Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ Coffee shop chatter, week 7 2025

  Some fun random things I overheard this morning:

  These phones don’t make sense anymore. I’m barely 30, and I don’t understand what half this crap does.

• Ruben Schade ☛ A question about aviation ESG plans

  I read a few blogs and sites for transport insiders. I’m clearly not the target audience, but I still find them really interesting.

• New York Times ☛ She Was the Female Lead in His Film. Now She’s His Leading Lady.

  When Alan Yang, known for “Parks and Recreation” and “Master of None,” directed his first film, Christine Ko’s audition tape stopped him in his tracks. Once the film wrapped, romance emerged.

• US News And World Report ☛ 2025-02-11 [Older] How Photos Lost in American Disasters Find Their Way Home, With a Little Help From People Who Care

• Science

  • Hackaday ☛ Using Antimony To Make Qubits More Stable

    One of the problems with quantum bits, or “qubits”, is that they tend to be rather fragile, with a high sensitivity to external influences. Much of this is due to the atoms used for qubits having two distinct spin states of up or down, along with the superposition. Any disturbing of the qubit’s state can cause it to flip between either spin, erasing the original state. Now antimony is suggested as a better qubit atom by researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia due to it having effectively eight spin states, as also detailed in the university press release along with a very tortured ‘cats have nine lives’ analogy.

  • Science Alert ☛ Materials Can Form 'Memories' in New And Unexpected Ways, Study Shows

    Remember, remember.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Psychologist Explains a Simple Technique to Declutter

    This can make it a lot easier.

  • Science Alert ☛ Afternoon Naps Boost Your Problem-Solving, Study Finds

    Sleep on it.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ SPOKE capacitive touch sensor board targets interactive computer interfaces (Crowdfunding)

    SPOKE is a Raspberry Pi RP2040-based capacitive touch sensor board for interactive computer interfaces. It is designed to simplify the integration of touch-based control into various projects. SPOKE features up to 27 sensor inputs and can “turn almost any conductive material into a sensor” to control almost any computer input. Potential applications include music making, video game controlling, typing, and general software controlling.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel 8th, 9th and 10th Gen processors removed from Microsoft's backdoored Windows 11 24H2 CPU support list

    Intel's 8th, 9th, and 10th Gen processors are absent from the backdoored Windows 11 24H2 official support list.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ AMD exec sarcastically teases RX 90700.05XTXT Max GPU with 320GB of VRAM and '1.2 Gigawatts' power supply requirement [Ed: Not funny because they do ruin the planet with wasteful CPUs that help run Ponzi schemes]

    AMD's Frank Azor commented on a recent 32GB RX 9070 XTX rumor but didn't outright deny it.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ TSMC and Broadcom explore deals to split Intel's foundry and chip design wings, says report

    Intel is reportedly the target of acquisition interest from TSMC and Broadcom, with both companies exploring deals that could divide the struggling chipmaker’s operations.

  • Hackaday ☛ [Quinn Dunki] Makes A Screw Shortener Fit For Kings

    It’s common problem when you’re building anything with screws: this one is too long, this one is too short. While she can’t teach you how to fix the latter, [Quinn Dunki] has made herself an absolutely deluxe screw shortening jig. And while that’s cool and all, the real value here is the journey; watching over [Quinn]’s shoulders while she’s in the machine shop is always illuminating.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Your Risk of Cancer Could Fluctuate Even Born You're Born

    It's not just bad luck.

  • Hackaday ☛ Graphene Tattoos: The Future Of Continuous Health Monitoring?

    In the near future, imagine a world where your health is continuously monitored, not through bulky devices but through an invisible graphene tattoo. Developed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, these tattoos could soon detect a range of health metrics, including blood pressure, stress levels, and even biomarkers of diseases like diabetes. This technology, though still in its infancy, promises to revolutionize how we monitor health, making it possible to track our bodies’ responses to everything from exercise to environmental exposure in real-time.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘Bullet recycling plant’ found in raid on illegal e-waste factory in Malaysia

    Bullet casings, fired and live bullets were found during the raid.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-12 [Older] STIs in Europe: Gonorrhea and syphilis hit record highs

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • Science Alert ☛ ChatGPT's Deep Research Is Here. But Can It Really Replace a Human Expert? [Ed: Falsely marketed garbage]

      "It promises to do the heavy lifting of research in minutes."

    • NYPost ☛ Lonely men are creating Hey Hi (AI) girlfriends — and taking their violent anger out on them

      Experts say that the abusive behavior could be detrimental to their real life relationships.

  • Social Control Media

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-10 [Older] To fight dissent, Kenya clamps down on social media, AI

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Rally against Germany's resurgent far right draws thousands in Berlin

    One week out from Germany's general election, tens of thousands of people gathered in Berlin to protest the growing support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. A quarter of a million people joined a similar rally in Munich last weekend.

  • JURIST ☛ State attorney generals challenge MElon-led DOGE control over US federal agencies

    Fourteen US state attorney generals filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court against MElon, his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and President The Insurrectionist on Thursday.

  • The Strategist ☛ China is exporting its model of political authoritarianism to Africa

    To expand its influence in Africa, China has stepped up its elite capture programs from hosting delegations and training to exporting its authoritarian model of governance.

  • France24 ☛ Panama Canal caught in power struggle as US and China vie for trade dominance

    The Panama Canal is one of several territories that US President The Insurrectionist says he wants the US to take control of, amid concerns about China's influence over the waterway. What worries the US is a Hong Kong-based company that manages the two ports of entrance. Back in 2017, Chinese President Pooh-tin Jinping integrated the canal into his Belt and Road Initiative. But under US pressure, Panama's government has now backed out of that project. The canal finds itself caught in a struggle between two major world powers. Our France 2 colleagues report, with FRANCE 24's Lauren Bain.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Philippines’ Marcos puts China at centre of election campaign

    President Ferdinand Marcos put Beijing firmly centre stage on the campaign trail on Saturday, saying his predecessor’s administration was all too happy for the Philippines “to be a province of China”.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-13 [Older] Why Ghana faces a growing jihadist threat

  • Defence Web ☛ 2025-02-12 [Older] Atalanta on high alert as possible pirate attack reported

  • Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2025-02-12 [Older] South Africa’s Worst State-Sponsored Massacre Since Apartheid

  • Defence Web ☛ 2025-02-13 [Older] Sandu names units of soldiers killed in the DRC, MPs lay wreaths

  • Defence Web ☛ 2025-02-12 [Older] Lamola dismisses proposal to withdraw SA troops from the DRC

  • Defence Web ☛ 2025-02-13 [Older] EU Parliament hears DR Congo crisis is an “escalation”

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-02-12 [Older] Protests After 2 Sudden Deaths Force Closure of Hospital Trauma Unit in Central African Republic

  • Vox ☛ 2025-02-14 [Older] The roots of Donald Cheeto Mussolini’s fixation with South Africa

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-02-15 [Older] White South Africans Gather in Support of Cheeto Mussolini and His Claims That They Are Victims of Racism

  • Counter Punch ☛ 2025-02-14 [Older] The Commercial Impetus Behind Cheeto Mussolini’s Targeting of South Africa

  • Defence Web ☛ 2025-02-14 [Older] al-Shabaab to face renewed military operations in Somalia

  • Defence Web ☛ 2025-02-14 [Older] Yemeni dhow hijacking ends without loss of life

  • Defence Web ☛ 2025-02-14 [Older] Mapping South Africa’s arms exports: trends, key markets, and regional demand

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2025-02-15 [Older] The US’s Boycott of the G20 Meeting in South Africa: Implications and Underlying Factors

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-02-15 [Older] African Leaders Elect Djibouti's Foreign Minister as New Leader of the African Union Commission

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-02-15 [Older] Djibouti's Foreign Minister Elected to Top African Union Post

  • CBC ☛ 2025-02-07 [Older] Cheeto Mussolini's threat to annex Canada 'real' and motivated by access to critical minerals, Trudeau tells crowd

  • JURIST ☛ UN denounces Israel offensive in West Bank amid violence and mass displacement

    The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) on Friday condemned Israel’s continuing offensive operation in the West Bank, urging Israel to immediately halt the “alarming wave of violence and mass displacement.” The OHCHR noted a resumption of unlawful killings of Palestinian civilians beginning on January 21, 2025.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US-made Typhon missiles to bolster security, deter ‘repressive’ China: Philippine Defence Secretary

    Mr Gilberto Teodoro Jr said the Philippines’ plans to acquire the missile system were an “internal matter”.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ European countries to meet in Paris to discuss security: France FM

      France's President Emmanuel Macron will host envoys from the 'main European countries' on February 17 to discuss security on the continent, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. 'The president will bring together the main European countries tomorrow for discussions on European security,' Barrot told the France Inter radio broadcaster on February 16, without saying which nations would participate.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Vice President Vance tells Europe's leaders: Stop building a 'firewall' to block far right

      At the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Vance said German political coalitions that refuse to work with far right parties violate democracy.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-10 [Older] Can Japan solve its growing over-tourism crisis?

    • Hackaday ☛ Scrapyard Vacuum Dehydrator Sucks The Water From Hydraulic Oil

      Anyone who has ever had the misfortune of a blown head gasket knows that the old saying “oil and water don’t mix” is only partially true. When what’s coming out of the drain plug looks like a mocha latte, you know you’re about to have a very bad day.

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-08 [Older] Alaska: Missing plane found, all 10 on board believed dead

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-11 [Older] US: Private jet collision in Scottsdale, Arizona, kills 1

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-11 [Older] Germany: Train collides with truck in Hamburg, killing 1

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-09 [Older] Mexico: Dozens killed in bus-truck collision

    • CBC ☛ 2025-02-07 [Older] Montreal businessman sentenced to 3 and a half years in U.S. prison for laundering bitcoin

    • Arena Group ☛ Trump Administration Lays Off Hundreds Of FAA Employees Despite Recent Plane Crashes

      The Federal Aviation Administration has officially begun the process of laying off hundreds of probationary employees despite recent plane crashes that have impacted areas across the country.

      Over the past several weeks, since Donald Trump took office, the nation has seen plane crashes impact cities across the country including in Scottsdale, Arizona, Noem, Alaska, and of course, Washington, D.C. where just two weeks ago an American Airlines commercial jet collided with a military helicopter killing more than sixty people.

    • GeekWire ☛ Trump layoffs hit Pacific Northwest engineers and researchers at PNNL, Hanford cleanup, elsewhere [Ed: The top says "independent" but also bribed by Microsoft. Both cannot be true.]

      The Trump administration’s government-wide layoffs are hitting engineers and researchers at agencies in Washington state including the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Bonneville Power Administration and elsewhere.

    • 100s Of FAA Probationary Employees Summarily Terminated By Trump Administration

      Many federal employees continue to get pink slips under the Trump Administration, which is looking to trim down the federal workforce significantly. This is part of a larger plan in which the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is carefully examining several government departments in an effort to reduce federal staffing numbers.

      Layoffs have now also affected the Federal Aviation Authority, as new reports have surfaced about hundreds of probationary employees being asked to leave.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • New York Times ☛ Shark Bites Tourist Who Was Trying to Take Photo With It

      The woman was flown off the island to receive medical care, according to the Turks and Caicos government.

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-14 [Older] Conservation efforts double India's tiger population

    • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-02-13 [Older] Man Whose Wife Was Killed in a Hippo Attack in Africa Sues the US Company That Booked the Trip

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-09 [Older] Caribbean hit by 7.6 magnitude earthquake

• Finance

  • New York Times ☛ Argentina’s Milei Orders Investigation After Promoting Crypto That Cratered

    Javier Milei posted about the coin on social control media, then deleted it and announced an investigation into whether any laws were broken.

  • New York Times ☛ How Convicted Felon’s One-for-One Tariff Plan Threatens the Global Economy

    In starting a process to impose reciprocal tariffs on American trading partners, the White House is sowing uncertainty and risking inflation.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-13 [Older] Why Europe's southern periphery props up eurozone growth

  • BIA Net ☛ 2025-02-10 [Older] Turkey’s unemployment rate drops to 8.5% in December

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-02-08 [Older] Canada Seeks Stronger EU Trade Ties as Both Regions Threatened by Cheeto Mussolini Tariffs

  • Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2025-02-07 [Older] How Can Canada + USA + Mexico Combine the Balance of Power Against China on the Global Stage?

  • US News And World Report ☛ 2025-02-08 [Older] Canada Task Force Says Ex-Finance Minister Freeland Target of China-Linked Campaign

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • BIA Net ☛ 2025-02-10 [Older] Turkey's main opposition party investigated over vote buying allegations during congress

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-13 [Older] Should you trust hotel and restaurant reviews? [Ed: AstroTurf and slop ruin everything online]

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-13 [Older] Germany: Scholz warns of lawsuit over 'racist lapse' claim

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s DAP election heats up, with Lim Guan Eng at risk of losing chairman’s post

    His aggressive tactics in the 2023 state poll had backfired, and he is seen as overstaying his welcome.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-15 [Older] Jay-Z, Sean 'Diddy' Combs accuser drops sexual assault case

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-08 [Older] How the far right is expanding its international network [Ed: Social control media]

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-08 [Older] Germany's Left Party wants to halve billionaires' wealth

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-08 [Older] German conservatives insist they're the anti-AfD 'firewall'

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-09 [Older] Germany: Refugees stigmatized as anti-migrant wave swells

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-12 [Older] Thousands sign petition for Denmark to buy California

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-07 [Older] Fact check: Cheeto Mussolini's team targets USAID with false claims

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-08 [Older] Libya's cultural crackdown silences popular rap music

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • IP Kat ☛ 2025-02-13 [Older] Blow up: Claim against BBC ends in civil restraint order

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-14 [Older] Czech opposition leader eyes state funding for public media

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ Human rights groups urge EU to engage with Bahrain authorities over release of two arbitrarily detained men

    31 human rights organizations issued a joint letter on Friday, urging the European Union (EU) to engage with Bahraini authorities to secure the release of Danish-Bahraini Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Swedish-Bahraini Sheikh Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad.

  • NYPost ☛ Son of British banking bigwig gets forgiving Manhattan plea deal on charges of beating comedian girlfriend: ‘Slap on the wrist’

    The son of a British banking bigwig was allowed to take a forgiving plea deal after he was charged with beating and strangling his up-and-coming comedian girlfriend in Manhattan, The Post has learned.

  • BIA Net ☛ 2025-02-11 [Older] Thousands of KFC, Pizza Hut workers in Turkey unpaid amid debt restructuring

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-11 [Older] Is Bangladesh plunging into political chaos once again?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-10 [Older] Bangladesh arrests 1,300 in crackdown on pro-Hasina protests

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-12 [Older] UN: Up to 1,400 killed in Bangladesh protests crackdown

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-02-12 [Older] US updates: Cheeto Mussolini sued by inspectors general over firing

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Feedback rules [Ed: Being trolled and bullied over E-mail]

    Hi! This will be the third and final instalment in my “trolls get to Ruben” series, fun as it has been to live it since last Thursday.

    Sadly, it’s become clear some ground rules are required for people who want to send me messages. These will do nothing to deter the dregs, but I’m going to codify and link to this anyway so there’s no ambiguity.

    You can have constructive criticism, disagree with an opinion, or have an alternative technical solution to a problem. You cannot be a dick, douchebag, or other metaphor. I reserve the right to define what those mean.

  • Data Swamp ☛ Blog activity for 2025

    Hello, you may have wondered why the blog has not been really active this year, let's talk about it :-) 
    
    
    

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• IP Kat ☛ 2025-02-13 [Older] [Guest Post] CJEU weighs in on supplementary protection certificates in Merck v Teva/Clonmel decision