Leftovers

• Jim Nielsen ☛ The Beauty of Building

  Jan Miksovsky has an absolutely tremendous article about how he cobbled together some disparate pieces of hardware and software in order to help improve the quality of life of his mother who has amnesia.

  Everything about this article illustrates what got me into making websites.

  Everything about this article is what fuels my curiosity and interest in continuing to make boring little websites.

• Science

  • The Kent Stater ☛ Graduates express frustration with finding jobs post-college

    Every year around May, students around the country walk across the stage and receive their diplomas, yet many have been unable to find jobs relating to their fields of study and feel frustration towards the job market.

• Career/Education

  • Stanford University ☛ ‘It’s not enough’: Undergraduates express solidarity with graduate workers union

    Many undergraduates, whose classes are staffed by graduate teaching assistants, said they supported the Stanford Graduate Workers Union's planned move to strike on Tuesday. On Tuesday evening, the SGWU called off the strike after a tentative agreement was reached with the University.

  • Stanford University ☛ Graduate worker strike averted, union reaches tentative agreement with University

    On Tuesday evening, the SGWU announced the strike is called off “at this time,” citing “sufficient movement” from the University on contract negotiations.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Softbank plans to build first Nvidia Blackwell-based Hey Hi (AI) supercomputer using x86 DGX B200 servers [Ed: They are just calling everything Hey Hi (AI) for hype]

    Softbank's telecom arm to build Hey Hi (AI) supercomputer based on Nvidia's DGX B200 servers.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ How to Talk About Fluoride, Vaccines and Raw Milk

    How to build trust and make America healthy again.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ Unlocking the mysteries of complex biological systems with agentic AI

    The complexity of biology has long been a double-edged sword for scientific and medical progress. On one hand, the intricacy of systems (like the human immune response) offers countless opportunities for breakthroughs in medicine and healthcare.

  • Latvia ☛ Midwives get suspended sentence over death of woman

    The Zemgale District Court on Tuesday sentenced two midwives at the "Stork's Nest" (Stārķa ligzda) health center to suspended prison sentences in connection with the death of a woman giving birth in 2020, LETA reported on November 13.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Lincare Made Billions While Repeatedly Defrauding Medicare. Feds Did Little To Rein It In.

    For Lincare, paying multimillion-dollar legal settlements is an integral part of doing business.

    The company, the largest distributor of home oxygen equipment in the United States, admitted billing Medicare for ventilators it knew customers weren’t using (2024) and overcharging Medicare and thousands of elderly patients (2023). It settled allegations of violating a law against kickbacks (2018) and charging Medicare for patients who had died (2017). The company resolved lawsuits alleging a “nationwide scheme to pay physicians kickbacks to refer their patients to Lincare” (2006) and that it falsified claims that its customers needed oxygen (2001). (Lincare admitted wrongdoing in only the two most recent settlements.)

  • The Straits Times ☛ Korean study finds ‘obese’ BMI may actually be healthiest, urges threshold to be raised to 27

    Currently, Korea follows the WHO Pacific Region’s BMI standards.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dizzy from vaping, Malaysian student falls off school roof

    A 14-year-old boy injured his leg after smoking a vape he found in his classroom.

  • Science Alert ☛ Signs of Lung Cancer Can Now Be Detected When You Exhale

    Early detection is key.

  • Science Alert ☛ Taping Your Mouth Shut For Sleep Apnea Is Not a Good Idea

    It could even be deadly.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Chemistry Expert Reveals What They Personally Use in The Laundry

    "Knowing a little chemistry can go a long way to getting your clothes clean."

  • Science Alert ☛ A Mysterious Extinct Species Seeded Their Genes in Modern Humans

    It wasn't just the Neanderthals.

  • Science Alert ☛ Brain Autopsies Reveal a Potential New Culprit Behind Alzheimer's

    But is it cause or effect?

  • Science Alert ☛ Early Puberty Surged During The Pandemic, And This Could Be Why

    It wasn't the virus.

  • Off Guardian ☛ WATCH: “RKI Whistleblower Uncovers Covid Scam”

    On November 2nd, Prof. Stefan Homburg gave this presentation at the Bundestag in Berlin detailing the contents of a leak of unredacted internal documents from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

  • BIA Net ☛ Private hospitals in Turkey getting higher social security payments despite fewer visits

    In 2012, private hospitals saw approximately 87.9 million patient visits, but by 2023, that number had dropped to 68.5 million, while total SGK-covered patient visits increased overall, according to DİSK-AR.

  • The Straits Times ☛ New Zealand plans to limit online casino gambling licences, ban ads aimed at children

    The country is looking to rein in the fast-growing gambling sector.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia raised fair trade in Trump phone call, says PM Albanese

    SYDNEY - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he told U.S. President-elect Donald Trump the United States has a trade surplus with Australia and it was in Washington's interest to "trade fairly" with its ally, while the defence minister highlighted Australia's record spending on security.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Microsoft fixes bugs causing backdoored Windows Server 2025 blue screens, install issues

    Microsoft has fixed several bugs that cause install, upgrade, and Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) issues on backdoored Windows Server 2025 devices with a high core count.

• Security

  • LWN ☛ Security updates for Wednesday

    Security updates have been issued by AlmaLinux (expat), Fedora (chromium and golang-github-nvidia-container-toolkit), Mageia (curl, expat, mpg123, networkmanager-libreswan, openssl, php-tcpdf, qbittorrent, and x11-server, x11-server-xwayland, and tigervnc), Red Hat (kernel and libsoup), Slackware (mozilla), SUSE (firefox, kernel, python-PyPDF2, and xen), and Ubuntu (dotnet9, ghostscript, linux-aws, linux-oem-6.8, and pydantic).

  • Medevel ☛ Why You Should Scan Your Android for Malware Apps

    As an Android user, I always make sure to regularly scan my device for malware to protect myself and my data. It's a simple step that can go a long way in keeping my device and personal information safe.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • France24 ☛ New decree forces French doctors to disclose some patients' medical conditions

      In this Science segment we take a look at a new decree signed by French Prime Minister Michel Barnier that compels doctors to specify patients' medical conditions for the prescription of certain drugs. If they fail to do so, the drugs will not be reimbursed. Many doctors fear this decree could affect medical confidentiality and freedom of prescription.

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Mapping License Plate Scanners in the US

      DeFlock is a crowd-sourced project to map license plate scanners.

      It only records the fixed scanners, of course. The mobile scanners on cars are not mapped.

    • Press Gazette ☛ Open web group says Surveillance Giant Google Sandbox ‘governance framework’ lets it ‘mark its own homework’

      Google has proposed implementing consultation periods and appeals processes around its Privacy Sandbox tech.

    • Troy Hunt ☛ Inside the DemandScience by Pure Incubation Data Breach

    • Don Marti ☛ Don Marti: Links for 10 November 2024

      Signal Is Now a Great Encrypted Alternative to Zoom and Surveillance Giant Google Meet These updates mean that Signal is now a free, robust, and secure video conferencing service that can hang with the best of them. It lets you add up to 50 people to a group call and there is no time limit on each call.

    • Tibetan language rights advocate under surveillance after release from detention

      Prominent Tibetan language rights activist and former political prisoner Tashi Wangchuk has been detained for 15 da

    • Hackaday ☛ AI Face Anonymizer Masks Human Identity In Images

      We’re all pretty familiar with AI’s ability to create realistic-looking images of people that don’t exist, but here’s an unusual implementation of using that technology for a different purpose: masking people’s identity without altering the substance of the image itself. The result is the photo’s content and “purpose” (for lack of a better term) of the image remains unchanged, while at the same time becoming impossible to identify the actual person in it. This invites some interesting privacy-related applications.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Jury awards Abu Ghraib detainees $42 million, holds contractor responsible

    A US jury on Tuesday awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding a Virginia-based military contractor responsible for contributing to their torture and mistreatment two decades ago.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China snuffs out memorials to victims of deadly car rampage

    Cleaning crews were seen removing bouquets and candles at the site, and onlookers were barred from taking videos.

  • The Straits Times ☛ From ramming with car to bombings: Mass killings in China before Zhuhai attack

    There have been more than 10 incidents in the last decade.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China removes makeshift memorials to 35 people killed, dozens injured in Zhuhai car attack

    Officials in southern China ramped up security on Wednesday at the site of one of the country’s deadliest mass-casualty events in years, snuffing out makeshift memorials to the 35 people killed when a man drove a car into a crowd at a sports complex.

  • China car killings could spark new round of security measures

    The government is concerned that a growing number of 'social revenge' attacks could spark instability.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Residents in China’s Zhuhai city reel from deadly car rampage

    Residents say they are struggling to come to terms with the attack in the normally quiet city.

  • Myanmar junta to cancel passports renewed by shadow government’s South Korea office

    Many Myanmar people struggle with paperwork enabling them to live abroad, especially opponents of military rule.

  • New York Times ☛ U.K. Plans to Fine Tech Executives for Illegal Weapon Sales Online

    In a bid to curb knife crime, the government would hold officials of tech companies personally liable for illicit sales on their platforms, a significant shift in internet regulation.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Agencies push for digital transformation amid security challenges

    Federal agencies are accelerating digital transformation efforts to meet public expectations and comply with mandates, but transitioning securely to platforms like Salesfarce often requires specialized help, according to a new e-book.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Cold War bomber enhances China’s ability to strike U.S. bases

    HONG KONG - In a series of war games in the seas and skies around Taiwan last month, China deployed some of its newest strike aircraft, warships and missile forces. However, one of the most menacing weapons used in the drills: an updated version of a bomber that first flew in the early years of the Cold War.

  • RFERL ☛ FBI Arrests Alleged Leaker Of U.S. Intelligence Related To Israel's Attack Plans Against Iran

    The U.S. Justice Department has charged a man for allegedly leaking highly classified U.S. intelligence about Israel’s plans for retaliation against Iran, according to U.S. media reports on November 13.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania to set up CoE info point for Belarusians in Vilnius

      Lithuania and the Council of Europe (CoE) on Wednesday agreed to cooperate in setting up the Council of Europe Information Point for Belarusian people in Vilnius.

    • New York Times ☛ Gaza Militants Release Video of Sasha Troufanov, an Israeli Russian Hostage

      It was the first sign of Sasha Troufanov since May, when the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group posted two videos of him. His family pressed for the release of all the hostages in Gaza.

    • The Straits Times ☛ US aircraft carrier joins military drills with South Korea, Japan

      The exercise is a response to provocations from North Korea, which has deepened ties with Russia.

    • RFERL ☛ Moscow Conscripts Banned From Leaving Russia

      Moscow residents who have failed to show up at military registration and enlistment offices after they received summonses are reportedly getting SMS notifications telling them they are banned from leaving Russia among other restrictions.

    • RFERL ☛ Georgian Opposition Moves To Leave Parliament In Protest At Alleged Election Fraud

      Georgia's pro-European opposition has withdrawn from the new parliament, officially renouncing its mandates obtained during the disputed October 26 elections that it refused to recognize amid accusations of widespread fraud and Russian interference.

    • LRT ☛ Prankster dupes Russian teachers into wearing tinfoil hats to ward off ‘enemies’

      A famous Belarusian prankster who has garnered a reputation for duping schools to highlight the “fascistization of Russian society” has tricked teachers in Russia's Voronezh region into wearing pro-Russia “protective” tinfoil hats.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Trump is inheriting a more dangerous world

      China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran are coordinating in unprecedented ways, posing new challenges to the incoming US president.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Quiet before the storm: Is a new maritime security order taking shape in the Black Sea region?

      While Turkey and Europe have their own maritime strategies for the Black Sea, finding ways of cooperation is critical to counter Russia's maritime power.

    • Meduza ☛ Russia’s Mosfilm studio sent tanks and other military equipment, previously used as props, to war in Ukraine — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Fox News: Trump to appoint ‘peace envoy’ to lead talks on ending Russia-Ukraine war — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Trump says he asked Biden for thoughts on Ukraine during Oval Office meeting. ‘He was very gracious.’ — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ NYT: Ukraine, expecting Trump to push for peace deal, is prioritizing security guarantees over territorial concerns — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Ukrainians see surrender as the end of their country, geopolitical analyst says

      Kyiv was the target of its first missile attack since August on Wednesday morning, in a 2-hour Russian ballistic missile operation that targeted the entire country. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks to Olga Oliker, Programme Director for Europe and Central Asia at ICG. She says that Ukrainians are exhausted by war, but they are not ready to give up as they see surrender as the end of their country. She also says that a land grab is not Russia's main objective, but rather Ukraine's sovereignty.

    • New York Times ☛ Blinken Visits NATO Headquarters

      The U.S. secretary of state met with European allies rattled by the American election results at a critical moment for Ukraine and the alliance.

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Launches Missiles Against Ukraine’s Capital

      The attack ended a two-month pause in missile strikes on Kyiv, which had only been hit by Russian drones during that period.

    • New York Times ☛ Trump’s Input in Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks May Put Kyiv on New Timetable

      President-elect Donald J. Trump may accelerate the timetable for a truce. Kyiv views guarantees against renewed aggression as crucial to any settlement.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Classified military documents leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years in prison

      After pleading guilty to the most consequential national security breach in years, Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira faces 15 years in prison. He leaked secret reports of the war in Ukraine on the social control media platform Discord.

    • Federal News Network ☛ Pentagon secrets leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years in prison by a federal judge

      A federal judge sentenced Teixeira to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea says North Korean soldiers are fighting Ukraine forces

      Seoul's confirmation comes amid growing global criticism as the two countries strengthen military ties.

    • RFERL ☛ Kyiv Claims Deadly Attack In Crimea That Targeted Russian Navy Officer

      A source in the Security Service of Ukraine has told RFE/RL that Kyiv orchestrated an attack that killed a Russian Navy officer on the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

    • RFERL ☛ Blinken Says U.S. To 'Shore Up' Ukraine Support As Russia Pounds Kyiv

      U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has assured Ukraine that U.S. support be beefed up ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration early next year, as Russia launched its first missile and drone attack on Kyiv since August, forcing residents into bomb shelters.

    • US confirms North Korean troops joining Russia in combat against Ukraine

      China said developments in Russia-North Korea relations are solely for those two nations to decide.

    • LRT ☛ Ukrainian ambassador vows to build partnership with Lithuania’s new government

      Ukraine hopes that Lithuania’s new government will not change the country’s stance towards Ukraine and that Kyiv will work closely with the future government, Ukrainian Ambassador to Lithuania Petro Beshta says.

    • Latvia ☛ Work of Ukrainian medics praised by Latvian Foreign Minister

      Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže met with Ukrainian medics and patients November 12 at the Vaivari National Rehabilitation Center.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia to hold moment of silence on day 1,000 of war in Ukraine

      November 19 will mark the 1,000th day since Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Latvia's top officials call for a moment of silence at 9 am on that day to commemorate the dead.

    • Meduza ☛ Financial Times: Russia’s energy minister pushed latest plan for oil market merger but couldn’t win Putin’s support, despite family connection — Meduza

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Russia’s economically vital energy sector is Vladimir Putin’s Achilles’ Heel

      By introducing additional sanctions on Russia's energy industry and intensifying implementation cooperation, the West can undermine Putin's ability to wage war and strengthen the global order against further acts of international aggression, writes Oleksiy Zagorodnyuk.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian government shrinks soldier compensation for less severe injuries, fast-tracking change to avoid military scrutiny — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Desperate for new army recruits, Russian authorities resort to planting drugs and posting fake job ads — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Yulia Navalnaya discusses Putin, Ukraine, and political ambitions in first major Russian-language interview since her husband’s death — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘A symbol of a Moscow that no longer exists’: Friends of Russian journalist, restauranteur, and TV chef Alexey Zimin on his death — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Sanctioned Russian billionaires agree to sell Helsinki indoor arena, though Finland will keep proceeds — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Elderly Jehovah’s Witness dies in Russia after prolonged criminal investigation and ‘extremism’ conviction — Meduza

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Evacuations and call for aid as Typhoon Usagi approaches Philippines

    Affected areas are set to be soaked in “intense to torrential” rain on Nov 14 and 15.

  • France24 ☛ Does the global workforce have the skills necessary to fight climate change?

    In its 2024 Green Skills Report, social control media platform Microsoft's Surveillance Arm LinkedIn uses data from its 1 billion users to track the evolution of so-called "green skills" on the labour market. Their findings show that while the number of people with the skills that help combat the effects of climate change has grown over 5 percent in the year, that's not keeping up with the 11 percent increase in jobs requiring those skills.

  • Science Alert ☛ 2024 Predicted to Be First Full Year Above 1.5°C of Global Warming

    Our goal is more vital than ever.

  • BIA Net ☛ Environmental impact grows as mining, oil drilling expand in Şırnak mountains

    Areas around the Cudi and Gabar mountains have been frequently designated special security zones due to the conflict.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea police arrest 215 in suspected $228 million crypto scam

      SEOUL - South Korean police have arrested 215 people on suspicion of stealing 320 billion won ($228.4 million) in the biggest cryptocurrency investment scam in the country.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian motorist killed after container falls on her car in Penang

      A lorry had turned sharply, causing a container it was carrying to fall on the victim’s car.

• Finance

  • Latvia ☛ Banks to follow cash deposits more closely in Latvia

    The government has proposed that as of next year, banks will have to inform the State Revenue Service (VID) about natural persons whose payment account in the previous year received at least €7,000 in cash, and this information will have to be provided next year for 2024.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvian central bank offers seasonal collector coin

    Latvijas Banka (LB), the Latvian central bank, will issue a new 2 euro commemorative coin with a seasonal theme.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s former finance minister Daim Zainuddin dies at age 86

    Former PM Mahathir Mohamad says he is inconsolable over the loss of his close friend.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia Edition: Former finance minister Daim dies | U Mobile deal sparks cronyism talk

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Edouard Bolleter & PME Magazine news report reads like paid advertising

    A news report by Edouard Bolleter of PME Magazine.

    He has written a news report that feels like a paid advertisement.

    He wrote "a legal services insurance unlimited for the private individuals and the small businesses" and later on "We are the only insurer to accept businesses marked like a risk, those who are most frequently rejected by the legal expenses insurance market".

    Monsieur Bolleter does not ask any difficult questions. The journalists in Switzerland are afraid of criminal prosecution/persecution for writing any inconvenient truths.

  • France24 ☛ French prosecutor seeks 5-year ban from office against French far right leader Le Pen

    Marine Le Pen faces a crucial moment in a high-profile trial for alleged misuse of EU funds. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office, with immediate effect, for the far right politician. If granted, that would exclude Le Pen from running in France's 2027 presidential election. FRANCE 24's Selina Sykes has more.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Beijing condemns UK for ‘interfering’ in Jimmy Lai trial after British foreign minister David Lammy meets Lai’s son

    Beijing has condemned the UK for interfering the case of detained pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai after the British foreign minister met Lai’s son in the UK last week.

  • The Cyber Show ☛ Buy Nothing Day

    If I had to give one easy piece of advice that will massively improve your cybsersecurity and that of the world, it is: Buy nothing this Black Friday!

    This weekend is book-ended by two orgies of consumption, "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday". These events on the technological neo-pagan calendar replace "Thanksgiving".

    This makes for some interesting social anthropology. As Roy Schestowitz notes this week on Techrights, Thanksgiving is an ancient festival related to harvest-festival and other seasonal celebrations that express gratitude for our blessings. By contrast, capitalist festivals express dissatisfaction with the world by indulging in futile attempts to "fix" unhappiness by buying more stuff we don't need with money we don't have.

    I take some inspiration here from rehashing snippets from two older essays originally published on the much under-rated Cheapskate's Guide blog, about e-waste and hoarding. Both are symptoms of our copious over-production of electronics.

  • The Strategist ☛ A task for Trump: stop China in the South China Sea

    For more than a decade, China has been using an increasingly aggressive hybrid-warfare strategy to increase its power and influence in the strategically important South China Sea. Countering it will be one of the defining ...

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s Pooh-tin heads to Peru for Apec meeting shrouded in Trump fears

    Beijing is deepening its ties with nations in South America as a hedge against America’s sharp elbows.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ As Biden bids farewell, Pooh-tin advances China’s influence in Latin America at the APEC Summit in Peru

    Beijing is successfully pairing its economic diplomacy with action, and the United States should be concerned.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Avoiding entanglement: G20 responses in a Taiwan crisis

    This report identifies China’s likely goals for interactions with G20 nations under a Taiwan contingency, as well as each case country’s respective economic and policy reactions.

  • China hawk Marco Rubio nominated for US secretary of state

    Rubio has been nominated as US secretary of state. He's regarded as a China hawk.

  • France24 ☛ Trump picks adversary-turned-ally Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State

    President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named adversary-turned-ally Senator Marco Rubio to be Secratary of State in his incoming administration. Rubio is expected to push for a harder line on relations with China, Cuba and Iran.

  • Jakarta seeks to contain fallout from South China Sea agreement with Beijing

    Deal compromised Indonesia's maritime rights, most analysts say.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Keeping it balanced: Prabowo’s US and China tour shows Indonesia’s foreign policy ambition

    Analysts say he will focus on building ties and making deals with foreign partners.

  • China patrols at disputed shoal; Manila summons Beijing’s envoy

    The combat readiness patrols took place days after Beijing delimited its territorial sea around the shoal.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ President of South Pacific nation Palau says China flouting maritime borders

    Palau’s president has accused China of flouting the Pacific nation’s maritime borders, raising concerns about research vessels lurking “uninvited” within its waters. “We keep on raising flags and complaining about it, but they keep on sending them,” said President Surangel Whipps Jr, the pro-US leader re-elected this week.

  • Lawmakers urge UN to protect 4 dozen Uyghurs detained for a decade in Thailand

    They say the men face persecution or worse if they are deported to China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ST Picks: The changing face of China’s foreign tourists

  • CS Monitor ☛ A ride for freedom in China

    Masses of young people taking lengthy bike rides at night express both joy and liberty in public spaces. The ruling party wants them to backpedal.

  • NYPost ☛ Transgender monkeys, DEI and checks to dead people – where Elon Musk can start cutting federal spending

    Elon Musk Vivek Ramaswamy are taking a knife to wasteful government-spending on things like handouts to China, monkey islands and empty public buildings.

  • France24 ☛ Breakaway Somaliland votes as quest for recognition gathers pace

    In tonight's edition, voters in Somaliland turned out Wednesday to choose their next president.

    Also, In Uganda, two young influencers were arrested this week for insulting President Museveni on Tiktok.

    And Gabonese will cast their vote this Sunday in a referendum on a new constitution.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Does a photo show refugees fleeing South Vietnam?

      Verdict: False

    • New York Times ☛ Take the ‘Death Stairs’ if You Dare

      A Facebook (Farcebook) page, which began among a few friends, has grown into a popular photo collection of hazardous stairs.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • LRT ☛ Lithuanian prosecutor seeks lifting Žemaitaitis’ immunity amid hate speech charges

    Prosecutor Justas Laučius has asked the Vilnius Regional Court to initiate the process of lifting the legal immunity of Remigijus Žemaitaitis in the new parliament. The politician is being investigated for anti-Semitic hate speech.

  • Mandarin speech contests in Tibet are attempts to erase native language, experts say

    The Chinese government has been promoting Mandarin as the “national common language” in Tibet

  • New York Times ☛ After Deadly Car Rampage, Chinese Officials Censor and Obstruct

    Workers cleared away flowers laid at the site of the attack, while censors scrubbed online criticism. The goal is to stifle potential questions and criticism.

  • Meduza ☛ Moscow’s Gulag History Museum announces sudden temporarily closure due to ‘fire safety violations’ — Meduza

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hongkonger charged with sedition under Article 23 security law over social control media posts

    A 57-year-old man has been charged under Hong Kong’s homegrown security law, known as Article 23, over allegedly publishing “seditious” posts on social control media platforms.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • France24 ☛ Jailed Swedish-Eritrean journalist wins rights prize

    Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak held incommunicado without charge in Eritrea for more than 23 years won a Swedish rights Edelstam Prize on Monday for his fight for freedom of expression, the jury said. Isaak was among a group of around two dozen people, including senior cabinet ministers, members of parliament and independent journalists, who were seized in a purge in September 2001. Amnesty International considers Isaak a prisoner of conscience, and press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says he and his colleagues detained at the same time are the longest-held journalists in the world, as FRANCE 24's Olivia Bizot reports.

  • AccessNow ☛ Statement on the targeting and killing of journalists in Palestine and Lebanon

    We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese journalists bravely reporting amid life-threatening risks.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • AccessNow ☛ Alaa Abd el-Fattah – NGOs send letter to United Nations working group on arbitrary detention

    Our organisations continue to call for Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s immediate and unconditional release and we request that the UNWGAD urgently announce its opinion on his case.

  • The Straits Times ☛ What is the extreme S. Korean feminist movement sweeping America?

    The movement involves not dating, having sex, marrying or having children with men.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Only half of South Koreans believe marriage is essential: Study

    Men were more likely than women to think of marriage as essential, said the study.

  • JURIST ☛ Kentucky abortion bans challenged in class action lawsuit

    The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday filed a class action lawsuit challenging two Kentucky abortion bans for violating the state’s constitutional right to privacy and self-determination. The case concerns two different abortion bans.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Damages Experts Analysis on the Front Burner: How Much Analysis is Enough for the Hypothetical Negotiation?

    The Federal Circuit's pending en banc review in EcoFactor v. Google is heating up, to address fundamental questions about the reliability standards for expert damages testimony in patent monopoly cases. The case highlights growing tensions between robust judicial gatekeeping under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and the Constitutional right to a jury determination of all facts at issue.  At base, Surveillance Giant Google is seeking to create additional  procedural hurdles and appeal off-ramps that help them avoid large damage awards.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ SodaStream triumphs over Aarke at UPC local division Düsseldorf [Ed: UPC is illegal. JUVE got paid to legitimise this illegality. It still does this.]

      The Israeli manufacturer SodaStream is best known to consumers as the maker of carbonation products of the same name. It owns EP 1 793 917, which protects “a device for carbonating a liquid with pressurized gas”.

  • Software Patents

    • CNCF Launches Hero Challenge to Combat Patent Trolls [Ed: But they won't work to abolish software patents, as the 'Linux' Foundation fronts for IBM, Microsoft etc.]

      The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in collaboration with The 'Linux' Foundation launched an initiative to thwart patent monopoly trolls that have increasingly targeted open source projects such as Kubernetes.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ Faulty Specimen Sinks YACHTLY Application for Yacht Chartering Services

    The Board has decided 16 appeals from specimen refusals this year and has reversed half of them. Here is the 17th. The Board upheld this refusal to register the proposed mark YACHTLY for "yacht chartering services" because the specimens of use failed to show a direct association with the identified services. In re Yachtly Inc., Serial No. 90784139 (November 6, 2024) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Lawrence T. Stanley, Jr.).

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ GEMA Sues Proprietary Chaffbot Company for Copyright Infringement Amid Broader Hey Hi (AI) Regulatory Push: ‘A Test Case to Clarify Numerous Legal Issues’

    It turns out GEMA’s push to rein in generative Hey Hi (AI) giants isn’t limited to a comprehensive royalties framework, as the German society has filed a copyright monopoly infringement lawsuit against OpenAI. GEMA formally announced the high-stakes legal action today, a little over one week after unveiling its “AI Charter.”

  • Digital Music News ☛ Record Labels Say ISP Should Pay More for User Piracy — Per Song, Not Per Album

    After a court victory against an internet provider, record labels want more, demanding the ISP should pay per song and not per album. Universal, Warner, and Sony secured another win against internet provider Grande Communications, but the big three aren’t happy an appeals court only granted them per-album damages instead of damages per song.

  • Creative Commons ☛ Meet the Recipients of the Fall 2024 CC Certificate Scholarship

    School by Thomas Hawk is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0. The Creative Commons (CC) Certificate courses are widely considered an essential resource for open access education and for increasing capacity for individuals and institutions using the CC licenses to increase open access.  

  • Public Domain Review ☛ “Here I Gather All the Friends”: Machiavelli and the Emergence of the Private Study

    Reading is a form of necromancy, a way to summon and commune once again with the dead, but in what ersatz temple should such a ritual take place? Andrew Hui tracks the rise of the private study by revisiting the bibliographic imaginations of Machiavelli, Montaigne, and W. E. B. Du Bois, and finds a space where words mediate the world and the self.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Aphrodisiacs and Anti-Aphrodisiacs (1869)

    Three essays on phallicism, anaphrodisia, and various forms of love potion.