Leftovers

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ The Global Threat of Antibiotic Resistance

    Health experts, gathering at the U.N., have begun to shift their focus to try to provide access to basic drugs in countries where preventable deaths from infections occur too frequently.

  • New York Times ☛ F.D.A. Approves a New Antipsychotic Drug

    Available antipsychotic treatments work by blocking dopamine receptors. The new drug, Cobenfy, takes a different approach.

  • Hackaday ☛ Want To Help Capture Some Digital Ephemera? Break Out Your VHS Player

    Do you live in the UK, have a VCR and capture card, and an interest in Teletext? [James O’Malley] needs your help! Teletext was, for many people around the world, their first experience of an electronic information system. The simple text and block graphics were transmitted on rotation as data bursts in the frame blanking periods of analogue TV broadcasts, and in an era of printed newspapers, they became compulsory reading. The UK turned off its old-style teletext over a decade ago with the switch to digital, but fragments of the broadcasts remain and can be painstakingly revived from period video recordings with the appropriate software.

  • Hackaday ☛ Estimating The Size Of A Single Molecule Of Oil Using Water

    What is the size of a single molecule of oil? What may initially seem like a trick question – answerable only through the use of complicated, high-tech scientific equipment – is actually as easy to calculate as the circumference of planet Earth. Much like how [Eratosthenes] used a couple of sticks to achieve the latter feat back in about 240 BCE, the size of a molecule of olive oil was calculated in 1890 by [Lord Rayleigh], which is the formal title of [John William Strutt]. Using nothing but water and said olive oil, he managed to calculate the size of a single olive oil molecule as being 1.63 nanometers in length.

  • Science Alert ☛ Space Travel Makes The Heart Grow Weaker, Study Finds

    Prospective astronauts take note.

  • Science Alert ☛ Something Awesome Happens if You Use Banana Peel as an Ingredient

    We've been eating bananas wrong.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Chinese Zhaoxin KX-7000 CPU can't beat old defective chip maker Intel and AMD chips — Core i3-8100 and Ryzen 5 5600G come out on top

    The China-made CPU has many upgrades compared to the older KX-6000 series but lags behind even seven-year-old Core i3 CPUs.

  • India Times ☛ Foreign smartphone: Foreign smartphone sales in China drop 12.7% in August, data show

    Calculations based on the data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) showed that during the month, sales of foreign-branded phones in China fell to 1.87 million handsets, down from 2.142 million a year earlier.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Two execs of China-based chipmaking tools producer resign to meet U.S. requirements

    Two executives with U.S. citizenship had to step down from China-based AMEC due to U.S. export rules.

  • Hackaday ☛ Reverse Time Back To The Days Of RPN

    While Texas Instruments maintains dominance in the calculator market (especially graphing calculators), there was a time when this wasn’t the case. HP famously built the first portable scientific calculator, the HP-35, although its reverse-Polish notation (RPN) might be a bit of a head-scratcher to those of us who came up in the TI world of the last three or four decades. Part of the reason TI is so dominant now is because they were the first to popularize infix notation, making the math on the calculator look much more like the math written on the page, especially when compared to the RPN used by HP calculators. But if you want to step into a time machine and see what that world was like without having to find a working HP-35, take a look at [Jeroen]’s DIY RPN calculator.

  • Hackaday ☛ A Universal RF Amplifier

    If you need an amplifier, [Hans Rosenberg] has some advice. Don’t design your own; grab cheap and tiny RF amplifier modules and put them on a PCB that fits your needs. These are the grandchildren of the old mini circuits modules that were popular among hams and RF experimenters decades ago. However, these are cheap, simple, and tiny.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ Study finds travel can reduce impacts of premature aging

    Entropy research suggests tourism could trigger entropy changes, including positive travel experiences mitigating entropy and enhancing health.

  • TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ NAMIWalks takes place Saturday and this high schooler wants to raise awareness

    One high schooler hopes he can get other people his age thinking about mental health.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Annual survey-based study finds improvements in mental health of college students

    In the latest edition of the Healthy Minds Study, which surveyed the mental health of more than 100,000 college students at 196 institutions during the 2023-24 academic year, researchers found that though mental health continues to be an issue at universities, the prevalence of mental illnesses and other negative wellness factors has declined.

  • Federal News Network ☛ VA to remain ‘very discerning’ on health care hiring, calls on Congress to address $12B shortfall in December

    The VA expects to grow its health care workforce to approximately 404,000 total employees next year, if Congress approves supplemental funding.

  • Science Alert ☛ One Frightening Syndrome Looks Like Dementia, But Strikes Far Faster

    Here's what to know.

  • Stanford University ☛ Service Employees International Union reach bargaining agreement with Stanford after authorizing strike

    The four-year contract secured wage increases, expanded insurance coverage and increased sick leave allowances for the 1,390 employees represented by the union. But members say they will continue to fight for workers' benefits.

  • Science Alert ☛ Strange Rocks Clinging to Mummies Could Be World's Oldest Cheese

    It's a little mature.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Senate bill eyes minimum cybersecurity standards for health care industry

    The legislation from Sens. Wyden and Warner comes in the aftermath of the February ransomware attack on Change Healthcare.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Study: Even as larger Hey Hi (AI) models [become more bloated], answering more questions leads to more wrong answers

    A recent study published by Nature says newer, bigger versions of the three major artificial intelligence chatbots may be more likely to generate wrong answers than claim that they don’t know. >

• Defence/Aggression

  • RFA ☛ North Korea may conduct nuclear test after US election: South’s spy agency

    The agency said the North possesses enough materials to build dozens of nuclear weapons.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China covered up sinking of newest submarine, says US official

    The sinking at a shipyard earlier this year was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

  • RFA ☛ Japanese destroyer makes first Taiwan Strait transit

    The JS Sazanami was sailing alongside an Australian destroyer and a New Zealand supply ship.

  • RFA ☛ Pacific leaders to meet after China’s ‘concerning’ ICBM missile test

    Australia and New Zealand to brief Pacific partners of developments on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

  • RFA ☛ Chinese truck convoys crowd main bridge to North Korea

    More than 100 trucks cross the Sino-Korean friendship bridge daily as relations warm and trade picks up.

  • Defence Web ☛ South Africa declares neutrality and China steals the Waterkloof defence show

    Until last week, during Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) shows, our premier defence industry trade exhibition held every two years, the US parked one of its enormous strategic airlift cargo planes, a C-17 Globemaster III, near the entrance to Air Force Base Waterkloof.

  • Defence Web ☛ Successful Op Shujaa strike in DR Congo

    In an ongoing joint operation, FARDC (Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo) is collaborating with elements of the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) to rein in terrorist activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

  • France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Israel says it has secured $8.7 billion in US military aid

    Israel on Thursday said it had secured $8.7 billion in military aid from the United States to support its military efforts. The package comes as Israel fights an ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza and continues to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments in the Middle East.

  • France24 ☛ Heavy fighting in Khartoum as Sudan army pushes to retake paramilitary positions

    Sudan's army launched artillery and air strikes in Sudan's capital on Thursday in its biggest operation to regain ground there since early in its 17-month war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), witnesses and military sources said.

  • JURIST ☛ Escalating conflict on Lebanon-Israel border raises humanitarian concerns

    UN officials warned of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Lebanon on Thursday as death tolls mounted from Israeli air strikes.

  • RFA ☛ Myanmar junta airstrike kills civilians sheltering in rebel territory

    Jets bombed a building where hundreds of internally displaced people were staying, rebels and residents said.

  • New York Times ☛ Netanyahu, Set to Give U.N. Speech, Vows to Keep Up Strikes on Hezbollah

    The Israeli leader, who arrived in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, said, “We continue to hit Hezbollah with all our might.”

  • New York Times ☛ Israel’s Displaced Want to Go Home. But Will Attacks on Hezbollah Offer That Path?

    Israel said the goal of its strikes on Hezbollah was to allow residents of the north to go home. Some are hopeful that plan will work, but others worry that war may not bring safety.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Says It Killed Another Hezbollah Commander in Beirut

    The Israeli military said the commander, Mohamed Hussein Sarour, was killed in a strike. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

  • The Strategist ☛ The Afghan saga of bravery, allegations and betrayal

    The collective failure to properly address allegations of unlawful killings arising from the Afghanistan war has delivered a great injustice upon our soldiers.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ ‘Lithuania’s security is Germany’s security’ – Pistorius in Vilnius

      Successful deployment of the German brigade in Lithuania is the shared responsibility of Vilnius and Berlin, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told Lithuanian lawmakers on Thursday.

    • LRT ☛ Pistorius and Kasčiūnas. The stakes are high – opinion

      On September 13, 2024, Lithuania and Germany took a bold step toward strengthening European security by signing a Defence Cooperation Agreement. This agreement, which will station a permanent German brigade in Lithuania, is a powerful response to the fragile security environment on NATO’s eastern flank.

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky Warns U.N. Against Conceding to Russia’s ‘Insane’ Desire for Land

      President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told the meeting of world leaders that capitulating to Russia would only give its president, Vladimir Putin, the “political space to continue the war.”

    • Atlantic Council ☛ History is a key battleground in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

      Vladimir Putin has weaponized history to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The international community can combat this by committing more resources to the study of Ukrainian history, writes Benton Coblentz.

    • LRT ☛ Putin’s rhetoric shows he fears long-range strikes from Ukraine – Lithuanian minister

      Vladimir Putin’s statements about the Kremlin’s updated nuclear doctrine reveal his fear that Ukraine might be allowed to use long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia, Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas has said.

    • RFERL ☛ UNGA Debates Disarmament After Putin Proposes Revisions To Russian Nuclear Doctrine

      The UN General Assembly on September 26 marked the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons with a long debate on nuclear disarmament that coincidentally came just one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin caused alarm by proposing revisions to Russia’s nuclear doctrine.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Putin will keep escalating his nuclear blackmail until it stops working

      More than two and half years since the start of Russia’s Ukraine invasion, it should now be abundantly clear that Vladimir Putin will continue escalating his nuclear blackmail until it stops working, writes Peter Dickinson.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • CS Monitor ☛ Why are three of Brazil’s mega dams in the Amazon on the brink of failure?

      Brazil’s mega dams rank among the most powerful in the world, but droughts driven by climate change have decreased the dams’ output to as low as 3% of their potential. Hydropower accounts for around half the energy Brazilians use.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • New York Times ☛ Finnish Zoo Returning Pandas to China Because of Cost

      Two pandas are heading back to China eight years early amid lower-than-hoped-for visitor numbers at a zoo in rural Finland, and after the pair didn’t produce a cub.

    • Science Alert ☛ Wild Orcas Spotted Hunting Dolphins Off Chile in a Scientific First

      It's a family size meal.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ ST Picks: Hot demand for China’s ‘cooling’ exports

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China acknowledges ‘problems’ in economy, vows to ‘respond to the people’s concerns’

    China’s top leaders, including President Pooh-tin Jinping, admitted Thursday that the economy was facing new “problems” and vowed to resolve a long-running housing sector crisis, state media said.

  • Latvia ☛ U.S. removes ABLV bank from money-laundering list

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said September 26 it had submitted a notice to the Federal Register withdrawing its finding that ABLV Bank, AS (ABLV) is a financial institution of primary money laundering concern, as well as a related notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

  • NYPost ☛ Dell demands employees to work 5 days a week in office and ‘grow skills’ [Ed: Implementing a round of mass layoffs without calling it "layoffs"]

    Last week, Amazon said it would require employees to return to working at company offices five days per week, beginning next year, toughening a prior three-day mandate.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Atlantic Council ☛ US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns: The US has managed to ‘stabilize’ its relationship with China

    Burns spoke at the Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics, where he explained how the US-China relationship has evolved since the beginning of the Biden administration.

  • New York Times ☛ The Tech Bro Style in American Politics

    Why some billionaires are helping to promote political extremism.

  • France24 ☛ Macron and Trudeau rekindle diplomatic ‘bromance’ with Canada visit

    French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday arrived in Canada where he was greeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a series of meetings mainly centred on French-language ties and the development of artificial intelligence. The two leaders, whose diplomatic “bromance” made world headlines when they met at a G7 summit in 2017, are both facing intense political pressure at home.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ US election security is seeing a rise in ‘complex’ threats—and it’s not just foreign actors, says Lisa Monaco

    Monaco, speaking at the Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics, attributed the rise in complexity to the fact that “more threat actors” are “getting into the game."

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • RFA ☛ Staff, students 'tread carefully' at Hong Kong's eight universities

    Academic freedom has been on the wane since the imposition of a national security law in 2020, a new report says.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Academic freedom in Hong Kong in ‘severe decline,’ report finds, as gov’t hits back

    An international rights NGO has invited Hong Kong’s government to clarify what it called “fabricated content” in a report published by the NGO that noted there had been a “severe decline” in academic freedom in Hong Kong since the enactment of a security law in 2020.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • RFA ☛ Hong Kong sentences 2 journalists to prison for sedition

    Stand News editor jailed for 21 months, while acting editor received a sentence that allowed him to be freed.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • RFA ☛ EXPLAINED: How the umbrella became a Hong Kong protest symbol

    10 years ago, demonstrators used umbrellas to protect against pepper spray – and images went viral.

  • RFA ☛ Key figures in the Umbrella Movement: Where are they now?

  • RFA ☛ Australian prison sentence for official’s son strikes chord in Cambodia

    12-year sentence for the crash that killed 2 in Melbourne is stiffer than punishment for the rich and famous.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Investor Litigation Against Adidas Over Kanye West’s Erratic Behavior Officially Dismissed with Prejudice

    The class action lawsuit against Adidas over the company’s partnership with Kanye West, despite his erratic behavior, has been dismissed with prejudice. The investor class action litigation against Adidas over their alleged prior knowledge of Kanye West’s “erratic behavior” has been officially dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Digital Music News ☛ Major Streaming Platforms and Labels Push Back Against Applying Radio Regulations to On-Demand Listening in Canada

    Major streaming platforms and record labels are once again pushing back against Canada’s controversial Online Streaming Act as well as wider broadcasting reforms, purportedly including an effort to apply radio regulations to on-demand services.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Silicon Angle ☛ Supermicro shares drop on reported Justice Department probe

  Shares of Super Micro Computer Inc. dropped more than 12% today after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company is facing a probe from the U.S. Justice Department. The report didn’t specify the nature of the investigation.

• Patents

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ The Download: a CRISPR patent monopoly battle, and the promise of tiny AI

    This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Free Post: Not Yet in Effect: Clarifying Misconceptions About the USPTO’s Proposed Terminal Disclaimer Rule

    by Dennis Crouch

    I wanted to provide a quick update on potential misinformation that came out in a panel that I was part of at the IPO annual conference.  One speaker noted that the USPTO terminal disclaimer rules were already in effect. That is not true.  In May 2024, the agency released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and has not yet indicated whether it will finalize the rules.  Terminal disclaimers filed today are not bound by the potential rule that appears to be intended to apply only prospectively to new terminal disclaimers filed after the rule goes into effect. 

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ Plans for Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre take shape [Ed: UPC is illegal and a violation of constitution, but this site, JUVE, was paid to promote this sheer illegality, ushering corruption into the EU for profit]

      Peter Tochtermann is not only presiding judge of the local division Mannheim but also a member of the UPC Presidium.

    • JUVE ☛ Ortovox wins at UPC Court of Appeal in avalanche rescue devices dispute [Ed: Winning at a kangaroo court that isn't actually legal and mostly represents the sheer corruption of the patent system in Europe]

      Mammut is still unable to sell its Barryvox avalanche rescue devices in Austria and Germany. The UPC Court of Appeal yesterday upheld the preliminary injunction against the Swiss company, as issued by the local division Düsseldorf in April (case ID: UPC_CoA_182/2024 and APL_21143/2024).

    • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Patent case: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. vs. Amgen, Inc., UPC [Ed: UPC is illegal, so this entire case should be canceled and those who created this fake court should be put on trial, instead]

      When interpreting a patent monopoly claim, the person skilled in the art does not apply a philological understanding, but rather determines the technical meaning of the terms used with the aid of the description and the drawings.

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ VirtaMove's Kubernetes / open source patent monopoly challenged

      On September 23, 2024, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 7,784,058, owned and asserted by VirtaMove Corp (f/k/a Appzero Software Corp). an NPE. The ’058 patent monopoly relates to operating system libraries and instanced computing environments.

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Peer Scraping Attack Affects Major Private Music Torrenting Site

    A private music torrent tracker has experienced an attack that could reveal the identities of said music pirates. Orpheus Network reported the intrusion to its user base of 19,000. Orpheus Network is a private music torrenting site that requires an invite to join—so the community who utilizes the service is somewhat close knit.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Talking Lightly About Serious Things: Henri Rochefort and the Origins of French Populism

    A man who “believed in nothing, not even himself”, Henri Rochefort is now a minor footnote in the annals of modern journalism. However, at the height of his notoriety, in the late 1860s and early 1870s, his writings, political activities, imprisonments, and escapes were the stuff of newspaper gossip around the world. How did a self-described “errant journalist and literary poacher” rise to power on the wings of sarcasm and ridicule to reshape France’s political landscape? Vlad Solomon explores the life and times of this populist forerunner.