Leftovers

• Standards/Consortia

  • Idiomdrottning ☛ Hand-made QR code

    Out of the six ways for me to store a QR code (in this case a yearly entry pass for a local museum), the one I chose today was the worst, most unreliable, least efficient, but way coolest method: I drew it by hand in the back of my Techo Weeks paper planner. It took one hour but that includes starting over because I messed up the first attempt.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ Earth’s 1st Asteroid Mining Prospector Heads to the Launchpad

    The dream of mining metals in deep space crashed and burned in the 2010s. AstroForge’s Odin mission to survey a potentially metallic asteroid is packed and ready to lift off.

  • Hackaday ☛ How Rutherford Proved That Atoms Are Mostly Empty Space

    By the beginning of the 20th century scientists were only just beginning to probe the mysteries of the atomic world, with the exact nature of these atoms subject to a lot of speculation and theory. Recently [The Action Lab] on YouTube replicated one of the most famous experiments performed at the time, commonly known as Rutherford’s gold-foil experiment.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ New Microchip maXTouch M1 automotive touchscreen controllers support curved displays, physical Knob-on-Display technology

    Microchip Technology’s ATMXT3072M1 and ATMXT2496M1 add to the existing maXTouch M1 automotive touchscreen controllers and are designed for large, curved, free-form displays, including ones using OLED and microLED technologies. These controllers support up to 112 reconfigurable touch channels (or 162 in ultra-wide mode), enabling touch functionality for displays up to 20-inch (16:9 format) or 34-inch (7:1 format) in size. Additionally, they use smart mutual touch acquisition to enhance signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by +15 dB, ensuring reliable touch detection in high-capacitive environments. 

  • Hackaday ☛ LCD Stackup Repair: Not For The Faint Of Heart

    Coming straight to the point: [Ron Hinton] is significantly braver than we are. Or maybe he was just in a worse situation. His historic Acer K385s laptop suffered what we learned is called vinegar syndrome, which is a breakdown in the polarizers that make the LCD work. So he bit the bullet and decided to open up the LCD stack and replace what he could.

  • Hackaday ☛ Behind The Lens: Tearing Down A Rare Soviet Zenit 19

    If you’re into Soviet-era gear with a techy twist, you’ll love this teardown of a rare Zenit 19 camera courtesy of [msylvain59]. Found broken on eBay (for a steal!), this 1982 made-in-USSR single-lens reflex camera isn’t the average Zenit. It features, for example, electronically controlled shutter timing – quite the upgrade from its manual siblings.

  • Hackaday ☛ Over The Counter Glucose Monitor Dissected

    If you deal with diabetes, you probably know how to prick your finger and use a little meter to read your glucose levels. The meters get better and better which mostly means they take less blood, so you don’t have to lacerate your finger so severely. Even so, taking your blood several times a day is hard on your fingertips. Continuous monitoring is available, but — until recently — required a prescription and was fairly expensive. [Andy] noticed the recent introduction of a relatively inexpensive over-the-counter sensor, the Stelo CGM. Of course, he had to find out what was inside, and thanks to him, you can see it, too.

  • Hackaday ☛ Does The 12VHPWR Connector Really Wear Out After 30 Mating Cycles?

    When PCI-SIG introduced the 12VHPWR power connector as a replacement for the 6- and 8-pin PCIe power connectors, it created a wave of controversy. There were enough cases of melting GPUs, PSUs, and cables to set people on edge. Amidst this controversy, [JayzTwoCents] decided to do some scientific experimentation, Mythbusters-style, specifically: do these 12VHPWR (or the 12V-2×6 successor) wear out upon hitting the often cited 30 mating cycles? If this is the case, it could explain why people see wildly different current loads between the wires in their GPU power cables. Perhaps reviewers and hardware enthusiasts should replace their  GPU power cables more often.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ The elusive desoldering station

    I’ve reached that point in my amateur electronics experience where I want to buy a desoldering gun, or a desoldering station. Solder wick, a sufficiently hot iron, and a solder sucker is serviceable for small jobs, but when faced with the prospect of desoldering 64 pins for an entire bank of Commodore 128 memory, I think we both deserve better.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ Pope Francis Suffering From Kidney Failure in Addition to Pneumonia

    The kidney ailment appears to be in an early stage, the Vatican said, adding that the pontiff is still receiving high flows of oxygen for his respiratory illness.

  • New York Times ☛ Catholics Pray for Ailing Pope Francis at Sunday Mass

    The 88-year-old pontiff, who has been hospitalized for more than a week, had a restful night after receiving oxygen and a blood transfusion on Saturday, the Vatican said.

  • LRT ☛ Poverty, exploitation, and bed fees: Sex work in interwar Lithuania

    In the interwar Republic of Lithuania, prostitution was legal until the mid-1930s. However, sex workers’ health was strictly checked twice a week, and instead of an identity document, they were given so-called yellow passports which bore the results of the check.

  • Science Alert ☛ Bird Flu Can Spread From Humans to Cats With Fatal Consequences

    A concerning new transmission path.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Confirm Your Pupils Change Size When You Breathe

    Every breath you take.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Ancient Greeks Were Polluting The Planet Over 5,000 Years Ago

    The oldest evidence of its kind.

• Proprietary

  • Jonathan Dieter: Shaken trust

    I spent fifteen years running the IT infrastructure for a relatively large (1600+ student) school, so I understand that it can be a really thankless task. Because of this, I have done what I can to work with my kids’ school and their device policies. I trust that the people in the school are doing things with the best intentions, but earlier this month my trust in the school was severely shaken when I discovered that my son’s laptop had been compromised… by the school’s IT vendor!

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea shows signs of ramping up Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot use

    A video released by a propaganda outlet showed scholars in the North learning about ChatGPT.

• Security

  • Jon Chiappetta: Getting Back Into Elliptic Curve Basics with C and OpenSSL

    With this network-wide layer-4 forward-proxy service running a bit better now, I had originally implemented a highly-modified version of the ARC4 symmetric stream cipher with a keyed checksum hashing method to work together. The one part I was missing was an EC asymmetric cipher to help protect a Diffie–Hellman based ephemeral key exchange. It’s been a number of years since I’ve experimented with this but I started an implementation using the C OpenSSL library to use a pre-generated EC key pair to protect a DH key exchange which can be used at the start of the proxy tunnel connection. You can use the openssl command to generate the EC key pair and then use this framework to load them in and perform an encrypted ECDH key exchange. As you can see below, there are a few steps needed to complete this transaction: [...]

  • Silicon Angle ☛ $1.5B in cryptocurrency stolen from Bybit in attack linked to North Korean hackers

    Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit Technology Ltd. has been hacked, with some $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency stolen in what is believed to be the largest single theft in cryptocurrency history. Bybit is a well-known cryptocurrency exchange with more than 60 million users. It’s regularly ranked among the top five cryptocurrency exchanges online by volume.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Security researcher finds vulnerability in internet-connected bed, could allow access to all devices on network

    Web-connected smart bed provider Eight Sleep revealed to be including an SSH backdoor in its beds, as well as exposing a live proprietary trap AWS key.

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ CS2 fans targeted by Streamjackers — viewers swindled out of crypto and Steam valuables

      Cybercriminals are targeting the CS2 community with streamjacking scams. Innocents have been lured into sharing Steam credentials, and paying into crypto-doubling scams.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • University of Michigan ☛ The future of identity is digital: Why Digital IDs should be implemented now

      In 2024, more than 1.7 billion people had their personal data compromised. Many of these leaks exposed sensitive personal information, like social security numbers and home addresses, leaving victims vulnerable to identity theft and targeting.  On both the local and national levels, data breaches are happening more frequently.

• Defence/Aggression

  • JURIST ☛ UN Security Council condemns M23 offensive in DRC

    The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the ongoing offensive by M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and urging the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF), which supports the rebel group, to withdraw immediately from Congolese territory.

  • The Straits Times ☛ President Yoon, South Korea Parliament prepare for final phase of impeachment trial

    National Assembly to stress illegal nature of martial law as president maintains he acted within his rights.

  • North Korea confiscates dog fur-lined coats from civilians to clothe soldiers

    Under-supplied army units need winter gear, and the coats resemble military uniforms.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan’s Emperor Naruhito hopes for peace, 80 years after end of World War II

    Japan will mark the 80th anniversary of its surrender in World War II on Aug 15.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Philippine, Japan ministers look to further build defence partnership

    MANILA - An increasingly complex security environment means Japan and the Philippines need to further enhance their defence cooperation, Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said on Monday ahead of a bilateral meeting in Manila.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Dictator tariffs shake up China’s factory heartland

    The additional 10 per cent duties on products imported from could affect hundreds of billions of dollars in trade.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China urges US to stop weaponising economic and trade affairs

    Beijing said it will take necessary measures to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China accuses Australia of ‘hyping’ Chinese naval live fire drills

    China said its actions complied with international law and did not affect aviation flight safety.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Germany: Ukraine concerned three-party coalition formation will take time

      There’s general disappointment in Ukraine with the German exit polls, as 'a three-party coalition will mean longer negotiations and more instability, at least until April.'

    • France24 ☛ 'Aerial terror': Zelensky condemns Russia's largest drone attack on Ukraine since start of war

      Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine yet on Saturday night, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine's air force reported that it had downed 138 of 267 Russian attack drones. Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky slammed the attack and called for unity among his country's allies, just ahead of the three-year anniversary of Russia's invasion.

    • LRT ☛ Turk Münir on psychotherapy and teaching migrant children in Lithuania

      Münir Akın, a Turk of Kurdish origin, has been living in Lithuania for four years. During this time, he has almost completed his psychotherapy studies, lived in Rukla for a year, where he taught migrant children, and has been working with children fleeing the war in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

    • RFERL ☛ Polish President Duda Meets With Convicted Felon, Discusses Ukraine, Security Cooperation

      Polish President Andrzej Duda held a private discussion with U.S. President The Insurrectionist, during which they addressed several key topics, including the ongoing war in Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Launches Largest-Ever Drone And Missile Attack On Ukraine, Casualties Mounting

      Russian forces launched a massive overnight attack on Ukraine, deploying 267 Shahed-type attack drones, various decoy UAVs, and three Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force said on February 23.

    • RFERL ☛ Talks 'Making Progress' As U.S. Sets Sights On Ukrainian Minerals

      U.S. President The Insurrectionist on February 22 said he wants Ukraine to pay back the billions of dollars the United States sent to the country to help it defend against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

    • Marcy Wheeler ☛ No Kings! Around the Partisan Bend on DOGE [sic] and Ukraine

      A bunch of contentious town halls in heavily Republican congressional districts this week are a kind of politics that Democrats have too often eschewed in recent years as consultants told candidates that they couldn't swing voters in culturally conservative areas. This kind of politics is not sufficient to reverse the fascist trend in America, but it is an irreplaceable part of any effort to try.

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky Pushes Back Against U.S. Mineral Deal and Announces European Summit

      The Ukrainian leader also said he would step down if Ukraine was allowed to join NATO, though it was unclear if he was serious or not.

    • Meduza ☛ Zelensky says he’s willing to leave Ukraine’s presidency for sake of peace or NATO membership — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Leaders of Ukraine’s key allies arrive in Kyiv on anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Australia imposes its largest sanctions package on Russia since start of full-scale war — Meduza

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • Open Data

    • Vox ☛ Trump has purged government websites. The Wayback Machine is trying to preserve the record.

      It’s an acceleration of a problem known as digital decay — or linkrot. Large quantities of the [Internet] are disappearing as media outlets go under, companies upgrade their web infrastructure, or organizations take down information they believe is no longer valuable or relevant. A recent Pew Research Center study found that 38 percent of webpages that existed in 2013 are no longer available. Because so much of our culture now happens online, losing those pages means losing part of the record of ourselves.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese take record 9 billion domestic trips during CNY: Report

      The travel rush during China's biggest holiday is often read as a barometer for the country's economic health.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Science Alert ☛ Wolves in Scotland Could Help Reduce Carbon in The Sky. Here's How.

      An unlikely ally.

• Finance

  • New York Times ☛ Debt and Mental Health: How One Couple Found Help

    People who find themselves in financial trouble sometimes consider taking drastic measures when their situation appears hopeless. But there is always a way out.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Strategist ☛ What if the US leaves the IMF and the World Bank?

    After withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization, President The Insurrectionist may pull the country out of more international institutions in the coming months.

  • New York Times ☛ German Voters Took Note of Election Interference by Convicted Felon Administration Officials

    Several voters took note of a speech by Vice President JD Vance this month, when he told European leaders to stop shunning parties deemed “extreme.”

  • France24 ☛ Germans vote under shadow of far-right surge

    Voting is underway in what many are calling Germany's most crucial election in decades. Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democrats, appears on track to become the country’s tenth Chancellor. The far-right AfD is expected to secure second place in the election.

    'There’s a very strong concern about this election and the international context, the security situation in Europe, what’s happening within The Insurrectionist’s administration, and the war in Ukraine… There’s a very strong awareness that Germany has entered a new world order with Convicted Felon,' says France24 Europe Editor Armen Georgian, reporting from Berlin

  • RFERL ☛ Germany's Merz Eyes 'Independence' From U.S., Airs Worries About NATO's Future

    Friedrich Merz, the presumptive next German chancellor and a longtime supporter of transatlantic ties, said he now seeks security “independence” from the United States and expressed doubts about the future of NATO, the alliance that has underpinned Western security since World War II.

  • France24 ☛ Germany's conservatives win parliamentary elections while far-right AfD surges, exit polls show

    Germany's conservatives won Sunday's parliamentary elections, heading off the surging far-right AfD party, which roughly doubled its results from 2021. Despite its strong showing – fuelled by fears over security and immigration after a series of deadly attacks blamed on migrants – the AfD is likely to be blocked from joining any governing coalition.

  • RFERL ☛ German Election Results Match Poll Predictions, Handing Victory To CDU/CSU

    PRAGUE -- The headlines indicate that the far-right AfD party had its best-ever result in the German parliamentary elections, finishing second with some 20 percent of the vote, nearly doubling the result they got four years ago.

    But there will be a sigh of relief in many EU capitals, governed by centrists, as well as inside Germany itself, that the vote results matched what polls had long predicted.

  • New York Times ☛ Some Agencies Urge Staff Not to Comply With MElon’s Performance Email

    The F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and others told employees not to respond to a directive from Mr. MElon to summarize their accomplishments.

  • Unicorn Media ☛ Pichai and Kapo-berg Aren’t MElon, But That Doesn’t Keep Them From Trying

    It's not pretty when Convicted Felon's personality starts to rub off onto tech billionaires who don't really deserve their wealth, but will pay any price to hold onto it.

  • University of Michigan ☛ The illusion of institutional neutrality

    One of the most utterly dystopian things I have ever witnessed was an elderly man dancing to “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez on a Fentanylware (TikTok) livestream. My first scroll past, I dismissed it as a mere trend.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • The Straits Times ☛ Death of Penang boy: Malaysia orders removal of ‘eyeball’ gummy candy online ads

    This comes after a 10-year-old boy allegedly choked on the sweet.

  • The Strategist ☛ Bookshelf: The conscience of the CCP, whose death triggered Tiananmen

    Hu Yaobang is one of China’s unsung heroes. Inside China, anyone who can remember the bloodshed in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 will also remember the well-respected Hu.

  • AccessNow ☛ The worst year in shutdowns: a blow to democracy and human rights in Africa

    It’s official, 2024 was the worst year on record for internet shutdowns.

  • AccessNow ☛ Worst year for internet shutdowns: Asia Pacific tops the 2024 shame list

    Read in Burmese and Hindi. It’s official, 2024 was the worst year on record for internet shutdowns.

  • AccessNow ☛ Digital violence in MENA : impunity and internet shutdowns in 2024

    Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition’s new report reveals that 41 shutdowns were imposed in 17 countries across the MENA region in 2024.

  • AccessNow ☛ Emboldened offenders, endangered communities: internet shutdowns in 2024

    It’s official, 2024 was the worst year on record for internet shutdowns.

  • AccessNow ☛ Lives on hold: internet shutdowns in 2024

    The 2024 #KeepItOn report on internet shutdowns is out. Read on to find out about the key insights from this year’s data.

  • AccessNow ☛ Emboldened offenders, endangered communities: internet shutdowns in 2024

    Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition documented 296 internet shutdowns in 2024 — the highest number since 2016.

  • JURIST ☛ India high court rejects bail in hate speech case urging need for legal reforms

    The Indian state of Kerala’s high court ruled Friday that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader PC George would not be granted anticipatory bail in a hate speech case, citing his repeated violations of bail conditions and the necessity of stricter legal consequences for such offenses.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • New York Times ☛ Inmate Dies at N.Y. Prison as Corrections Officers’ Strike Continues

    The 61-year-old man was found unresponsive in his cell at Auburn Correctional Facility, one of dozens of state prisons where corrections officers have walked off the job over working conditions.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Supreme Court halts Convicted Felon attempt to fire head of whistleblower office – for now

    The unsigned order keeping on job the head of the federal agency that protects government whistleblowers is the court’s first word on The Insurrectionist’s agenda.

  • JURIST ☛ US DOJ seeks to drop lawsuit accusing SpaceX of immigrant discrimination

    US Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys have asked a federal court in Texas to end a temporary pause on a case accusing MElon’s tech company SpaceX of discriminating against immigrant job applicants.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Welcome to APRICOT 2025

    APRICOT 2025 starts today in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia! Here are some highlights.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Prodrug SPCs: invalidation action dismissed in Sweden

  The Swedish Patent and Market Court (“PMC”) recently issued a judgment on an important aspect of SPC law, namely the correct interpretation of the term ‘product’ under Article 1(b) of the SPC Regulation (see PMC 16666-23, 21 January 2025, English translation).