Distributions and Operating Systems

• Leftovers

  • Science

    • Science Alert ☛ Voyager 1 Is Back! Legendary Probe Makes Contact From Interstellar Space

      NASA engineers are elated!

    • Science Alert ☛ Mysterious Circular Structure Found in Greece Stuns Archaeologists

      Unlike any other monument of its kind found to date.

    • Science Alert ☛ For The First Time, Two Colossal Black Holes Seen Colliding in The Cosmic Dawn

      We've finally confirmed it!

    • Science Alert ☛ The Strange Conditions Where Body Organs End Up in The Wrong Place

    • Science Alert ☛ How Heavy Can a Particle of Light Be? Scientists Just Figured It Out

      This could have profound implications.

    • Science Alert ☛ Should We Be Worried About News of New Viruses? Here's What to Consider.

      5 questions we all need to ask.

    • Science Alert ☛ The Biggest Storm in The Solar System Might Not Be as Old as We Thought

      A real whipper-snapper.

    • Hackaday ☛ The Solar System Is Weirder Than You Think

      When I was a kid, the solar system was simple. There were nine planets and they all orbited in more-or-less circles around the sun. This same sun-and-a-handful-of-planets scheme repeated itself again and again throughout our galaxy, and these galaxies make up the universe. It’s a great story that’s easy to wrap your mind around, and of course it’s a great first approximation, except maybe that “nine planets” thing, which was just a fluke that we’ll examine shortly.

  • Education

    • European Commission ☛ Speech by Commissioner Urpilainen at the “Progress Towards SDG4: Stocktake of Transformative Actions in Education” event's Financing Education session

      In a constantly changing world, education is the most significant investment we can make for sustainable development.

    • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ St. Paul school board votes Tuesday on $1 billion budget

      The cuts are mostly tied to the expiration of pandemic-era federal aid, $128 million of which was included in last year’s budget and supported programs and positions beyond what the district typically would be able to offer.

  • Hardware

    • Hackaday ☛ Harmonic Table Keyboard Brings Old Idea Back To Life

      If you missed the introduction of the Axis-49 and Axis-64 keyboards by C-Thru Music, you’re definitely not alone. At the time it was a new musical instrument that was based on the harmonic table, but it launched during the Great Recession and due to its nontraditional nature and poor timing, the company went out of business. But the harmonic table layout has a number advantages for musicians over other keyboard layouts, so [Ben] has brought his own version of the unique instrument to life in his latest project.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Major Chinese semiconductor company goes bankrupt — 23 others recently withdrew IPO applications

      Following the collapse of a $3 billion IDM project, doubts are growing about the prospects of China's chip industry.

    • Hackaday ☛ Magic Cane Is The Secret Behind Lightsaber

      Everyone has a lightsaber or two lying around the house, but not everyone has a lightsaber that extends and retracts automatically. And that’s because, in the real world, it’s not an easy design challenge. [HeroTech]’s solution for the mechanism is simple and relies on an old magician’s trick: the appearing cane. (Video, embedded below.)

    • CNX Software ☛ Ninkear N9 mini PC with defective chip maker Intel Processor N95 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD goes for $123 / 149 Euros

      Ninkear N9 is an inexpensive mini PC powered by an defective chip maker Intel Processor N95 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor that sells for just around $123 shipped on AliExpress with 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. European readers will also find it on GeekBuying for 149 Euros shipping from the company’s European warehouse.

    • Hackaday ☛ Improving Wind Turbine Testing With A Better Air Source

      When comparing the efficiency of different wind turbine blade designs, [AdamEnt] found using a hair dryer wasn’t the best tool for the job. Enter his new 3D-printed wind tunnel.

    • Hackaday ☛ A Brief Look Inside A Homebrew Digital Sampler From 1979

      While we generally prefer to bring our readers as much information about a project as possible, sometimes we just have to go with what we see. That generally happens with new projects and work in progress, but it can also happen with old projects. Sometimes very old indeed, as is the case with this digital sampling unit for analog oscilloscopes, circa 1979.

  • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

    • New York Times ☛ How to Cut Back on Kids’ Social Media After Surgeon General’s Announcement

      The surgeon general wants more restrictions on social control media to protect children’s health. Here’s how to help your kids cut down on screen time this summer.

    • New York Times ☛ Surgeon General Calls for Warning Labels on Social Media Platforms

      Dr. Vivek Murthy said he would urge Congress to require a warning that social control media use can harm teenagers’ mental health.

    • EFF ☛ The Surgeon General's Fear-Mongering, Unconstitutional Effort to Label Social Media [Ed: EFF is lobbying for CPC and Facebook again]

      The Surgeon General’s suggestion that speech be labeled as dangerous is extraordinary. Communications platforms are not comparable to unsafe food, unsafe cars, or cigarettes, all of which are physical products—rather than communications platforms—that can cause physical injury. Government warnings on speech implicate our fundamental rights to speak, to receive information, and to think. Murthy’s effort will harm teens, not help them, and the announcement puts the surgeon general in the same category as censorial public officials like Anthony Comstock. 

    • New York Times ☛ U.S.D.A. Suspends Avocado Inspections in Mexico, Citing Security Concerns

      The move, prompted by fears for agency workers’ safety, could eventually affect U.S. avocado supplies if the inspections are not resumed.

    • European Commission ☛ Commission approves €570 million Italian State aid scheme to reduce emissions in ports

      European Commission Press release Brussels, 17 Jun 2024 The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €570 million Italian scheme to incentivise ships to use shore-side electricity when they are at berth in maritime ports.

    • New Yorker ☛ Lizzy McAlpine Wants to Go Offline

      The artist, who got famous by going viral, discusses refusing to play the Fentanylware (TikTok) game with her new record, turning to a life of slowness and privacy, and maybe auditioning for a musical.

    • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ How to get a free gun lock in Ramsey County: Leaders highlight program amid concerns about suicide, domestic violence, kids and guns

      A list of community centers, libraries that have the cable locks is available.

    • Federal News Network ☛ IRS hit a ‘big milestone’ to wean itself off paper. What comes next?

      A backlog of paper-based tax returns and correspondence hobbled the IRS at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic [...]

    • NYPost ☛ How society survives the world after the Truth is set on fire

      At some point during the COVID-19 pandemic, we stopped believing our institutions of science.

    • RFA ☛ Prosecutors play videos of environmental activists at Cambodian trial

      The video clips showed them criticizing the government’s handling of the environment and the COVID-19 pandemic.

    • New Yorker ☛ Anthony Fauci’s Side of the Story

      The former NIAID director has been both lauded and demonized for his work during the COVID pandemic, but his autobiography insists that his career needs to be seen whole to be understood.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ US Surgeon General thinks social control media should come with tobacco-style warning labels

      One of the United States’ most senior health officials, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, today said in an op-ed for the New York Times social control media platforms should have warning labels regarding the potential mental health harms they could create in the young.

    • Hackaday ☛ The US Surgeon General’s Case For A Warning Label On Social Media

      The term ‘Social Media’ may give off a benign vibe, suggesting that it’s a friendly place where everyone is welcome to be themselves, yet reality has borne out that it is anything but. This is the reason why the US Surgeon General [Dr. Vivek H. Murthy] is pleading for a health warning label on social media platforms. Much like with warnings on tobacco products, it’s not expected that such a measure would make social media safe for children and adolescents, but would remind them and their parents about the risks of these platforms.

    • Reason ☛ The Deadly Tobacco Drug War Down Under

      Australia’s Prohibition-style attempts to abolish nicotine use have predictably led to a new drug war being fought over a legal substance.

  • Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • New York Times ☛ Can Hey Hi (AI) Answer the Needs of Smaller Businesses? Some Push to Find Out. [Ed: More worthless hype for what's clearly losing its lustre and receiving negative press]

      Artificial intelligence tools like Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot are finding widest use at big companies, but there is wide expectation that the impact will spread.

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Justice Department sues Adobe over its subscription cancellation policies

      The U.S. Department of Justice today sued Adobe Inc. for allegedly making it unnecessarily difficult to unsubscribe from its software products. In addition to the company, the complaint names executives David Wadhwani and Maninder Sawhney as defendants. Wadhwani is the president of Adobe’s digital media business, which includes its creative applications.

    • Net Media Europe ☛ Microsoft Xbox Marketing Chief Leaves For Roblox [Ed: XBox executives jumping ship]

      Microsoft loses Xbox marketing chief amidst executive changes in company’s gaming division, broader layoffs and spending weakness

      Microsoft’s Xbox chief marketing officer Jerret West is to leave the company at the end of June to become the chief marketing officer at Roblox, in the latest shakeup at Microsoft’s gaming division.

    • ABP ☛ Chegg Layoffs: The Edtech Firm Fires 441 Employees Amid Restructuring

      The American education technology company Chegg will lay off about 441 employees, representing 23 per cent of its global workforce, as part of its restructuring plan, which aims to make the company more focused and efficient, it said. Surprisingly, the company experienced a significant 20.3 per cent increase in post-market transactions on Monday.

    • Metro UK ☛ Elden Ring director promises not to lay off staff: ‘I would not let that happen’

      FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki has quoted former Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata while assuring fans there will be no layoffs at his company.

      We’re halfway through the year and the constant stories about publisher layoffs still show no sign of ending. Just this week we’ve seen the closure of Alone In The Dark developer Pieces Interactive and the revelation that EA paid its executives £47.3 million, despite laying off 670 people earlier in the year.

    • Digital Music News ☛ What Divestment Deadline? TikTok’s Commercial Music Library Arrives in Adobe Express Under ‘Exclusive Integration’ [Ed: Fentanylware (TikTok) is neither social nor media]

      TikTok’s Commercial Music Library (CML) is officially hitting Adobe’s Express video-design platform as part of an “exclusive integration.” ByteDance-owned Fentanylware (TikTok) and Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) formally unveiled their tie-up today.

  • Security

    • Privacy/Surveillance

      • EFF ☛ California’s Facial Recognition Bill Is Not the Solution We Need

        The bill dictates that police should examine facial recognition matches “with care” and that a match should not be the sole basis for the probable cause for an arrest or search warrant. And while we agree it is a big issue that police seem to repeatedly use the matches spit out by a computer as the only justification for arresting people, theoretically the limit this bill imposes is already the limit. Police departments and facial recognition companies alike both maintain that police cannot justify an arrest using only algorithmic matches–so what would this bill really change? It only gives the appearance of doing something to address face recognition technology's harms, while inadvertently allowing the practice to continue.

  • Defence/Aggression

    • RFA ☛ North Korea estimated to possess up to 50 nuclear weapons: think tank

      The number jumped from 30 last year, according to a Swedish group.

    • New York Times ☛ America’s Voice in Taiwan Has Some Parting Advice About China

      Worries about Chinese belligerence rose during Sandra Oudkirk’s three years in Taipei. As she leaves, she is seeking to assure Taiwan of continued U.S. support.

    • RFA ☛ China targets younger Taiwanese with junkets for island’s celebrities

      Authorities in the democratic island say they are investigating the source of funding for the program.

    • JURIST ☛ China coast guard regulations allowing officers to arrest foreigners for trespassing in disputed South China Sea take effect

      New China Coast Guard rules allowing Chinese guardsmen to arrest foreigners for trespassing in the disputed South China Sea took effect Saturday. The China Coast Guard issued Order No.

    • JURIST ☛ China court sentences #MeToo activists to five years imprisonment for ‘subversion’

      Chinese activists Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing were sentenced on Friday by the Guangzhou Intermediate Court to five years and three years and six months in prison, respectively, for “subversion against the state,” as shared by supporters of the activists on social control media.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Cheng Lei: Australian journalist who was detained in China says Chinese officials tried to ‘block’ her at Canberra event

      An Australian journalist and former high-profile prisoner said Chinese officials tried to “block” her at a press conference in Canberra on Monday in an apparent attempt to stem negative coverage of Premier Li Qiang’s visit.

    • RFA ☛ US condemns China’s ‘escalatory’ actions in the South China Sea

      Strong statement from Washington after China and Philippines trade blame over collision near disputed shoal.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Philippine and Chinese ships collide in disputed South China Sea, Beijing says

      Philippine and Chinese vessels collided near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on Monday, the Chinese Coast Guard said, as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims over the disputed area.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia participating at major defense trade show in France

      On Monday, June 17, Minister of Defense Andris Sprūds is visiting France on a working visit to participate in the opening event of the Latvian national stand of the Latvian Security and Defense Industries Federation (DAIF) at the Eurosatory 2024 exhibition.

    • New York Times ☛ China and Philippines Trade Blame After Ships Collide in South China Sea

      The clash is the latest in a string of confrontations that have increased tensions in the South China Sea.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Ahead of Paris Olympics, China takes steps to curb unruly sports fans

      Behaviour being targeted includes name-calling and online abuse of rival fans and referees.

    • The Strategist ☛ We need more defence capability long before the first SSN arrives

      AUKUS is the great polariser of Australia’s national security community. Supporters are accused of risking too much for one capability; critics are accused of being unhelpful or lacking belief in Australia.

    • Democracy Now ☛ Rep. Jamie Raskin: Trump’s First Return to Capitol Hill Since Jan. 6 Cements His GOP “Stranglehold”

      Former President Donald Trump returned to the U.S. Capitol last week for the first time since the January 6 insurrection in 2021, where he met with Republican lawmakers including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and reportedly discussed how to quash his 34 felony convictions stemming from his New York fraud case, as well as how to punish prosecutors involved in the various cases against him. “His return to Capitol Hill showed that he has cemented his political stranglehold over the Republican Party,” says Democratic Congressmember Jamie Raskin of Maryland. “While they are attacking the rule of law … they’re doing everything they can to compromise the judiciary and to destroy the rule of law in our country.”

    • NYPost ☛ House committee demands answer on eight Tajik border crossers arrested for terror plot

      The lawmakers are investigating whether overwhelmed border agency personnel are able to properly screen terrorists and other criminals.

    • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

      • New York Times ☛ A Russian City Adapts to War: Blast Shelters and Drone Jamming

        While in Moscow the fighting feels far away, residents of Belgorod, 25 miles from the border with Ukraine, have learned to duck for cover when the sirens wail.

      • New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Soldiers Cheer National Soccer Team in Euro 2024

        Soldiers huddled in a bunker with soft drinks and chips to watch Ukraine face Romania, only to suffer heartbreak.

      • CS Monitor ☛ In Pokrovsk, Ukraine, a rose is a rose – and a sign of resilience and hope

        Amid the trials of a long and ugly war, where can people turn for the tranquility and beauty that restores their spirit? Sometimes the solution is right at hand, in parks and private gardens, as the rose lovers of Donetsk, Ukraine, can attest.

      • RFERL ☛ Ukraine's Top Military Chief Says Russia Is Upping Attacks Ahead Of More Western Military Aid

        The Russian military is intensifying its attacks in Ukraine, trying to gain more territory before the Ukrainian military receives more promised Western military aid, including F-16 jets, Ukraine’s top military commander said.

      • New York Times ☛ What Weapons Is North Korea Accused of Supplying to Russia?

        Moscow needs conventional arms like artillery shells and missiles that North Korea could provide to give it an edge in its war of attrition in Ukraine.

      • Meduza ☛ ‘There’s no trust’ Did the Ukraine peace summit bring Moscow and Kyiv any closer to the negotiating table? Meduza reports from Switzerland. — Meduza

      • RFERL ☛ Stoltenberg: West Should 'Impose A Cost' On China For Russia Support

        NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 17 that China was providing technology to Russia that is prolonging its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and called on Beijing to face the consequences of this support.

      • RFERL ☛ Rod Stewart Defends Support For Ukraine After Boos In Germany's Leipzig

        British rock star Rod Stewart on June 17 defended his support for Ukraine after he was booed at a show in Germany after an image of the Ukraine flag and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared on screens in the stadium.

      • RFERL ☛ Ukrainian Command Says Russian Air Defenses Damaged In Crimea

        The Strategic Command of Ukraine's armed forces said on June 17 that its forces had damaged 15 Russian air defense systems in occupied Crimea since May.

      • France24 ☛ 'Close to zero': Kremlin dismisses outcome of Ukraine talks held without Russia

        Russia said on Monday that a Swiss-hosted conference on the Ukraine war had produced negligible results and showed the futility of holding talks without Moscow.

      • Reason ☛ WARNING: You Won't Like This New Label

        Plus: Ex-NSA chief joins forces with OpenAI, conscription squads hunt Ukrainian draft-dodgers, and more...

      • Latvia ☛ Latvia's Ukrainian community dates back more than a century

        Latvia and Ukraine were part of the Russian Empire until 1917. The Ukrainian People's Republic and the Republic of Latvia started their cooperation in 1918, but already a year later Ukraine had its own consulate here, and then also its embassy, says Latvian Radio 3 in its 'Did you know?' factual strand.

      • RFA ☛ Russia’s Putin to meet Kim Jong Un in first visit to North Korea since 2000

        New security treaty is expected as both men seek to bolster their profiles.

      • New York Times ☛ Putin to Visit North Korea and Meet With Kim Jong-un

        ​Seeking more weapons for the war in Ukraine, the Russian president plans to return to the country on Tuesday for the first time in nearly a quarter-century.

      • The Straits Times ☛ Putin vows trade, security with North Korea beyond reach of West

        Mr Putin thanked North Korea for supporting what Russia calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

      • The Straits Times ☛ Putin praises North Korea for ‘firmly supporting’ Russia operations in Ukraine: KCNA

        Mr Putin is set to arrive in the isolated North, his last visit since 2000.

      • RFA ☛ Russia's Putin to meet Kim Jong Un in first visit to North Korea since 2000

        New security treaty is expected as both men seek to bolster their profiles.

      • RFERL ☛ Putin Names Cousin's Daughter Deputy Defense Minister

        Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed four deputy defense ministers on June 17 and appointed three new ones, one of whom is Anna Tsivilyova, who, according to investigative reports, is the daughter of Putin's cousin.

      • RFERL ☛ Kremlin Says Putin To Visit North Korea

        Russian President Vladimir Putin will embark on a two-day visit to North Korea starting June 18, the Kremlin announced.

      • France24 ☛ Putin flaunts trade, security agreements with North Korea prior to visit

        Vladimir Putin promised to build trade and security systems with North Korea that are not controlled by the West and pledged his unwavering support in a letter published by North Korean state media on Tuesday ahead of his planned visit to the country.

      • JURIST ☛ Russia court rules US journalist Evan Gershkovich to be tried in secret

        The Sverdlovsky Regional Court on Monday declared that the trial of American journalist Evan Gershkovich will be held behind closed doors. As released by the court and reported by TASS, the first session will take place on June 26.

      • Latvia ☛ Estonia's regional drone defense plan still to be worked out

        A plan floated by Estonia to defend the eastern border of the European Union from possible incursions by drones from Russia and Belarus still has a long way to go before becoming a reality, reported Latvian Television's 'De Facto' investigative show June 16.

      • LRT ☛ Russia intensified aircraft activity over Baltic region due to NATO drills – MoD

        Lithuania’s Ministry of Defence says the recent increase in Russian aircraft activity in the Baltic region is linked to NATO military exercises in Lithuania and the Baltic Sea.

      • RFERL ☛ Russian Nuclear-Powered Submarine Leaves Cuba After Five-Day Stay

        A Russian nuclear-powered submarine and other naval vessels on June 17 left the port of Havana.

      • RFERL ☛ Five Residents Of Volatile Tajik Region Extradited By Russia

        Russian officials detained five residents of the village of Yazgulom in the volatile Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region and extradited them to Tajikistan last week, where they were charged with "membership in an extremist organization," a source close to Tajik law enforcement told RFE/RL on June 17.

      • RFERL ☛ Russian Journalist In Exile Accused Of Justifying Terrorism

        Russian lawmaker Andrei Alshevskikh quoted Interior Ministry officials on June 17 as saying that an investigation was launched last month against television journalist Tatyana Lazareva on a charge of justifying terrorism.

      • RFERL ☛ Denmark Seeks To Limit Shadow Tanker Fleet Carrying Russian Oil

        Denmark is considering ways to limit a potentially environmentally harmful shadow fleet of tankers from carrying Russian oil through the Danish straits into the Baltic Sea, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on June 17.

      • RFERL ☛ Russian-Uzbek Billionaire Usmanov Sues UBS In Germany Over 'Erroneous Decisions'

        Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov has filed a lawsuit against the bank UBS Europe SE in Frankfurt over what his lawyers said were unsubstantiated reports made about his transactions that triggered an investigation of him.

      • RFERL ☛ U.S. Soldier Gordon Black Pleads Not Guilty To Attacking Russian Girlfriend

        U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Gordon Black, who was arrested in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok last month, rejected a charge of attacking his Russian girlfriend and threatening to kill her, as his trial resumed.

      • RFERL ☛ Russia Issues Warrants For 2 Investigative Journalists In Exile

        A Moscow court on June 17 issued arrest warrants for two journalists from the independent iStories investigative website -- Yekaterina Fomina and chief editor Roman Anin -- on a charge of "distributing false information about the Russian military."

      • RFERL ☛ Nuclear Powers Continue To Modernize Arsenals, Rely On Them More, New Study Says

        The nine nuclear-armed nations in the world continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals amid growing reliance on them as deterrence in 2023, a fresh report issued on June 17 by a Swedish think tank said.

      • New York Times ☛ Record Number of NATO Allies Hit Military Spending Targets

        President Biden and the NATO secretary general sought to present a robust and united front against Russia as the alliance prepares for its annual meeting next month.

      • Meduza ☛ ‘This kind of growth can’t be sustained’: As inflation rises, payday loans are undermining the Russian economy and threatening a new crisis — Meduza

      • LRT ☛ Belarusian climbs up comms tower in Vilnius to protest deportation

        A Belarusian man has climbed atop a communications tower in Vilnius, protesting the Lithuanian authorities’ decision to deport him from the country.

      • RFERL ☛ More Tajik Citizens Stranded At Moscow Airport

        More than 30 Tajik nationals have been stranded at Moscow's Vnukovo airport since last week amid tightened passport controls almost three months after a deadly terror attack near Moscow.

  • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

    • Reason ☛ Court Refuses to Order Redaction of Filings That Reveal Litigant's Past Pseudonymous Lawsuits

      A California trial court so ruled, and the California Court of Appeal just upheld that decision.

    • Reason ☛ No Sealing of Documents in Lawsuit Alleging Prison Nurse's Falling Asleep Contributed to Inmate's Death

      From Thursday's decision by Judge David Larimer in Carey v. Salvadore (W.D.N.Y.): Plaintiffs William H. Carey and Barbara B. Carey, as administrators of the estate of their son Michael …, … allege that at the time of Michael's death from pulmonary congestion, [defendant Lisa] Salvador [{the correct spelling [of defendant's name]}] [...]

  • Environment

    • Mexico News Daily ☛ Meteorologists monitor possible tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico

      A low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico could become a tropical storm by midweek, as torrential rains hit the Yucatán peninsula.

    • Energy/Transportation

      • JURIST ☛ US appeals court allows oil pipeline in New York and Pennsylvania to proceed despite environmental concerns

        The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled on Friday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) adequately evaluated emission impacts when it approved a gas pipeline expansion in Pennsylvania and New York, allowing the project to move forward.

      • DeSmog ☛ Polluter Funded Reform Party Backs Oil and Gas Expansion in Manifesto

    • Overpopulation

      • New York Times ☛ More Women in Africa Are Using Long-Acting Contraception, Changing Lives

        Methods such as hormonal implants and injections are reaching remote areas, providing more discretion and autonomy.

  • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

    • Press Gazette ☛ Where we get our news in 2024: Social media has become the new global newsstand [Ed: Nope, just a pretence of that]

      Survey reveals leading sources of news in UK and US.

    • Pro Publica ☛ NC Supreme Court Let Off Two Republican Judges Who Violated Code

      Last fall, out of public view, the North Carolina Supreme Court squashed disciplinary action against two Republican judges who had admitted that they had violated the state’s judicial code of conduct, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the decisions.

      One of the judges had ordered, without legal justification, that a witness be jailed. The other had escalated a courtroom argument with a defendant, which led to a police officer shooting the defendant to death. The Judicial Standards Commission, the arm of the state Supreme Court that investigates judicial misconduct by judges, had recommended that the court publicly reprimand both women. The majority-Republican court gave no public explanation for rejecting the recommendations — indeed, state law mandates that such decisions remain confidential.

    • Pro Publica ☛ Utah Life Coaches Aren’t Licensed. Should They Be Regulated?

      A frustrated woman recently called the Utah official in charge of professional licensing, upset that his office couldn’t take action against a life coach she had seen. Mark Steinagel recalls the woman telling him: “I really think that we should be regulating life coaching. Because this person did a lot of damage to me.”

      Reports about life coaches — who sell the promise of helping people achieve their personal or professional goals — come into Utah’s Division of Professional Licensing about once a month. But much of the time, Steinagel or his staff have to explain that there’s nothing they can do.

    • New York Times ☛ George Norcross, Democratic Power Broker, Charged With Racketeering

      New Jersey’s attorney general said George Norcross, who built a political empire from Camden, N.J., had been running a “criminal enterprise” for 12 years.

    • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

      • Digital Music News ☛ Is the Price of Fame Getting Too High? — Flavor Flav Weighs in On Megan Thee Stallion AI-Generated Porn Video

        Flavor Flav defends Megan Thee Stallion after an AI-generated sex tape of her began circulating online — ‘Y’all leave this queen alone.’ Public Enemy legend Flavor Flav took to X, the former Twitter, to defend Megan Thee Stallion after an AI-doctored porn video of the “Cognac Queen” artist made the rounds on social control media.

  • Censorship/Free Speech

    • Reason ☛ Is Promotion of Free Services "Commercial Speech" for First Amendment Purposes?

      One of several interesting questions that arises in a case involving regulations of pregnancy centers that seek to help pregnant women without offering abortions or abortion counseling.

    • RFA ☛ Chinese artist hits back at party censorship with trashy performance

      Australia-based Xiao Lu's exhibit 'Junk' highlights Beijing's 'red lines' that extend far beyond its borders.

    • Democracy Now ☛ Arundhati Roy Faces Anti-Terror Prosecution in India as Modi Expands Crackdown on Critics

      Acclaimed author Arundhati Roy could soon face trial under India’s contested “anti-terror” laws in a case that has drawn outrage from free speech advocates in India and beyond. An official from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s far-right ruling Bharatiya Janata Party gave the go-ahead on Friday for Roy’s prosecution over comments she made about Kashmir in 2010. This comes as Modi was sworn in last week to his third term as prime minister after the BJP won the most seats in Indian’s Parliament, but lost its outright majority. “This case is so convoluted, it’s hard to say where it begins and where it ends — and that’s the point. The process is the punishment,” says Indian author and journalist Siddhartha Deb, who teaches at The New School in New York. Deb says Modi is trying to show that “everything is normal” despite the shocking electoral setback, with the case against Roy being used to placate his “rabid attack dogs of Hindu nationalism.”

  • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

    • Press Gazette ☛ Trust in news up slightly in UK but remains lower than global average

      Fewer people ranked The Sun as untrustworthy compared to last year.

    • Press Gazette ☛ News media job cuts 2024 tracked: 150 jobs expected to go at Evening Standard

    • Press Gazette ☛ Pugpig named best media technology partner of 2024 by AOP

      Pugpig publishing platform is used by nine of the UK's top 15 publishers.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hongkongers’ trust in news rises even as security laws ‘intensify’ challenges to journalism – study

      Hongkongers’ trust in the news has “increased substantially,” rising to 55 per cent of those surveyed for an annual study of news consumption habits in 47 countries and territories – the highest since the city was first examined in 2017.

    • Press Gazette ☛ Data: Podcasts ‘bright spot for publishers’ despite remaining ‘minority activity’

      Digital News Report data shows podcast listeners are younger, wealthier and more likely to be men.

  • Civil Rights/Policing

    • BIA Net ☛ Human rights report shows increasing torture against Kurds, LGBTI+s

      In the last year, 739 individuals from Ankara, Diyarbakır, İstanbul, İzmir, Van, and Cizre personally reported experiencing torture or ill-treatment, while 42 others reported on behalf of relatives, according to the HRFT.

    • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Metropolitan Council wastewater treatment plant workers authorize strike on Monday

      The notice comes after members overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea orders doctors to return to work amid prolonged strike

      SEOUL - The South Korean government issued a return-to-work order for doctors on Tuesday as more doctors including medical professors join the months-long strike to protest increasing medical school admissions.

    • JURIST ☛ Australia federal court formally recognizes Kabi Kabi native title on Sunshine Coast

      The Federal Court of Australia on Monday officially recognized the Kabi Kabi people as the native title holders of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The decision was made at a hearing in Brisbane as part of a lawsuit that has been pending since 2013.

  Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • Public Knowledge ☛ U.S. v. Ticketmaster: Y’all Need To Get this Handled Before the Cowboy Carter Tour, Respectfully.

    The U.S. government states that the consolidated entity, Live Nation Entertainment, has undermined competition in the ticketing service industry, restricted choices for concert venues, and coerced artists into touring at Live Nation’s list of venues.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Democracy on Trial: Chestek and the Future of USPTO Accountability

    The pending petition for certiorari in Chestek v. Vidal focuses on the extend that the APA requires the USPTO to follow notice-and-comment requirements when promulgating regulations under 35 U.S.C. § 2(b)(2). In its decision below, the Federal Circuit held that the USPTO is exempt from these requirements because the types of rules it is authorized to issue under Section 2(b)(2) are procedural in nature, and the APA excuses “rules of agency … procedure” from the requirements.  There are two ways that the Federal Circuit potentially erred:

  • Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ Bedrock IP entity Cobblestone Wireless 4G/5G patent monopoly challenge instituted

      On June 14, 2024, less than three months after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims 1-15 and 17-23 of U.S. Patent 7,924,802, owned and asserted by Cobblestone Wireless, LLC, an NPE and entity of Bedrock IP Co., Ltd. The ‘802 patent monopoly relates to wireless communication systems that transmit signals simultaneously over a communication channel at different RF center frequencies.

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Trade Secret Misappropriation Preliminary Injunction Reversed

      The Federal Circuit has reversed a preliminary injunction order in a trade secret misappropriation case, finding that the district court abused its discretion by failing to properly evaluate the likelihood of success on the merits and the balance of harms. Insulet Corp. v. EOFlow, Co., No. 2024-1137 (Fed. Cir. June 17, 2024). The appellate court held that the district court’s analysis was deficient in several key respects, including not addressing the statute of limitations defense, defining trade secrets too broadly, and not sufficiently assessing irreparable harm and the public interest.

    • Software Patents

      • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for Wrinkl messaging patent monopoly prior art

        Unified Patents added a new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 11,973,731, owned by CardiacSense LTD, an NPE. The ‘731 patent monopoly relates to creating and displaying subsidiary channel-based thread communications in a group-based messaging system.

  • Trademarks

    • TTAB Blog ☛ Fourth Circuit Rules that Bacardi May Challenge USPTO's Renewal of HAVANA CLUB Registration via Civil Action Under the APA

      In another chapter of the long-running battle over the HAVANA CLUB trademark for rum, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled that Bacardi's challenge to the USPTO's renewal of the registration for that mark may be heard in the federal courts. The EDVA district court had dismissed the case, reasoning that the Trademark Act precludes such an action, but the court of appeals held that the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) permits judicial review. Bacardi & Co. v. Vidal, Appeal No. 22-1659 (4th Cir. June 13, 2024) [published].

  • Copyrights

    • Digital Music News ☛ Ed Sheeran is the Most Played Artist in the UK for the Seventh Time in Nine Years

      Ed Sheeran is the most played artist in the UK for the seventh time in nine years, clocking three consecutive years for the second time, PPL reveals.