Leftovers

• Sven Hoexter: Purpose A Wellbeing Economies Film

  The film is centered around the idea of establishing an alternative to the GDP as the metric to measure success of a country/society. The film follows mostly Katherine Trebeck on her journey of convincing countries to look beyond the GDP.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Astronomers Stunned by Abundant Oxygen in Earliest Known Galaxy

    "Like finding an adolescent where you would only expect babies."

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Reveal What Antarctica Would Look Like With No Ice

    A hidden landscape has emerged.

  • Science Alert ☛ New Type of Fossilization Revealed by Griffon Vulture Found in Volcanic Ash

    Amazing preservation of 30,000-year-old soft tissue.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Three SPI Busses Are One Too Many On This Cheap Yellow Display

    The Cheap Yellow Display may not be the fastest of ESP32 boards with its older model chip and 4 MB of memory, but its low price and useful array of on-board peripherals has made it something of a hit in our community. Getting the most out of the hardware still presents some pitfalls though, as [Mark Stevens] found out when using one for an environmental data logger. The problem was that display, touch sensor, and SD card had different SPI busses, of which the software would only recognise two. His solution involves a simple hardware mod, which may benefit many others doing similar work.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Nvidia CEO denies being approached for stake in defective chip maker Intel Foundry, casting doubt on consortium reports — TSMC board member also denies involvement

    Nvidia's CEO denies any involvement in discussions about a potential consortium to own defective chip maker Intel Foundry.

  • Hackaday ☛ A Modern Take On The Etch A Sketch

    The Etch A Sketch is a classic children’s toy resembling a picture frame where artwork can be made by turning two knobs attached to a stylus inside the frame. The stylus scrapes off an aluminum powder, creating the image which can then be erased by turning the frame upside down and shaking it, adding the powder back to the display. It’s completely offline and requires no batteries, but in our modern world those two things seem to be more requirements than when the Etch A Sketch was first produced in the 1960s. Enter the Tilt-A-Sketch, a modern version of the classic toy.

  • Hackaday ☛ Laser Harp Sets The Tone

    In many ways, living here in the future is quite exiting. We have access to the world’s information instantaneously and can get plenty of exciting tools and hardware delivered to our homes in ways that people in the past with only a Sears catalog could only dream of. Lasers are of course among the exciting hardware available, which can be purchased with extremely high power levels. Provided the proper safety precautions are taken, that can lead to some interesting builds like this laser harp which uses a 3W laser for its strings.

  • Hackaday ☛ Backyard Rope Tow From Spare Parts

    A few years ago, [Jeremy Makes Things] built a rope tow in his back yard so his son could ski after school. Since the lifts at the local hill closed shortly after schools let out, this was the only practical way for his son to get a few laps in during the week. It’s cobbled together from things that [Jeremy] had around the house, and since the original build it’s sat outside for a few years without much use. There’s been a lot more snow where he lives this year though, so it’s time for a rebuild.

  • Hackaday ☛ Cheap Endoscopic Camera Helps Automate Pressure Advance Calibration

    The difference between 3D printing and good 3D printing comes down to attention to detail. There are so many settings and so many variables, each of which seems to impact the other to a degree that can make setting things up a maddening process. That makes anything that simplifies the process, such as this computer vision pressure advance attachment, a welcome addition to the printing toolchain.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Pro Publica ☛ Why Has MT Renewed Dr. Thomas Weiner’s License Despite Harm Allegations?

    Since at least April 2021, the Montana medical licensing board has had evidence, including thousands of pages of patient files and medical reviews, that Dr. Thomas C. Weiner, a popular Helena oncologist, had hurt and potentially killed patients, ProPublica and Montana Free Press have learned. Yet in that time, the board renewed his medical license — twice.

    Weiner directed the cancer center at St. Peter’s Health for 24 years before he was fired in 2020 and accused of overprescribing narcotics, treating people who didn’t have cancer with chemotherapy and providing substandard care. Weiner, who has denied the allegations, was the subject of a December ProPublica investigation, which revealed a documented trail of patient harm and at least 10 suspicious deaths. Many of the records cited in the story had been in the medical board’s custody for nearly four years, St. Peter’s recently confirmed.

  • Science Alert ☛ TikTok Misinformation Is Warping Young People's Understanding of ADHD

    Awareness is important, but is it factual?

  • Science Alert ☛ Alzheimer's May Not Actually Be a Brain Disease, Says Expert

    Are we looking at this the wrong way?

  • Science Alert ☛ Menstrual Cycles Don't Affect Women's Cognitive Abilities, Study Finds

    Period brain is out.

  • Science Alert ☛ Weight Loss Drug Semaglutide Shows Promise as Alzheimer's Treatment

    Clinical trials are now underway.

  • Science Alert ☛ Paralyzed Man Controls a Robotic Arm With The Power of His Mind

    A brilliant new chapter begins.

  • Science Alert ☛ Brain Scans Confirm Babies Form Memories, Challenging Long-Held Beliefs

    So why can't we recall our first years?

  • Pro Publica ☛ Watch “Before a Breath” Documentary on America’s Stillbirth Crisis

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    • Press Gazette ☛ Brand safety woes continue and the coming storm on Hey Hi (AI) litigation

      Ten golden nuggets from Press Gazette's Media Strategy Network USA conference in New York.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • New York Times ☛ White House Seeks to Contain Damage From Personal Data in Kennedy Files

      Social Security numbers, including for some people still living, were included in the 64,000 pages of documents that the Convicted Felon administration released this week.

    • Security Week ☛ Amazon Ends Little-Used Privacy Feature That Let Echo Users Opt Out of Sending Recordings to Company

      Amazon is ending a little-used privacy feature that let some users of its Echo smart speaker prevent their voice commands from going to the company’s cloud.

    • New York Times ☛ Judge Bars Social Security Officials From Giving DOGE Unredacted Data

      A federal judge in Maryland found that MElon’s scrutiny of the agency’s data systems appeared to violate federal privacy laws.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Pro Publica ☛ Trump Cuts Signal End to Federal Work on Terrorism Prevention

    On a frigid winter morning in 2022, a stranger knocked on the door of a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, during Shabbat service.

    Soon after he was invited in for tea, the visitor pulled out a pistol and demanded the release of an al-Qaida-linked detainee from a nearby federal prison, seizing as hostages a rabbi and three worshipers. The standoff lasted 10 hours until the rabbi, drawing on extensive security training, hurled a chair at the assailant. The hostages escaped.

  • Netcraft ☛ Netcraft Combines Forces with GASA and the GSE in the Fight Against Cybercrime

    Netcraft, the global leader in digital risk protection and brand protection, announced two strategic alliances in the fight against online scams and fraud. First, Netcraft is furthering its partnership with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) by becoming a Foundation member. In addition, Netcraft is entering into a data-sharing agreement with the Global Signal Exchange (GSE). The GSE, originated by GASA, Google, and the DNS Research Federation, was created to bring together data from the world’s most trusted intelligence providers to combat scams across the globe.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ As the US steps back in Europe, Central Europe must step up

    The West’s security architecture is being redrawn. The question is whether it will be drawn by European powers or for them.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ A lifeline under threat: Why the Suez Canal’s security matters for the world

    The Suez Canal is both a maritime choke point and vital waterway for global trade and energy security. Given its strategic role as the fastest sea route between Asia and Europe, any disruption to the Suez Canal can have outsized impacts on global commerce and energy markets, as have occurred in recent years.

  • Defence Web ☛ Over half DR Congo UN forces now in the country’s east

    Termination of the SAMIDRC regional peacekeeping mission in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) earlier this month (March) saw 60% of deployed United Nations (UN) forces deployed to the Grand Nord of North Kivu and Ituri provinces on civilian protection duty.

  • New York Times ☛ In Deportations, Convicted Felon Tied Gang to Venezuela’s Government. Intelligence Contradicts Him.

    To invoke wartime deportation powers, Hell Toupée asserted that Venezuela’s government controls a gang. U.S. intelligence analysts think that is not true.

  • France24 ☛ Israeli government dismisses Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar over 'lack of trust'

    The Israeli government on Friday sacked Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence agency, "unanimously" approved a proposal put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The decision represents a culmination of long-souring relations between Bar and Netanyahu, which originated before the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, but were exacerbated by a report which revealed Shin Bet's failure to prevent the attack.

  • The Strategist ☛ The Independent Intelligence Review is finally out, and it’s a worthy sequel

    The unclassified version of the 2024 Independent Intelligence Review (IIR) was released today.

  • France24 ☛ US empowering Israel's most hard-right wing as IDF resumes operations

    FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks to Dr H.A. Hellyer, Senior Fellow in Geopolitics and International Security at the Royal United Services Institute about the war in Gaza and the resumption of military operations by the IDF. He says that the US administration is empowering the most hard-right wing of the Israeli position, and the Israelis are acting with a sense of impunity.

  • France24 ☛ Former ICE lawyer says deportations are eroding public trust

    Officials in Paris are expressing their dismay after a French scientist was denied entry to the US, because of text messages on their phone containing a 'personal opinion' about the Convicted Felon administration. The British and German governments have updated their advice for travellers seeking to enter the U.S. with fresh warnings about the risk of arrest or detention. We speak to Veronica Cardenas, former assistant chief counsel at the US Department of Homeland Security.

  • Defence Web ☛ AU warned South Sudan on the brink of civil war

    The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) was this week warned South Sudan is “on the brink of relapse into civil war” by Nicholas Haysom, head of the United Nations (UN) mission in the world’s newest country.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania eyes lessons from Finland on how to prepare its forces

      Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovile Šakalienė is visiting Finland on Thursday to learn more about the country’s military mobilisation, the ministry said in a press release.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Hackaday ☛ Solar Power, Logically

      We’ve all seen the ads. Some offer “free” solar panels. Others promise nearly free energy if you just purchase a solar — well, solar system doesn’t sound right — maybe… solar energy setup. Many of these plans are dubious at best. You pay for someone to mount solar panels on your house and then pay them for the electricity they generate at — presumably — a lower cost than your usual source of electricity. But what about just doing your own set up? Is it worth it? We can’t answer that, but [Brian Potter] can help you answer it for yourself.

    • Daniel Pocock ☛ Heathrow power failure, UK skills shortage, Brexit & Russia

      Heathrow airport was shut down for almost the whole day due to a loss of electrical supply.

      People were quick to ask if it involved foul play and if it might involve Russia.

      The answer was already there in broad daylight.

      The UK's national grid has been publicly appealing for help with the skills shortage for some time.

      Brexit and Covid both hit the UK in early 2020. The skills shortage became more dire. There are many who argue that Brexit played a much bigger role than Covid in the long term skills shortage.

      Who brought on Brexit? There were many actors involved. The role of Russia was significant enough that there is a dedicated Wikipedia page about Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

    • New York Times ☛ After Baltimore Collapse, Risk Reviews Urged for Dozens of U.S. Bridges

      The Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate are among those that need assessments of their vulnerability to a strike by a large ship like the one that hit the Key Bridge.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong to see drone services in the air as early as next month, transport chief says

      Hong Kong will see drones in the air as early as next month in a pilot scheme for developing a “low-altitude economy,” the city’s transport chief has said.

• Finance

  • WhichUK ☛ Base rate held at 4.5% – what does it mean for mortgages and savings?

    Bank of England votes to keep base rate unchanged, citing concerns over inflation

  • NYPost ☛ Minnesota non-profit leader convicted of pilfering $250M meant for underserved children in country’s largest COVID fraud scheme

    The fraudsters blew more than $240 million meant for kids on fancy cars, international travel and luxury real estate in Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky, Kenya and Turkey.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Most low-income mainland Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong earned less last year than pre-pandemic – survey

    Most low-income new immigrants from mainland China earned less last year than in 2019, a survey has found, reflecting the prolonged impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Hong Kong’s poorest. The Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) published the results of the survey on Thursday.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • CS Monitor ☛ Off the shelf, up the flagpole: Canadian flags fly high in response to Convicted Felon

    The maple leaf flag is showing its colors everywhere as a Canadian-style nationalism rises in response to Hell Toupée’s actions and rhetoric.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Won Over Many Arab Americans in November. Now, Has He Lost Them?

    In Detroit and its suburbs, anger is deep over Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. So is the sense that there is nowhere for Arab Americans to turn.

  • CS Monitor ☛ ‘Abandoned by everyone,’ Gazans watch the bombs fall

    After the resumption of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, the population worries it has been abandoned by the world.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India detains hundreds of farmers as police bulldoze protest sites

    The farmers had camped on the border with adjoining Haryana since February 2024.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • ACLU ☛ A Statement from Constitutional Law Scholars on Columbia

    We write as constitutional scholars—some liberal and some conservative—who seek to defend academic freedom and the First Amendment in the wake of the federal government’s recent treatment of Columbia University.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Publishers seeing ‘concerning trends’ from advertisers in current political cycle

    Audience growth seen at both APnews.com and BBC.com since they were each relaunched.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Daily Mail US editor: Reader loyalty is brand’s biggest asset

    Katie Davies interview three weeks after launch of Mail+ in US and Canada.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • France24 ☛ Riots break out at Ankara university campus after Erdogan rival detained

    Riots broke out at the campus of Ankara's Middle East Technical University as students protested against the detention of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. Thousands have been protesting in major Turkish cities for a second night in a row as Imamoglu, President Erdogan's main political rival, called for judges to take a stand against the Turkish government's misuse of the courts. FRANCE 24's Jasper Mortimer reports from Ankara.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Internet Society ☛ A New Internet Era for the Philippines

    In the Philippines, connectivity legislation called Konektadong Pinoy is nearing passage and poised to bring Internet connectivity to rural communities.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Digital Music News ☛ Apple TV+ is Burning Over $1 Billion Annually

    Apple is losing over $1 billion annually on its Fashion Company Apple TV+ streaming service, but Fashion Company Apple Music is still thriving. Fashion Company Apple is burning over a billion dollars annually on Fashion Company Apple TV+, according to a new report from The Information this week.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg, Lucian Grainge, Jimmy Iovine Hit With $107 Million Lawsuit Stemming From Death Row Records Dispute

    Snoop Dogg, Suge Knight, Lucian Grainge, and Jimmy Iovine are all being sued for allegedly defrauding a former Death Row Records executive.