Leftovers

• Nebraska Examiner ☛ Lewis and Clark re-enactors to return to Nebraska with replica keelboat

  A group of re-enactors honoring the exploration of Lewis and Clark will return to Nebraska this weekend to mark the 220th anniversary of the explorers’ daring trip across the frontier.

• Idiomdrottning ☛ That's fun for my copy, but how about me?

  There might be one or more copies of you but it won’t be you waking up inside that copy. That copy believes it’s you. That copy wakes up and is like “Oh, awesome, this li’l teleport went nicely”. Remembers that time in second grade when you had a nosebleed and were allowed to leave class early or whatever. Good for it. But you’ll be gone.

• Johnny Decimal ☛ 22.00.0084 Half an hour a day

  If there isn't, I go through old items and tidy them up. Or I look at what remains and make sure it's good and neat and in the right bucket and has the right dates etc.

  Obviously this is an end of the day task, not a start of the day. Use your fresh brain for real work. Use your tired brain for this.

• Science

  • Science News ☛ Thunderstorms churn up a ‘boiling pot’ of gamma rays 

    A view from a retrofitted spy plane soaring at 20 kilometers up revealed storms glowing and flickering in gamma rays, high-energy light invisible to the eye. Ten flights with the plane, NASA’s ER-2 aircraft, captured the shimmer of gamma-ray outbursts over a variety of timescales and intensities, suggesting that the emissions are more complex and more common than previously thought. And the study unveiled a brand-new type of gamma-ray blast the researchers named a flickering gamma-ray flash.

  • CBC ☛ Starlink satellites create light pollution and disrupt radio frequencies. And it's getting worse

    Now, it seems the night sky is under attack not only from below, but from above, thanks to the rapid proliferation of satellites, mainly megaconstellations, which can contain hundreds or thousands of satellites. And leading the charge is SpaceX.

  • The Atlantic ☛ How Long Will Life Exist on Earth?

    Some aspects of the timeline are more certain than others. We know that most animals will look different 10 million years from now. We know that the continents will slowly drift together to form a new Pangaea. Africa will slam into Eurasia, sealing off the Mediterranean basin and raising a new Himalaya-like range across France, Italy, and Spain. In 400 million years, Saturn will have lost its rings. Earth will have replenished its fossil fuels. Our planet will also likely have sustained at least one mass-extinction-triggering impact, unless its inhabitants have learned to divert asteroids.

  • Omicron Limited ☛ Scientists find plant-like behavior in human cells

    In their article published in Nature, the Monash team used cryo‐electron microscopy (cryo‐EM) to, for the first time, determine the 3D structure of LYCHOS and show that it is a unique hybrid of a cell transporter commonly found in plants (and not humans), and a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR).

    The GPCR and plant-like transporter work together to sense cholesterol and regulate cell growth, thus making LYCHOS an exciting new drug target for diseases perpetuated by abnormal cell growth that can lead to the formation of cancerous tumors and neurological dysfunction.

• Education

  • Bloomberg exposes six US universities for abusing "chaotic" visa system

    We are following a story first exposed by two Bloomberg journalists about six universities that are taking unfair advantage of the US visa system. The program is called Day 1 CPT.

    According to the article, "By exploiting a federal on-the-job-training rule, people from India, China and elsewhere can work full time while completing most classes online and showing up in person only a few times a year."

    All of these schools are regionally accredited.

    The article listed Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (Pennsylvania-Middle States), University of the Cumberlands (Kentucky-SACS), Trine University (Indiana-HLC), Campbellsville University (Kentucky-SACS), Westcliff University (California-WSCUC), and New England College (New Hampshire-NECHE).

  • Allen Pike ☛ Infer, an AI Eng Meetup in Vancouver

    Next week, we’ll be kicking off a new speaker series in Vancouver called Infer. The goal of the meetup is to bring together folks who are doing great AI engineering work, so we can learn from one another.

  • Ness Labs ☛ The Doing Deficit: How Deliberate Action Outperforms Passive Learning

    Stephen King didn’t become a bestselling author by reading about writing—he became one by writing every single day. The same applies to many successful people across various fields.

    They didn’t just gather information—they took deliberate action, committing to daily practice that helped them refine their skills. Yet, so many of us continue to endlessly collect information while avoiding actual practice. Why?

    In truth, most of us don’t suffer from a knowledge deficit—we suffer from a doing deficit. We take online courses and read books but rarely apply what we learn. The hard part isn’t learning what to do; it’s doing what we already know. So how can we shift from passive thinking to active doing?

  • NIH ☛ Books: Bullsh*t Jobs. The Rise of Pointless Work and What We Can Do About it

    In 2013 an anthropology professor coined the concept of ‘bullshit jobs’. Writing for the political magazine Strike, David Graeber proposed the theory that certain jobs are inherently useless or pointless.1 They waste time and resources, and produce nothing of value. The moral and spiritual damage to people performing tasks that they believe do not need to be performed is profound — the very antithesis of the work ethic that associates work with self-worth. His theory was based on a hunch but borne out by survey data. He expanded this as a subsequent book, which is reviewed here.

• Hardware

  • Sdomi ☛ Nobody knows what happened within the MMC Association in 1998.

    SD started development in 1999, with the initial version coming out in early 2000. Comparing SDA's member page (August 2000) to MMCA's member page (November 1999), there are many more common members than you'd expect, suggesting that some jumped the bandwagon early. The SDA list notably includes SanDisk, but is missing Siemens and Infineon.

    SD's roots are apparent to anyone who tried implementing, or at least glanced over both standards. Unfortunately, while simplified SD docs are available on their page for free, the full MMC spec never was public. Initially they only distributed it to MMCA members, but starting 2005, anyone willing to pay a hefty sum could get it. Either way, I can't really link it here.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Brattleboro Reformer, Vermont ☛ Air Pollution Could Be Changing Children's Brains | Health | reformer.com

    Key Takeaways

    • Children's brains appear to be affected by even "safe" levels of air pollution, research shows

    • A review of 40 studies conducted around the world linked differences in their brains to outdoor air quality

    • Relative to their weight, kids absorb more airborne contaminants than adults do

  • Vox ☛ What is Galaxy Gas? The history of nitrous oxide, or whippets, from entertainment to philosophy

    Inhaling nitrous is considered relatively safe for people who don’t use it often and don’t take too much. But there are definitely risks, and more so in recreational contexts. As recreational use rises, particularly among teenagers, those risks are gaining more attention.

    The primary one is vitamin B12 deficiency. Nitrous inactivates B12 in the body, which coupled with long-term use can lead to nerve damage across the brain and spine. Without intervention, that can develop into paralysis or brain damage. There’s currently no consensus as to whether nitrous should be labeled an addictive substance. While it doesn’t seem to build the same physical dependency as opioids, it does still carry the risk of habit formation in some cases.

  • Deccan Chronicle ☛ Drug addiction health issue, not criminal act: Himachal Pradesh police chief

    Drug addicts caught with small quantities of contraband will not be treated as criminals and instead, will be given a chance to reform, the Himachal Pradesh police chief said on Thursday. The reason behind the move is a manifold increase in the number of cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act over the years.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Game Rant ☛ Microsoft Is Trying to Figure Out Why Some Developers Are Skipping Xbox

    Microsoft wants to know why some developers aren't making games for Xbox. Microsoft had previously admitted that Xbox lost the console wars of this generation. While sales aren't technically bad, the company positioned itself as third versus Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Switch. In spite of Microsoft garnering some praise for how it handles online gaming and a few of its properties, exclusive games for the Series X/S are very few compared to its counterparts.

    In fact, Sony seems to be the leading company that has a pretty good number of exclusives for the PlayStation, with no signs of stopping in 2025. With the recent announcements of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yotei, it's somewhat obvious that the quality of PlayStation exclusive games may be considered on a different level by most gamers. Perhaps this is the reason why Microsoft looks to find out why there's a gap in terms of game production and exclusivity.

  • Microsoft’s Still On The Hunt To Know Why Developers Prefer PlayStation Despite Being Called Out Twice On Issues With Xbox

    Over the past few months, a growing narrative has emerged within the gaming industry: developers’ refusal to work on Microsoft’s Xbox early during development. Two major titles, Black Myth: Wukong and Enotria: The Last Song are the prime example of this thread as both were released recently and are not available on the Xbox due to some issues. Players are enjoying the games on other platforms (PC and PS5) but Xbox players have to wait for the release.

  • US Layoffs Up 53 Percent in September From Previous Year

    New data show that employers handed out fewer pink slips in September than in August, when the number was at its five-month high, but layoffs were up significantly compared to a year ago.

    According to recruitment firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, U.S.-based employers announced nearly 73,000 job cuts in September. While this was down by 4 percent from the previous month’s 75,891, the layoffs were up by 53 percent from last year.

  • Cyble Inc ☛ 86% Of Broadband Users Neglect Router Security Essentials

    It was found that 86% of broadband users are unaware of critical aspects of router security. A significant portion of [Internet] users have never changed their router’s default admin password, raising serious concerns among cybersecurity experts.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • APNIC ☛ Web PKI: How to protect a popular security service?

      In this article, we give a brief overview of Certificate Transparency (CT), Certification Authority Authorization (CAA), and DNS Authentication of Named Entities (DANE), three approaches to addressing the problem of potentially mis-issued certificates. Through Internet-wide measurements, we provide insights into current deployments and discuss limitations.

    • APNIC ☛ RPKI: Deployed is better than perfect

      Starting as an experimental technology in the mid-2000s, the Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) became a central component in the Internet and already affects a significant fraction of networks. Today, over 50% of announced prefixes are covered with Route Origin Authorizations (ROA), and about 25% of networks enforce Route Origin Validation (ROV).

      Until recently, few outside the Internet operational, engineering, and research communities were aware of RPKI. That changed in September 2024 when the White House identified RPKI as the key component for securing Internet routing, pushing RPKI from niche to mainstream. It may be expected that mainstream technologies are fully mature, in particular, stable and secure. As a niche technology, RPKI developed organically in many small steps, each inching a bit closer to maturity. However, studies show that RPKI is far from being fully mature.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • BoingBoing ☛ Flight booking nightmares: Top 10 mistakes travelers make

      6. Repeatedly searching for flights while logged into their browser

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Hill ☛ Texas sues TikTok over handling of minors' data

    The lawsuit alleges that TikTok has failed to comply with certain measures under the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act, which protects children from harms related to social media and prohibits digital providers from sharing, disclosing or selling a minor’s personal information without permission from children’s parents or guardians.

  • Texas ☛ Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues TikTok for Sharing Minors’ Personal Data In Violation of Texas Parental Consent Law | Office of the Attorney General

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TikTok, one of the largest social media platforms, for operating its platform in a manner that puts the online safety and privacy of Texas children at risk and violates the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (“SCOPE”) Act.

  • Task And Purpose ☛ US bomb from World War II explodes at Japanese airport

    No injuries were reported due to the blast, but a Japanese passenger aircraft had been taxiing in the area about two minutes before the explosion, local broadcaster MRT reported.

  • Deseret Media ☛ A US bomb from World War II explodes at a Japanese airport, causing a large crater in a taxiway

    An unexploded U.S. bomb from World War II that had been buried at a Japanese airport exploded Wednesday, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights but no injuries, Japanese officials said.

    Land and Transport Ministry officials said there were no aircraft nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Big development in Jan. 6 case against Trump. Why now?

    With just a month until Election Day, an unsealed filing in the Jan. 6 case against former President Donald Trump has presented new details about his efforts to overturn the 2020 vote – and has drawn Republican accusations of election interference.

    After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July that a number of the charges in the case may be subject to presidential immunity, special counsel Jack Smith recast his approach in a 165-page brief.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ Trump 'resorted to crimes' after 2020 election loss — filing

    Former US President Donald Trump "resorted to crimes" after losing the 2020 presidential election, federal prosecutors said in a court filing unsealed on Wednesday.

    Trump has falsely claimed that the 2020 election, which was won by current President Joe Biden, was stolen from him. In January 2021, pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol as lawmakers gathered to count electoral votes.

  • Brattleboro Reformer, Vermont ☛ Commentary | Living in the Long Emergency: White evangelical nationalism is Christianity weaponized against democracy and Christian values

    Why do people who identify as evangelicals and claim to be the embodiment of Christian values at the same time fervently support Donald Trump who, by the standards of these same professed Christians, has a long, unbroken record of behaving in diametrically contrary ways?

    The answer that Anthea Butler offers in her book, “White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America,” is that evangelicalism, especially in its contemporary incarnation, is not a religious group, but instead, “a nationalistic political movement whose purpose is to support the hegemony of white Christian men over and against the flourishing of others.” In short, it seeks political power in order to control the lives of the rest of us.

  • NDTV ☛ Iran May Have Had Role In Israeli Embassy Attacks: Swedish Security Service

    The Swedish intelligence agency [SÄPO] said Thursday that Iran may have been involved in explosions and gunfire around Israeli embassies in Sweden and Denmark this week.

  • The Local SE ☛ Swedish security service: Iran may have had role in embassy attacks

    Asked about reports of links to Iran, Fredrik Hallström, head of operations at the [SÄPO] agency, told a press conference that "there are some things that could point in that direction".

  • Copenhagen Post ☛ Swedish media: Attacks against embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen ordered by criminal gang [sic]

    Swedish media: Attacks against embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen ordered by criminal gang [sic]

  • Mediaite ☛ 11 Most Shocking Revelations in New DOJ Filing Against Trump

    Wednesday afternoon’s news cycle saw the chatter about the previous night’s vice presidential debate overwhelmed by a 165-page stack of paper, after Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed a bombshell motion filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump.

    In August, Smith filed a superseding indictment against Trump that was tailored to reflect the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. United States on the issue of presidential immunity. A superseding indictment replaces a previous existing indictment, and in the new version, Smith brought the same four charges he had brought before, with different and additional supporting arguments.

    “When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office,” the motion argues. “With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results…The throughline of these efforts was deceit.”

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ New leaked version of Russian authorities’ statement of refusal to investigate Navalny’s death includes list of injuries found on his body — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Nikita Tsitsagi was an anti-war protester reporting in occupied Ukraine for a Kremlin-funded outlet. His death sparked a fierce debate about wartime journalism. — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia’s 2025 federal budget outlines record military and ‘top secret’ spending — and tax hikes for ordinary citizens — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Russia, U.S. and Other Countries Are Evacuating Their Citizens from Lebanon

      Several countries have chartered flights, while others issued warnings and offered assistance.

    • New York Times ☛ Abuse Claims Add to Telegram C.E.O. Pavel Durov’s Legal Troubles

      The mother of three children with Pavel Durov has poked holes in the Russian tech titan’s carefully managed image through a criminal complaint and her account of their opulent lifestyle.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Beaten By Kadyrov's Son While In Custody Charged With Treason

      Nikita Zhuravel, a Russian political prisoner who was beaten by the teenage son of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov while in pretrial detention, has been charged with high treason.

    • RFERL ☛ EU Sues Hungary Over Russian-Style Sovereignty-Defense Law

      The European Commission on October 3 said it was suing Hungary at the European Court of Justice over the so-called Defense of Sovereignty, a piece of legislation that critics say mirrors a similar Russian move that aims to silence government opponents.

    • RFERL ☛ Moldova Says It Has Uncovered A Russian-Funded Voter-Rigging Plot

      Pro-Kremlin forces are meddling in Moldova's upcoming presidential election by paying off tens of thousands of voters in a sweeping plot to derail Chisinau's bid for closer ties with the European Union,  the country's police and Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office said.

    • RFERL ☛ Strain In U.S.-Georgian Relations 'Deeply Disappointing,' U.S. Envoy Says

      The United States has been the strongest supporter of the Georgian people in a relationship that is now strained, the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan (eds: a woman) said in an interview with RFE/RL, calling the situation “extremely unfortunate and deeply disappointing.”

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania bans trips to Russia, Belarus for people handling classified info

      Lithuanian lawmakers on Thursday voted in favour of banning employees of certain institutions and members of the paramilitary Riflemen’s Union, who are authorised to handle classified information, from travelling to countries deemed unfriendly to Lithuania.

    • LRT ☛ Probe to look into Lithuanian TV host’s remarks about ‘killing’ Russian culture consumers

      The Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office said on Thursday that it has opened a pre-trial investigation into television host Algis Ramanauskas’ remarks about people who consume Russian culture.

    • JURIST ☛ Russia prosecutor’s office approves indictment against man charged with treason

      Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Thursday that the Prosecutor’s Office in the Volgograd region approved an indictment against Nikita Zhuravel, who was charged with treason under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code. The maximum penalty for treason under the Russian Criminal Code is life imprisonment.

    • Defence Web ☛ Russian Navy frigate Neustrashimy arrives in Cape Town

      The Russian Navy frigate Neustrashimy, accompanied by the replenishment vessel Akademik Pashin, arrived in Cape Town on Thursday 3 September, in time for the SA Navy Festival this weekend. The two vessels were seen south of Sharm el Sheikh on 4 September and left the Red Sea on 6 September, according to ship spotters.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Forgiveness in time of war

      Despite its struggle with Russia, Ukraine seeks to reconcile with Poland over historical grievances.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Father of 14 From Tatarstan Killed In Ukraine War

      A father of 14 children from Russia's Tatarstan region who volunteered for service has been killed in the war in Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Verdict Expected Next Week For 72-Year-Old U.S. Man Facing 'Mercenary' Charge In Russia

      The Moscow City Court will pronounce the verdict and sentence of Stephen Hubbard, a 72-year-old U.S. citizen, on October 7, as announced by Judge Aleksandra Kovalevskaya on October 3.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskiy Says Withdrawal From Vuhledar Necessary To Save Lives

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his first comments since the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the city of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region that it was an "absolutely correct" step necessary to save lives.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania voices ‘strong protest’ to Russia over killing of 16 Ukrainian POWs

      The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned a representative of the Russian embassy in Vilnius to express its “strong protest” over the execution of 16 Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered near Pokrovsk on September 30.

    • LRT ☛ Russia says it detained Ukrainian spies coming from Lithuania

      Russian state media report that the Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained two officers from the Ukrainian Defence Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) in Kaliningrad, accused of spying along the Russian-Lithuanian border.

    • France24 ☛ New NATO chief Mark Rutte reaffirms support for Ukraine in Kyiv trip

      During his maiden trip as NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and pledged support to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Ukraine faces a critical few months over the winter as Russian forces continue advancing through the east, while targeting the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Kyiv’s allies should boost Ukraine’s ability to strike deep inside Russia

      With Kyiv's partners still reluctant to lift restrictions on attacks inside Russia using Western weapons, one obvious solution would be to enhance Ukraine's ability to strike Russian targets using domestically-produced Ukrainian weapons, writes David Kirichenko.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine is slowly but steadily weakening Russia’s grip on Crimea

      With international attention firmly fixed on the Russian army’s advances in eastern Ukraine and the Ukrainian invasion of Russia’s Kursk region, Ukraine is also making progress toward weakening Russia's grip on Crimea, writes Serhii Kuzan.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Nick Heer ☛ Pavel Durov Is an Unreliable Narrator

    It has been a little more than a month since Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested and charged in France, and he has spent September trying to explain authorities’ interest and Telegram’s response.

    Only one problem: I am not sure how much I can believe him. But I can only explain that by starting with his most recent posts.

• Environment

  • The Atlantic ☛ Why Helene caught so many residents off guard

    So much of the response following disasters can feel piecemeal and reactive, Pralle said. Insurance is important—but not the full story. “Every dollar we put into prevention is going to be a lot more efficiently spent,” she explained. In a world reshaped by climate change, “this idea that there’s safe places you can go hide is unrealistic.”

  • University of Michigan ☛ Net-zero isn’t enough

    Even though the University is unlikely to meet its current climate goals, the goals weren’t specific enough to begin with. The University’s 2050 net-zero endowment goal, for instance, leaves a lot up to interpretation.

  • Hakai Magazine ☛ Trapped in the Tide of Organized Crime

    This is no small task. Mangroves used to line almost all of Ecuador’s coast, but shrimp companies have cut down over a quarter of them since the 1970s to make room for the saltwater pools they use to raise shrimp for commercial distribution around the world. In the two decades since the mangrove custody agreements went into effect, deforestation decreased from 2.35 percent to 0.15 percent per year, thanks to monitoring and reporting by cangrejero communities and better environmental regulations. Between 2006 and 2016, Ecuador’s mangroves actually increased by 14,864 hectares as crabbing communities, aided by local universities and government institutions, planted mangrove saplings in degraded areas. People value mangroves not just for the economic and food security they provide but also because of the natural barriers and defense against storm surges they create. And research increasingly shows that mangroves are also more effective at storing carbon than most other types of forests.

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ Climate Denialism Made Hurricane Helene’s Destruction Worse

    While North Carolina was once a national leader in renewable energy and climate change resiliency policies, that changed in the early 2010s when Republicans secured control of both chambers of the state’s legislature and a former utility company executive moved into the governor’s mansion. Since then, GOP politicians and their big-business allies have sabotaged climate resiliency projects, delayed plans to embrace renewable energy, and stonewalled efforts to prepare the state for stronger storms and a rising sea.

  • The Guardian UK ☛ Wildfires are burning through humanity’s carbon budget, study shows

    Each fire has a double impact on the global climate: first, by emitting carbon from the burned trees, and second, by reducing the capacity of forests to absorb carbon dioxide.

    This adds to the heat in the Earth system, which has already been raised by the burning of gas, oil and coal. Global temperatures are already 1.3C higher than in the preindustrial age, according to the Met Office.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • DeSmog ☛ AI Is Pushing Gas Demand to ‘Record Highs,’ Pipeline Builder TC Energy Says

    • DeSmog ☛ Kemi Badenoch Manifesto Uses Climate Denial Group Research to Attack Net Zero

    • Lewis Dale ☛ Finishing up my summer of fundraising

      Mostly the ride went smoothly, thankfully we had a support car that was well-stocked with sweets, pastries, cans of coke, and spare clothes, so we were well-fed. Of course, as we approached sunset and it started to get cold, the heavens opened and we spent the last 50km getting utterly soaked.

      I ended the ride at a turnoff shortly before the end of the loop to go home, at which point I got my first puncture in around a year. It was dark and rainy, so instead of repairing it I hid in a bus shelter and waiting for my Dad to come and pick me up[1].

• Finance

  • ABP ☛ Dyson Layoffs: Employees Left 'Shocked' After Unexpected Job Cuts; Check Details

    Dyson Layoffs: This development is particularly notable as it occurred just three months after Dyson had assured its workforce that the global headquarters would remain unaffected

  • Hindustan Times ☛ Pack up and leave: Dyson workers left in shock over unexpected layoffs

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Pro Publica ☛ Top Trump Media Execs Ousted as CEO Devin Nunes Faces Mismanagement Allegations

    Former President Donald Trump’s media company has forced out executives in recent days after internal allegations that its CEO, former Rep. Devin Nunes, is mismanaging the company, according to interviews and records of communications among former employees.

    Several people involved with Trump Media believe the ousters are retaliation following what they describe as an anonymous “whistleblower” complaint regarding Nunes that went to the company’s board of directors.

  • US News And World Report ☛ Google Says It Will Stop Linking to New Zealand News if Proposed New Law Passed

    "We’d be forced to stop linking to news content on Google Search, Google News or Discover surfaces in New Zealand and discontinue our current commercial agreements and ecosystem support with New Zealand news publishers," Rainsford said.

    Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc , is concerned that bill is contrary to the idea of the [Internet] being open, that it will be harmful to small publishers and that the uncapped financial exposure provides business uncertainty.

  • The Washington Post ☛ Three Mile Island seeks taxpayer subsidies to reopen for Microsoft AI deal

    The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant is pursuing a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee to help finance its plan to restart the Pennsylvania facility and sell the electricity to Microsoft to power data centers, according to details of the application shared with The Washington Post.

  • India Times ☛ Microsoft: Microsoft to make $4.8 billion AI, cloud investment in Italy

    Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith met Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Wednesday, the PM's office said in a note, adding the government welcomed an investment that would strengthen Italy's digital role in the Mediterranean.

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ Apple Lost a Tax-Dodging Battle, but It’s Winning the War

    It was to avoid this reputational damage that Ireland originally decided to fight the ruling from the European Commission. Rather than accept the windfall following a long phase of domestic austerity, the Irish government threw more than €10 million of public money into convincing the commission that it was not entitled to any of ASI’s more than €110 billion profits, even though all of the sales were booked through Ireland.

  • Axios ☛ Why ChatGPT maker OpenAI needs to keep raising more billions of dollars

    Driving the news: The OpenAI round, announced Wednesday, was led by Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital, joined by Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Fidelity, Tiger Global and MGX. Apple, which reportedly had been in talks to invest, didn't participate.

    OpenAI's deal tops the $6 billion raised earlier this year by Elon Musk's xAI.

    The intrigue: OpenAI's latest cash haul comes just a little less than two years after Microsoft announced it was investing $10 billion in OpenAI over several years.

  • Sean Tilley ☛ Something About The SWF Makes Me Feel Icky - deadsuperhero

    Here’s the thing: in the time that term started seeing traction, a number of different things fell under the banner of the Social Web term: ActivityPub and the Fediverse? Social Web. Bluesky and Nostr? Social Web. Matrix and IndieWeb? Fuck it, why not? Social Web.

    So, we have this kinda-vague, kinda-umbrella term that covers a lot of different things. But you know what? That’s okay. It’s inclusive, and can describe a lot of competing and collaborating efforts under one umbrella.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Brattleboro Reformer, Vermont ☛ More than AI misinformation, US voters worry about lying politicians | National | reformer.com

      Voters saw that play out in August when Republican nominee Donald Trump falsely accused his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, of using AI technology to manipulate a Michigan campaign rally photo to project a larger crowd size.

      That claim was easily disproved by photos and videos from AFP journalists who were present at the rally as well as digital forensics experts who told AFP's fact-checkers that the image in question did not carry signs of AI manipulation.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • The Moscow Times ☛ Beyonce, Lana Del Rey, Metallica ‘Blacklisted’ in Russia – Vyorstka

    A list of 79 “blacklisted” artists that includes Beyonce, Lana Del Rey and Metallica is circulating among Russian ad agencies and event organizers, the investigative news website Vyorstka reported Wednesday, citing two anonymous sources in the industry.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • AntiWar ☛ 'I'm Free Because I Pled Guilty to Journalism' - Antiwar.com

    Julian Assange’s address Tuesday morning to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

  • RFERL ☛ 4 Russian Journalists On Trial Over Links To Navalny

    The trial of four Russian journalists associated with the late opposition leader Aleksei Navalny -- including two who have worked for international news agencies -- has begun behind closed doors in a court in Moscow.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Pro Publica ☛ Georgia Judge Lifts Abortion Ban After Deaths of Two Women

  • Pro Publica ☛ Louisiana Law Is Sweeping Teens Into Adult Court for Lesser Crimes

    In February, a prosecutor from a rural area outside Baton Rouge asked members of Louisiana’s Senate judiciary committee to imagine a frightening scene: You are home with your wife at 4 a.m. when suddenly a 17-year-old with a gun appears. The teenager won’t hesitate, District Attorney Tony Clayton said. “He will kill you and your wife.”

    According to Clayton, teenagers were terrorizing the state without fear of consequences. The only way to stop them was to prosecute all 17-year-olds in adult court, regardless of the offense, and lock them up in prison. Law enforcement officials from around the state made similar arguments. Legislators quickly passed a bill that lowered the age at which the justice system must treat defendants as adults from 18 to 17.

  • PC World ☛ After 15 years, the World Wide Web Foundation is closing its doors

    In the open letter, Berners-Lee writes that while the [Internet] of today continues to face new challenges, many excellent organizations have formed over the last decade-plus that are “defending the Web’s principles and users’ rights online.”

  • Hamilton Nolan ☛ Your Money Is On the Table

    The public’s innate sense of what various workers “should” make is usually an impressionistic mishmash of unsupported assumptions resting in a lifelong sea of propaganda. Why do different jobs earn the salaries that they earn? Many people will say, first, that earnings rise according to how hard your job is, but a moment’s thought shows us that’s not true. If it were, sanitation workers and paramedics and soldiers would all be millionaires, and any job that allows you to sit in front of a computer all day would come with an automatic pay cut.

  • Andy Bell ☛ Practical Accessibility Tips You Can Apply Today

    We’ve all been there—rushing to meet a deadline, we throw together a dropdown menu or modal without fully considering its accessibility. But what if making a few small changes could drastically improve the experience for a broader range of users? Accessibility doesn’t have to be a daunting task or a compliance box to tick. It’s about creating products that are usable by everyone, no matter their ability, technical literacy, operating system, or device.

    In this article, I’ll share practical advice on marking up three common UI patterns the right way. Whether you’re new to accessibility or just need a refresher, these tips will help you build more inclusive interfaces. I also link out to implementations and external resources so you can experience firsthand how these changes affect usability. You’ll see how a few thoughtful adjustments can make all the difference.

  • New York Times ☛ Yazidi Woman Taken Captive by ISIS Has Been Rescued in Gaza, Israel Says

    Ms. Sido was sold by an ISIS operative more than 10 years ago to a member of Hamas who took her to the Gaza Strip, possibly through the Rafah crossing at the Egyptian border, General Goren said. That timing suggests she was initially captured when ISIS overran northern Iraq in 2014 and carried out what the United Nations has deemed a genocide against the Yazidi, an ethno-religious minority.

  • US News And World Report ☛ Yazidi Woman Freed From Gaza in US-Led Operation After Decade in Captivity

    A 21-year-old woman kidnapped by Islamic State militants in Iraq more than a decade ago was freed from Gaza this week in an operation involving the United States and Israel, officials said.

    The rescue also involved Jordan and Iraq, according to officials.

  • The Conversation ☛ The darker side of human rights for great apes

    The question of human rights for great apes raises a number of issues, especially the way humans understand the natural world in a hierarchical structure. Humans are at the apex of this structure, and control the other levels of the hierarchy. This is known as speciesism. Who decides what is ethical for other species? Humans are one species, yet it is our perception which legislates the fate of all nonhuman animals.

    Many animal rights activists refer to 18th century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham’s quote: “The question is not, ‘can they reason? nor, can they talk? But, Can they suffer?‘”. But this isn’t the main paradox when it comes to modern animal experimentation. Instead, it is the belief that the more similar to humans a nonhuman animal is, the more useful they are to research that affects humans. This would also mean their pain and suffering is more similar.

  • New Statesman ☛ Has social media pushed fandom to a point of no return?

    I’m 62 years old. The height of my career was a long time ago, and yet these things are happening now. My fans aren’t kids. They are old enough to know better. I can only begin to imagine what it is like for young artists, and my heart goes out to them. I know there’s no going back to the old days, but something has to change.

  • CNN ☛ Mickey Stines: Shocking video of shooting shown during hearing for sheriff charged with murder

    A clip of surveillance video from the judge’s chambers – which has no audio – appears to show Mullins crouching behind his desk as Stines shoots him multiple times. As Stines prepares to walk out of the room, Stines appears to see Mullins moving again under his desk and fires several more shots.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • The Verge ☛ John Deere accused of ‘excluding’ right-to-repair language in its manuals

    Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is pressuring John Deere to update its manuals to better enable customers to repair their tractors. By omitting information about repair rights and pollution control systems, Warren alleges that John Deere could be in violation of the Clean Air Act.

    John Deere has been at the center of an ongoing battle over the right to repair, especially as it incorporates more software into farm equipment. Warren’s office contends that the company is making it almost impossible for farmers to fix their own equipment or turn to independent repair shops.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Spotify’s Head of Global Music Exits After 5+ Years

    Global Head of Editorial Sulinna Ong, Global Head of Music Partnerships & Audience Joe Hadley, and Global Head of Music Go-to-Market Madeleine Bennett — all of whom reported directly to Erlich — will report to VP Music and Audiobook Business David Kaefer.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• CoryDoctorow ☛ Pluralistic: Prime’s enshittified advertising

  The cruelty isn't the point. Money is the point. Every ad that Amazon shows you shifts value away from you – your time, your attention – to the company's shareholders.

  That's the crux of enshittification. Companies don't enshittify – making their once-useful products monotonically worse – because it amuses them to erode the quality of their offerings. They enshittify them because their products are zero-sum: the things that make them valuable to you (watching videos without ads) make things less valuable to them (because they can't monetize your attention).

• Digital Music News ☛ Fans Find Tickets Stolen From Ticketmaster Accounts

  The increasing number of reports of users having tickets taken from their accounts follow the massive data breach earlier this year by “hacker group” ShinyHunters. The group claimed to have accessed around 1.3 terabytes of data from Ticketmaster, including names, addresses, credit card numbers, phone numbers, and payment details. That information was reportedly up for sale on the dark web for an asking price of $500,000.

  The incident led to a class action lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, with half a billion user accounts reportedly affected. Ticketmaster claims that user passwords were not exposed in the breach, telling KIRO7 “the vast majority of what we’re seeing is because scammers have accessed a fan’s email account.”

• Trademarks

  • Michał Sapka ☛ Thomas the Transformer

    Our local Kiosk specializes in Chinese imports and trademark infringement. Often it’s a miss, but when he hits, he hits. May I present to you, Thomas the Transformer.

  • [Old] Wired ☛ Thomas the Transformer: Steam-Powered Railway Robots (in Disguise)

    Thomas the Transformer is actually a man-mashing mix-up of Thomas the Tank Engine and two of his train-shed friends. The toy has already sold for a whopping $10 (Singapore dollars, which is about $7 US) and there is no mention as to names of his companions. Digging into the flash-heavy official Thomas site (which of course makes no mention of this toy), I can see that the friends appear to be Percy (in green) and, wait. The red is James, surely, if I remember my books correctly. James, it appears, has been offed from the official lineup.

• Copyrights

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Telegram's Response to Piracy Has Improved Since CEO's Arrest

    In August, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France and later charged with complicity in crimes allegedly carried out on Telegram. The platform's failure to cooperate with French authorities appears to have been a significant aggravating factor. The multi-billionaire was eventually released on bail, offering assurances that Telegram would change for the better. Interestingly, reports from France suggest that broadcasters of live sports are already seeing improvements on the piracy front.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ AAPA Seeks to Expand EU Pirate Site Blocking to Browsers and VPNs

    The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) has released its 2025-2029 manifesto, requesting the EU to enable stronger anti-piracy protections. Most suggested improvements are targeted at combating live-streaming piracy. They include near instant takedowns as well as broader site blocking injunctions, which AAPA would like to expand to VPNs and web browsers.