Leftovers

• Jakub Steiner ☛ Scavengers Reign

  I savored every episode, knowing this was going to be one of those rare shows — like Severance season one — that you only get to experience for the first time once. It pulls you into a vivid, immersive world that’s equal parts mesmerizing and unsettling. A place you’re fascinated by, but would never want to be put in. The atmosphere seeps into you — the sound design, the environments, the way it all just lingers under your skin. You can’t shake it off.

  And now I’ve watched the final episode — twelve in total — and I already miss it. So I need to say: watch it. It’s something special.

• Standards/Consortia

  • APNIC ☛ BGPsec — could you run it if you wanted to?

    When researching BGP security, it is hard to avoid the discussion around BGPsec, a standardized BGP extension that allows routers to cryptographically sign and validate BGP paths. BGPsec has no production deployment today, but it holds promise for the future if outstanding concerns around computational cost and partial deployment are resolved through further development.

  • Johnny Decimal ☛ 22.00.0122 Email

    The message here is that email should no longer be considered 'solvable'. We can still use sensible strategies to deal with it, but the Platonic ideal simply isn't there. It's best that you accept that now.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Galaxy Speared With Black Hole's Radiation in First Ever 'Cosmic Joust'

    A violent galactic collision.

  • Science Alert ☛ Revolutionary Contact Lenses Let Human Eyes See Invisible Light

    Even with your eyes closed.

  • Science Alert ☛ JWST Detects Most Distant Galaxy Yet, 280 Million Years After Big Bang

    It's from the dawn of the Universe.

  • Science Alert ☛ Humans Are Evolving Right in Front of Our Eyes on The Tibetan Plateau

    "This is a case of ongoing natural selection."

  • Science Alert ☛ Experimental Therapy Suppresses Immune Reaction to Gluten in Mice

    New hopes for a treatment for celiac disease.

  • Science Alert ☛ NOAA Forecasts a Busy Hurricane Season For 2025. What's Fueling It?

    Here's how they predict months into the future.

• Career/Education

  • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man administration blocks Harvard from enrolling foreign students

    US President The Insurrectionist’s administration has revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students and will force existing students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday. Harvard called the action illegal and said it was retaliatory.

  • Chronicle Of Higher Education ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Administration Revokes Harvard's Ability to Enroll International Students

    Foreign students make up almost 28 percent of its total student body. The unprecedented move would also force existing students to transfer or lose their legal status.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ Silicon Labs SiXG301 and SiXG302 “Series 3” wireless SoCs are built for line-powered and battery-powered IoT applications

    Silicon Labs has just introduced the first 22nm Series 3 SoCs with the SiXG301 and SiXG302 Arm Cortex-M33 multiprotocol wireless SoCs designed for line-powered and battery-powered IoT devices, respectively. The SiXG301 is offered with 4MB flash and 512 KB SRAM, embeds an LED pre-driver for advanced LED smart lighting and smart home products, and supports 2.4 GHz wireless protocols such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Thread with support for Matter.  The upcoming SiXG302 Bluetooth and Matter SoC offers an ultra-low-power consumption using only 15 µA/MHz active current, or 30% lower than competitive devices in its class, and as such is ideal for battery-powered wireless sensors and actuators.  We’ll be focusing on the SiMG301 multi-protocol SoC and SiBG301 Bluetooth LE SoC in this article since the details are sparse for the SiXG302 parts (SiMG302 and SiBG302).

  • Hackaday ☛ You Can 3D Print These Assistive Typing Tools

    Typing can be difficult to learn at the best of times. Until you get the muscle memory down, it can be quite challenging. However, if you’ve had one or more fingers amputated, it can be even more difficult. Just reaching the keys properly can be a challenge. To help in this regard, [Roei Weiman] built some assistive typing tools for those looking for a little aid at the keyboard.

  • MWL ☛ 89: Cheap Cat5 Cable

    I’m grinding on the new Networking for System Administrators so here’s a chunk. Ultimately, the Internet is a bunch of routers, switches, firewalls (however you define them), and other devices that connect a tangle of cables.

  • Hackaday ☛ Building A Tiny Table Saw

    If you want a regular table saw, you’re probably best off just buying one—it’s hard to beat the economies of scale that benefit the major manufacturers. If you want a teeny one, though, you might like to build it yourself. [Maciej Nowak] has done just that.

  • Hackaday ☛ Recovering Water From Cooling Tower Plumes With Plume Abatement

    As a common feature with thermal power plants, cooling towers enable major water savings compared to straight through cooling methods. Even so, the big clouds of water vapor above them are a clear indication of how much cooling water is still effectively lost, with water vapor also having a negative impact on the environment. Using so-called plume abatement the amount of water vapor making it into the environment can be reduced, with recently a trial taking place at a French nuclear power plant.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Stanford University ☛ What does mental health mean to The Daily?

    The Daily's Arts&Life team answers the question: What does mental health mean to you?

  • Latvia ☛ Saeima lets ambulance crews defend themselves with gas

    In order to strengthen the personal safety and protection of emergency medical personnel during the execution of a call, the Saeima adopted amendments to the Medical Treatment Law in a final reading on Thursday, May 22.

  • Science Alert ☛ Nanoplastics Stick to Toxic Bacteria, Forming a Deadly Combination

    Uh-oh.

  • JURIST ☛ DOJ investigating former New York governor Andrew Cuomo over COVID-19 testimony: report

    The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo over testimony he gave to Congress, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. The investigation stems from a transcribed interview that former Governor Cuomo gave to a Congressional Subcommittee in June 2024.

  • New York Times ☛ Make No Mistake, Republicans Are Trying to Cut Medicaid

    The Republican tax bill would take health insurance from millions of lower-income Americans and give the savings to the wealthiest Americans.

  • CS Monitor ☛ On chemicals and food, RFK Jr. runs up against powerful GOP constituencies

    A report by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again Commission blamed environmental toxins for health problems but did not make recommendations.

  • New Yorker ☛ What Casey Means and MAHA Want You to Fear

    Amid the destruction of America's public-health systems, Convicted Felon’s Surgeon General nominee believes that your wellness is yours alone to defend.

  • NYPost ☛ Microplastics are everywhere — new device yanks them from your laundry

    These minute particles have been linked to a laundry list of concerns, including a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and certain cancers.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s unseasonal temperatures spark rise in heat illnesses

    The spike in illnesses follows a streak of unusually high temperatures.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia cracks down on counterfeit medicine, urges consumers to exercise caution

    Counterfeit supplements often do not contain the correct active ingredients.

  • New York Times ☛ In ‘Cancer Alley,’ a Battle Over Who Gets to Measure Air Pollution

    Community groups are fighting an unusual Louisiana law that restricts how they use data from air-quality monitors, saying it violates free speech.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Press Gazette ☛ Publishers will lose out if generative Hey Hi (AI) becomes another duopoly

      Google and Proprietary Chaffbot Company want to reposition chatbots as virtual assistants.

    • Licensing / Legal

      • Los Angeles Times ☛ Hiltzik: Lawyers using AI can face sanctions and discipline

        Those errors were enough to prompt the plaintiffs suing Anthropic — music publishers who allege that the AI firm is infringing their copyrights by feeding lyrics into Claude to “train” the bot — to ask the federal magistrate overseeing the case to throw out the expert’s testimony in its entirety.

        It may also become a black eye for the big law firm Latham & Watkins, which represents Anthropic and submitted the errant declaration.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Ruben Schade ☛ Australian telco fined for identity checks

      Josh Taylor reported this afternoon: [...]

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ UK agrees to hand sovereignty of disputed Chagos Islands to Mauritius

    Britain on Thursday agreed to transfer sovereignty of the strategically located Chagos Islands to Mauritius, resolving a long-standing colonial-era dispute. The Indian Ocean archipelago is home to an important naval and bomber base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, operated by US forces and crucial for British counterterrorism and intelligence.

  • France24 ☛ Israel's Netanyahu appoints Major General David Zini as new Shin Bet chief

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Major General David Zini as the new head of the domestic intelligence service Shin Bet after former chief Ronen Bar announced his resignation in April, six weeks after Netanyahu tried to oust him.

  • JURIST ☛ Israel Supreme Court rules firing of security agency chief ‘unlawful’ amid political firestorm

    Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that the cabinet’s dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was “improper” and “unlawful.” The court found the firing lacked valid justification and was based on a “thin and shaky factual foundation.” Expanding on the court’s reasoning, Court President Justice Isaac Amit condemned the government’s failure to consult...

  • The Straits Times ☛ Man stabs three police officers in South Korea: Reports

    Police were responding to a domestic violence call when the attack occurred in Paju city.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Time ripe for talks between Myanmar junta and ousted government: Malaysia PM Anwar

    This is the first time the military regime appears amenable to a dialogue since the 2021 coup.

  • New York Times ☛ Kim Jong-un Vents Fury After Botched Launch of North Korean Destroyer

    He vows to punish as criminals those responsible for the failure, in which the ship had its hull torn open and ended up on its side in the water.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea launches probe into accident during warship’s launch

    Pyongyang has said the incident on May 21 was caused by a loss of balance.

  • Too big to conceal: North Korea fesses up to botched warship launch

    Leader Kim Jong Un delivers harsh, public rebuke after 5,000-ton naval destroyer lists in the water.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Beijing slams video posted by US embassy in Singapore about South China Sea

    China slammed a video shared on social control media by the US embassy in Singapore which criticises Beijing’s South China Sea claims, comparing them to the actions of an inconsiderate neighbour who intrudes on others’ space. The roughly 90-second video shows a government-built apartment block inundated with clutter, voiced over in a Singaporean accent.

  • France24 ☛ France and China must jointly 'safeguard international trade rules', Pooh-tin tells Macron

    French President Emmanuel Macron and China's President Pooh-tin Jinping agreed in a phone call Thursday to cooperate on global trade and end a dispute over European brandy imports, with Pooh-tin urging the French leader to help "safeguard international trade rules" in concert with Beijing amid the uncertainty caused by the threat of US tariffs.

  • Federal News Network ☛ VA issues grants for veteran suicide prevention programs

    VA is issuing more than $50 million in grants to community-based organizations that provide suicide prevention or emergency clinical services to veterans.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s defence ministry says no talks held with US on troop withdrawal

    One of the options is relocating some of the troops to other locations in the Indo-Pacific region, the WSJ report said.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ Germany's Merz inaugurates new brigade in Lithuania, saying Russia 'is a threat to us all'

      German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday inaugurated a historic new brigade in Lithuania, saying that Germany and its NATO partners are prepared to defend "every inch" of the alliance's territory. The thousands-strong brigade is part of European efforts to strengthen the region's defences in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

    • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Woke Up Europe, But His Ukraine Peace Push May Undermine China Strategy, Says Leon Aron

      Successive US administrations have long lobbied European allies to shoulder their fair burden for joint defense, but US President The Insurrectionist has taken a more bottom-line driven approach to NATO, publicly questioning why the United States should pay for the defense of rich European nations.

    • RFERL ☛ Kremlin Says Russia, Ukraine 'Yet To Agree' On More Peace Talks As 2 Killed In Strikes On Donetsk

      Despite talk of renewed diplomacy, Russia and Ukraine have not scheduled further peace negotiations, a Kremlin spokesman said -- even as fresh Russian strikes in the Donetsk region killed two civilians and left others wounded in one of the war’s most violent hotspots.

    • RFERL ☛ EU Lawmakers Increase Pressure By Targeting Fertilizers From Russia And Belarus

      The European Union on May 22 took a major step forward in ending imports of Russian and Belarusian nitrogen-based fertilizer products into the bloc by approving a schedule of increases in duties aimed at making it economically unviable to buy such products within the next three years.

    • Meduza ☛ U.K. says Russian state hackers tried to access security cameras to monitor Ukraine aid shipments — Meduza

    • JURIST ☛ UN expert calls for release of incarcerated Russia election monitor

      The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, called on Thursday for the release of Grigory Melkonyants, a lawyer and one of the most famous experts on election legislation and process in Russia. Katzarova categorized the sentencing of Melkonyants as a “grave miscarriage of justice [...]>

    • RFERL ☛ Italian Court Gives Russian Lawyer 38-Month Prison Sentence For Role In Artyom Uss Escape

      An Italian court sentenced a Geneva-based Russian lawyer to 38 months in prison for his role in helping politically connected Russian businessman Arytom Uss flee house arrest from a Milan suburb two years ago.

    • RFERL ☛ Top Romanian Court Rejects 'Unfounded' Election Challenge By Pro-Russia Candidate Simion

      Romania's Constitutional Court has unanimously rejected a challenge to the results of last week's presidential election by the losing ultranationalist candidate George Simion, saying his request was "unfounded."

    • Meduza ☛ Over 20 Russian-born residents reportedly left stateless under apparent Serbian naturalization ban — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ G7 Finance Ministers Agree To Increase Pressure On Russia If There Is No Cease-Fire In Ukraine

      Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven democracies agreed during a meeting in western Canada that Russia could face further sanctions if it resists a push toward a cease-fire in its war in Ukraine.

    • Meduza ☛ A heart to bring home Spanish artist Fernando Sánchez Castillo has created the first Alexey Navalny monument — a pocket-sized tribute you can keep — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘What difference does it make how I die?’ A Russian soldier got so desperate to leave the army that he attempted suicide. The only unusual part was that he filmed it. — Meduza

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Hackaday ☛ A Brief History Of Fuel Cells

      If we asked you to think of a device that converts a chemical reaction into electricity, you’d probably say we were thinking of a battery. That’s true, but there is another device that does this that is both very similar and very different from a battery: the fuel cell.

• Finance

  • France24 ☛ House passes Convicted Felon budget bill as critics fear cuts to services, ballooning debt

    The Republican-led US House of Representatives voted overnight Thursday to approve President The Insurrectionist's mega-bill that critics warn would decimate health care and harm the poorest Americans while further enriching the wealthiest and ballooning the debt by almost $4 trillion over the next decade.

  • Developing Asia’s laggard Laos faces economic headwinds

    Economists say the government hasn’t done enough to address inflation, currency weakness and debt.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Inflation tests Mexico’s monetary easing strategy as prices spike in May

    The national statistics agency INEGI reported Thursday that the annual headline rate was 4.22% in the first 15 days of May, up from 3.93% across April.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong anti-graft watchdog arrest 10 in suspected bribery case linked to CK Asset building project

    Hong Kong’s anti-graft watchdog has arrested 10 men in a suspected bribery case linked to real estate giant CK Asset’s residential project in Kwun Tong, in which sub-contractors allegedly offered incentives in exchange for lax oversight of steel reinforcement works.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Gold’s geopolitical comeback: How physical and digital gold can be used to evade US sanctions

    The rise of gold-backed currencies that circumvent the US banking system could create a massive blind spot for US sanctions enforcement efforts.

  • Pro Publica ☛ U.S. Officials Sold Stocks Before Trump’s Tariffs Sank the Market

    The week before President Donald Trump unveiled bruising new tariffs that sent the stock market plummeting, a key official in the agency that shapes his administration’s trade policy sold off as much as $30,000 of stock.

    Two days before that so-called “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2, a State Department official sold as much as $50,000 in stock, then bought a similar investment as prices fell.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘Thrift is honourable’: Chinese officials told to tighten belts to help the economy

    The penny-pinching comes as the economy contends with rising fiscal pressures.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US tariff tensions test South-east Asian leaders at regional summit

    Malaysia's Anwar has called for a joint Asean action plan to address the growing tariff threat.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Federal News Network ☛ ‘What the heck’s the commissioner of Social Security?’ SSA chief says he Googled agency after being tapped for job

    SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano told managers he’s open to advocating for money for IT modernization or more employees to oversee tech modernization.

  • NYPost ☛ Top Dem strategist James Carville tells progressives to start their own ‘pronoun’ party — while bashing Arizona state chair

    Veteran Democratic campaign strategist James Carville advised the new chairman of Arizona’s Democratic Party to "shut up" or start a new progressive party.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Stain of martial law bid deters use of South Korea Yoon's office

    Just three years after South Korea's former President Yoon Suk Yeol moved the presidential office from the historic Blue House, his potential successors are vowing to move again, as they seek to escape the taint of his martial law attempt.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s presidential race tightens sharply after TV debate

    Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung saw his lead in the election campaign narrow sharply in the latest opinion poll.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian intelligence wants penalties for disinformation, sabotage

      Remigijus Bridikis, director of the State Security Department (VSD), has called on politicians to return to a proposal first floated by Lithuanian intelligence nearly a decade ago to criminalise subversive activity.

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man shows photo from the DRC as proof of ‘white genocide’ in South Africa

      President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit to the Oval Office changed tone rapidly when The Insurrectionist ambushed him with videos, images and articles allegedly proving the existence of a "genocide" against white Afrikaner farmers in South Africa. But Convicted Felon misrepresented the articles and the contents of the videos shown, showing a photo from the DRC as South Africa, as well as claiming years-old footage as current or sharing it out of context. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man showed Ramaphosa a photo from DRC as proof of ‘White genocide’ in South Africa

      The Insurrectionist showed a screenshot of a video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo to bolster his claims of a White "genocide" taking place in South Africa during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday.

    • New York Times ☛ Deepfake Laws Bring Prosecution and Penalties, but Also Pushback

      Dozens of A.I.-related regulations enacted in the past two years now lead to fines, incarceration and legal challenges from the likes of MElon.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • The Strategist ☛ Regulating X isn’t censorship. It’s self-defence

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ The most profitable revenue stream some publishers have never heard of

    Wright's Media's Michelle Myers on how publishers can make money from content they have already created.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Facebook slammed for ‘attack on local journalism’ after third site ‘restricted’

    Upcoming Online Safety Act measures will require better protections for publisher content on platforms.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Tax audits of Hong Kong independent news outlets are ‘intimidation tactics,’ int’l media watchdogs say

    Hong Kong authorities’ tax audits of independent news outlets are “intimidation tactics,” two international media watchdogs have said, after a press association revealed that independent media outlets were accused of underpaying tax.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ US federal judge rules civil liberties oversight board members were improperly fired

    A US federal judge ruled Wednesday that President The Insurrectionist broke the law when he fired members of an independent civil liberties watchdog board without cause in January. US District Court for the District of Columbia Senior Judge Reggie Walton further ordered the reinstatement of those challenging their removals in court.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Around 270 Keeta delivery riders strike to protest ‘unfair’ system, reduced pay

    Around 270 riders working for food delivery platform Keeta have gone on strike to protest what they called an “unfair” system that has seen their earnings reduced.

  • AccessNow ☛ Reclaiming Syria’s digital future

    Syria was once described as “one of the most dangerous places to use the internet in the world.” Under the rule of Bashar al-Assad,

  • Pro Publica ☛ Chicago Police Fail to Investigate Officers Repeatedly Accused of Sexual Assault

    Alexus Byrd-Maxey had just finished her second month at the Chicago police academy, well on her way to fulfilling her childhood dream.

    The South Side native wanted to become a detective so she could bring closure to families who have lost loved ones to homicides by arresting those responsible.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Help Us Report on Sexual Assault and Misconduct by the Chicago Police Department

    A team of reporters from the nonprofit journalism organizations Invisible Institute and ProPublica have reviewed more than 300 sexual assault and misconduct complaints that were filed over the past decade against Chicago police officers.

    But experts say that’s likely an undercount.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Spotify Faces Congressional Scrutiny Over Drug-Peddling Podcasts

    Senator Maggie Hassan is seeking more information from Spotify into the handling of recently discovered fake podcasts peddling real drugs on the platform. Spotify removed dozens of podcasts earlier this week that blatantly promoted online illegal pharmacies selling drugs like Adderall and Oxycontin without a prescription.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Confirms Attempted Deportation of Migrants to South Sudan

    The deportees are stuck in Djibouti amid a legal fight over their expulsions. A lawyer for some of the men said she was concerned for their health and welfare.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Urges President, Senate To Swiftly Nominate Democratic Commissioner to FCC [Ed: Public Knowledge as Microsoft front]

    Today, Commissioner Geoffrey Starks announced that he would be stepping down from his role at the Federal Communications Commission. Public Knowledge urges the president and the U.S. Senate to preserve the agency’s independence by swiftly nominating and confirming a Democratic Commissioner to join Commissioner Anna Gomez and keep the FCC at full strength.

  • APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: PITA 29 AGM, Business Forum & Expo 2025

    APNIC presented and delivered training at the PITA 29th AGM, Business Forum and Expo, held from 29 April to 2 May 2025 in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ Alexion suffers defeat over Soliris patent monopoly at UK High Court

    Alexion has been defending several patents related to its biologic Soliris across courts in Europe. The orphan drug, based on the monoclonal antibody eculizumab, treats paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH).

  • Acting Director Stewart Issues a One Page Decision Denying Institution

    In the MediaTek v. Daedalus IPRs, there’s been some developments. In one IPR, the PTAB instituted the challenge over a request from the patent monopoly owner for discretionary denial.

  • JUVE ☛ Battle over battery technology ends as MU Ionics and CATL sign licensing deal

    MU Ionics, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Chemical and Ube Industries, produces electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries. Its EP 1 939 971 covers a lithium secondary cell and nonaqueous electrolytic solution for use therein.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ CAFC Overturns TTAB Dismissal of SFERA Opposition, Remanding for Reconsideration of1st and 2nd DuPont Factors

    The CAFC vacated and remanded the Board's decision [pdf here] dismissing an opposition to registration of the mark SFERA in the form shown below, for perfumery and cosmetics (Class 3), leather handbags and wallets (Class 18), and clothing (Class 25), in view of the registered mark SFERRA for table linen, bed sheets, lap robes, bath towels, and the like (Class 24). The appellate court concluded that the Board "erred in weighing the first Dupont factor and failed to address and evaluate relevant evidence concerning the second Dupont factor." Sferra Fine Linens, LLC v. Sfera Joven S.A., Appeal No. 2023-2198 (Fed. Cir. May 19, 2025) [not precedential].