Leftovers

• Standards/Consortia

  • [Old] Salon ☛ Embrace, extend, censor

    The Microsoft action is just the latest move in a long-simmering dispute between the free-software/open-source software community and Microsoft. The technology in question, Kerberos, is a security system that authenticates the identity of users logging into networks running the Unix operating system. It is an open standard, developed in part by Theodore Ts'o, a software developer who now works for VA Linux, a company that specializes in computers preinstalled with Linux.

    Ts'o and other Kerberos developers became alarmed when Microsoft included in Windows 2000 its own version of Kerberos -- with unpublished and undocumented "extensions" designed, say the developers, to prevent networks running Unix from being able to interoperate with the new version effectively.

    Ts'o says that Microsoft has taken extensions of Kerberos that the company "promised two years ago to release freely to universities" and made those extensions proprietary. "They welshed on their promises," Ts'o says. "I'm fairly indignant about it."

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ There Might Be More Than One Way to Make a Planet

    Astronomers have found evidence of a process that supports an alternative, more rapid approach to planetary formation, more top down than bottom up.

  • Federal News Network ☛ NASA awards KBR with contractor of the year award

    "I think we do a great job of supporting NASA's intricate missions," said Todd May, senior vice president of KBR’s Science and Space Business.

  • Latvia ☛ University top salaries could be frozen in Latvia

    The President of Latvia is reportedly working on amendments to freeze the salaries of heads of state enterprises. Meanwhile, the Education and Science Ministry is planning to propose freezing wages also for the heads of higher education establishments, Latvian Television reported on September 15.

  • New York Times ☛ Titan Disaster Hearing Upends Earlier Expert Theories on Crew Deaths

    Two days of reporting and testifying by experts during a U.S. Coast Guard inquiry challenge the idea that the submersible’s passengers knew they were facing death.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Ryzen 9000 CPUs drop 10% frequency executing AVX-512 instructions — defective chip maker Intel CPUs typically suffer from more substantial clock speed drops

    Unlike Intel's CPUs, AMD's Ryzen 9000 processors do not drop clocks significantly when executing AVX-512.

  • Kevin Fenzi: fun with laptops

    So, rewind to earlier this year: There were 2 laptop announcements of interest to me.

    First was the snapdragon X arm laptops that were going to come out. qualcomm was touting that they would have great linux support and they were already working on merging things upstream. Nothing is ever that rosy, but I did pick up a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x that I have been playing with. Look for a more detailed review and status on that one in a bit. Short summary is that it’s a pretty cool laptop and mainstream linux support is coming along, but it’s not yet reading to be a daily laptop IMHO.

    The second was framework announcing a new batch of laptops would be coming out with some nice upgrades, so I pre-ordered one of the ryzen ones. But reader, you may ask: “don’t you already have a framework ryzen laptop? and aren’t they supposed to be upgradable? So why would you order another one?”. To which I answer: yes, and yes, and… because I wanted so many new things it seemed easier to just order a new one and get a spare/second laptop out of it.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Latvia ☛ Debate over children's vaccination in Latvia after diphtheria tragedy

    None of the children who died of diphtheria in Latvia this century had been vaccinated, said the Children's Clinical University Hospital (BKUS) in a statement September 17.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia's health sector unlikely to get requested funding next year

    The Ministry of Health has requested additional funding of EUR 153.3 million in the coming year as a "survival minimum" but it does not look like the funding will come, Latvian Radio reported on September 18.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea to mandate in-vehicle breathalysers for repeat DUI offenders

    The policy applies to anyone caught driving under the influence more than twice in the past five years.

  • The Strategist ☛ Digital spinach: What Australia can learn from China’s youth screen-time restrictions

    As Australia debates the right cut-off age for social control media use, let’s not forget there already is a cut off age—13.

  • Latvia ☛ Police officer accused of drug possession

    The Internal Security Bureau (IDB) has asked the Multidisciplinary Specialized Prosecutor's Office to prosecute an official of the Zemgale Regional Directorate of the State Police (VP) and an individual for illegal circulation of narcotic drugs, IDB said Wednesday.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Security Week ☛ North Korean Hackers Lure Critical Infrastructure Employees With Fake Jobs

      A North Korean group tracked as UNC2970 has been spotted trying to deliver new malware to people in the aerospace and energy industries.

    • Netcraft ☛ Problems in the Parking Lot: Threat Actors Use IRL Quishing to Target Travelers

      This article explores Netcraft’s research into the recent surge in QR code parking scams in the UK and around the globe.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • OpenRightsGroup ☛ LinkedIn is latest social control media company to process data for Hey Hi (AI) without consent

      Open Rights Group is calling on the ICO to take action against social control media companies that process users’ data without consent. The digital rights group’s call comes as it was revealed that Microsoft's Surveillance Arm LinkedIn is the latest social control media company that is processing its users data to train AI. Like X, Microsoft's Surveillance Arm LinkedIn have automatically....

    • OpenRightsGroup ☛ e-Visas: The Next Digital Windrush Scandal

      Our report, “Hostile and Broken” released today, explains why e-Visas risk creating tens or hundreds of thousands of errors, with people potentially turned down for jobs, or unable to enter the country, as the result of electronic failures of the new online, real time re-checking inherent in the UK e-Visa scheme.

    • AccessNow ☛ Actions speak louder than words: U.S. slaps strong new sanctions on spyware company and executives

      The U.S. government sanctioned individuals associated with the Intellexa consortium.

    • University of Michigan ☛ Same product, different prices: How surveillance pricing is emptying out consumers’ pockets

      Your data has a price — and according to market statistics, its value might be a lot more than you think. Coming in at about $247 billion, the value of the data broker market has exploded over the last decade and is only expected to increase.

    • EFF ☛ Unveiling Venezuela’s Repression: A Legacy of State Surveillance and Control

      This is part two of a series. Part one on surveillance and control around the July election is here.

      Over the past decade, the government in Venezuela has meticulously constructed a framework of surveillance and repression, which has been repeatedly denounced by civil society and digital rights defenders in the country. This apparatus is built on a foundation of restricted access to information, censorship, harassment of journalists, and the closure of media outlets. The systematic use of surveillance technologies has created an intricate network of control.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Defence Web ☛ Drones changing the nature of warfare

    Drone warfare has profoundly changed the way in which wars are waged, exacerbated by the ease with which they can be obtained and used, said Professor Lindy Heinecken, vice dean of Research at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Science.

  • France24 ☛ At least 20 killed, 450 wounded in fresh wave of Lebanon device explosions

    Communication devices used by Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah detonated late Wednesday afternoon across the country's south and in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 450, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The attack comes a day after exploding pagers killed 12 people in Lebanon and Syria, including two children, and injured around 2,800 others. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.

  • France24 ☛ What we know about Lebanon’s exploding pagers

    Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously around 3:30pm local time on Tuesday killing at least 12 people, including two children, and wounding as many as 2,800 people in Lebanon and Syria, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad. More communication devices used by Hezbollah including walkie-talkies detonated on Wednesday across southern Lebanon and in the southern suburbs of Beirut, killing at least nine and wounding hundreds.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korean leader Kim leads new ballistic and cruise missile tests, says KCNA

    The new tactical ballistic missiles used super-large warheads and modified cruise missiles.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japanese boy, 10, fatally stabbed in China while on the way to school

    The suspected 44-year-old assailant was arrested on the spot.

  • RFA ☛ Chinese police ‘stalling’ after school attack on dissident’s son

    Poet and artist Wang Zang is barred from talking to the media, while his wife says police are dragging their feet.

  • New York Times ☛ Child, 10, Stabbed Near Japanese School in China

    A 44-year-old man was in custody, the police said, after the child was attacked Wednesday. Other Japanese schools in China urged caution.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japanese schoolboy stabbed in China confirmed dead

    The boy was stabbed on his way to school at about 8am on Sept 18 by a suspected 44-year-old assailant.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan deepening security cooperation with US, other ‘allies’

    Cooperation focuses on substantively improving combat effectiveness rather than just formality, Taipei said.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan security bodies 'paying great attention' to Hezbollah beeper explosions

    TAIPEI - Taiwan's national security team is "paying great attention" to the detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, the island's defence minister said, after a Taiwanese firm was linked to the pagers' production.

  • RFA ☛ US Navy flies maritime patrol aircraft through Taiwan Strait

    China responded to US flight by scrambling aircraft to ‘safeguard sovereignty.’

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Ex-Chinese naval captain jailed for 8 months in Taiwan over illegal entry

    A Taiwanese court on Wednesday sentenced a former Chinese naval captain to eight months in prison for illegally entering the self-governing island by boat. China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has in recent years ramped up military and political pressures on the island.

  • RFA ☛ China sanctions 9 US firms over military sales to Taiwan

    The U.S. announced on Monday the sale of aircraft spare parts to Taiwan.

  • RFA ☛ Chinese dissidents cut off from families at Mid-Autumn Festival

    The authorities often use family separation as a way to punish critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

  • RFA ☛ Japanese-Uyghur lawmaker urges Tokyo to take firmer stand on China

    As Asia’s strongest democracy, Japan must address human rights crisis in Uyghur region: Arfiya Eri

  • RFA ☛ Too many Americans ‘unjustly’ jailed in China, lawmakers say

    David Lin, 68, was released from a Chinese prison this week after 18 years. But many more remain.

  • JURIST ☛ US confirms release of American pastor David Lin from China prison

    The US State Department confirmed in a press conference on Monday that David Lin, an American pastor the US alleges was wrongfully detained since 2009, has been released.

  • Defence Web ☛ China shows off Z-10ME attack helicopter at AAD

    In a surprise appearance at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2024 exhibition this week, China is displaying the Changhe Z-10ME attack helicopter, brought to the event by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC).

  • Scoop News Group ☛ FBI joint operation takes down massive Chinese botnet, Wray says

    Flax Typhoon targeted critical infrastructure in the U.S. and abroad, and Black Lotus Labs researchers observed a “large scanning effort” targeting U.S. military and government.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Assessing China’s Hey Hi (AI) development and forecasting its future tech priorities

    The Atlantic Council convened experts to gather insights into China’s technology priorities today and in the future.

    >

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Stabilizing the US-China trade conflict

    Both China and the US can still find negotiation space for positive-sum outcomes which advance their economic and national security interests.

  • Defence Web ☛ Milkor 380 UAV ushers in a new era for South African aerospace and defence capabilities

    South African defence and security solutions provider Milkor is making significant strides with its Milkor 380 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) – the largest such aircraft to be designed and built in Africa.

  • France24 ☛ Man killed during French security forces operation in New Caledonia

    A man was killed during a French security forces operation in New Caledonia overnight, raising the death toll to 12 after four months of unrest. Clashes continue in Saint Louis, a stronghold of the independence movement south of Noumea, as tensions persist in the French Pacific territory.

  • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

    • RFERL ☛ 9 Killed, Thousands Wounded In Simultaneous Explosion Of Pagers In Lebanon, Minister Says

      Health Minister Firass Abiad said 200 of the injuries were critical, and Iran's ambassador in Beirut was among those injured, Iranian media reported.

    • Reuters ☛ Hezbollah vows to punish Israel after pager explosions across Lebanon

      The Israeli military, which has been engaged in cross-border fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war in October, declined to respond to questions about the detonations. The death toll rose from eight to nine on Tuesday night while the number of injured remained at 2,750, Lebanon's health ministry said.

    • France24 ☛ Israel planted 5,000 pager explosives months before deadly blasts, Lebanese security sources say

      Israel’s spy service injected explosive materials activated by coded messages into thousands of pagers during production, months before they were imported by the Lebanese group Hezbollah, a senior Lebanese security source said. Hezbollah fighters were using the low-tech devices, produced by the Taiwan-based company Gold Apollo, in an attempt to evade Israeli location-tracking, sources said. Gold Apollo said on Wednesday that the devices used in the blasts were manufactured by another company based in Budapest.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ Does Putin’s order to increase the Russian army by 180,000 soldiers mean a new wave of mobilization is coming? — Meduza

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Hackaday ☛ Airline Seats Are For Dummies

      You normally don’t think a lot would go into the construction of a chair. However, when that chair is attached to a commercial jet plane, there’s a lot of technology that goes into making sure they are safe. According to a recent BBC article, testing involves crash dummies and robot arms.

    • DeSmog ☛ Canada’s Oil Patch Blames Anti-Greenwashing Law for Delayed Sustainability Reports

    • DeSmog ☛ Tufton Street Descends on Reform UK Conference

    • New York Times ☛ Tyson Is Sued Over Labeling of ‘Climate-Smart’ Beef

      An environmental group said the company, a major food producer, was misleading shoppers with its claims about eco-friendly practices.

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ China's 'full-time dads' challenge patriarchal norms

      Over half of Chinese men now say they would agree to become a stay-at-home dad, one survey found.

• Finance

  • France24 ☛ Federal Reserve lowers US interest rates weeks before US election

    The Federal Reserve slashed US interest rates by 50 basis points, its first cut in four years, lowering the benchmark rate to 4.75-5.00%. The move, double the typical 25 basis point adjustment, signals heightened concern about economic growth as inflation slows. The decision aims to safeguard the labor market amid growing uncertainties.

  • CS Monitor ☛ How Fed’s aggressive rate cut may boost Harris’ prospects

    The state of the economy influences elections. Will voters look backward to inflation under President Joe Biden or forward to hopes of finding tamer prices and avoiding a recession?

  • New York Times ☛ Fed Cuts Interest Rates for First Time in Four Years

    Fed officials kicked off rate cuts with a half-point reduction, confident that inflation is cooling and eager to keep the job market strong.

  • WhichUK ☛ Inflation remained at 2.2% in August: which savings accounts offer higher rates?

    Falling motor fuel costs helped offset soaring air fares to keep the CPI figure steady

  • WhichUK ☛ Price of chocolate soars despite falling food inflation

    We reveal the food and drink that's soaring in price as well as the groceries that cost less than they did a year ago

  • Latvia ☛ Warning issued to Latvian e-money company

    The Supervision Committee of the Latvian central bank, Latvijas Banka, said September 16 it "has decided to issue a warning to the electronic money institution SIA Transact Pro for failing to comply with the capital requirements established in the Law on Payment Services and Electronic Money."

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ ‘Survivor’ Season 47 to Feature Jon Lovett, a Former Obama Speechwriter

    The show’s 47th season, which features Jon Lovett, a former Obama speechwriter, premieres Wednesday. But even in heated election years, presidential politics rarely intrudes.

  • New York Times ☛ What Losing in 2020 Did to Trump

    He can’t stop talking about it.

  • New Yorker ☛ The Historical Precedents to Trump’s Attacks on Haitian Immigrants

    An expert on white nationalism explains how such demonizing rhetoric incubates and spreads—and what sets this particular episode apart.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • DeSmog ☛ The ABCs of AI and Environmental Misinformation

    • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ California laws cracking down on election deepfakes by Hey Hi (AI) face legal challenges

      California now has some of the toughest laws in the United States to crack down on election deepfakes ahead of the 2024 election after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed three landmark proposals this week at an artificial intelligence conference in San Francisco.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Stanford University ☛ Inside the University’s updated free speech policies

    The University introduced interim free speech guidelines on large demonstrations and encampments, in an email sent to community members on Tuesday.

  • France24 ☛ Musk's X bypasses court-ordered Brazil ban through software update

    Social media platform X, formerly known as  Twitter,  became accessible to many Brazilian users after an update bypassed a block imposed by Brazil’s supreme court. The update utilized third-party cloud services, including Clownflare, allowing users to access X without a VPN by routing traffic outside the country, according to Brazil's Internet and Telecommunications Providers Association (Abrint).

  • Silicon Angle ☛ X has found a way to come back to life in Brazil

    Elon Musk’s X Corp. is back up in Brazil after the government blocked the app under orders from the country’s Supreme Court. Earlier this month, Brazil’s 28 million or so X users found themselves without a platform after the government ordered the National Telecommunications Agency to block access to the app.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • AccessNow ☛ Surveilling Europe’s edges: when digitalisation means dehumanisation

    In the first of a three-part blog series, Caterina Rodelli explains how digital surveillance is dehumanising people at Europe's borders.

  • Federal News Network ☛ From regulation to innovation: Unexpected benefits of the Chevron ruling

    The dust hasn't settled on the Supreme Court's decision, and its impact on cybersecurity regulations remains a topic of debate.

  • JURIST ☛ Georgia parliament passes legislation that restricts LGBTQ+ human rights

    The Parliament of Georgia passed a set of laws that place restrictions targeted at minority sexual orientations and gender identities on Tuesday, infringing upon the international human, civil, and political rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Public Knowledge ☛ How To Build a Connected Future: Prioritizing Accuracy, Affordability, and Workforce Development

    In order to successfully close the digital divide, we need to prioritize quality and accuracy over speed in broadband deployment.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Silicon Angle ☛ EU court scraps €1.49B antitrust fine against Google, mostly upholds Qualcomm penalty

  The European Union’s second highest court today ruled on two antitrust fines that the bloc issued to Surveillance Giant Google LLC and Qualcomm Inc. in 2019. The General Court annulled the penalty imposed on Google, which was the largest of the two at €1.49 billion. It mostly upheld Qualcomm’s €242 million fine, reducing it by about 1%.

• France24 ☛ Google wins EU court bid to overturn €1.49 billion antitrust fine

  Google on Wednesday won a court challenge against a €1.49-billion fine levied by the European Union for abuse of dominance over online advertising in the latest in a series of legal clashes between the tech giant and the European Bloc. EU courts scrapped the fine after ruling that there has been "errors" in the initial assessment.

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ Another Fractus LTE antenna patent monopoly challenged

    On September 17, 2024, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 8,674,887, owned and asserted by Fractus S.A., an NPE. The ‘887 patent monopoly generally relates to an antenna design for mobile devices.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Oura joins Unified Patents

    We are pleased to announce that Oura Health, a health technology company, is now a Unified Patents member. Products and services provided by Oura are designed to aid users’ health by tracking all stages of sleep and activity using the Oura Ring and connected app.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Traditional Principles of Equity Acknowledge that Ongoing Infringement is an Irreparable Harm

    The Supreme Court's landmark decision in eBay v. MercExchange dramatically changed the patent monopoly landscape by eliminating the potential of injunctive relief for many patent monopoly holders, even in the face of ongoing infringement. The Patent Act indicates that injunctions may be awarded "in accordance with the principles of equity," 35 U.S.C. 283, and in eBay, the Court found this required usage of a "four-factor test historically employed by courts of equity." 

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ UPC must wait for German nullity ruling in Nokia vs Mala [Ed: UPC is illegal; this site, JUVE, got paid to keep boosting this EU illegality, reafforming EPO corruption and massive attack on the whole legal system]

      The Paris central division cannot rule on a revocation action brought by Nokia against Mala’s EP 2 044 709 until the Federal Court of Justice in Germany has made a final decision on a previously filed revocation action against the same patent.

    • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Patent case: DexCom, Inc. vs. Abbott, UPC [Ed: Also the illegal "court"; this courst must be abolished and not even exist if Rule of Law still means anything]

      In a second case between DexCom and Abbott, DexCom claimed against Abbott for infringement of a divisional patent monopoly by its glucose monitoring system. However, Abbott, in a similar fashion as with the parent patent, also counterclaimed for revocation of the divisional patent.

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ Intellectual Ventures open source/Apache patent monopoly challenged [Ed: Software patents still weaponised by Microsoft troll]

      On September 16, 2024, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 8,407,722, owned by Intellectual Ventures I LLC, an NPE. The ’722 patent monopoly relates to remotely updating client content at client devices through digital networks.