Links 19/07/2024: Microsoft Breaks Down and Amdocs Has 1,500-3,000 More Layoffs
Contents
- Leftovers
- Science
- Education
- Hardware
- Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
- Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Security
- Defence/Aggression
- Transparency/Investigative Reporting
- Environment
- AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
- Censorship/Free Speech
- Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
- Civil Rights/Policing
- Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
- Digital Restrictions (DRM) Monopolies/Monopsonies
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Leftovers
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Jim Nielsen ☛ Amazing Athletes of the 21st Century
Content warning: wherein I talk about sports. If that’s not your thing, feel free to skip this one.
I’m not a rabid sports fan. I don’t have a team, though I do have teams I hate (or rather, like to hate on). But I do enjoy following sports.
I’ve witnessed some pretty spectacular sporting events and athletic performances in my life, so when ESPN published “Ranking the top 100 professional athletes since 2000”, I read it with joyful nostalgia for all the amazing things I’ve witnessed.
To make it even more fun, I wrote down my own personal recollections for the people on this list.
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Michal Zelazny ☛ The reason
Here we are now. It's a year later and I'm still keeping this place online. That's quite an achievement.
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The Register UK ☛ Firms skip security reviews of updates about half the time
Skipping the review process isn't simply down to neglect and laziness. Reviews take time, and time is often money. Only 19 percent said a security review took less than a day, while 46 percent estimated one to three days were needed. A further 29 percent claim reviews could take three to five days to complete.
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NVISO Labs ☛ Hunting for Remote Management Tools
In today’s digital landscape, Remote Management and Monitoring (RMM) tools have become indispensable for organizations seeking to streamline IT operations, enhance productivity, and ensure seamless remote support. However, within our threat hunting and incident response engagements we often see that these tools, while beneficial, can also pose significant security risks if not properly managed. This blog post aims to share our insights from numerous threat hunts focused on RMM tools as well as various incident response engagements in which we observed threat actors installing these RMM tools for prolonged access into environments, and offer recommendations on how organizations can mitigate associated risks.
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Devever ☛ Computers are an inherently oppressive technology
The capacity of computers to embody total integrity at least remains interesting. What should concern us is on the one hand the deliberate use of machine-assisted ruthlessness to malevolent ends, which runs rampant largely unchecked, and on the other hand, the intrinsically ruthless nature of all machines, whether intended or not, which has arguably equal power to oppress; all that is required is the thoughtlessness of its maker.
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Science
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Omicron Limited ☛ Of ants and trees: 'Evolutionary déjà vu' in the tropical rainforest
Probst made a remarkable discovery. Using DNA sequence data to unravel their evolutionary history, he found that these nine species occurred as two clusters in different parts of the evolutionary tree. That means that this complex relationship, with all its distinctive characteristics, evolved twice from non-specialist ancestors. Not only that, but they also evolved in close proximity, and at about the same time, around 3 million years ago.
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Education
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Society for Scholarly Publishing ☛ What To Do Once the Paper is Retracted: NISO Issues Recommended Practice on the Communication of Retractions, Removals, and Expressions of Concern
Another important part of this network of trust is the process of error correction. When something is determined to be amiss, in error, or even in rare circumstances deemed to be fraudulent, processes exist to rectify the issues. This process in scholarly publishing of retracting, withdrawing, or issuing expressions of concern are another important element of the foundation of trust that distinguishes scholarly communications from other publication genres.
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Hardware
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Hackaday ☛ Single-Stepping The 6502 Processor
Although marketing folk and laypeople may credit [Steve Jobs] as the man behind the success of Apple, those in the tech world know the real truth that without [Steve Wozniak] nothing would have ever gotten off the ground during the early days of the computer company. As an exhibit of his deep knowledge of the machines he was building, take a look at this recreation of a circuit by [Anders] which allows the 6502 processor to step through instructions one at a time, originally designed by [Woz] himself, even though there are still myths floating around the Internet that this type of circuit can’t work.
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Hackaday ☛ Supercon 2023: Bringing Arcade Classics To New Hardware
The processing power of modern game consoles is absolutely staggering when compared to the coin-op arcade machines of the early 1980s. Packed with terabytes of internal storage and gigabytes of RAM, there’s hardly a comparison to make with the Z80 cabinets that ran classics like Pac-Man. But despite being designed to pump out lifelike 4K imagery without breaking a virtual sweat, occasionally even these cutting-edge consoles are tasked with running one of those iconic early games like Dig Dug or Pole Position. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug…
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Hackaday ☛ A Nostalgic Look At A Kid’s Shortwave Receiver
[Mikrowave1] had a Unelco shortwave receiver as a kid. This was a typical simple radio for the 1960s using germanium and silicon transistors. It also had plug-in coils you had to insert into sockets depending on the frequency band you wanted to receive.
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Hackaday ☛ Retrotechtacular: Ford Model T Wheels, Start To Finish
There’s no doubt that you’ll instantly recognize clips from the video below, as they’ve been used over and over for more than 100 years to illustrate the development of the assembly line. But those brief clips never told the whole story about just how much effort Ford was forced to put into manufacturing just one component of their iconic Model T: the wheels.
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Hackaday ☛ Mechanical Keyboard + Laptop = Clacktop
What do you do when your laptop keyboard breaks for the second time? Well, most people might use an external keyboard until they couldn’t take it anymore and bought a new machine. But [Marcin Plaza] isn’t most people.
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Hackaday ☛ This Modded Shopping Cart Probably Isn’t Street Legal
If you don’t count the high center of gravity, the weight limit, the weak chassis, or the small size, a standard shopping cart is an almost ideal platform for building a fun drifting kart. At least, that was [Garage Avenger]’s thought process when he started this build to turn a shopping cart into the ultimate drift vehicle.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Deutsche Welle ☛ Germany: Why are young people shunning farming?
German agriculture contributes less than 1% [sic] to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and is less important to the economy than in neighboring France and Poland.
Reinhard Jung, a policy advisor at the Freie Bauern (Free Farmers), a farmers' lobby group, says the German farming sector has come under additional pressure from another corner in recent years: demographic change.
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BoingBoing ☛ "Amusing Ourselves to Death" was a 1985 wake-up call we didn't know we’d need forty years later
Here are four excerpts that are about television but easily apply to social media today: [...]
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YLE ☛ THL: Coronavirus levels in wastewater surge
THL's wastewater study produces information on the regional prevalence of various diseases. Wastewater samples indicate the number of pathogens present in the sewer network.
THL Chief Physician Leif Lakoma emphasised that wastewater analysis cannot accurately determine the number of infected individuals.
"It's more difficult to say how many people are actually infected," Lakoma said.
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The Korea Times ☛ Should Korea classify game addiction as a disease?
This legislative move seeks to reduce the binding force of the current law, which mandates adherence to international standards when updating the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases (KSD) every five years. The bill also calls on Statistics Korea to gather input from various stakeholders and experts before making revisions.
The next KSD revision is scheduled for 2025.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Amdocs set to cut 1,500-3,000 jobs in new round of layoffs
Software giant Amdocs is preparing for another wave of layoffs affecting 5%-10% of its 29,000 employees, Calcalist has learned. Hearings are expected to commence in Israel and around the world over the next few weeks.
This marks yet another wave of layoffs at the company, which in 2023 alone parted ways with 2,700 employees. Currently, the company employs about 5,000 workers in Israel, and a significant portion of this workforce is expected to be affected by the upcoming layoffs. Globally, Amdocs employs over 29,000 people and trades with a market value of $9.7 billion. Earlier this year, the company laid off 100 employees as part of cutbacks in HR positions.
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OSTechNix ☛ Expanded Markdown Support is Coming to Surveillance Giant Google Docs
Google announced expanded Markdown support, allowing seamless conversion and editing of Markdown files directly within Surveillance Giant Google Docs.
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India Times ☛ Ukraine rushes to create AI-enabled war drones
In Ukraine, a handful of startups are developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to help fly a vast fleet of drones, taking warfare into uncharted territory as combatants race to gain a technological edge in battle.
Ukraine hopes a rollout of AI-enabled drones across the front line will help it overcome increasing signal jamming by the Russians as well as enable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to work in larger groups.
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VOA News ☛ Google brings AI to US broadcast of Paris Olympics
The Comcast-owned media company previously said it would launch personalized AI-generated daily recaps of the competition that will be narrated by AI versions of people such as sports commentator Al Michaels.
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The Register UK ☛ Judge mostly tosses SEC claims against SolarWinds security
SUNBURST is the code-name for some technologically top-notch backdoor malware Russian spies planted in the IT network monitoring software suite Orion after the snoops gained access to SolarWinds' internal infrastructure.
Orion is used by some 18,000 orgs including Microsoft and US government departments of State, Treasury, Homeland Security, and Commerce, making this a classic supply-chain attack. Infect a product a lot of valuable targets use so that when they come to deploy that compromised code in their networks, now you have remote-control access to those systems.
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PC World ☛ Microsoft wants you to pay $300 per year for AI art in Word
There’s a catch, though: Those capabilities don’t come for free. Microsoft 365, of course, requires a subscription: A Personal user must pay $6.99 per month or $69.99 annually, while Family users pay $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually. (PCWorld sells discounted Microsoft 365 subscriptions.) That subscription unlocks Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and more, of course. But to generate AI art within Word, Microsoft charges an additional $20 per user per month for what it calls a Copilot Pro subscription.
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CBC ☛ AI has a lot of fans in business. But does it actually make money?
While AI's inevitability has been a recurring refrain in much of the business media of late, there has been a small chorus of skeptics demanding proof of its ability to do what corporations need most: make money.
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The Korea Times ☛ AI systems to manage retirement funds in South Korea
A total of 206 algorithms passed the review: 33 from securities firms, 78 from asset management companies and 95 from investment advisory and discretionary management firms.
These companies can now apply for designation as "innovation financial services" at Fintech Center Korea starting in September. Currently, AI is restricted to suggesting portfolios rather than directly investing. However, once designated, these companies will be able to sell AI-driven pension products online from Dec. 11.
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Futurism ☛ Something Fascinating Is Wrong With the Eyes in Deepfakes
"The reflections in the eyeballs are consistent for the real person, but incorrect (from a physics point of view) for the fake person," said University of Hull professor of astrophysics Kevin Pimbblet in a statement.
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IT Wire ☛ iTWire - More than a third of sensitive business information entered into Generative AI apps is regulated personal data
Using global data sets, the researchers found that 96% of businesses are now using genAI—a number that has tripled over the past 12 months. On average, enterprises now use nearly 10 genAI apps, up from three last year, with the top 1% adopters now using an average of 80 apps, up significantly from 14. With the increased use, enterprises have experienced a surge in proprietary source code sharing within genAI apps, accounting for 46% of all documented data policy violations.
There are positive signs of proactive risk management in the nuance of security and data loss controls organisations are applying. For example, 65% of enterprises now implement real-time user coaching to help guide user interactions with genAI apps. According to the research, effective user coaching has played a crucial role in mitigating data risks, prompting 57% of users to alter their actions after receiving coaching alerts.
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Wired ☛ OpenAI Touts New AI Safety Research. Critics Say It’s a Good Step, but Not Enough
OpenAI has faced opprobrium in recent months from those who suggest it may be rushing too quickly and recklessly to develop more powerful artificial intelligence. The company appears intent on showing it takes AI safety seriously. Today it showcased research that it says could help researchers scrutinize AI models even as they become more capable and useful.
The new technique is one of several ideas related to AI safety that the company has touted in recent weeks. It involves having two AI models engage in a conversation that forces the more powerful one to be more transparent, or “legible,” with its reasoning so that humans can understand what it’s up to.
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Jarrod Blundy ☛ Jeff Perry: ‘It is time to slow down’
Jeff goes on to describe how he set an alarm for later in the day to catch up on what happened, rather than wade through everything spilling onto social media.
It made me realize that I treated this event differently too, but without conscious thought. I found out something was going on a couple of hours late (from Apple TV of all places), and almost opened Threads to “check the news”. Then I realized that I had no interest in heading down the algorithm mine shaft to seek out nuggets of truth and relevance there.
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Federal News Network ☛ Troubled background investigation system still under review at Pentagon
During the hearing, Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) called the NBIS delays a “disaster.” The next-generation background investigation system still potentially faces years of development, even though it was originally planned to be delivered in 2019.
“If we don’t get NBIS right, the whole security clearance reform process crumbles,” Warner said.
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New York Times ☛ An Algorithm Told Police She Was Safe. Then Her Husband Killed Her.
Spain has become dependent on an algorithm to combat gender violence, with the software so woven into law enforcement that it is hard to know where its recommendations end and human decision-making begins. At its best, the system has helped police protect vulnerable women and, overall, has reduced the number of repeat attacks in domestic violence cases. But the reliance on VioGén has also resulted in victims, whose risk levels are miscalculated, getting attacked again — sometimes leading to fatal consequences.
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Security
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Privacy/Surveillance
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La Quadature Du Net ☛ First victory in court against AI-powered audio surveillance
Over three years after we launched this legal action, the Orléans Administrative Court has just confirmed that an AI-powered audio surveillance device – i.e., microphones installed in public spaces and linked to local CCTV, with the purpose of detecting so-called unusual situations – installed by the current city council of Orléans is illegal. This ruling is the first victory before a court in France against this kind of audio surveillance, and constitutes a strong reminder of the fundamental rights requirements for other cities that might be interested in such devices.
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[Old] New York Times ☛ Your Driving, Tracked
Driving scores are based on how often you slam on the brakes, speed, look at your phone or drive late at night — information that, likely without your knowing, can be collected by your car or by apps on your smartphone. That data is sold to brokers, who work with auto insurers.
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[Old] NYPost ☛ Your car is spying on you and upping your insurance rates: report
Dahl said that his insurance agent told him the price increase was based on data collected by LexisNexis, which compiled a report tracking each and every time he and his wife drove their Chevy Bolt over a six-month period.
According to Dahl, the 258-page report contained information about the start and end times of his trips, distance driven and other data detailing possible instances of speeding, hard braking and sharp accelerations.
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[Old] ABC ☛ What you need to know about OnStar Smart Driver data being shared with LexisNexis, insurance companies - 6abc Philadelphia
The data collection was uncovered by drivers using General Motors' OnStar service, which is traditionally used to make an emergency call.
The owner of a Chevy Bolt told the Times he uncovered a 258-page report on his personal driving habits after he asked about a more than 20% increase in his insurance rate.
His insurance company told him to check his LexisNexis file.
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Vox ☛ Can you opt out of airport face scans? Yes! Here’s how.
But the main reason I haven’t declined airport face scans is actually very simple: I had no idea I could opt out.
It turns out that saying no is not only doable, but surprisingly easy — at least in theory. Everyone, regardless of citizenship, can opt out when it comes to domestic flights in the US. (For international flights, US citizens can opt out but foreign nationals have to participate in face scanning, with some exceptions.) Simply stand away from the camera or keep your face covered with a mask, present your ID, and say, “I opt out of biometrics. I want the standard verification process.”
In theory, an officer is then supposed to manually look over your ID and compare it to your face, as they used to do before facial recognition. But in practice, there have been reports of passengers — even a senator — facing resistance or intimidation when they try to go this route.
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Defence/Aggression
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Deutsche Welle ☛ Why Chinese technology set off alarm bells in Germany
There are several reasons why companies from Asia are often leading in new technologies, says Michael Tenten, managing director of Pure ISM, a company focused on data security in the renewable energy sector. They were "mostly economic," he told DW, with "faster availability of the equipment" being the main one.
However, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) in Germany found that in 2022, more than 99% of China's listed companies also received direct state subsidies and enjoyed easier access to critical raw materials, forced technology transfer in joint ventures and assistance in public procurement processes.
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Jacobin Magazine ☛ Most Large US Public Charities Are Now Dark-Money Funds
A significant portion of the money bankrolling the Heritage Foundation — the conservative think tank behind the sweeping Project 2025 initiative to reshape the federal government if former president Donald Trump is reelected — comes from a growing network of shadowy charity groups run by the nation’s top financial firms that use a legal carve-out to keep their ultrawealthy donors hidden.
These groups, called donor-advised funds, have donated more than $18 million to the Heritage Foundation since 2020, according to a new Lever analysis and research by the Institute for Policy Studies — and the amount is increasing.
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Express ☛ Chaos on streets of Leeds LIVE as angry rioting mob smashes up police cars
Footage posted on social media shows gangs of youths targeting a police car with officers sitting inside, before smashing the vehicle's windows as onlookers film the carnage.
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JURIST ☛ HRW report: Hamas-led groups committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during October 7 attack
Palestinian militant groups, led by Hamas’s armed wing, committed “numerous” war crimes and crimes against humanity in their October 7 attack on southern Israel, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a 236-page report released on Wednesday.
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The Hill ☛ Russian attacks on Ukrainian health care: A pattern of violence
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and our partners have been documenting and monitoring attacks on health care since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. PHR is constantly analyzing these patterns of violence and our analysis strongly suggests that Russian attacks on Ukraine’s health care system are not isolated incidents but systematic acts of violence. They likely constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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The Nation ☛ It’s Official: Silicon Valley Is Fully MAGA-Pilled
If, two years ago The New York Times could make the dubious claim that tech giants like Musk were hard to pin down politically, there is no room now for even that level of credulousness. It’s official: Silicon Valley has been fully MAGA-pilled, and the tech authoritarians are bringing their money with them.
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The Local DK ☛ Denmark has space for up to 3.6 million people in underground bunkers
Denmark currently has space for around 3.6 million people or 61 percent of the population in shelters and bunkers.
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The Moscow Times ☛ Explainer: Does Russia Plan to Ban Islamic Veiling?
Last month’s deadly attacks on Orthodox churches and synagogues in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan have renewed the debate over introducing a nationwide legal ban on the niqab, a full-face veil worn by some Muslim women.
The debate was triggered by a report that one of the armed assailants had planned to escape from the manhunt by wearing a niqab. Though this report was not confirmed, local spiritual authorities in at least three Russian regions have since issued Islamic law rulings that ban the niqab, citing security concerns.
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The North Lines IN ☛ BSF seizes Chinese pistols and bullets dropped near Punjab border using drone
The recovered firearms and ammunition are believed to have been dropped near the border using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone. While further investigations are underway, officials suspect the consignment was meant to be collected by associates of militants or anti-national elements operating from across the border. Patrolling along frontier areas has been intensified.
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India Times ☛ Google, Microsoft offer Nvidia chips to Chinese companies: report
The Biden administration has taken measures to prevent firms in China from using U.S. technology for artificial intelligence, including advanced semiconductors, as the burgeoning sector raises security concerns.
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The Korea Times ☛ European Union court says TikTok owner can't avoid bloc's law cracking down on digital giants
TikTok owner ByteDance can't avoid the bloc's crackdown on digital giants , a European Union court said Wednesday in a decision that found the video sharing platform falls under a new law that also covers Apple, Google and Microsoft.
The EU's General Court rejected ByteDance's legal challenge against being classed as an online "gatekeeper” that has to comply with extra obligations under the 27-nation bloc's Digital Markets Act .
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Digital Music News ☛ TikTok Sees Hope in Second Trump Presidency
Congress said it was acting on information from the Justice Department and intelligence officials, who said TikTok can collect data on its 170 million American users to share with Chinese authorities. Intelligence officials have also warned about the platform’s capacity to push propaganda to a wide number of Americans quickly.
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Greece ☛ Planning for a new Trump term in Brussels and Athens
However, Trump’s indicated intentions so far, as well as those of his vice-presidential running mate J.D. Vance, justify the concern that is being seen and should act as a catalyst for expediting the European integration.
They also make immediate tactical moves essential, along with the need to develop a partially autonomous long-term strategy for Europe.
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RTL ☛ Softening his stance: Panama president rules out forcibly repatriating US-bound migrants
Panama's new president on Thursday ruled out forcibly repatriating US-bound undocumented migrants who make the dangerous jungle crossing from Colombia, in an apparent softening of his stance.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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Meduza ☛ ‘Don’t wake up the voter’: Kremlin strategists think St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov’s best chance of winning reelection is if residents don’t realize there’s a vote — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Former Moscow culture minister notorious for purging independent, anti-war figures is jailed on corruption charges — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Soldier shooting wounded comrade in video is Russian, not Ukrainian as pro-Kremlin media claimed, journalists find — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ University Student In Siberia Gets 9 Years For Sending Medicines To Syria
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on July 18 that a court in the Siberian region of Altai Krai sentenced a 20-year-old university student to nine years in prison for sending a parcel with medicines to the Islamic State (IS) extremist group in Syria.
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RFERL ☛ Russia Adds Journalist Prokopyeva To Wanted List
The Russian Interior Ministry on July 18 added journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva to its wanted list on unspecified charges.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Man Gets 3 Years In Prison In U.S. For Smuggling Military Technology
The U.S. Justice Department said on July 17 that a 52-year-old Russian man, Maksim Marchenko, was sentenced to three years in prison for smuggling large quantities of American-made, military-grade microelectronics to Russia.
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The Straits Times ☛ Air India Boeing plane bound for San Francisco lands in Russia
Cockpit crew members detect a potential issue in the cargo hold.
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New York Times ☛ Evan Gershkovich, Wall Street Journal Reporter, Returns to Court in Russia
Mr. Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, appeared at a hearing in his espionage trial. The United States and The Journal have strongly rejected the charge against him.
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RFERL ☛ Supporter Of Imprisoned Bashkir Activist Gets 5 Years In Prison
A Russian court on July 18 sentenced Ilshat Ulyabayev -- a supporter of imprisoned Bashkir activist Fail Alsynov -- to five years in prison on charges of participating in mass unrest and attacking a police officer.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Court Jails U.S. Citizen For 13 Years On Drug Charges
A Moscow court on July 18 sentenced U.S. citizen Michale Travis Leake to 13 years in prison on drug charges.
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RFERL ☛ Russia Adds Carnegie Endowment To 'Undesirable' List
The Russian Justice Ministry on July 18 added the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to its list of "undesirable organizations."
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RFERL ☛ North Korea's Kim Discusses Military Cooperation With Russian Official
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received Russian Vice Minister of Defense Aleksei Krivoruchko and discussed the importance of the two countries' militaries to unite more firmly, North Korean state media said on July 19.
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LRT ☛ BRELL contract already ‘dead’ due to non-compliance by Russia, Belarus – Lithuanian TSO
With Russia and Belarus not complying with the provisions of the so-called BRELL contract, it has been “dead” for some time, Rokas Masiulis, CEO of Litgrid, the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator, has said.
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France24 ☛ Russian trial of detained US journalist Gershkovich resumes
The closed-door trial in Yekaterinburg, Russia of detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges resumed on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal's Moscow correspondent faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years and has already spent the past 16 months in prison on charges his employer and the White House deny and the UN has labelled "arbitrary'.
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Latvia ☛ Braže: 'Sever economic ties with Russia and Belarus to the maximum'
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže on July 17 made an unequivocal call for an end to economic links with aggressor states Russia and Belarus.
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Latvia ☛ Increased use of Latvian in education does not infringe ethnic Russians' rights, rules European court
Education reforms introduced since 2018 which aim to increase the use of Latvia's sole official state language – Latvian – cannot be viewed as discrimination against Russian-speakers, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said in a judgment delivered July 18.
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Latvia ☛ Latvian airBaltic plane briefly enters Belarusian airspace
A plane of the Latvian national airline airBaltic on its way from Riga to Pristina in Kosovo briefly entered the airspace of Belarus on the night of Wednesday, July 17, Augusts Zilberts, a representative of airBaltic, confirmed to LETA.
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LRT ☛ Lithuania turns away Belarus-registered cars as EU ban enters into force
As of midnight of July 18, cars with Belarusian registration plates are no longer allowed to enter Lithuania. Several such vehicles have already been turned around at the Lithuanian border by Thursday morning.
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RFERL ☛ Flooding In Belarusian Capital Disrupts Transport Links
Floods caused by a heavy rain on July 18 disrupted 46 routes of public transportation in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
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RFERL ☛ Former Moscow Official Aleksandr Kibovsky Arrested On Corruption Charges
A Moscow court late on July 17 sent Aleksandr Kibovsky, a former member of the Moscow municipal government, to pretrial detention for at least two months on charges of fraud and bribe-taking.
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New York Times ☛ Zelensky Among European Leaders Meeting in Churchill’s Birthplace
More than 45 European leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, met in England on Thursday. Fears over the continent’s security loomed large.
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New York Times ☛ Ukraine Loses Hard-Won Position Near Dnipro River in the South
Soldiers and military analysts said an operation to establish a foothold on the river’s Russian-controlled eastern bank was bloody and hard to justify.
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New York Times ☛ Germany Promised to Step Up Militarily. Its Budget Says Differently.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed a revolution in defense strategy. But the math is not adding up.
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CS Monitor ☛ European leaders gather to discuss Ukraine’s future if Trump wins a second presidency
Newly elected U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hosting the European Political Community Summit, which is set to hold discussions on immigration and Ukraine. European Leaders worry for NATO and the status of Ukraine aid under a potential Donald Trump presidency.
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RFERL ☛ Ukraine Signs Security Agreements With Slovenia, Czech Republic
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob on July 18 signed an agreement on security cooperation and long-term support between their two countries.
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France24 ☛ UK's Starmer and Macron hail bilateral ‘reset’, reaffirm support for Ukraine
Britain's new Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday hailed an opportunity to strengthern relations between the UK and France on key issues such as defence, security and cross-Channel migration. Meeting at a summit for the European Political Community at Blenheim Palace near Oxford in the UK, the two leaders also reaffirmed their support for Ukraine.
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France24 ☛ ‘With Ukraine in my heart’: Jenya Kazbekova’s journey from Crimea to the Paris Olympics
Climber Jenya Kazbekova will represent Ukraine at the Paris Olympics in the combined climbing event, two and a half years after fleeing the war in her country. Kazbekova, who learned to climb on the cliffs of Crimea, hopes her presence will serve as a reminder that Ukraine still needs help from the international community.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine’s drone success offers a blueprint for cybersecurity strategy
Ukraine's rapidly expanding domestic drone industry offers a potentially appealing blueprint for the development of the country's cybersecurity capabilities, writes Anatoly Motkin.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Hungarian PM Orban poses as unlikely peacemaker for Russia’s Ukraine war
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban recently embarked on a global "peace mission" to end the war in Ukraine but he may actually be more interested in strengthening his own position, writes Dmytro Tuzhanskyi.
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Transparency/Investigative Reporting
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The Dissenter ☛ State Of Virginia Is (Still) Hiding Execution Tapes
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Scheerpost ☛ US Media Coverage of Anti-Vax Disinformation Quietly Stops at the Pentagon
One might be forgiven for assuming that US news media editors would pounce on the fact that the most powerful institution in the US, and quite possibly the world, promulgated anti-vax material on social media over the course of a year. However, nearly a month later, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, CNN and MSNBC have yet to cover the news.
The New York Times, which has consistently covered anti-vaccine disinformation (7/24/21, 8/1/21, 12/28/22, 3/16/24) and extremism (3/26/21, 4/5/21, 8/31/21, 6/14/24), has yet to cover the Pentagon’s unparalleled anti-vax indoctrination efforts in its news section; it ran one subscriber-only newsletter opinion piece (7/3/24) on the story nearly three weeks after Reuters‘ revelations.
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Environment
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Energy/Transportation
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DeSmog ☛ Havas Agencies Lose B Corp Status Over Work For Shell
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DeSmog ☛ Keystone XL Developer TC Energy Listed as RNC Host Committee Sponsor
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International Business Times ☛ 'If You Think Electric Cars Are Safe, Think Again': Man Suffers 60% Burns After Rescuing Granddaughter From Volvo EV That Suddenly Exploded
In a daring rescue, a motorist sustained severe burns pulling his 19-month-old granddaughter from the back seat as his brand-new hybrid car went up in flames and exploded.
Seeing smoke, David Butler, a retired engineer at 67, sprang into action. His wife Anne, also 67, had turned back to witness the horror. The rear seat, where their toddler sat in a baby seat, was engulfed in flames, intense "as if someone had poured petrol on a barbecue."
With a screeching halt, Butler scrambled to reach his granddaughter, Lilly. Much to his chagrin, the rear door of their Volvo XC40, which could run on both gasoline and electric power, refused to budge.
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India Times ☛ WazirX suffers security breach; $235 million worth of funds moved
Cryptocurrency platform WazirX suffered the biggest cyberattack on an Indian exchange, with hackers stealing more than $230 million worth of investor holdings, or nearly half of the platform's estimated reserves.
Blockchain experts indicated possible involvement of the cybercriminal group Lazarus behind the attack. Lazarus, allegedly backed by the North Korean government, is known for having carried out the world's largest crypto exchange attacks in the past where the attacked party was not able to recover the funds because the attackers did not engage in negotiations.
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Silicon Angle ☛ Indian [cryptocurrency] exchange WazirX falls victim to $235M security breach
Mumbai, India-based crypto exchange WazirX relayed today that it suffered a security breach early this morning that led to about $235 million in cryptocurrency being stolen after one of its Ethereum wallets was compromised.
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The Record ☛ Indian [cryptocurrency] platform WazirX confirms $230 million stolen during cyberattack
At least $230 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from an India-based cryptocurrency platform named WazirX on Wednesday night.
Several blockchain security firms and researchers saw millions in digital coins flowing out of the platform before the company acknowledged a security breach.
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Bruce Schneier ☛ Criminal Gang Physically Assaulting People for Their Cryptocurrency
I think cryptocurrencies are more susceptible to this kind of real-world attack because they are largely outside the conventional banking system. Yet another reason to stay away from them.
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University of Michigan ☛ City Council discusses conversion of streetlights to LED technology
The Ann Arbor City Council met Monday in Larcom City Hall to discuss a planned replacement of 4,000 high-pressure sodium bulb streetlights. The resolution proposed replacing the bulbs with 58-watt LEDs. This change was proposed in line with Ann Arbor’s goal of transitioning the city to 100% renewable energy by 2030.
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Techdirt ☛ How The Other EV Transition — To E-bikes — Is Changing The World
One of the most important transitions taking place today in technology is the shift to electric vehicles (EVs). Most attention is focused on electric cars. That’s in part because they are big glamorous items, and they have high-profile cheerleaders like Elon Musk. But there is another side to this transition to electric power, less glamorous but arguably more important, at least in some parts of the world. This is the shift to electric bicycles — e-bikes.
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The Register UK ☛ Craig Wright publicly admits he isn’t inventor of Bitcoin
Australian Craig Wright has finally admitted he is not the inventor of Bitcoin after losing several cases in the High Court of England and Wales, whose judge has suggested he be investigated for perjury.
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The Nation ☛ The World’s Problems Explained in One Issue: Electricity
The Price Is Wrong opens with a clear puzzle: Despite a popular consensus that “the economic key to renewables winning out is being cheaper than fossil-fuel-based electricity,” the transition from fossil fuels has not happened, even though renewables—mainly in the form of wind and solar power—are now more cost-effective. In fact, because electricity consumption continues to rise faster than the amount supplied by renewables, the gap to be filled is getting larger and larger, and the renewables transition is falling further and further behind. And the stakes only keep getting higher. Electricity is not just the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, but policymakers around the world have decided that the best way to decarbonize the economy is to make as many things as possible electric—which, as Christophers points out, is unfathomably counterproductive if the electricity grid itself still runs on fossil fuels. For that reason, the failure to switch to renewables is not only a puzzle but a growing disaster, undermining other efforts to decarbonize economic and social life. If electricity can finally be produced more cheaply with renewables than with fossil fuels, why has the market not led the transition?
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Wildlife/Nature
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The Atlantic ☛ Elephants Are Doing Something Deeply Human
Perhaps because names are so crucial and personal, naming things can feel uniquely human. And until a little over a decade ago, scientists predominantly thought that was true. Then, in 2013, a study suggested that bottlenose dolphins use namelike calls. Scientists have since found evidence that parrots, and perhaps whales and bats, use calls that identify them as individuals too. In June, a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution showed that elephants do the same. Among humans, at least, names are inextricably linked with identity. The fact that we’re not unique in using them is a tantalizing sign that we aren’t the only beings who can recognize ourselves and those around us as individuals.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Craig Murray ☛ A Shocking Paucity of Ambition
An old man in a comic opera uniform was dragged by carthorses in a gilded carriage through the streets of London, then bedecked in diamonds and more gold, all to very little purpose.
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Cyble Inc ☛ CISA Names Jeff Greene To Lead Cybersecurity Efforts
Before his appointment at CISA, Greene held the position of Senior Director at the Aspen Institute, leading the global cybersecurity policy program. His extensive experience also includes serving as Chief for Cyber Response & Policy in the National Security Council at the White House.
Additionally, Greene was the Director of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and served as Vice President of Global Government Affairs and Policy at Symantec. His career also encompasses roles on the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees, as well as legal practice at a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm.
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New York Times ☛ How Trump’s Running Mate J.D. Vance is Connected to Silicon Valley
The location was the opulent Pacific Heights mansion of David Sacks, an entrepreneur and podcaster whom Mr. Vance had met through the tech investor Peter Thiel. Mr. Vance, now 39 years old, had worked for one of Mr. Thiel’s investment firms in San Francisco in 2016.
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Federal News Network ☛ ‘DOOBIE’ Act looks to ease security clearance restrictions on past marijuana use
The new bill, nicknamed the “DOOBIE” Act, focuses on easing restrictions for those who have used marijuana in the past, either recreationally or for medical reasons. Under the legislation, agencies wouldn’t be able to deny a federal job application, security clearance application or other federal credentials based solely on an individual’s prior use of marijuana.
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Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda
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New Yorker ☛ The Trump Assassination Attempt Meets the Internet’s Brain-Rot Era
Twitter used to feel like part of journalism’s “first rough draft of history,” a real-time record of current events. Now, as X, with its content moderation gutted and news articles deprioritized, the platform is more like a particle collider chaotically remixing bits of content to produce the most attention-grabbing memes. Taken together, the memes about the rally shooting represent a collective yawp of confusion over how to process such an extreme incident through such fundamentally trivializing channels. One discomfiting thing is how easily an act of deadly political violence has been slotted into all the usual meme templates. On X, pro-Trump partisans drew on the overused trope of “Renaissance paintings,” praising the dignity of the Trump photographs from the rally as well as their propagandistic potential. On TikTok, a young woman looped the shooting into the mania surrounding the pop musician Charli XCX’s recent album, “BRAT,” and its self-affirming attitude: “Does anyone else kinda think that getting shot in the head and then being completely fine afterwards is, like, really, really ‘BRAT’ summer though?” she said to the camera. A post on 4chan, copied to TikTok, imagined the spirit of Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese Prime Minister who was assassinated in 2022, telling Trump to get up. It’s funny, I guess, but only in the bleakest way. At this point, can we expect anything besides whimsical nihilism from our online response to breaking news?
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Censorship/Free Speech
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The Moscow Times ☛ Russia Jails Protester for 5 Years Over Bashkortostan Unrestb
Such protests have become exceedingly rare in Russia, where there has been a harsh crackdown on any displays of dissent since the launch of the Ukraine offensive in 2022.
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Reason ☛ Vermont Man Who Was Arrested for Flipping Off Cop Settles for $175,000
"Far too often, police abuse their authority to retaliate against and suppress speech they personally find offensive or insulting," Lia Ernst, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Vermont, tells Reason about the case. "This settlement demonstrates that violating these rights does not come without a cost."
Through the settlement, Gregory Bombard will receive $100,000 in damages. The ACLU of Vermont and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which both represented Bombard in his suit, will receive the remaining $75,000.
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RFA ☛ Civil unrest worsens in Bangladesh
NetBlocks, a group that tracks [Internet] connectivity and democracy, said Bangladesh was seeing a “near-total national [Internet] shutdown” on Thursday night.
“[T]he new measure follows earlier efforts to throttle social media and restrict mobile data services, and comes amid reports of rising deaths at student protests,” NetBlocks said in a post on X.
Authorities temporarily halted mobile internet services due to the unstable situation created by the protests, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, minister of posts, telecommunications, and information technology, said Thursday.
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Deutsche Welle ☛ Bangladesh suspends mobile [Internet] after student protests
Bangladeshi authorities cut several mobile [Internet] services on Thursday for "security" reasons following student protests.
"Mobile [Internet] has been temporarily suspended due to various rumors and the unstable situation created... on social media," Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the junior information technology minister, told reporters.
Services would be restored once the situation returned to normal, Palak added. Shops and offices were open in Dhaka, the capital, but there were fewer buses on the streets. The government has ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely amid the protests.
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India Times ☛ Internet shut, nationwide bandh announced: Why is Bangladesh experiencing deadly protests
Mobile [Internet] in Bangladesh was temporarily suspended on Thursday after the country experienced deadly protests that killed at least 10 and injured more than 500 people this week. The protestors announced a nationwide bandh saying that "only hospitals and emergency services will remain operational."
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Michigan News ☛ Tupelo Honey worker loses job after Trump assassination attempt comment
“This employee made these statements of his own volition and does not reflect or represent the views of our company,” the statement said. “We condemn any and all acts of violence, and do not support any individual choosing to condone this act. We are committed to completing a thorough investigation around this issue and maintaining a safe and respectful environment for our employees and guests.”
A manager at Tupelo Honey declined to comment further beyond the company’s social media post.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Poet Imprisoned For Anti-War Verses Rejects Offer To Join Russian Military
[...] Kamardin was arrested along with two other poets in September 2022 after they presented their anti-war poems in public. [...]
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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RSF ☛ Evan Gershkovich trial moves forward despite lack of evidence supporting Russian espionage charges
Russian authorities are finally moving forward with Evan Gershkovich’s trial on espionage charges, after arbitrarily detaining the Wall Street Journal reporter for 15 months. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) decries this bogus proceeding, which is a ploy to hold an American journalist hostage in exchange for securing a Russian prisoner in a swap.
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Never forget Julian Assange
Although Julian Assange is free and home in his native Australia, his story and decade-long suffering at the hands of the U.S. government must never be forgotten for the sake of the survival of the First Amendment. In this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast, host Robert Scheer is joined by Kevin Gosztola, who runs The Dissenter newsletter and has been reporting on the Assange case and whistleblowers in the U.S. for more than a decade. Together, they underscore the significance of the Assange case and delve into the details explored in Gosztola's recent book, "Guilty of Journalism."
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SBS ☛ Revealed: Julian Assange's $780,000 flight home after London jail release
Julian Assange's trip back to Australia cost more than $781,000, but a private organisation has agreed to pay most of the bill.
The charter flight cost $781,480, according to documents tabled in the Senate.
That expense will be reimbursed by the Germany-based Wau Holland Foundation, but about $100,000 will be charged to the public purse for travel expenses for Australia's United States Ambassador, Kevin Rudd, UK High Commissioner Stephen Smith, and "other associated Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade costs".
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RFERL ☛ Trial Of U.S. Journalist Gershkovich Resumes In Yekaterinburg
Earlier this week, the court said the resumption of Gershkovich's trial had been moved forward from August 13 to July 18 at the request of Gershkovich's defense team, whose arguments for moving up the date of the hearing were not disclosed.
The trial started on June 26 and is being held behind closed doors.
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RFERL ☛ 'Widespread Fear': Spate Of Killings In Pakistan's Restive Northwest Targets Journalists
Overall, eight journalists have been killed in the South Asian nation of some 240 million people in 2024, a record number, highlighting the growing threats to media workers.
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VOA News ☛ Reporter says newspaper fired her over role at Hong Kong Journalists Association
Cheng, who covered the Chinese auto industry at the Journal, said when the newspaper found out she was running for chairperson, her supervisor in Britain asked her to quit the board.
“The editor said employees of the Journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong,” Cheng wrote.
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Project Censored ☛ Media Literacy Deficit: Elections and Generational Divides
Mickey’s guest for the hour is media scholar Nolan Higdon. They discuss how the principles of critical media literacy could help the public make sense of the current, chaotic election season in the US, and also how the divide and contrasting worldviews between the older and younger generations can be partly explained by their choices of media. They discuss the consequences of the serious lack of media literacy education in the US and how the American electorate could benefit from learning media literacy skills as well as by diversifying their media diets to include more independent outlets and fewer corporate, establishment ones too busy cheering and jeering Team Red or Team Blue to report factually on the key policy issues that really matter to voters most.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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Jacobin Magazine ☛ We Need to Talk About Amazon Prime Day
A new Senate report finds that nearly half of Amazon’s warehouse workers are injured during the company’s Prime Day event. The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders, states, “Prime Day is also a major cause of injuries for the warehouse workers who make it possible.”
The two-week lead-up to Prime Day and the event itself result in double the industry average of recordable injuries, which must be reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. That’s ten injuries per hundred workers, which is an astounding number that is only surpassed by the seemingly impossible but all-too-real rate of forty-five injuries per hundred workers when including nonreportable injuries. Nearly half of Amazon’s warehouse workforce.
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The Drone Girl ☛ How Iceland police use drones in wake of volcano eruptions
In the face of volcanic fury, drones come in as a key force. At least that’s the case over in Iceland, which is a land not just of ice but of fire. Volcano eruptions create a unique set of challenges for emergency response teams in Iceland. That’s why Iceland police officers are turning to drones to make their operations more efficient and safer.
DJI, which is the world’s largest drone manufacturer, today released a 5-minute video serving as a sort of ‘case’ study’ explaining how Iceland police use their drones and adjacent equipment, such as their DJI Dock.
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The Moscow Times ☛ Prominent Russian Muslim Cleric Gets Into Hot Water Over 'Wife-Beating Guidance'
Timur Kamaev, a prominent Imam from Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, found himself at the center of a nationwide scandal this week after releasing a video in which he appears to instruct believers on the proper ways to beat one’s wife.
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The Hindu ☛ China-Tibet back channel talks ongoing with the help of a ‘third country’: Sikyong Penpa Tsering
He further pointed out the new act promulgated by the U.S. Congress will help in countering Chinese official position on Tibet that he characterised as a “misinformation campaign”. Chinese official position on Tibet, said Mr. Tsering, often underplays Tibet’s own rich history as it projects Tibet as part of China since the ancient era. He also took a strong stand on the renaming of various places of Tibet saying that renaming will not erase Tibet’s unique culture and identity.
“Nowadays Beijing has started calling Tibet as Xizang but now we are researching every name in Tibet and we will have a map of Tibet that will show all the original Tibetan names of all the places in Tibet,” said Mr. Tsering. He also said that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama will be determined by the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans, saying, “It is the reincarnation of His Holiness Dalai Lama and not reincarnation of Xi Jinping.”
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US Navy Times ☛ Navy clears Black sailors unjustly punished after 1944 deadly blast
What followed affected the rest of their lives, including punishments that kept them from receiving honorable discharges even as the vast majority returned to work at the pier under immense pressure and served throughout the war. Fifty sailors who held fast to their demands for safety and training were tried as a group on charges of conspiracy to commit mutiny and were convicted and sent to prison.
The whole episode was unjust, and none of the sailors received the legal due process they were owed, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said in an interview with The Associated Press.
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The Hill ☛ Navy exonerates Black sailors punished in 1944 explosion
As it was yet unknown what had caused the explosion and no changes had been made to improve safety, 258 Black sailors refused to resume ammunition handling. The Navy threatened disciplinary action, after which 208 of the men returned to work, but the service still subsequently convicted all 208 at a summary court-martial for disobeying orders.
The other 50 sailors, who came to be known as the “Port Chicago 50,” were charged with and convicted of mutiny at a mass general court-martial. Each one received a dishonorable discharge, were forced to give up their pay and sent to prison.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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VOA News ☛ Recent outages highlight need for stronger African [Internet]
Experts say Africa needs to invest in robust infrastructure if the continent is to have reliable [Internet] after recent outages due to underwater cable failures highlighted the continent’s reliance on single-path connectivity.
Disruptions in March and May caused online banking problems and communication delays. Businesses experienced interruptions in many countries.
In March, on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, four submarine cables that deliver the [Internet] to at least 17 countries went offline.
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RIPE ☛ Driving the ASN Truck Without a Licence
Natural persons have been registering ASNs for a long time, and for many reasons, from running small businesses to keeping up a hobby. This isn't something wrong that needs to be fixed. ASNs should be assigned based on need. But 'need' should not be defined as “my friends have one so I need one too”.
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Standards/Consortia
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APNIC ☛ Whose CIDR is it anyway?
This is the fifth blog post on the topic of the centralization of the Internet. The previous posts cover the diversity of authoritative name servers, the diversity of MX records, use of CAA records, and naked domains. This research was also presented at RIPE 88; video and slides are available here. But be warned — there’s a lot of data here, and you have to be quite a network data nerd to make it all the way through to the end, I suppose.
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Inside Towers ☛ FCC to Vote on Auto Safety 5.9 GHz Rules
C-V2X technology provides direct communications between vehicles, roadside infrastructure, and other road users such as cyclists, pedestrians, and road workers, Inside Towers reported. The point is to facilitate non-line-of-sight awareness, notice of changing driving conditions, and automated driving.
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University of Toronto ☛ SSH has become our universal (Unix) external access protocol
One of the peculiarities of universities is that people travel widely, and during that travel they need access to our systems so they can continue working. In general there are a lot of ways to give people external access to things; you can set up VPN servers, you can arrange WireGuard peer to peer connections, and so on. Unfortunately, often two issues surface; our people have widely assorted devices that they want to work from, with widely varying capabilities and ease of using VPN and VPN like things, and their (remote) network environments may or may not like any particular VPN protocol (and they probably don't want to route their entire Internet traffic the long way around through us).
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Digital Restrictions (DRM)
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RTL ☛ $9.6 billion revenue: Netflix wins subscribers as ad strategy pays off
As part of that effort, Netflix also got rid of its cheapest commercial-free plan in the UK and Canada, with expectations of further expansions.
In the United States, the company is also beginning to offer some users combined packages with its one-time rivals, making itself available through joint subscriptions with Peacock and Apple TV.
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India Times ☛ Netflix wins subscribers as ad strategy pays off
The world's leading streaming video service said it ended the April-to-June period with a total of 277.7 million subscribers, as net profit dipped to $2.1 billion, but revenue surged to $9.6 billion.
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Macworld ☛ Report: Apple is looking to license major studio films for Apple TV+
However, that may change. soon. A Bloomberg report claims that Apple is currently talks with major movie studios to license films for Apple TV+. It is unclear if Apple is seeking to permanently add films to its Apple TV+ content library or whether they will be new releases, older hits, or exclusives.
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Sightline Media Group ☛ Military, veterans can stream Paris Olympics coverage for free
Coverage will include live competitions across all 39 sports and all 329 medal events, top stories and moments and livestreams of select practice and warmup sessions, according to a joint announcement by AAFES and NBCUniversal. There will also be video content such as event recaps, highlights, viral moments and interviews.
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Techdirt ☛ Meta Tells Court Section 230 Shouldn’t Empower Users And Third Party Apps
Meta has a long history of making sure no one but Meta, or Meta-approved apps, can operate on top of its services. And now, in a new court filing, it’s going to somewhat ridiculous lengths to try to stop one developer from making sure he won’t get sued for creating a tool that automates clicking some buttons in the Facebook UI.
[...] So, while I wasn’t sure the litigation strategy would work, I am hopeful that it succeeds. It could help establish a more vibrant market for middleware, giving users more control over their own data, as well as the apps and services that they use. In fact, it would bring us back a bit towards the earlier [Internet] world, where building on top of other services was considered normal.
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Copyrights
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Techdirt ☛ Sample Library Company Copyright Strikes YouTuber Over Showing Their ToS
Terms of Service are a reality we deal with all the time with digital goods and services. And by “deal with”, I mostly mean we don’t read them and simply agree to whatever they say instead, assuming there is nothing crazy in them. But that also causes a lot of problems, with customers of these products suddenly having changes to them foisted upon them, or realizing that they can’t do with their purchase what they thought they could, all of which are covered by the ToS that was essentially unread.
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Torrent Freak ☛ Russia Slams Google's 'Censorship' Yet Deleting 5.6m VPN Links is Just Fine
Russia has just ordered Google's CEO to unblock 200 pro-Kremlin YouTube channels. Telecoms regulator Rozcomnadzor said the restrictions "fundamentally violate the key principles of free dissemination of information" and accused Google of censorship within a "Russophobic policy". In 18 takedown notices sent in a two-week period last month, Rozcomnadzor ordered Google to delete over 5.6 million search engine results for mentioning VPNs.
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Torrent Freak ☛ Anna's Archive Loses .GS Domain Name But Remains Resilient
Popular pirate library search engine Anna's Archive had its new .GS domain name suspended shortly after its recent switch. The site has returned to its .org domain and remains determined to preserve access to human knowledge. This should become much easier when storage costs come down, the team notes. "We are on the eve of a revolution in preservation."
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Gemini* and Gopher
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Personal/Opinions
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Sleep on it
Two of my special interests are sleep and time. When I first heard of biphasic sleep I became obsessed with it for a while. It's well known that in modern high-tech societies most of the population has "disordered" or simply "insufficient" sleep–but nobody has a workable solution because everything that seems like it would actually be helpful would involve rejecting capitalist norms.
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Re: Sleep on it
I've tried biphasic sleep for a couple of months as someone with ADHD. It does not work for me at all, considering there's an extremely difficult-to-break barrier that I always experience before I fall asleep.
That being said, though. I do actually firmly believe that humans evolved to have a biphasic lifestyle, and the industrial revolution steered it in a way for us to have more of a monophasic sleep schedule. I can see how splitting our sleep into two different cycles can be better than just a singular long cycle.
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Monopolies/Monopsonies
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* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.