Leftovers

• Adrian Gaudebert: The frustration of (never really) finishing Dawnmaker

  We are 5 days away from the release of Dawnmaker! It is a time of excitement, of stress of course, but also of regrets as we realize that there are so, so many things that we will not be able to add to our game. Let's introduce today's topic with a short video that is very à propos: [...]

• Education

  • Neil Selwyn ☛ CSET 2025 – Critical studies of education and technology: an invitation to connect

    17th February to 21st February 2025 Researchers from around the world are invited to organise and run local academic meetings around the common theme: ‘Problematising education and digital technology’.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Your QuickTake Camera And Your Modern PC

    An object of desire back in the mid-1990s might have been Apple’s QuickTake camera. In a form factor not unlike a monocular it packed a 640×480 digital camera, the images from which could be downloaded to a computer via a serial cable. A quarter century later it’s a great retro camera for the enthusiast, but both the serial ports and the operating systems needed to run its software have passed into history. Time for the junk pile? Not at all, for [Crazylegstoo] has produced a new piece of software for 2024 that works for both QuickTake 100 and 150 cameras with USB serial ports on modern operating systems.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Supercomputing icon warns that China could have the world's fastest supercomputers

    China's government no longer wants to disclose performance of supercomputers, which creates suspicions in the U.S.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel 13th and 14th Gen 'Raptor Lake' instability troubles: Everything you need to know

    Reports of instability problems with Intel's 13th and 14th Gen 'Raptor Lake' CPUs began appearing more frequently in early 2024. defective chip maker Intel began serious investigation into the reports and appears to be close to issuing a fix, though it likely won't help already impacted processors. Here's everything you need to know.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel 13th Gen CPUs allegedly have 4X higher return rate than the prior gen — retailer stats also claim defective chip maker Intel CPU RMAs are higher than AMD

    A European retailer reported that defective chip maker Intel processor RMAs have jumped from 1.75% to as much as 7% in recent years. Given the ongoing reports of long-term degradation issues with the 13th and 14th Gen defective chip maker Intel Raptor Lake CPUs, this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ For Epidemics to Cross Oceans, Viruses on Ships Had to Beat the Odds

    In the era when people traveled by sailing ship and steamer, illnesses usually burned themselves out before boats reached shore, a new study finds.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Optimizing cancer treatment delivery could cut down greenhouse gas emissions and save lives

    A recent study published by researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center found that reducing the frequency of administering pembrolizumab, a widely used immunotherapy, could significantly decrease greenhouse gas emissions without impacting patients’ health outcomes.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • New York Times ☛ When Hey Hi (AI) Fails the Language Test, Who Is Left Out of the Conversation?

    The use of artificial intelligence is exploding around the world, but the technology’s language models are primarily trained in English, leaving many speakers of other languages behind.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ New CCTV cameras in Hong Kong to be equipped with facial recognition technology, security chief says

      New CCTV cameras in Hong Kong will be equipped with facial recognition technology, the city’s security chief has said.

    • Privacy International ☛ Joint letter to UK retailers regarding the potenital use of facial recognition technology (FRT) within their stores

    • Privacy International ☛ Joint letters to the Information Commissioner and Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police on use of PimEyes

    • Medevel ☛ Why the Healthcare Sector is Slow to Adapt New Technologies Like Web3, VR, and AR

      The healthcare sector often hesitates to adopt new technologies. Factors such as regulations, expertise, implementation challenges, and experience play significant roles.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Mexicans are feeling safer than (almost) ever as perception of urban insecurity nears record low

    Compared to the first quarter of 2024, there were statistically significant changes in perceptions of insecurity in 15 cities in Mexico.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Retrieves Bodies of 5 Hostages From Tunnel in Gaza

    The military said that intelligence, including information from detained Palestinian militants, had led to the bodies in the Khan Younis area.

  • RFERL ☛ 3 Bulgarians Arrested In Vandalism Of Holocaust Memorial In Paris

    Three Bulgarian citizens have been detained on suspicion of vandalizing the Holocaust Memorial in Paris in May, the State Agency for National Security (DANS) said on July 26.

  • Defence Web ☛ Interview with Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron

    Some personal background – your interests and what set you on your present path? Are you sufficiently capacitated in your present job – do you and your committee need teeth?

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Federal News Network ☛ OSC is giving real teeth to National Whistleblower Day

    This is a massive step in educating the federal workforce about whistleblower rights and protections.

  • Newsweek ☛ Boeing Whistleblowers Demand Meeting With CEO

    Lawyers for several Boeing whistleblowers have called on the aero giant's CEO, Dave Calhoun, to meet face-to-face to discuss "serious safety and quality control concerns".

    In a letter shared with Newsweek, DC-based law firm Katz Banks Kumin said that the CEO had reneged on his promise to meet with Boeing's mounting list of whistleblowers.

    "In your testimony before the [senate] subcommittee on June 18, 2024, you stated that you had not personally met with any Boeing whistleblowers but that you would be willing to do so as part of the company's ongoing efforts to improve its safety culture," KBK's letter read.

    "To date, out client has not been contacted to meet with you and we are not aware that any such meetings have taken place."

    KBK were referring to comments Calhoun made during his June 18 testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations.

• Environment

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Almost 300,000 evacuated in eastern China as Typhoon Gaemi makes landfall after killing 5 in Taiwan

    By Isabel Kua and Oliver Hotham Authorities evacuated nearly 300,000 people and suspended public transport across eastern China on Friday, as Typhoon Gaemi brought torrential rains already responsible for five deaths in nearby Taiwan.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • New York Times ☛ Security Precautions Failed to Halt Train Sabotage in Paris

      The attacks on several high-speed rail lines happened despite the sweeping mobilization of recent weeks.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Science Alert ☛ Surprise Discovery Hints a Hidden Ocean Is Lurking in The Solar System

      Could it be?

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ Justice Dept. Settles Lawsuit With Former F.B.I. Officials Targeted by Trump

    Peter Strzok, a former F.B.I. agent, and Lisa Page, a former lawyer for the bureau, accused the Trump administration of violating their privacy after it provided explosive texts to the news media.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • RFERL ☛ Another Kazakh Stand-Up Comedian Jailed For 'Hooliganism'

    Kazakh stand-up comedian Aleksandr Merkul, who often tells jokes about the current government and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was sentenced to 10 days in jail on July 26 on a charge of hooliganism.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • RFA ☛ Trial delay sparks calls for release of Hong Kong's Jimmy Lai

    Lai's son and legal team call on British government to act amid growing concerns for his health in solitary.

  • JURIST ☛ Committee to Protect Journalists calls for release of captured journalist in Sudan

    The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Wednesday called for the immediate and unconditional release of the Sudanese freelance journalist Omar Mohamed Omar.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ Iran foreign ministry condemns UN rapporteur report on atrocity crimes

    Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, criticised a report by UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran Javaid Rehman on Wednesday asserting that the report is an attempt to damage the image of the country.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong legal scholar’s op-ed on axing early release for national security prisoners ‘misleading,’ gov’t says

    Hong Kong’s corrections department has condemned an op-ed written by a top legal scholar about a new rule denying early release to national security convicts, calling his comments “misleading.”

  • JURIST ☛ Kenya High Court ruling marks major step towards justice for Victims of 2017 post-election violence: Amnesty International

    Amnesty International Kenya praised a High Court ruling Thursday which found that 11 police commanders and officers have a case to answer in connection with the death of baby Samantha Pendo and other victims of the 2017 post-election violence.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Zimbabwe ☛ AG fears NetOne might not be able to meet obligations and continue operations, let’s talk

    We already talked about how NetOne has cost you and me hundreds of millions over the last few years.

  • APNIC ☛ Telekom Malaysia lights up RPKI statistics

    Guest Post: TM’s planning, validation, and execution efforts protect customers from route hijacking and contribute to a cleaner Internet ecosystem.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• KOL436 | Kelly Patrick Show: Taking Questions from Nonlibertarians

  Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 436.

  I was interviewed today by Kelly Patrick of the Kelly Patrick Show ep. 777. I fielded questions from his The Kelly Patrick Show Political Chat facebook group, mostly questions from nonlibertarians or people critical of libertarianism. We discussed the prospects of liberty, activism, why people are not persuaded by libertarian arguments, the prospects of the Libertarian Party, intellectual property, anarchism, and so on.

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Deja Vu All Over Again: SCOTUS Asked Again to Revisit Patent Eligibility

    Return Mail recently filed its petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, seeking a broader scope of patent monopoly eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. You may remember that Return Mail won its case before the Supreme Court a few years ago. Return Mail, Inc. v. United States Postal Service, 587 U.S. 618 (2019) (federal agencies are not “any person” under the AIA and therefore cannot challenge patents via IPR). [Return Mail Eligiblity Petition]

    In its new petition, Return Mail frames the question presented as:  Whether the claimed invention is ineligible for patent monopoly protection under the abstract-idea exception to 35 U.S.C. §101. This formulation echoes the language used in prior petitions that garnered U.S. Gov’t support.

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ CellSpinsoft data transfer patent monopoly challenge instituted

      On July 25, 2024, three months after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 8,904,030, owned and asserted by Cellspinsoft, Inc., an NPE. The ‘030 patent monopoly is generally directed to uploading data to a remote server, where the data comes from a device that does not have network connectivity. The data is transferred from the capturing device to a mobile device via Bluetooth and then the mobile device uploads the data. The system is set up so that the capturing device can notify the mobile device when new data is available to upload.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Finds SOLAR CONCIERGE Merely Descriptive of, and Lacking Acquired Distinctiveness for, ..... Guess What?

    The USPTO rejected Dana Redden's application to register the proposed mark SOLAR CONCIERGE for "financial consultation in the field of financing of solar energy projects and financial consulting regarding solar energy." [SOLAR disclaimed]. The Board found the mark to be merely descriptive under Section 2(e)(1) and rejected Redden's Section 2(f) claim of acquired distinctiveness. In re Dana Redden, Serial No. 97299114 (July 24, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Michael B. Adlin).