Leftovers

• Standards/Consortia

  • Daniel Estévez ☛ 5G NR PDCCH

    This is a new post in my series about the 5G NR RAN. As in previous posts, I am analyzing a short recording of the downlink of an srsRAN gNB. There are no UEs connected to the cell during this recording, so there isn’t much interesting traffic, but the recording contains all the essential 5G signalling. In particular, there is a SIB1 transmission in the PDSCH, with its corresponding transmission in the PDCCH.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Why more Americans are crossing the border for healthcare

    If you haven't considered Tijuana as a healthcare destination, here's why you ought to.

  • New York Times ☛ Why Patients Are Being Forced to Switch to a 2nd-Choice Obesity Drug

    CVS Caremark decided to stop offering Zepbound in favor of Wegovy for weight loss. It’s the latest example of limits imposed by insurance that disrupt treatments for patients.

  • Science Alert ☛ Your Fridge May Be an Incubator For Bacteria – Here's How to Prevent It

    A no-breeding zone, please.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvian Medical Association head Aizsilniece passes away

    Ilze Aizsilniece, the head of the Latvian Medical Association, passed away on Sunday, 11 May, after a serious illness, LTV reports.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Perfect Storm': Expert Reveals Why Pollen Allergies Are Getting Worse

    Intensifying for decades.

  • Science Alert ☛ Sleep Helps Your Brain Prepare For The Future, And Now We Know How

    Remember to go to bed.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Oldest Evidence of Psychedelics in The Andes Predates The Inca

    Chemical traces from thousands of years ago.

  • Science Alert ☛ Measles Could Become Endemic in US if Surge Continues, Expert Warns

    One of the most contagious infections ever identified.

• Security

  • Light Blue Touchpaper ☛ Human HARMS: Threat modelling social harms against technical systems

    by Kieron Ivy Turk, Anna Talas, and Alice Hutchings When talking about the importance of cybersecurity, we often imagine hackers breaking into high-security systems to steal data, money or launch large-scale attacks. However, technology can also be used for harm in everyday situations.

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

      • Android Police ☛ Google may auto-convert your passwords to passkeys on Android [Update: Rolling out now] [Ed: Passkeys Are Vendor Lock-in and Imperialism, Not Security, So Escape Them Before They Latch Onto Your Workflows]

        While digging through the code of the latest Google Play services beta (v25.19.31), the Android Authority team discovered signs of Google Password Manager for Android soon picking up a feature that will automatically upgrade your passwords to passkey on login. They even managed to activate the feature.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Hackaday ☛ Open Source ELINT Accidentally From NASA

      You normally think of ELINT — Electronic Intelligence — as something done in secret by shadowy three-letter agencies or the military. The term usually means gathering intelligence from signals that don’t contain speech (since that’s COMINT). But [Nukes] was looking at public data from NASA’s SMAP satellite and made an interesting discovery. Despite the satellite’s mission to measure soil moisture, it also provided data on strange happenings in the radio spectrum.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Israel urges evacuation of Yemen ports after strikes target Houthi strongholds

    Israel's military on Sunday called on civilians to evacuate three Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen – Ras Issa, Hodeida, and Salif – following recent airstrikes in response to missile attacks, including one that hit Israel’s main airport. The warning comes amid escalating tensions with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have vowed to continue targeting Israel.

  • New York Times ☛ A Night in Kashmir, Caught Between India and Pakistan’s Fight

    Far from the missile strikes and drone combat that grabbed the world’s attention, ordinary Kashmiris suffer the heaviest toll of India and Pakistan’s confrontation.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Says Ready To Meet Putin In Turkey, But Insists On May 12 Cease-Fire

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is ready to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on May 15, but he insisted that a cease-fire backed by his European allies begin on May 12, although Moscow has so far ignored that call.

    • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Urges Ukraine To Negotiate With Putin 'Now,' Ignoring Kyiv's Cease-Fire Demand

      US President The Insurrectionist has demanded that Ukraine should "immediately" hold direct talks with Russia to end the war, ignoring Kyiv's call for a cease-fire before any negotiations.

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky Demands Cease-Fire in Response to Putin’s Call for Direct Talks

      The Ukrainian president claimed he was ready to travel to Turkey to meet with Russia’s leader, but he also insisted on an immediate truce before negotiations can begin.

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky challenges Putin to meet 'in person' for peace talks

      Russia and Ukraine took a significant step towards discussing pathways to an end to the Ukraine war on Sunday when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would personally be "waiting for Putin in Türkiye" on Thursday. Putin accepted to engage in "direct talks" with Ukraine, but refused Zelensky's request to implement an unconditional ceasefire proposal Ukraine and its allies presented on Friday prior to the talks.

    • Meduza ☛ Zelensky to visit Istanbul for talks, even if Putin rejects ceasefire — Axios — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Erdogan says efforts to end Ukraine war at 'turning point'

      Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 11 told Russian and French leaders that a "historic turning point" has been reached in efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and that Ankara was ready to host talks between the two warring parties, his office said. France 24's Philip Turle tells us more.

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky welcomes Russian overtures, but says ceasefire must come before peace talks

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 11 welcomed Russia’s offer for direct peace talks, but insisted there must be a full, temporary ceasefire in place before negotiations can start. France 24's Emmanuelle Chaze tells us more.

    • JURIST ☛ Rights group urges Vietnam to release activist amid escalating crackdown on dissent

      Human Rights Watch on Friday called for the immediate release of Trinh Ba Phuong, a prominent Vietnamese human rights activist, condemning what it described as an intensifying campaign by the Vietnamese government to silence peaceful dissent.

    • Meduza ☛ Russia ignores calls for May 12 ceasefire, launches over 100 drones at Ukraine — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ New Russian bill would allow government to seize property of citizens abroad charged with misdemeanor offenses — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ 🔴 Zelensky says ‘will be waiting’ to meet Putin for talks in Turkey

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky says ‘will be waiting’ to meet Putin for talks in Turkey

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said he “will be waiting” to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for talks in Turkey as he called for a full ceasefire starting Monday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier told French President Emmanuel Macron that Ankara was ready to host negotiations to help end the Ukraine war. Read our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded.

    • France24 ☛ Turkey ready to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks, Erdogan tells Putin

      Putin on May 11 proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul aimed at ending the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was willing to talk but Moscow must first agree to a ceasefire.

    • France24 ☛ War in Ukraine: Vladimir Putin proposes direct talks in Istanbul

      Turkey is ready to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul again, President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call on May 11, Erdogan's office said. Our guest Melinda Haring, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, tells us more.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Science Alert ☛ Failed Soviet Probe Plunges Back to Earth After 53 Years Stuck in Orbit

      But where is it?

    • Computers Are Bad ☛ air traffic control

      Air traffic control has been in the news lately, on account of my country's declining ability to do it. Well, that's a long-term trend, resulting from decades of under-investment, severe capture by our increasingly incompetent defense-industrial complex, no small degree of management incompetence in the FAA, and long-lasting effects of Reagan crushing the PATCO strike. But that's just my opinion, you know, maybe airplanes got too woke. In any case, it's an interesting time to consider how weird parts of air traffic control are. The technical, administrative, and social aspects of ATC all seem two notches more complicated than you would expect. ATC is heavily influenced by its peculiar and often accidental development, a product of necessity that perpetually trails behind the need, and a beneficiary of hand-me-down military practices and technology.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Shaved Roadkill to Find Out How Mammals Glow in The Dark

      There's more than one way to shave a bandicoot.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Young elephant crossing Malaysia highway with mother dies in accident with lorry, draws sympathy

      The carcass of the dead calf has been removed and will be buried.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ This US-owned factory in China made toys bound for Walmart. Tariffs put it on life support

    The emails started pouring in on April 9, the day President The Insurrectionist’s 145% tariff on Chinese imports took effect. Clients were canceling orders for toys from Huntar Company Inc.’s factory in Guangdong Province, China. 

  • France24 ☛ 'Substantial progress' made on US-China trade deal

    US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent on Sunday said negotiations between the US and China have led to "substantial progress" on reaching a trade deal that would de-escalate the trade war started by US President The Insurrectionist's sweeping tariff policies last month.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Says ‘Substantial Progress’ Made in Trade Talks With China

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the details would be announced on Monday after two days of negotiations in Geneva.

  • New York Times ☛ Asia Stocks Rise on Hope for Lower Tariffs After U.S.-China Talks

    Investors were optimistic after American officials touted progress in trade negotiations over the weekend, though details had yet to be released.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ The Insurrectionist hails ‘total reset’ in US-China trade relations as talks continue

    US President The Insurrectionist hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks Sunday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US-China talks resume as Convicted Felon hails ‘total reset’ in trade relations

    President The Insurrectionist says the two sides are negotiating “in a friendly, but constructive, manner”.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US and China hail ‘progress’ after trade talks end in Geneva

    They have agreed to set up a joint mechanism focused on “communications related to trade and commercial issues".

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s consumption slides for third straight month as tariff war with US bites

    China said Saturday that consumer prices slumped in April for the third straight month, reflecting persistent challenges as leaders attempt to revive an economy stymied by sluggish spending and a fierce trade war with Washington.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ South Korea’s Two Presidential Candidates Have Been Chosen For June Election

    Lee Jae-myung and Kim Moon-soo represent the opposite sides of a country polarized over former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s use of martial law and his ouster.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea's presidential campaigns kick off, focus on ailing economy

    SEOUL - Contenders for South Korea's presidency kicked off their campaigns on Monday, vowing to unify a deeply polarised society and spur economic growth while navigating trade negotiations with the United States.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Election campaigning kicks off in South Korea

    For 22 days from May 12, the six officially registered presidential candidates will campaign across the country.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Former Taiwan president Tsai to make sensitive visit to Britain this week

    Ms Tsai, who stepped down in May 2024, has become a symbol of Taiwan's defiance against China's military threats.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan wants US security, tech cooperation despite trade hurdles

    Around 60 per cent of Taiwanese exports to the US fall within the information technology sector.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Games

    • Outlook Publishing India Pvy Ltd ☛ Taliban Outlaws Chess In Afghanistan Citing Religious Concerns

      The Taliban outlawed chess in Afghanistan on Sunday citing concerns that it may promote gambling in the nation, asserting it to violate their interpretation of the Islamic law, as reported by Khaama Press. The Taliban-headed sports ministry claimed that the game will remain suspended until suitable solutions are found for the flagged concerns.

      The Taliban Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice dissolved the Afghanistan Chess Federation calling the sport to be ‘haram’ in their understanding of the Islamic law.

    • France24 ☛ Taliban suspends chess in Afghanistan, cites religious concerns over gambling

      The Taliban government has suspended the game of chess across Afghanistan, citing its potential association with gambling, prohibited under the country’s morality laws. The decision, announced by a sports official on Sunday, reflects the administration's ongoing enforcement of its austere interpretation of Islamic law since seizing power in 2021.

    • RFERL ☛ Taliban 'Suspends' Chess Playing In Afghanistan Citing Religious, Gambling Concerns

      Since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban rulers have imposed a series of restrictions on sports and other cultural events.

      They have also regularly been assailed by the world community for more-serious human rights violation, including the oppression of women and girls.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Prolific blogging (or not?)

    The imitable R.L. Dane posted a comment recently about the number of posts I write in a given year:

    Oh holy moly. This fella has words. Lots of words. Many very fine words.

  • APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: 6th ICANN APAC-TWNIC Engagement Forum and 43rd TWNIC OPM

    Jia Rong Low delivered a keynote presentation at the 6th ICANN APAC-TWNIC Engagement Forum and 43rd TWNIC OPM, held in Taipei from 22 to 24 April 2025.

  • APNIC ☛ APNIC registry services availability during Q1 2025

    The latest measurements on APNIC’s whois, RDAP, RPKI, IRR, and rDNS are now available.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Fires Director of US Copyright Office Following Hey Hi (AI) Training Report

    The Insurrectionist fires Shira Perlmutter, who leads the US Copyright Office, just after the release of a three-part report on artificial intelligence. Hell Toupée has fired Shira Perlmutter, who heads the US Copyright Office as the 14th Register of Copyrights.