Links 20/07/2024: Patents on Software Squashed, Further Attacks on Independent News Sites
Contents
- Leftovers
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Leftovers
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RFA ☛ Hong Kong Consumer Council apologizes over Nongfu Spring water test
The council raises the product's test score after a 'lawyer's letter' and face-to-face meetings.
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Hackaday ☛ Supercon 2023: [Pierce Nichols] Is Teaching Robots To Sail
Sailing the high seas with the wind conjures a romantic notion of grizzled sailors fending off pirates and sea monsters, but until the 1920s, wind-powered vessels were the primary way goods traveled the sea. The meager weather-prediction capabilities of the early 20th Century spelled the end of the sailing ship for most cargo, but cargo ships currently spend half of their operating budget on fuel. Between the costs and growing environmental concerns, [Pierce Nichols] thinks the time may be right for a return to sails.
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Tedium ☛ Reviewers Deserve Respect
Manufacturers that strong-arm reviewers who don’t say nice things about products cannot become the norm. Which is why it’s good to see reviewers pushing back.
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Medevel ☛ Exploring ReactOS: Can It Replace backdoored Windows for Daily Use?
In the world of operating systems, Abusive Monopolist Microsoft backdoored Windows has long been a dominant force, with countless users relying on it for their daily computing needs. However, there are alternatives worth exploring, and one intriguing option is ReactOS.
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Hackaday ☛ How Ten Turn Pots Are Made
It is easy to think of a potentiometer as a simple device, but there are many nuances. For example, some pots are linear — a change of a few degrees at the low end will change the resistance the same amount as the same few degrees at the high end. Others are logarithmic. Changes at one end of the scale are more dramatic than at the other end of the scale. But for very precise use, you often turn to the infamous ten-turn pot. Here, one rotation of the knob is only a tenth of the entire range. [Thomas] shows us what’s inside a typical one in the video below.
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Science
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Science Alert ☛ Scientists Reveal Why Fire Is So Dangerous During Space Missions
What happens to a flame when there's no gravity?
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Education
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Latvia ☛ Vote for Latvian Youth Capital 2025
On Friday, July 19, the second round of the competition for municipalities "Latvian Youth Capital 2025", organized by the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM), starts, in which the municipalities of Sigulda and Jelgava and the city of Liepāja are competing.
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Latvia ☛ Baltic International Academy under microscope of quality reviewers
Due to detected violations, the Minister of Education and Science Anda Čakša (New Unity) has ordered to carry out an extraordinary accreditation of the private higher education institution "Baltic International Academy" (BSA), the ministry said.
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Hardware
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Hackaday ☛ Watch This RC Jet Thrust System Dance
An EDF (electric duct fan) is a motor that basically functions as a jet engine for RC aircraft. They’re built for speed, but to improve maneuverability (and because it’s super cool) [johnbecker31] designed a 3D-printable method of adjusting the EDF’s thrust on demand.
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Hackaday ☛ Desiccants, Tested Side By Side
We’re so used to seeing a little sachet of desiccant drop out of a package when we open it, that we seldom consider these essential substances. But anyone who spends a while around 3D printing soon finds the need for drying their filament, and knowing a bit about the subject becomes of interest. It’s refreshing then to see [Big Clive] do a side-by-side test of a range of commonly available desiccants. Of silica gel, bentonite, easy-cook rice, zeolite, or felight, which is the best? He subjects them to exactly the same conditions over a couple of months, and weighs them to measure their efficiency in absorbing water.
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Health/Nutrition/Agriculture
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Reason ☛ Did COVID Come From a Lab?
Author Matt Ridley debates virologist Stephen Goldstein on the origins of SARS-CoV-2.
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JURIST ☛ India investigative agency detains 4 in medical entrance exam leak case
India’s Central Bureau for Investigation (CBI) detained Friday four students of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, in the case of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak. Abnormal results on the 2024 NEET undergraduate exam have caused observers and students to question the integrity of the test.
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Science Alert ☛ Brain Boost Linked to Exercise Can Last Several Years, Scientists Find
"Enough to flick the switch."
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Science Alert ☛ Scientists Discover a Concerning Link Between Semen Quality And Obesity
Men have a serious fertility problem.
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Science Alert ☛ Hopes Raised For Future HIV Cure After Man Declared Free of Virus
This case is different.
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Science Alert ☛ Scientists Found an Alarming Pattern in The Brains of Sleep-Deprived Kids
Both the amount and timing of sleep matter greatly.
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Science Alert ☛ Breakthrough Test Predicts Whether Organ Transplants Will Be Rejected
"This discovery is pivotal."
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New York Times ☛ As Interest In Raw Milk Surges, New Data Shed Light on A Major Salmonella Outbreak
Experts say the number of people affected in the outbreak, linked to Raw Farm milk, could be far higher.
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TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Two deaths linked to listeria food poisoning from meat sliced at deli counters
At least two people have died and more than two dozen were hospitalized in an outbreak of listeria food poisoning linked to meat sliced at grocery store deli counters, federal health officials said Friday.
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TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Rainbow Health’s sudden closure a shock to employees, LGBTQ clients
The board of directors announced the closure just days after the union voted no confidence in its CEO.
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H2 View ☛ Hydrogen co-combustion with ammonia may mitigate shipping emissions impacts, MIT finds
Burning ammonia as maritime fuel could lead to ‘devastating’ public health impacts, but co-combusting it with hydrogen could improve air quality, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) report.
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Latvia ☛ Latvia's problematic 'public' lakes with no public access
Researchers are busy in Valmiera region this week checking on the health of its lakes, reports Latvian Radio.
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Hackaday ☛ So You Can Tuna Fish
You know what they say. But it’s 2024, after all. Shouldn’t you be able to tune a fish by now? As [ChromaLock] shows us in the video below, it’s absolutely possible, and has been all along.
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Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Silicon Angle ☛ Magic Leap reportedly lays off its sales and marketing teams amid pivot to tech licensing
Magic Leap Inc., the heavily-funded mixed reality startup, has reportedly laid off its sales and marketing teams. Bloomberg today cited sources as saying that the restructuring affected about 75 employees. It’s unclear if the job cuts were limited to the sales and marketing departments or also impacted other units.
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Licensing / Legal
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The Walrus ☛ The Fastest Way to Lose a Court Case? Use ChatGPT
“As soon as ChatGPT was making headlines, we started seeing these stories about fake cases cited in court,” says Amy Salyzyn, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa law school who specializes in legal ethics and technology. “These stories are like car crashes. You can’t look away.”
As more and more lawyers integrate AI chatbots into their practice, Salyzyn worries about contracts and wills being created that may not get a second look. “It seems inevitable that one day we’re going to have an error sneak into a legal decision,” says Salyzyn.
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Security
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Privacy/Surveillance
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Press Gazette ☛ NUJ to take part in tribunal over claims of covert surveillance of journalists
Lawyer says if protection of journalists' sources is compromised, "who would risk being a source?"
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Internet Society ☛ Encryption is a Preventative Tool that Protects Children
Encryption is one of the best tools we have to help keep children safe online. Child safety and encryption experts share why it's important.
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Defence/Aggression
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan ‘must rely’ on itself for defence against China, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung says
Taiwan’s foreign minister said Friday the self-ruled island must rely on itself for defence after US presidential candidate Donald Trump insisted Taipei “should pay” Washington for defence in the event of a conflict with neighbouring China.
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Reason ☛ Trump Wishes Americans Stayed in Afghanistan To Fight China
The president who helped end America’s longest war now regrets leaving behind U.S. bases.
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Zimbabwe ☛ Zello: The Walkie Talkie App Helping Kenya’s ‘GenZ Protests’
Downloads for an app called Zello spiked massively in Kenya during as the recent GenZ protests spread.
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ACLU ☛ Trump Promises to Militarize Police, Reincarcerate Thousands, and Expand Death Penalty
Donald Trump has long identified himself as the candidate of “law and order” but, during the Trump administration, “law and order” translated to a severe approach to criminal punishment and policing that failed to make us safer.
Today, his proposed policies for a second term promise to double down on these ineffective tough on crime tactics. If reelected, a second administration threatens to accelerate mass incarceration and roll back decades of progress by encouraging aggressive policing practices, enacting draconian sentencing regimes, and expanding the use of the death penalty.
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New York Times ☛ The Bangladesh Protests, in Photos and Videos
Students, armed mainly with sticks, have been demonstrating for days against a quota system for government jobs they consider unfair. Dozens have died in the violence.
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RFA ☛ Myanmar junta airstrike on market kills 15, residents say
Over 30,000 people are trapped by fighting in one town with no medical staff to help the many wounded.
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RFA ☛ Photos: Death toll soars in Bangladesh unrest
A BenarNews journalist witnessed Border Guard Bangladesh members shoot three youths.
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France24 ☛ Israel vows to retaliate for deadly Tel Aviv drone strike claimed by Houthis
Israel on Friday vowed to retaliate for a drone strike on Tel Aviv claimed by the Yemen-based Houthi rebels that killed one person and injured several others. An Israeli military official said that the drone was detected but no alarm was raised due to “human error”.
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New York Times ☛ Houthis Launch Deadly Drone Strike on Tel Aviv, Evading Israel’s Defenses
At least one person was killed and eight others injured in a predawn attack on Friday. The Israeli military said it was investigating why it “did not identify it, attack it and intercept it.”
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RFA ☛ Blinken to meet Chinese counterpart in Laos
The US secretary of state and Chinese foreign minister will both attend an ASEAN summit in Vientiane.
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Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine
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RFERL ☛ Hungary's Orban Says Von Der Leyen 'Our Employee, Not Our Opponent'
Viktor Orban said on July 19 that Ursula von der Leyen -- who was reelected on July 18 for a second term as European Commission president and has been a constant critic of the Hungarian prime minister -- is just an "employee," not an adversary.
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Meduza ☛ Russia sentences U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in prison on espionage charges — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ A geopolitical paradox Former diplomat Sergi Kapanadze on Georgia’s upcoming elections, the people’s E.U. aspirations, and the government’s drift towards Russia — Meduza
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RFERL ☛ German Sentenced To Death In Belarus For 'Mercenary Activity'
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed on July 19 that a German national has been sentenced to death in Belarus and said Berlin was in intensive contact with authorities in Minsk over his fate.
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CS Monitor ☛ For Ukrainians, war of survival is also a battle to defend their identity
The Ukrainian people have seen, in the dismissal of their historical and cultural distinctiveness, and in the physical attacks on their cultural institutions, a coordinated Russian campaign against their national identity.
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New York Times ☛ Zelensky Is First Foreign Leader to Visit U.K. Cabinet Since Clinton
President Volodymyr Zelensky briefed Keir Starmer’s top team in an appearance designed to showcase Britain’s steadfast support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
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Meduza ☛ At least three reportedly dead after Russian missile hits playground in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Under pressure As the Russian army slowly advances, Ukraine is losing positions it’s held for years — Meduza
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Meduza ☛ Gunman assassinates former Ukrainian lawmaker Iryna Farion outside her home in Lviv — Meduza
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Latvia ☛ Siliņa: 'Resisting Russian evil is in all of our interests'
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa was in the United Kingdom July 18 to attend a meeting of the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace.
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Latvia ☛ 4,600 Russian citizens still yet to pass Latvian language exam
More than 4,600 Russian citizens who live in Latvia have until June 30 next year to submit documents to the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) to apply for the status of a permanent resident of the European Union, including a passed language exam, Latvian Television reported on July 18.
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Latvia ☛ Russian, Belarusian foods still available in Latvian shops
Food products made in Russia and Belarus continue to be sold in small backyard shops and also in the more well-known chain stores. Data collected by the Food and Veterinary Service (FVS) show that food imports into Latvia from these countries are generally declining, but not uniformly across all commodity groups, Latvian Television reports July 19.
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Atlantic Council ☛ Global China Newsletter – Russia’s ‘enabler’ Punts again on Economic Reform
The July 2024 edition of the Global China Newsletter
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Scoop News Group ☛ Treasury sanctions Russian hackers that breached US water utilities
The Russian hacktivists have been linked to the state-backed Sandworm group.
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LRT ☛ Radiation levels in Lithuania unchanged amid rumours of accident at Russian NPP
Amid social control media reports about a possible accident at Russia’s Rostov nuclear power plant, the Radiation Protection Centre said on Friday that there is no direct radiological threat to Lithuanian territory.
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RFA ☛ North Korea’s Kim in military talks with Russian vice defense minister
Russian is the first known ranking military official to visit since a leaders’ summit last month.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Independent Website Loses Registration
A court in Russia's Urals city of Yekaterinburg on July 19 cancelled the registration of the It's My City website at the request of media watchdog Roskomnadzor.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Court Sentences U.S. Journalist Gershkovich To 16 Years In Prison
A court in Russia has sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 18 years in prison after finding him guilty of espionage charges that he, his employer, and the U.S. government have rejected as politically motivated.
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CS Monitor ☛ A closed-door trial in Russia sentences journalist Evan Gershkovich to 16 years for espionage
Russia has convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in a trial that took place behind closed doors. The U.S. maintains the journalist was “wrongfully detained.”
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New York Times ☛ WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich Faces 16 Years in Russian Prison for Espionage
The Wall Street Journal reporter’s trial on espionage charges was widely viewed as a sham outside Russia. But the verdict could set the stage for a prisoner exchange.
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New York Times ☛ What Evan Gershkovich Might Face Inside Russia’s Notorious Prisons
Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter, was convicted on fabricated charges and is expected to serve time in one of the country’s infamous prisons.
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BIA Net ☛ Sharp increase in emigration from Turkey in 2023
Conversely, immigration to Turkey saw a 35% decrease from the previous year. Among foreign nationals, Russians topped the list for both those immigrating to and leaving Turkey.
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Atlantic Council ☛ How to institutionalize NATO’s cooperation with its closest Pacific partners
NATO and its IP4 partners—Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea—should establish an Atlantic-Pacific Partnership Forum (APPF) to advance their cooperation.
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Meduza ☛ ‘Society isn’t prepared’: The Kremlin fears ‘public discontent’ and a rise in crime as returning soldiers fail to adapt to civilian life — Meduza
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New York Times ☛ Putin Counted on Waning U.S. Interest in Ukraine. It Might Be a Winning Bet.
The arc of American foreign policy could be moving closer to the Russian president’s view of it. But he has been wrong before about the U.S.
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JURIST ☛ Russia and Ukraine each swap 95 prisoners of war in new exchange
Russia and Ukraine completed another exchange of prisoners of war (POWs) on Wednesday. The Russian defense ministry confirmed the exchange on Telegram, stating that all prisoners of war will receive adequate medical treatment.
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JURIST ☛ Ukrainian Bar Association publishes second result of monitoring war crimes trials
The Ukrainian Bar Association published its second report on its project to monitor war crimes proceedings on Wednesday. This project aims to suggest improvements to war crimes trials in Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing offensive in the country.
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RFERL ☛ Former Ukrainian Deputy Known For Defending Language Shot Dead In Lviv
A gunman on July 19 shot and killed a nationalist former member of Ukraine's parliament known for vociferous campaigns to defend the Ukrainian language.
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RFERL ☛ U.S. Imposes Sanctions On Russian Hacker Group
The United States on July 19 imposed sanctions on two leaders of the Russian hacktivist group Cyber Army of Russia Reborn.
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RFERL ☛ Russian Missile Strike Hits Playground In Mykolayiv, Killing 3, Zelenskiy Says
A Russian missile strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv hit a playground, killing at least three people, including one child, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on July 19.
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RFERL ☛ In Historic Address To U.K. Cabinet, Zelenskiy Calls For Boosting Ukraine's 'Long-Range Capability'
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivered a historic address before Britain's cabinet on July 19, calling for its help in halting Moscow's deadly missile strikes by allowing Ukrainian forces to launch attacks deeper inside Russian territory.
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RFERL ☛ Kyrgyz Citizen Among POWs Kyiv Returned To Russia In Recent Prisoner Swap
The Ukraine-Central Asia Telegram channel said on July 19 that Kyrgyz citizen, Alisher Tursunov, was among the soldiers returned to Russia as part of a prisoner of war swap with Ukraine earlier this week.
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RFERL ☛ Trump Vows To End Wars, Free 'Hostages,' In Acceptance Speech
Donald Trump vowed to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and free U.S. ‘hostages’ as he delivered his presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention just days after an assassination attempt.
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Marcy Wheeler ☛ Manufactured Horseshit: Paul Manafort Returns to the Scene of the Crime
Trump is running not just as someone who explicitly wants to be a Dictator from Day One, someone who supports all the same policies as a Project that targets divorce and birth control along with the very idea of civil service. He is running with Russian help on a plan to give Russia what it wants, starting, but not ending, with Ukraine on a silver platter.
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Environment
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Science Alert ☛ Extreme Heat Poses a Deadly Risk For Athletes at The Paris Olympics
A lot has changed in 100 years.
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Energy/Transportation
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Overpopulation
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NYPost ☛ NYC rat population ‘stressed’ by heat waves — leading to lower rates of reproduction
They don't like getting hot and heavy.
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Finance
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BIA Net ☛ Turkey’s statistical authority under scrutiny after allegedly causing millions of people to get lower raises
Two opposition parties have filed criminal complaints against TurkStat following the leak of the prices of the items it uses to calculate the inflation rate, which were far below actual market prices.
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Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese officials vow to ‘resolve risks’ plaguing country’s economy, but few clues given as to how
Beijing’s leaders vowed Thursday to resolve “risks” plaguing China’s economy, but were yet to offer any concrete steps to pull the country out of its financial woes. The world’s second-largest economy is grappling with a property debt crisis, weakening consumption, and an ageing population.
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JURIST ☛ Nigeria government and labor unions agree on monthly minimum wage amid threats of strikes
Nigerian Minister of Information Mohammed Idris announced on Thursday that the Nigerian government and main labor unions have agreed on a new monthly minimum wage of 70,000 Naira ($44) after months of negotiations and threats of strikes.
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AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics
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Pro Publica ☛ Inside the DEA Probe of Alleged Cartel Donations to AMLO Campaign
In the summer of 2010, as U.S. agents dug into allegations that a powerful drug mafia had poured money into Mexican politics, the investigators took direct aim at the man who is now the country’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
According to confidential government documents obtained by ProPublica, the Drug Enforcement Administration knowingly risked a political furor to try to penetrate López Obrador’s campaign organization before Mexicans could elect a government that might be beholden to the traffickers.
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Pro Publica ☛ DEA Didn’t Pursue New Reports of Mexican Drug Corruption After Closing AMLO Case
When the Justice Department shut down a secret inquiry into allegations that drug traffickers had funded the first presidential campaign of Mexico’s leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, officials in Washington closed the case forcefully.
Over the years that followed that 2011 decision, U.S. law enforcement agencies continued to hear similar reports, including accounts from at least four high-level Mexican traffickers who said their gangs helped to fund López Obrador’s political machine in return for promises of government protection, documents and interviews show.
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France24 ☛ Biden under intense pressure to drop out of US presidential race
US President Joe Biden has reportedly become more open in recent days to hearing arguments that he should end his bid for reelection. Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told Democratic colleagues that Biden could be convinced to leave the race soon. Other allies, including Barack Obama, have also voiced concerns. The New York Times reported that Biden has begun to accept the idea that he may not be able to win the November 5 election and may have to drop out of the race. Biden tested positive on Wednesday for Covid-19, forcing him to cut short a campaign visit to Nevada and isolate for several days in Delaware.
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New York Times ☛ Secluded in Rehoboth, Biden Stews at Allies’ Pressure to Drop Out of the Race
As he recovers from Covid, the president has grown resentful toward Democratic congressional leaders and former President Barack Obama.
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Federal News Network ☛ If they only knew: How ADA awareness can block RTO for government staff
During the pandemic, many government employees experienced the benefits of working from home, including increased productivity and better work-life balance.
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Federal News Network ☛ What’s new from the agency in the middle of labor-management disputes
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service recently had its first in-person national conference since before the pandemic.
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TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Trump uses false claim about Chinese auto plants in Mexico to call for UAW president to be fired
Donald Trump made a pitch for votes from key swing state autoworkers during his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination, using false claims to call on them to fire their union president.
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New York Times ☛ Trump the Lion, or Trump the Lyin’?
After years on a self-mythologizing hero’s journey, the former president finally had a true story to tell.
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New York Times ☛ Republicans Grapple With Next Moves if Democrats Replace Biden
Candidates trying to flip congressional seats have spent months yoking their opponents to the president. A new nominee could scramble that strategy.
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TFTC #524
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The Man Behind Trump’s VP Pick: It’s Worse Than You Think
While J.D. Vance has his own controversies, his close connection to billionaire Peter Thiel, who is poised to have unprecedented influence in a new Trump administration, should deeply unsettle every American who cares about freedom, privacy and reining in the surveillance state.
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Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press
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Press Gazette ☛ Weekly subscriber-based website for North East ceases publication after five months
Ex-Newcastle Journal editor had hoped enough people would pay for quality, once-a-week journalism for the region.
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ACLU ☛ Our First Amendment Rights Don’t Disappear at the Schoolhouse Gates
Our First Amendment rights do not disappear at the schoolhouse gates. Students of all ages can, and have, exercised their right to free speech, assembly, religion and expression since America’s founding.
At the same time, schools can place reasonable restrictions on how students express themselves if their speech would be disruptive to the school environment or infringe on the rights of others. Importantly, students under 18 enrolled in K-12 have different protections than adult-age college or university students. Whether schools can punish students for speaking out depends on when, where, and how someone expresses themselves.
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Civil Rights/Policing
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JURIST ☛ Supreme Court of Canada rules state can be held liable for enacting clearly unconstitutional laws
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that the Canadian government can be held liable for enacting laws that are “clearly unconstitutional,” done in bad faith, or stem from abuse of power.
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France24 ☛ Ghettoes, clashes and Afghanophobia: post-Taliban refugees in Iran
With its ferris wheel, coffee shops and promenades, Tehran’s Chitgar Lake has been a popular spot for Iranians since it was opened to the public in 2013. But it has also become a hangout for young Afghan men, and a focus for growing public resentment of the mass immigration since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021. Many Iranians – ordinary citizens and politicians – have intensified their rhetoric toward Afghans, with growing calls for crackdowns and mass deportations.
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RFA ☛ China slaps travel restrictions on teachers, banking sector staff
The ban appears to target teachers and students thinking of visiting overseas universities, commentators say.
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Internet Policy/Net Neutrality
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Bruce Schneier ☛ Brett Solomon on Digital Rights
Brett Solomon is retiring from AccessNow after fifteen years as its Executive Director. He’s written a blog post about what he’s learned and what comes next.
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Zimbabwe ☛ Government lost at least US $200 million through NetOne in just 2 years – AG’s Report
Zimbabwe’s Auditor General’s report on government companies was released recently. It’s a 2023 report covering the 2022 period.
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Patents
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Tom's Hardware ☛ Huawei sues MediaTek for patent monopoly infringement of unnamed technology
Huawei reportedly sues MediaTek to collect royalties for patents used by MediaTek's processors.
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Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Alice Backs Anna: Federal Circuit Finds Miller Mendel’s Background Check Patent Abstract
In Miller Mendel, Inc. v. City of Anna, Texas, No. 2022-1753 (Fed. Cir. July 18, 2024), the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s judgment on the pleadings that the asserted claims of Miller Mendel’s U.S. Patent No. 10,043,188 (‘188 patent) are ineligible for patent monopoly protection under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The court also affirmed the denial of the defendant’s motion for attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285.
The ‘188 patent monopoly is directed to “a web based software system for managing the process of performing pre-employment background investigations.” Representative claim 1 recites a “method for a computing device with a processor and a system memory to assist an investigator in conducting a background investigation of an applicant for a position within a first organization.” The claim goes on to recite several steps the system performs, including: [...]
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Trademarks
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TTAB Blog ☛ Precedential No. 15: TTAB Affirms Section 2(d) Refusal of UPC for Computer Components, Rejecting "Something More" Requirement When Only Goods are Involved
In a precedential decision, the Board affirmed a refusal to register the mark UPC for, inter alia, display panels as components of computers and smart phones, finding confusion likely with the identical mark registered for charging cables and power connectors. Applicant Samsung argued that "something more" is required to show relatedness of the goods than the mere fact that some third-party manufacturers sell both types of goods. The Board was not impressed. In re Samsung Display Co., Ltd., Serial No. 90502617 (July 17, 2024) [precedential] (Opinion by Judge Robert H. Coggins).
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Gemini* and Gopher
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Personal/Opinions
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Hurting
One of my partners had their birthday yesterday. We were out getting some items at Wal-Mart, and their truck decided to have issues. We call AAA (my family has me on it), and while waiting for a tow truck, we go in to get some drinks, since it's 36C outside, and the humidity pushed it to almost 40C. On the way out, my knee gives out as I'm stepping down off the curb, and I go to the ground, knees hitting hard and palms trying to deflect me to one side, but just landing flat and impacting my wrists.
[...]
To give me an even better bit of happy news, a friendly face I met in a private authors chat helped me fix the UEFI problem I have with my laptop, and now I'm no longer worried that a `sudo apt upgrade` is going to kill my ability to boot this poor Dell Latitude, as it did over the last few days.
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🔤SpellBinding: EXINOSF Wordo: EQUIP
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Politics and World Events
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Clowns and Jokers
While I’ve always loved clowns, never had coulrophobia, had a Pierrot doll when I was a li’l girl, met great clowns when the circus came to town, had my life saved by a clown, have worked with clowns and clowning… I still feel like “clown” or “clowning” in the polysemic meaning “to do foolish things” is, well, it’s part of the intent of many (not all) clown acts. The character is behaving foolishly, often for satirical purposes. Calling a politician a “clown” might be a li’l bit “Your joke, but worse” but it’s not intended as an insult to clowns. It’s a testament to the efficacy of their satire.
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As the moderator I deleted “Censorship in Geminispace: Responding to the Attack on Antenna”
I deleted a strongly worded anti-censorship post “Censorship in Geminispace: Responding to the Attack on Antenna” regarding Antenna’s removal of a hate speech post at the beginning of the year, because it ignored Antenna’s reason for not hosting third-party content, namely the third-party’s slander of a whole nation with very strong language, which amounts to hate speech.
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Read up on what censorship can mean, because there are several different ways to censor, mostly done by institutions having power over you, like governments. But most of perceived censorship is not actually censorship, but applying house rules. The same rules you would apply on your turf. Your free speech doesn’t mean other people have to amplify it; you can have it, but you cannot unilaterally enlist others.
[...]
This was me acting as moderator for the first time and I hope it will be the last. Removing questionable parts of a post is not possible on BBS, maybe for good reason, but this leaves as the only option to delete the post.
If your gut reaction to me deleting the post is “Censorship!”, then you should re-read everything I wrote and read the linked Gemipedia entries as well.
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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.