mr. McKelvey did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, the government raised various factors which have been used to justify warrantless surveillance in other jurisdictions. These included the ubiquity of small aircrafts flying overhead in Alaska; the commercial availability of the camera and lens; the availability of aerial footage of the land elsewhere; and the alleged unobtrusive nature of the surveillance. 

      In response, the Court divorced the ubiquity and availability of the technology from whether people would reasonably expect the government to use it to spy on them. The Court observed that the fact the government spent resources to take photos demonstrates that whatever available images were insufficient for law enforcement needs. Also, the inability or unlikelihood the spying was detected adds to, not detracts from, its pernicious nature because “if the surveillance technique cannot be detected, then one can never fully protect against being surveilled.” 

      Throughout its analysis, the Alaska Supreme Court demonstrated a grounded understanding of modern technology—as well as its future—and its effect on privacy rights. At the outset, the Court pointed out that one might think that this warrantless aerial surveillance was not a significant threat to privacy rights because "aviation gas is expensive, officers are busy, and the likelihood of detecting criminal activity with indiscriminate surveillance flights is low." However, the Court added pointedly, “the rise of drones has the potential to change that equation." We made similar arguments and are glad to see that courts are taking the threat seriously. 

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Who’s a national security risk? The changing transatlantic geopolitics of data transfers

      The geopolitics of data transfers is changing. How will Washington's new focus on data transfers affect Europe and the transatlantic relationship?

    • Reason ☛ No Pseudonymity in Case Challenging Denial of Gun Rights Based on Alleged Mental Health Problems

      From P.D. v. Sullivan, decided last month by Judge Nelson Román (S.D.N.Y.): Plaintiff seeks to proceed anonymously because the action involves "matters of a highly sensitive and personal nature, to wit, medical and mental health records and information." …

• Defence/Aggression

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan passes bills to expand parliamentary powers as thousands protest outside legislature

    Taiwan’s parliament passed a package of controversial bills on Tuesday to expand its power as thousands of disapproving protesters rallied outside and chanted “defend democracy”.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan says China is 'nibbling away' at its space, trying to create a new normal

    TAIPEI - China is trying to \"nibble away\" at Taiwan's space and create a new normal with its military drills and other moves to exert pressure, which is a matter for global concern, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said on Thursday.

  • RFA ☛ New Taiwan laws could pave way for Chinese influence, critics fear

    Tens of thousands protest new rules weakening the power of the democratically elected president.

  • The Straits Times ☛ How North Korea is building a nuclear attack arsenal

    Kim Jong Un has been ramping up North Korea's strike capabilities, making missiles bigger and deadlier.

  • New York Times ☛ Algeria’s Cease-Fire Proposal Circulates at U.N. Amid Outrage Over Rafah

    Algeria, the only Arab representative in the current makeup of the Security Council, drafted the resolution.

  • France24 ☛ US says new UN draft resolution on Gaza ceasefire ‘not helpful’

    The United States’ deputy ambassador at the UN said Wednesday that a new resolution on the war in Gaza would "not change the situation on the ground". The draft seeking an immediate ceasefire and a halt to Israel's offensive in Rafah is being circulated at the Security Council by Algeria.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Used U.S.-Made Bombs in Strike That Killed Dozens in Rafah

    A Times visual analysis found that munition debris filmed at the scene was remnants of a GBU-39, a bomb designed and manufactured in the United States.

  • RFA ☛ Hong Kong businessman defends home against spies -- on British soil

    Chickeeduck founder Herbert Chow is taking no chances amid allegations of China’s 'long-arm' harassment.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ BREAKING: 14 Hong Kong democrats convicted, 2 cleared of conspiring to commit subversion in landmark national security trial

    This is a developing story – please refresh for updates… Fourteen Hong Kong democrats have been found guilty and two have been cleared of taking part in a conspiracy to commit to commit subversion in a landmark national security trial over their roles in an unofficial primary election in July 2020.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ 16 Hong Kong democrats to face verdict in landmark national security trial over unofficial primary election

    A Hong Kong court is set to rule on 16 pro-democracy figures’ involvement in the city’s largest national security case to date. It has been more than three years since they were arrested and charged along with 31 others in connection with an unofficial legislative primary election.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Who are the 16 Hong Kong democrats awaiting verdict in the city’s largest national security trial?

    Sixteen Hong Kong democrats who pleaded not guilty to taking part in a conspiracy to commit subversion await their fate, as a panel of three judges prepare to hand down their verdict in the city’s largest – and to date, longest lasting – national security trial.

  • New York Times ☛ Hong Kong to Rule on Democrats in Largest National Security Trial

    Forty-seven pro-democracy activists face prison time for holding a primary election as Beijing cracks down on even peaceful political opposition.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hong Kong court finds 14 democracy campaigners guilty in landmark subversion trial

    Two others became the first to be acquitted since the national security law's implementation in 2020.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong social work veterans slam proposed gov’t changes to licensing body as ‘political interference’

    Two veterans of Hong Kong’s social work industry have called government-proposed changes to an industry licensing body “political interference” that could undermine the sector’s autonomy.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hong Kong court finds 14 democracy campaigners guilty of subversion

    Two others became the first to be acquitted since the national security law's implementation in 2020.

  • The Straits Times ☛ UN Security Council to meet on May 31 on failed North Korea satellite launch

    North Korea said the launch ended in failure on May 27.

  • RFA ☛ Beijing escalates South China Sea tensions with new detention order, Manila says

    Philippine president calls China’s policy allowing coast guard to detain foreign boats, crews ‘worrisome.’

  • RFA ☛ Manila vows to protect fishermen amid Beijing’s South China Sea fishing ban

    Meanwhile, a new Chinese order threatening arrest of trespassers into its waters takes effect on June 15.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ The Philippines’ domestic politics are the wildcard in its trilateral partnership with the US and Japan

    Fractured domestic politics and China’s influence operations in the Philippines make that country’s participation in a trilateral partnership with the United States and Japan questionable.

  • The Strategist ☛ China’s failed information offensive in Fiji

    On 30 March, the Chinese embassy in Fiji made an overt and concerning attempt to influence the Pacific information environment, seeking to shape perceptions around Chinese policing behaviours...

  • France24 ☛ China revives soft-power diplomacy by sending two pandas to Washington's National Zoo

    Beijing will return giant pandas to Washington's National Zoo by the end of the year, US First Lady Jill Biden and officials said Wednesday in a surprise announcement signaling a new era of panda diplomacy between the two superpowers.

  • New York Times ☛ Giant Pandas Will Head to D.C.’s National Zoo From China

    The pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao, will be flown to the Smithsonian National Zoo from China before the end of the year.

  • RFA ☛ Cambodia’s ‘Xi Jinping Boulevard’ highlights strong ties with China

    The naming comes days before a visit by the US defense secretary to Phnom Penh.

  • RFERL ☛ Chinese-Led Consortium To Build Massive Port Project On Georgia's Black Sea Coast

    Georgia has announced that a Chinese consortium submitted the sole bid to build a sprawling deep-sea port in Anaklia, ending a multiyear political saga over the megaproject that puts Tbilisi’s growing ties with Beijing in the spotlight.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China lifts ban on 5 Australian beef exporters

    This is a sign of improving relations between the countries.

  • France24 ☛ 'Gifts of sincerity': N. Korea sends balloons carrying excrement into S. Korea

    North Korea sent hundreds of balloons carrying trash and excrement across the heavily fortified border to South Korea on Wednesday, calling them "gifts of sincerity", prompting an angry response from Seoul, which said the act was base and dangerous.

    [...]

    An official at Seoul's presidential office said the North might want to "test" the South's reaction but vowed to respond calmly.

  • RFA ☛ 'Air raid’ alarm as North Korea sends trash balloons across DMZ

    The alarm was sent after the North threatened to send ‘mounds of filth’ across the border.

  • New York Times ☛ North Korea’s Latest Offensive: Dumping Trash on South Korea

    The South Korean military said on Wednesday that it found hundreds of balloons carrying garbage from North Korea.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea fires multiple suspected short-range missiles, South Korea says

    The launch came after Pyongyang failed on May 27 at its attempt to put a second spy satellite into orbit.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Former Trump adviser John Bolton: 'Xi and Putin see Trump as an easy mark'

      FRANCE 24 spoke to John Bolton, who served as national security adviser to Donald Trump from 2018 to 2019. He has since become an outspoken critic of the 45th US president. Bolton said his former boss "admires" strong leaders like Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Pooh-tin Jinping, and that both of them see Trump "as an easy mark". Explaining that Putin "knows how to deal with" Trump, he warned that if the latter is reelected, "unfortunately, he (Putin) would get from Trump a very satisfactory solution from Russia's point of view in Ukraine".

    • RFERL ☛ Putin Gives Rostelecom Go-Ahead To Buy Nokia Out Of Joint Venture

      Russian President Vladimir Putin has authorized a subsidiary of telecoms firm Rostelecom to buy Nokia Solutions and Networks' stake in a software joint venture between the companies, according to a decree.

    • RFERL ☛ Former Putin Bodyguard, Kremlin Aide Dyumin Elevated To Key Position

      Aleksei Dyumin, a former bodyguard to Russian President Vladimir Putin who was recently named a top Kremlin aide, has been appointed secretary of the State Council.

    • Meduza ☛ Bronze statue honoring mutineer Yevgeny Prigozhin appears at St. Petersburg cemetery — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘The Defense Ministry is going through a cull’: How a war between Kremlin elite clans shaped Putin’s post-inauguration appointments — Meduza

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • American Oversight ☛ American Oversight and ACLU of Arizona Sue Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb for Unlawful Delay in Release of Public Records

• Environment

  • DeSmog ☛ Meat and Dairy Industry ‘Weakening’ Climate Policy in the EU: Report

  • Energy/Transportation

    • DeSmog ☛ Oil Funded Think Tank Gathers Climate Deniers Ahead of Crucial EU Elections

  • Overpopulation

    • Overpopulation ☛ Offsetting CO2 emissions from flights: a connection to population

      Carbon offsets are always a compromise, not a substitute for avoiding emissions. However, if you have to fly, there are better options than the airlines’ voluntary offset programs.

• Finance

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Beijing’s recent policy moves prompt IMF to lift China’s 2024 growth forecast to 5%

    The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday raised its 2024 growth forecast for China to five percent, citing recent policy moves by Beijing to boost its struggling economy. “China’s economic growth is projected to remain resilient at five percent in 2024 and slow to 4.5 percent in 2025,” the IMF said in a press release.

  • New York Times ☛ Home Insurance Is Clobbering Consumers. Yet It’s Barely Counted in Inflation.

    Skyrocketing premiums are hitting homeowners hard, but they barely factor into common price measures.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ Venezuela Rescinds Invitation to E.U. Election Observers for Presidential Vote

    Officials rescinded an invitation to E.U. observers for the presidential vote in July, in another sign that Nicolás Maduro is unlikely to cede power regardless of the result.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • RFERL ☛ YouTube Confirms Iranian Foreign Ministry Account Closed Over U.S. Sanctions

    Internet video platform YouTube has confirmed terminating an account run by Iran's Foreign Ministry to comply with U.S. sanctions against the Islamic republic.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Reason ☛ This Journalist Was Arrested, Strip-Searched, and Jailed for Filming Police. Will He Get Justice?

    Justin Pulliam's arrest and lawsuit once again demand we ask if "real" journalists are entitled to a different set of rights.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Podcasts continue to grow in popularity in UK as BillBC reveals data insights

    The BBC's data shows that while podcast audiences grow, Gen Z interest has dipped since pandemic.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Bryan Lunduke ☛ EFF says: Don't stop kids from looking at porn!

    (Seriously.)

  • EDRI ☛ Between policy and reality: EDRi’s assessment of the implementation challenges in the troubled Terrorist Content Online Regulation

    Since its enactment nearly two years ago, the so-called ‘Terrorist Content Online Regulation’ has faced scrutiny over its implementation and effectiveness. >

  • EDRI ☛ Digital futures for all

    In recent years, protecting and advancing digital rights feels like a never-ending battle as more and more of our lives get entangled with the digital world. Challenges to our freedoms online and offline continue to pile up as we face tech corporations with ginormous budgets and states with carte blanche to do anything for ‘national security’ reasons.

  • Reason ☛ In the Hands of the Jury

    Plus: A new Cold War, Pope Francis using slurs, Israeli surveillance, and more...

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Digital Music News ☛ Live Nation Slapped with $5 Billion Consumer Class Action Lawsuit Following DOJ Case — Potentially the First of Many

  Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been hit with a $5 billion consumer class action lawsuit in the wake of the DOJ lawsuit to break up the two companies.

• Patents

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf dissolves patent monopoly senate [Ed: The Unified Patent Court is illegal and unconstitutional. European patent law in Europe is basically controlled by the corrupt now, and they don't intend to ever hold themselves accountable for it.]

      Following the departure of Ulrike Voß to the Unified Patent Court, the 15th Civil Senate will no longer have responsibility for patent monopoly proceedings. Although the senate will continue to exist, it will take on other tasks. With effect from 1 June, the composition of the senate will also change in terms of personnel.

    • JUVE ☛ Florence Butin: “We are earning users’ trust” [Ed: And this publisher bagged bribe to lobby and lie for this totally illegal system, which is a kangaroo court that merits prosecution of its promoters]

      JUVE Patent: After the first year, what is your overall feeling about the progress of the UPC? Florence Butin: My overall feeling is that these past months went extremely fast.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ "ASSHOLES LIVE FOREVER" Fails-to-Function as a Service Mark for Online Retail Store Services, Says TTAB

    Last year, the Board affirmed a refusal to register the proposed mark ASSHOLES LIVE FOREVER, in the stylized form shown below, for various goods in 14 classes, finding that the phrase fails to function as a trademark. [TTABlogged here]. The same applicant met the same fate in this attempt to register that same phrase for "Online retail store services featuring clothing, jewelry, bags, gifts, home goods, hats, blankets, mugs, belts, branded gift bags, floor mats, keychains, novelty toys for playing jokes, and pillows." In a 41-page opinion, the Board concluded that the phrase is used to convey a commonplace, informational message that consumers would not perceive as a source indicator. In re Kirill’s Big Brain, LLC, Serial No. 97359799 (May 22, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Wendy B. Cohen).

• Copyrights

  • Creative Commons ☛ The CC Open Education Platform Funds Five New Community Projects

    Thanks to the CC Open Education Platform community’s time proposing projects and voting on the  proposals, we now have five winning ideas to advance open education globally. CC will fund five projects in 2024, spanning Brazil, Ghana, Nepal, and Nigeria.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ “You Are My Friend”: Early Androids and Artificial Speech

    Centuries before audio deepfakes and text-to-speech software, inventors in the eighteenth century constructed androids with swelling lungs, flexible lips, and moving tongues to simulate human speech. Jessica Riskin explores the history of such talking heads, from their origins in musical automata to inventors’ quixotic attempts to make machines pronounce words, converse, and declare their love.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ “On This Desolate Island”: Sodomy Punish’d (1726)

    A diary kept by a Dutch sailor abandoned on Ascension Island as punishment for having a relationship with another man.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ “Chinese Arabesques” by Jean-Baptiste Pillement and Anne Allen (ca. 1790–99)

    Rococo designs that picture China as a utopian world of pleasure and caprice.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Cher Triumphs in Decades-Old Battle to Receive Sonny & Cher Royalties

    Cher has finally won her decades-old copyright monopoly battle against Sonny Bono’s widow over royalty payments from the Sonny & Cher catalog. A federal judge ruled on Wednesday, May 29, in favor of Cher in her decades-long copyright monopoly lawsuit battle with Sonny Bono’s widow over royalty payments from the Sonny & Cher catalog.