Leftovers

• BSD

  • MWL ☛ 56: Three Debacles in a Trenchcoat

    I’m in Lost Vegas meeting with editors, publishers, and other writers, figuring out how to break publishing. It’s rather like BlackHat, except artsy. I suspect my voice displays every bit of my jet lag, but here you go. One day the FreeBSD Foundation decided to start a journal [...]

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Carvings in Ancient Temple of Göbekli Tepe Could Be Earth's Oldest Calendar

    A record of 10,000-year-old skies.

  • Science Alert ☛ Geologists' Record-Breaking Drill Into Earth's Crust Reveals Mantle Secrets

    They "just kept going deeper."

  • Why organizations should value mental health literacy

    As more people look for a workplace culture that values employee wellness, an expert at U-M's Eisenberg Family Depression Center explains the importance of addressing employee mental health.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Olympians say conversations on sports, mental health are changing

    Conversations around the toll elite sports can take on mental health have shifted in recent years, and athletes are talking more openly about the ups and downs of competing.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ AMD Ryzen 7 9700X overclocked to 5.8 GHz with AIO liquid cooler — 6 GHz also achievable but only on idle thus far

    Overclockers have already figured out how to achieve the 6 GHz mark on AMD's latest Ryzen 9000 series parts without using liquid nitrogen.

  • Jamie McClelland ☛ Jamie McClelland: Who ate my RAM?

    One of our newest servers, with a hefty 256GB of RAM, recently began killing processes via the oomkiller.

    According to free, only half of the RAM was in use (125GB). About 4GB was free, with the remainer used by the file cache.

    I’m used to seeing unexpected “free RAM” numbers like this and have been assured that the kernel is simply not wasting RAM. If it’s not needed, use it to cache files to save on disk I/O. That make sense.

    However… why is the oomkiller being called instead of flushing the file cache?

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ New Era in Surgery Has Patients Stay Awake During Kidney Transplants

    Here's why it's a good thing.

  • RFA ☛ What’s the deal with dengue in Southeast Asia?

    The mosquito-borne illness has been a public health issue for decades and will remain a threat in years to come.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s new health minister has little time to turn things around

    Lithuania’s incoming healthcare minister, Aurimas Pečkauskas, says he will not launch any new reforms, since his term may only last months. He does want, however, to strengthen cooperation with medical workers’ unions. His predecessor, dismissed upon the president’s insistence, believes his firing was purely for political show.

  • Science Alert ☛ Soups And Shakes Diet Can Put Type 2 Diabetes Into Remission, Study Finds

  • Latvia ☛ Ombudsman: Latvia's legislation lets minors choose drugs over treatment

    The state of Latvia currently allows that a child may choose to use addictive substances rather than undergo treatment, the Ombudsman has concluded in a report on assisting children who use addictive substances, published August 8.

  • H2 View ☛ Air Products Korea sale to fund blue hydrogen business

    Air Products and Chemicals has put its South Korean unit up for sale for an estimated $3.6bn which will be used to back its blue hydrogen business, according to reports.

  • RFA ☛ China's state media denounce 'Smashing Eggs' game craze as 'decadent'

    Addictive card game is all the rage among officials, state-owned companies and young people.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China anti-doping agency calls for more tests on American athletes, accuses US of ‘systemic’ abuses

    China’s anti-doping agency on Thursday called for more tests on American athletes, accusing the US of concealing “systemic” abuses, as a war of words intensifies between the two countries leading the Olympics medals table.

  • JURIST ☛ ACLU announces roadmap to protect and expand US abortion and birth control access under a Harris Administration

    The American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) released a roadmap on Tuesday outlining Democratic nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign commitments regarding reproductive freedom and how the ACLU will ensure their delivery.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • OSTechNix ☛ Write Brief With AI: An Innovative Writing Assistant For WordPress

    Jetpack Hey Hi (AI) introduced Write Brief with AI, a tool that improves writing by analyzing text for complexity, sentence length, and word choice, providing suggestions and an overall readability score.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Nashville man arrested for aiding North Korean remote IT worker fraud

    Matthew Knoot allegedly ran a laptop farm that funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars back to North Korea.

  • Tech Times ☛ Branch Axes Over 100 Employees in Latest Layoff, Nova Launcher's Future Now Uncertain

    Nova Launcher has long been a beloved choice for Android users seeking a customizable and feature-rich experience, standing out as a top alternative to the standard Google Pixel Launcher.

    With its extensive features, integrations, and the option for a Prime upgrade, Nova Launcher has become a staple for Android enthusiasts. However, the future of this iconic app has become uncertain following significant layoffs at Branch, the company that acquired Nova in 2022.

  • Layoffs pile up in US, Canada as companies uncertain of economy

    Companies in the United States and Canada have continued their job cuts in 2024 after letting go thousands last year, as the outlook on interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve remains uncertain even as recession fears recede rapidly.

  • Hackaday ☛ Building AI Models To Diagnose HVAC Issues

    HVAC – heating, ventilation, and air conditioning – can account for a huge amount of energy usage of a building, whether it’s residential or industrial. Often it’s the majority energy consumer, especially in places with extreme climates or for things like data centers where cooling is a large design consideration. When problems arise with these complex systems, they can go undiagnosed for a time and additionally be difficult to fix, leading to even more energy losses until repairs are complete. With the growing availability of platforms that can run capable artificial intelligences, [kutluhan_aktar] is working towards a system that can automatically diagnose potential issues and help humans get a handle on repairs faster.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • AccessNow ☛ Civil society open letter urges Bumble to take privacy seriously

      Access Now, in an effort led by Mozilla and other key civil society organizations, is demanding that Bumble address problem with its data collection and privacy practices.

    • EFF ☛ EFF and 12 Organizations Tell Bumble: Don’t Sell User Data Without Opt-In Consent

      So EFF has joined Mozilla Foundation and 11 other organizations urging Bumble to do a better job protecting user privacy.

      Bumble needs to respect the privacy of its users and ensure that the company does not disclose a user’s data unless that user opts-in to such disclosure. This privacy threat should not be something users have to opt-out of. Protecting personal data should be effortless, especially from a company that markets itself as a safe and ethical alternative.

      Dating apps collect vast amounts of intimate details about their customers—everything from sexual preferences to precise location—who are often just searching for compatibility and love. This data falling into the wrong hands can come with unacceptable consequences, especially for those seeking reproductive health care, survivors of intimate partner violence, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. For this reason, the threshold for a company collecting, selling, and transferring such personal data—and providing transparency about privacy practices—is high.

    • EFF ☛ Weak "Guardrails" on Police Face Recognition Use Make Things Worse

      However, even as half-measures go, California's legislature is currently considering a particularly weak proposal in the form of A.B. 1814, authored by Asm. Phil Ting (San Francisco). It would introduce paltry limits that will do nothing to address the many problems that police use of face recognition raises. In fact, the bill's language could make things worse in California.

      This something? It's worse than nothing—by a long shot.

      For example, major police departments in California have pledged not to use Clearview AI, a company that's been sued repeatedly for building its database from scraped social media posts, in light of public pressure. But A.B. 1814 expressly gives police departments the right to access "third-party databases," including Clearview AI. This could give law enforcement agencies cover to use databases that they have previously distanced themselves from and will erode progress civil liberties advocates have already made. The bill also states police have access to any state database, even if the images were not collected for law enforcement purposes.

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar junta bombs sleeping village killing seven, rebels say

    Many people were wounded in the latest air attack in the strife-torn Mandalay region, residents said.

  • NYPost ☛ Chicago allows anti-Israel protest at DNC, as Israeli American Council awaits approval for counter-demonstration

    “It seems like we don’t have equitable access to whatever the other group was approved for,” IAC chief programming officer Aya Schechter said.

  • JURIST ☛ Israel human rights NGO reports ‘systematic’ abuse, torture of Palestinians in prisons

    A report released Tuesday by the Israeli rights group B’Tselem featured allegations of systematic abuse and torture of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli authorities.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. ‘Dissatisfied’ With China’s Disclosures About Stabbings

    The U.S. ambassador has criticized the handling of an attack on four instructors from an American college, but China’s foreign ministry called it an “isolated incident.”

  • The Straits Times ☛ Canada and Australia, eyeing China, signal more military cooperation

    OTTAWA - Canada and Australia, expressing alarm at China's claims over the disputed waters of the South China Sea, on Thursday said they would increase their military and defense industry cooperation.

  • RFA ☛ Taiwan proposes biggest ever defense spending of US$19.7 billion

    President Lai Ching-te stresses the need to bolster defense, build cooperation with allies.

  • The Strategist ☛ Deconflicting activities in new frontiers: the Moon versus Antarctica

    If China sets up the first permanent Moon base, it could easily upend the US-sponsored Artemis Accords on lunar colonisation and take control of part of the Moon.

  • The Strategist ☛ Under Anwar, Malaysia is moving away from the West

    Anwar Ibrahim would not be the first political dissident who has struggled with the transition from opposition to incumbency.

  • The Strategist ☛ Official histories of Australian and British Intelligence: lessons learned and next steps

    Unclassified, official histories of secret intelligence organisations for public readership seem a contradiction in terms.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ US judge dismisses majority of Mexico’s claims in suit against gun manufacturers

    The judge said the six companies' connection to Massachusetts, where Mexico filed the case, was "gossamer-thin at best."

  • New York Times ☛ Trump and Harris Agreed to a September Debate

    Also, Ukraine launched a surprise push into Russia. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.

  • New York Times ☛ Friday Briefing: Trump and Harris Agreed to Debate

    Plus, how Olympians get paid.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Atlantic Council ☛ F-16 jets will help defend Ukrainian cities from Russian bombardment

      The first batch of F-16 fighter jets arrived in Ukraine in late July and are now expected to be used primarily in an air defense role against Russian missile and drone attacks, writes Olena Tregub.

    • France24 ☛ Battles rage in Kursk region after Ukraine's largest incursion yet into Russia

      Fighting continued for a third day on Thursday after around 1,000 Ukrainian troops crossed the Russian border with tanks and armoured vehicles earlier this week, prompting Russia to declare a state of emergency in the Kursk region.

    • New York Times ☛ Olympic Medals Offer Ukraine a Brief Respite From War

      Ukraine has won 10 medals so far at the Paris Olympics. Each has been celebrated in the war-torn country as a symbol of resilience and defiance.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ How Ukraine’s incursion into Russia could change the war

      Ukrainian forces launched a surprise raid into Russia’s Kursk region on Tuesday. Our experts explain how this could affect the course of the war.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine continues to expand drone bombing campaign inside Russia

      Ukraine’s long-range drone bombing campaign targeting military and industrial sites inside Russia has had a dramatic series of successes over the last few weeks, writes Marcel Plichta.

    • LRT ☛ ‘Russians were caught with pants down’: Lithuanian volunteers send drones to Kursk front

      Ukraine’s surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region resulted in the capture of Sudzha, a town of some 5,000 people. However, the objectives of the campaign, or raid, remain unclear.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania ends work permit exemption for Ukrainians without temporary protection

      From September, Ukrainians without temporary protection will be able to work in Lithuania only after obtaining a residence permit, the country’s Migration Department said on Thursday.

    • RFERL ☛ UN Official Says 95 Percent Of Ukrainian Soldiers In Russian Captivity Face Torture

      Danielle Bell, the head of mission for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told the NOS television channel in the Netherlands that 95 percent of Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia face torture.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Imprisons Ukrainian Man For Alleged Attempt To Kill Mariupol Official

      A Russian military court sentenced Ukrainian citizen Mykola Zabirko on August 8 to 6 1/2 years in a high-security prison for an alleged assassination attempt on Kostyantyn Ivashchenko, Mariupol’s former Russia-installed mayor.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Says Russia 'Must Feel' War As Moscow Claims To Have Repelled Incursion

      An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on August 8 commented indirectly on a surprise Ukrainian military incursion into Russia after Russia claimed to have repelled Ukraine's advance in the Sudzha and Korenevo districts of the Kursk region that borders Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ In a Surprise, Ukraine Advances on Russian Region of Kursk

      The local government in the Russian region of Kursk declared a state of emergency as military analysts reported that Ukrainian forces had advanced several miles across the border.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian border guards filmed surrendering to Ukrainian military — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Ukrainian army gains foothold in Russia’s Kursk region on day three of unprecedented cross-border offensive — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian security services ask venues to think what artists they invite

      Artists supporting Russian aggression should not perform in Latvia, the State Security Service (VDD) has made a rather obvious statement in response to the planned performance of pro-Russian aggression DJ Denis Rublev.

    • RFERL ☛ Estonia Starts Full Customs Controls At Border With Russia

      Estonia's government said on August 8 that full customs controls have been introduced at the Baltic country's border with Russia, replacing random border checks.

    • RFERL ☛ YouTube Not Accessible Across Russia

      The YouTube video-hosting site and app have stopped being accessible across Russia, thousands of Internet users in the country said online on August 8.

    • Meduza ☛ YouTube has suddenly stopped working in Russia. Meduza’s readers describe how they’re handling the loss of the world’s most popular video streaming service. — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Prosecutors Reportedly Demand 15 Years For U.S.-Russian Dual Citizen

      Russian prosecutors on August 8 asked for a 15-year prison sentence for Ksenia Karelina, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen who has been held in Russia since January, Russian news agencies reported.

    • RFERL ☛ Bulgarian Parliament Adopts Amendment Banning LGBT 'Promotion' In Schools

      The Bulgarian parliament passed an amendment on August 7 to ban LGBT "propaganda" in schools and voted to pass a separate change that defines the concept of "nontraditional sexual orientation."

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia, Lithuania cooperate in stopping illegal border crossers

      Not all border crossers illegally crossing the Latvian-Belarusian border are stopped. This is evidenced by the sharp increase in the number of migrants apprehended in Lithuania in July traveling in cars from the Latvian side, Latvian Television reported August 7.

    • Meduza ☛ The Kremlin needed more than two days to draw up ‘guidelines’ for news coverage of Ukraine’s surprise incursion. Here’s what Putin’s policy team finally decided. — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Mexico Rejects Ukraine's Request To Arrest Russia's Putin During Visit

      Ukraine's embassy in Mexico has asked the government to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he attends the October 1 inauguration of President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum.

    • RFERL ☛ Any Foreign Organization Can Be Labeled 'Undesirable' Under New Russian Law

      Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 8 signed into law a bill allowing any foreign entity, including those established by state organs of third countries, to be declared "undesirable."

    • Reason ☛ Ukraine Is Safer If It Stays Out of NATO

      Ukraine’s strategic advantage lies in its autonomy rather than playing into Putin's ploy.

• Environment

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Science Alert ☛ Gorgeous 'Cotton Candy' Lobster Just Found Is So Rare It's 1-in-100 Million

      Positively too beautiful to eat.

    • Science Alert ☛ Great Barrier Reef Waters Hottest in 400 Years, Study of Coral Reveals

      "Wake-up call to humanity."

• Finance

  • New York Times ☛ Fed Rate Cuts Are Expected Soon, as Inflation Cools. But Will They Be Early Enough to Avoid a Recession?

    The Federal Reserve was about to cut interest rates, turning the corner after a long fight with inflation. But now, its soft landing is in question.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Inflation keeps climbing, reaching highest level in over a year

    The higher-than-expected July inflation data was published on Thursday morning, ahead of a Bank of Mexico monetary policy meeting.

  • Latvia ☛ Annual inflation at 0.7% in Latvia

    The latest data published August 8 by the Central Statistical Bureau show that in July 2024, compared to July 2023, the average level of consumer prices increased by 0.7 %.

  • Pro Publica ☛ NY Judges Let Guardian Yvonne Murphy Profit From Wards' Finances

    When a New York judge appointed Yvonne Murphy to take over the care of Martin Chorost in late 2011, the 63-year-old had diabetes, dementia and a constellation of other maladies. He also had assets worth more than $800,000, which were put at his guardian’s disposal.

    Murphy immediately tapped them to hire Beacon Eldercare, which billed itself as “the leading health care assistance firm in Queens,” to provide him with round-the-clock aides.

  • RFA ☛ Soaring price of shuttlecocks ruffles feathers in China

    Badminton players look for alternatives as prices skyrocket amid heatwaves, pollution and bird flu.

  • Zimbabwe ☛ Liquid Intelligent Technologies in some financial bother, credit rating downgraded

    Liquid Intelligent Technologies is in a bit of a bother. The company’s credit rating was recently downgraded by rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s.

  • Latvia ☛ Minister: Latvia could introduce individual surplus tax on banks

    Latvia could impose a surplus tax on banks individually, Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis (Union of Greens and Farmers) told the Latvian Television program "Morning Panorama" in an interview on Thursday, August 8.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • RFA ☛ Did a South Korean legislator propose changing the country’s name?

    Verdict: False

  • New York Times ☛ Trump Tries to Wrestle Back Attention at Mar-a-Lago News Conference

    In an hourlong exchange with reporters, the former president criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for not doing the same, insulted her intelligence and boasted about the size of his rallies.

  • RFA ☛ North Korea appoints top envoy to Cuba

    The previous ambassador left in March after Seoul and Havana established diplomatic relations.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s top diplomat in Hong Kong meets US envoy, condemns ‘negative remarks’ about city

    China’s top diplomat in Hong Kong has met the US Consul-General Gregory May to protest against “negative remarks,” after May said the city’s One Country, Two Systems governing principle now only survived in economic issues.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Reason ☛ Response to My Motion to Unseal Material in Pennsylvania Sen. Douglas Mastriano's Lawsuit Related to His Ph.D. Thesis

    Sen. Mastriano (who is running for reelection to the state senate, and who ran in 2022 for Governor) is suing for, among other things, libel—but trying to keep the allegedly libelous material under seal.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Telegraph in IPSO breach with article claiming cyclists were doing 52mph and ‘putting lives at risk’

    Almost 100 people complained to IPSO over the May 2024 article.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Sun editor Victoria Newton felt ‘quite lonely’ during Huw Edwards story scandal

    Newton believes it was BillBC News coverage that led to The Sun being "vilified" for its reporting.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Privacy International ☛ An overbroad, unbalanced and dangerous UN cybercrime treaty must be rejected

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Chinese woman Xu Zaozao loses final appeal over right to freeze her eggs

    An unmarried Chinese woman said Wednesday she had lost a final court appeal for the right to freeze her eggs, a procedure only available in China to married women.

  • New York Times ☛ Chinese Woman Loses Legal Challenge for Right to Freeze Her Eggs

    Despite a declining birthrate that has alarmed the nation’s leaders, regulations in China prevent unmarried women from freezing their eggs.

  • JURIST ☛ Ontario court certifies class action for immigration detainees against Canada government for Charter violations

    The Ontario Superior Court of Justice (ONSC) certified a class action lawsuit on Tuesday involving the Canadian federal government and the detention of 8,360 immigration detainees in 87 provincial prisons across Canada.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Kushal Das: 20 years of this blog

    I started writing blog 20 years ago, not on this domain, but this blog still has all the old posts starting from 8th August 2004. Though I used to write mostly one line blog posts, which is equivalent of Mastodon posts these days.

    I started writing another blog, but in Swedish. So that I can feel less scared with the language.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Copyrights

  • Creative Commons ☛ CC Certificate Alumni Making a Global Impact

    Launched in 2018, the Creative Commons Certificate program has trained and graduated nearly 1800 people from 66 countries. The Certificate program offers in-depth courses about CC licenses, open practices, and the ethos of the Commons. Our staff is constantly inspired by our community of Certificate alumni, accomplishing incredible things.

  • Digital Music News ☛ More Christmas Planning in August — Ed Sheeran Pens Original Song for DRM spreader Netflix Animated Christmas Movie

    Ed Sheeran has penned an original song for Netflix’s new animated Christmas movie coming December 6. More Christmas plans get underway in August as DRM spreader Netflix announces a new animated Christmas movie, That Christmas, to release on December 6.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Big Freedia, and Others Suddenly Dropped With Prejudice

    Less than three months after it was submitted, a copyright monopoly infringement lawsuit against Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Sony Music, and Big Freedia has been dismissed with prejudice. The development emerged in a newly filed notice of voluntary dismissal from the plaintiffs’ counsel.

  • France24 ☛ Banksy surprises London with three animal paintings in as many days

    One goat, two elephants, and now three monkeys: British street artist Banksy thrilled fans in London on Wednesday by installing his third new artwork in three days.