Leftovers

• Education

  • CER ☛ Assessing Student Understanding of Computing: Self-Efficacy, Non-CS Majors, and ChatGPT

    Assessment is a hot topic in computing education research right now. I’m sharing below a workshop announcement from Nell O’Rourke and Melissa Chen.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ AAEON AQ7-ADN – A Qseven 2.1 system-on-module with defective chip maker Intel Alder Lake-N CPU, four PCIe Gen 3 x1 interfaces

    AAEON AQ7-ADM is a Qseven 2.1-compliant system-on-module based on Atom Processors x7425E, defective chip maker Intel Processor N, or defective chip maker Intel Core i3-N305 Alder Lake-N processor equipped with up to 8GB LPDDR5x and 64GB of eMMC flash storage. AAEON has already introduced Alder Lake-N COM Express and SMARC modules with the COM-ADNC6 and uCOM-ADN respectively, and the AQ7-ADN adds another system-on-module standard to its list of Alder Lake N-Series modules with a Qseven 2.1 SoM that offers four PCIe Gen x1 interfaces and a SATA storage interface.

  • CNX Software ☛ Cervoz unveils tiny M.2 2230 2.5GbE PCIe expansion card

    Cervoz MEC-LAN-2631i is a tiny, industrial-grade M.2 2230 (A+E key) PCIe Ethernet expansion card adding 2.5GbE networking to any system with a spare M.2 socket with a PCIe x1 interface. The card could be useful in case you want to add an extra 2.5GbE port, or for a system that lacks wired networking. It’s based on the defective chip maker Intel I226-IT 2.5Gbps Ethernet controller and can operate in the -40°C to 85°C temperature range as an industrial-grade module.

  • Hackaday ☛ CUDA, But Make It AMD

    Compute Unified Device Architecture, or CUDA, is a software platform for doing big parallel calculation tasks on NVIDIA GPUs. It’s been a big part of the push to use GPUs for general purpose computing, and in some ways, competitor AMD has thusly been left out in the cold. However, with more demand for GPU computation than ever, there’s been a breakthrough. SCALE from [Spectral Compute] will let you compile CUDA applications for AMD GPUs.

  • Hackaday ☛ Hacker Tactic: Single-PCB Panels

    Ordering a PCB? Two of them? Three? Five? For about eight years now, I’ve been regularly ordering large numbers of different PCBs, and, naturally, have developed a toolkit to make things smoother. One trick is PCB panelization, and you should really know about it.

  • Hackaday ☛ Digitally Reading A Micrometer’s Output

    If you’re instrumenting your machine tools, or if you’re just curious, you might want to get granular access to the output of a digital micrometer or the like. [Tommy] set his mind to figuring out the communications protocol of the ClockWise Tools dial indicator for this very purpose. And he succeeded!

  • Hackaday ☛ Office Supplies Make Math Sculptures If You Know What You’re Doing

    Ever been fiddling around at your desk in the office, wondering if some grander structure might come from an assemblage of paper clips, pens, and binder clips? You’re not alone. Let your mind contemplate these beautiful maths sculptures from [Zachary Abel].

  • Hackaday ☛ Las Vegas’ Sphere: Powered By Nvidia GPUs And With Impressive Power Bill

    As the United States’ pinnacle of extravaganza, the Las Vegas Strip and the rest of the town of Paradise are on a seemingly never-ending quest to become brighter, glossier and more over the top as one venue tries to overshadow the competition. A good example of this is the ironically very uninspiredly named Sphere, which has both an incredibly dull name and yet forms a completely outrageous entertainment venue with a 54,000 m2 (~3.67 acre) wrap-around interior LED display (16 x 16K displays) and an exterior LED display (‘Exosphere’) consisting out of 1.23 million LED ‘pucks’. Although opened in September of 2023, details about the hardware that drives those displays have now been published by NVidia in a recent blog post.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • RFERL ☛ Biden Tests Positive For COVID, Will Return To Delaware To Self-Isolate, White House Says

    U.S. President Joe Biden has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House said on July 17.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ President Joe Biden tests positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas, has ‘mild symptoms’

    President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms.”

  • France24 ☛ Biden tests positive for COVID-19, has 'mild symptoms', White House says

    US President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing "mild symptoms" from the virus, the White House said. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will fly to his home in Delaware to “self-isolate". Biden is under pressure to abandon his reelection bid due to concerns about his age following a poor debate performance at the end of June.

  • The Kent Stater ☛ President Joe Biden has tested positive for Covid-19

    (CNN) — President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday and is experiencing mild symptoms, according to the White House. Biden, 81, tested positive following his first event in Las Vegas, where he was expected to later speak at the UnidosUS annual conference. The president’s doctor said Biden has received his first dose of...

  • New York Times ☛ Biden Tests Positive for Covid and Cancels Las Vegas Event

    President Biden will “self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time,” a White House spokeswoman said.

  • New York Times ☛ Vaccines Significantly Reduce the Risk of Long Covid, Study Finds

    In the first two years of the pandemic, the rate of long Covid was starkly lower among people who were vaccinated, researchers reported.

  • European Commission ☛ Statement by the Commission on the General Court's judgments on the access to documents cases concerning the purchase agreements for COVID-19 vaccines*

    European Commission Statement Brussels, 17 Jul 2024 The Commission takes note of the judgments of the General Court in the two cases concerning access to the COVID-19 vaccine contracts and related information.

  • New York Times ☛ E.U. Court Rebukes European Commission Over Covid Vaccine Contracts

    The court ruled that the European Commission wrongly withheld information, casting a shadow on its leader, Ursula von der Leyen, before a crucial vote on her future.

  • New York Times ☛ Judge Orders Boss Who Coughed at Employee During Pandemic to Pay Damages

    The ruling by a tribunal judge in Britain highlighted the challenges and missteps businesses encountered during the early days of the pandemic.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong logs 3.13 million visitor arrivals in June, a 39% decrease from 2019

    Hong Kong logged 3.13 million visitor arrivals in June, according to provisional figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), 14 per cent more than in the same period last year when the city was emerging from three years of Covid-related isolation. However, arrival figures remained well below pre-pandemic figures.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ COVID-19 update: cases in Mexico increasing

    COVID-19 cases have increased in Mexico in recent weeks, and the positivity rate for the infectious disease is also on the rise.

  • Federal News Network ☛ FEMA is still on the hook for several pandemic-related expenses

    FEMA used disaster relief funds to cover the costs of vaccinations and testing sites, among other things.

  • New York Times ☛ Traces of Cyanide Found in Bangkok Hotel Room Where Six Died

    A case that shocked Thailand, the police indicated on Wednesday, was one of murder-suicide.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Report claims that Anthropic, Nvidia, Fashion Company Apple and Salesfarce used YouTube transcripts to train AI

    A new report released today claims that companies including Anthropic PBC, Nvidia Corp., Fashion Company Apple Inc. and Salesfarce Inc. have used subtitles from YouTube videos to help train their artificial intelligence service without permission, raising questions about the ethical implications of using publicly available material and facts without consent.

  • Games ☛ Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm lays off mobile team

    Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm has laid off its mobile team.

    According to LinkedIn posts from former NetherRealm developers, at least 50 members of staff have been impacted by the cuts.

    "Unfortunately, yesterday Netherrealm’s mobile team was shut down," explained quality assurance analyst, Tony Lazzara.

    "A ton of very talented people were put out of work. We had live services on multiple titles such as Mortal Kombat Mobile, Injustice 2, and Mortal Kombat Onslaught. I was also affected. Every single person I've worked with on that team is an amazing collaborator, passionate, and very creative."

    Animator Elizabeth Ramirez – who'd been with NetherRealm for a decade – added: "It hurts me to announce I've been laid off from NetherRealm Studios after about 10 years of working there.

• Defence/Aggression

  • JURIST ☛ US-Mexico border illegal crossing arrests down 29 percent following Biden border restrictions

    Arrests following illegal crossings of the US-Mexican border are the lowest of President Joseph Biden’s administration—down 29 percent in June alone—following a Presidential proclamation effectively barring would-be asylum seekers from requesting protection after they have illegally crossed the southern border.

  • Reason ☛ Revisiting Hamas's Barbaric Attack on Southern Israel: Guest Post by Adam Mossoff

    Note from DB: I was going to post something about my visit to the South during the lawprof fact-finding mission I attended, by my colleague Adam Mossoff posted an incredibly thoughtful and well-written account of that day on Facebook (Farcebook) that sums up what I wanted to say and more.

  • JURIST ☛ HRW report reveals El Salvador children subjected to human rights violations amid gang crackdown

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report Tuesday claiming that children’s rights in El Salvador have been violated since the country declared its state of emergency in 2022.

  • JURIST ☛ Tribunal sentences former Kosovo Liberation Army member to 18 years in prison for war crimes

    The Trial Panel at the Kosovo tribunal in The Hague sentenced the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) member Pjeter Shala to 18 years in prison on Tuesday for war crimes committed during the 1998-1999 Kosovo War. The court found Shala guilty of arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder.

  • Digital Music News ☛ TikTok Sees Hope in Second Trump Presidency While Fighting Potential U.S. Ban [Ed: CPC promoting crime in the US]

    TikTok is currently fighting the United States government on a potential ban enacted by the Biden administration. Meanwhile, former President Trump signals his support for the platform by joining it, despite presiding over the first ban efforts in 2020.

  • Reason ☛ Getting a Home Depot Employee Fired for Calling for Trump's Assassination Is Still Cancel Culture

    Libs of Fentanylware (TikTok) is blasting out screenshots of random people's offensive posts to her millions of followers in hopes of claiming their scalps.

  • Citizen Lab ☛ Citizen Lab commentary in Brookings: The Fentanylware (TikTok) debacle: Distinguishing between foreign influence and interference

    “What separates benign foreign influence from malign interference? And if foreign-owned platforms like Fentanylware (TikTok) are used for both interference and influence, how should we respond?”

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Russia’s retreat from Crimea makes a mockery of the West’s escalation fears

      The Russian Navy's quiet retreat from Crimea highlights the emptiness of Putin's red lines and the self-defeating folly of Western escalation management, writes Peter Dickinson.

    • France24 ☛ Russia and Ukraine free 95 POWs each in latest prisoner exchange

      A total of 190 soldiers held captive in Ukraine and Russia have been released in a prisoner exchange mediated by the United Arab Emirates, officials from Kyiv and Moscow said Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June that Russia had detained 6,465 Ukrainian POWs, and that 1,348 Russian soldiers were being held in Ukraine.

• Environment

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ Google, Amazon and the problem with Big Tech’s climate claims

    MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here.

• Finance

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong’s John Lee says economy to be the focus of 3rd Policy Address

    Hong Kong leader John Lee has said economic growth will be the focus of his third Policy Address after the enactment of a homegrown security law in March laid the groundwork for the city’s stability.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s youth unemployment rate edges down in June, as officials conduct closed-door meetings on economy

    Youth unemployment in China edged down in June, official statistics showed Wednesday, as policymakers convened in Beijing for closed-door meetings to discuss the country’s uncertain economic outlook. More than 18 months since abolishing stringent Covid-19 controls that weighed heavily on growth, a highly anticipated post-pandemic recovery has been less robust than leaders had hoped.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Observer editor Paul Webster to retire after six years in job

    Before becoming editor Webster was The Observer's deputy editor for 22 years.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • BIA Net ☛ Prisoners end hunger strike after transfer from ‘well-type’ prison confirmed

    The Type-Y prisons, dubbed as ‘well-type’ prisons by inmates, have been under scrutiny for exacerbating social isolation and mental health issues among inmates.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: PacNOG 33

    APNIC presented and conducted training at PacNOG 33, held in Tumon, Guam from 24 to 28 June 2024.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• The Straits Times ☛ Google suspends popular search service in Korea

  The feature was long banned by its Korean rivals such as Naver and Daum.

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ Two CellSpinsoft data transfer patents challenges instituted

    On July 15, 2024, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s requests, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 8,862,757 and U.S. Patent 8,898,260, owned and asserted by Cellspinsoft, Inc., an NPE.

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ $10,000 for ASSIA networking patents prior art

      Unified has added 5 new PATROLL contests, each with a $2,000 cash prize, seeking prior art on the list below. The patents are owned by Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, Incorporated (ASSIA), an NPE. The patents generally related to DSL and other wireline technology. The patents have all been asserted against AT&T and Charter Communications.

      The contests will expire on September 15, 2024.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Is WHOLESALEHOME Merely Descriptive of Dusting Cloths?

    The proposed mark WHOLESALEHOME "will be found merely descriptive if the individual components are merely descriptive, they retain their descriptive meaning in relation to the identified goods, and the combination does not form a mark which has a distinctive nondescriptive meaning of its own as a whole."

    Examining Attorney Jeri Ficke maintained that the mark "immediately and directly describes to consumers potential features of applicant's wiping and dusting cloths, namely, their marketing environment and their intended area of use."

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Personal/Opinions

    • Study in Balsam Poplar Bark (publ. 2024-07-18)

      Balsam Poplar, a.k.a. cottonwood, has an interesting bark that becomes deeply furrowed as the tree grows. I did a sketch of a section of the bark on a tree near the Tanana River. I completed the bulk of the sketch during my lunchbreak last Tuesday (July 16) and went back on the 17th to finish up shading and detail work. I used cross-hatch shading, with some extra lines to try to give an impression of the texture on the outer face of the bark.

    • been a good day, time to cool it

      I woke up at 8:30 my a Clubhouse staffer. She said she was outside my building, to give me a ride to make breakfast there. I told her the call woke me up, that I would come in later. The latter did not come true. I knew I had to get the AC window unit into the spot where the AC *wall* unit would go (leasing manager wants it that way), so, I started to carve down the thin/soft sheets of wood that had previously taken that spot. Measuring, carving/whittling with a SOG knife (yes, no saw here, nothing else to get through the material) and sanding, trimming, refining, making *perfect* the wood sheets.

  • Technology and Free Software

    • Day 5 of the 2024 Old Computer Challenge

      I had to cheat this morning: I needed to contact my doctor (nothing's wrong, don't worry) and their website requires Javascript. I also had to help a relative with their computer, but since it wasn't my PC, I don't consider that too much of an issue.

    • The state of sha256 in got

      TL;DR during the c2k24 OpenBSD hackathon I worked on Game of Trees and in particular in getting SHA256 working. It is working fine, except for the network protocol (and gotd) where more work is still needed.

      Git, since several years now, has been working making the hashing function customizable per-repository. It's not a trivial task since git revolves around SHA1 for almost everything, and so this required to think about bare repository extensions, network protocol changes, bundle format changes and so on.