Leftovers

• seand.xyz: A Fresh Start for My Work and Ideas

  I’ve moved to seand.xyz—a new home for my open-source work and conversations around mentorship, community, and leadership in GNU/Linux and beyond.

• Lee Yingtong Li ☛ DrCr, a double-entry bookkeeping tool

  I present DrCr, a self-contained cross-platform open-source double-entry bookkeeping tool, written using Rust and Tauri, with Vue.js on the frontend, and Luau for scriptable plugin support.

• Lee Yingtong Li ☛ Moving beyond plaintext accounting – why I wrote my own double-entry bookkeeping tool

  Since 2017, I have been using open-source double-entry bookkeeping tools to manage personal finances – initially GnuCash, and from 2019, the plaintext accounting tool ledger. Ledger, and plaintext accounting generally, sported a number of appealing features – the software is lightweight and performant, ledger workflows incorporate efficient automation such as importing transactions from bank statements, and it is compelling that data is stored in a non-proprietary human-readable flat plaintext file.

• Medium ☛ Simon Quigley: Thanks, Mailbox!

  A gentleman by the name of Arif Ali reached out to me on LinkedIn. I won’t share the actual text of the message, but I’ll paraphrase:
  “I hope everything is going well with you. I’m applying to be an Ubuntu ‘Per Package Uploader’ for the SOS package, and I was wondering if you could endorse my application.”

  Arif, thank you! I have always appreciated our chats, and I truly believe you’re doing great work.

• Hackaday ☛ Turning Up The Heat On HT-PLA’s Marketing

  PLA is probably the most-printed filament on the market these days, and is there any wonder? It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it doesn’t poison you (as quickly as its competitors, anyway). What it doesn’t do very well is take the heat. Polymaker’s new HT-PLA formulation promises to solve that, and [My Tech Fun] put those claims to the test in a recent video.

• Hackaday ☛ Saving Green Books From Poison Paranoia

  You probably do not need us to tell you that Arsenic is not healthy stuff. This wasn’t always such common knowledge, as for a time in the 19th century a chemical variously known as Paris or Emerald Green, but known to chemists as copper(II) acetoarsenite was a very popular green pigment. While this pigment is obviously not deadly on-contact, given that it’s taken 200 years to raise the alarm about these books (and it used to be used in candy (!)), arsenic is really not something you want in your system. Libraries around the world have been quarantining vintage green books ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶b̶i̶b̶l̶i̶o̶p̶h̶i̶l̶i̶es ̶m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶m̶p̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶  out of an abundance of caution, but researchers at The University of St. Andrews have found a cheaper method to detect the poison pigment than XRF or Raman Spectroscopy previously employed.

• Hackaday ☛ Building An Assembly Line For Origami Pigeons

  When it comes to hacks, the best ones go to extremes. Either beautiful in their simplicity, or magnificent in their excess. And, well, today’s hack is the latter: excessive. [HTX Studio] built an assembly line for origami pigeons!

• Hackaday ☛ A Modern Take On Iconic Industrial Design

  The Functionalist design philosophy that Dieter Rams brought to Braun from the 50s to the 90s still inspires the look of a few devices, including Apple’s iPod, Teenage Engineer’s synthesizers and recorders – and [2dom]’s IR7 streaming radio.The streaming radio was inspired by Braun’s portable radios, particularly the SK2, TP1, and the T3 pocket radio. [2dom] started with the T3’s circular pattern of holes and experimented with several variations, finally settling on a cylindrical shape with a central display; a prototype with a low-power monochrome rectangular display was eventually rejected in favor of a circular LCD. The housing consists of four 3D-printed components: an upper and lower shell, a resonator for the speaker, and a knob for a rotary encoder.Electronics-wise, an ESP32 handles the computing requirements, while the LCD and rotary encoder provide a user interface. For audio, it uses a VS1053 MP3 decoder, PAM8403 amplifier, and a wideband speaker, with an audio isolation transformer to clean up the audio. To reduce power consumption, a MOSFET cuts power to the peripheral components whenever the device is in sleep mode. The full design is available on GitHub.The end result of this effort is a quite authentic-looking 21st-century adaptation of Rams’s original designs. If you’re interested in more Braun designs, check out this replica of one of their desk fans. We’ve also seen a restoration of one of Braun’s larger radios, the TS2.

• Science

  • NYPost ☛ June’s Strawberry Moon ushers in best time of year to view our celestial neighbor

    Known as the Strawberry Moon, the last full Moon of spring rises early Wednesday, beginning the best time of year to enjoy our celestial neighbor.

  • Ruben Schade ☛ What has expanded the utility of computers for you in the last decade?

    I’m trying to think of an innovation made in the last 10 years that has seriously expanded the utility of computers for me, and I’m coming up blank.

    At first (I was afraid, I was petrified?) I thought I’d easily be able to come up with something substantial. A decade is a long time in computing; the one I grew up in started with the 386, and ended with broadband Internet, for Pete’s sake.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Information Density: Microfilm And Microfiche

    Today, we think nothing of sticking thousands of pages of documents on a tiny SD card, or just pushing it out to some cloud service. But for decades, this wasn’t possible. Yet companies still generated huge piles of paper. What could be done? The short answer is: microfilm.

  • Hackaday ☛ Run A Lawnmower On Diesel With Hot Bulb Hack

    If you’re into automotive hacks and don’t watch [Robot Cantina], you are missing out. This hack has [Jimbo] taking a break from automotive hacking to butcher a poor, innocent Tecumseh lawnmower to run diesel fuel (or anything else) by converting the motor into a hot bulb engine. (Video embedded below.)

  • Ruben Schade ☛ The Corsair Nautilus 240 RS doesn’t fit in the Dan A4-H2O

    This is a public service announcement for anyone buying a Corsair Nautilus 240 all-in-one (AIO) liquid CPU cooler for their Lian-Li/Dan A4-H2O mini-ITX case. It doesn’t fit! Yes, I know you read the same sites I did, but trust me, it doesn’t.

    How did we get here, I hear you ask? Well!

    I bought the Dan A4-H2O early this year because it reminded me of the NCASE M1, my favourite computer case of all time. Clara has been using the M1 for her Minecraft machine, so I thought it’d be cute to have a matching one next to hers. To that end, it’s been a great purchase… though unsurprisingly, the slimline Noctua air cooler I’d been using in the Fractal Ridge didn’t fit.

  • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine, Moldova Move A Step Closer To EU By Joining Mobile Roaming Zone

      One of the EU's more popular policies since it began in 2017, RLAH allows people who have a mobile contract in one EU member state to be charged domestic rates for calls, text messages, and data when visiting another country in the club.

      The RLAH is also applicable in the other non-EU countries of the European Economic Area -- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway -- as well as other states in which some telecom operators have decided to align with EU legislation, like the United Kingdom. But this move is the first time Brussels has invited EU candidate countries to join this part of its single market.

    • The Register UK ☛ Blocking stolen phones from the cloud can but won't be done

      Before delving into the corporate psychology underlying this antisocial psychosis, we must get some facts in order. All mobile phones have an IMEI, a unique International Mobile Equipment Identity burned into them much as every vehicle has a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) tattooed into its chassis – to prevent fraud. You can replace and respray a stolen motor, but if the VIN is on the list of hot motors, then it can be spotted during an inspection. Likewise, a snatched phone's IMEI can be blacklisted on cell networks, stopping the device from connecting. This means a stolen phone has little resale value and little attraction to thieves.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Bill’s Caps on Grad School Loans Could Worsen Doctor Shortage

    The proposed limits on federal loans fall well below the costs of medical school. Critics say this could deter students from pursuing medicine.

  • New York Times ☛ RFK Jr. Removes All CDC Vaccine Panel Experts

    The U.S. health secretary chose to “retire” members of a committee that makes significant decisions about who receives immunizations, including the vaccines for children.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Assessment finds 67% of separating troops screen positive for mental health condition

    Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression were among the most common issues identified.

  • Latvia ☛ Valmiera municipality to tackle lack of GPs with stipends

    There is a shortage of general practitioners, or family doctors, in many rural areas. For example, in Strenči, Valmiera municipality, it has been impossible to find a doctor for years. In Valmiera, on the other hand, many family doctors are approaching retirement age, so in order to attract young specialists, the local government has decided to award stipends to residents who are training to become family doctors, Latvian Radio reported on 9 June.

  • Science Alert ☛ New Smart Dental Floss Can Detect Your Stress From Saliva

    This goes way beyond dental hygiene.

  • Science Alert ☛ Several Psychiatric Disorders Share The Same Root Cause, Study Finds

    How are they linked?

• Proprietary

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ If you deleted that mysterious backdoored Windows file Abusive Monopolist Microsoft told you not to, there's a new script to restore it

    The company warns against deleting the ‘inetpub’ folder used in security patch deployment

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Apple says generative Hey Hi (AI) cannot think like a human - research paper pours cold water on reasoning models

      Apple researchers found that today's most advanced Hey Hi (AI) reasoning models, though better than standard LLMs on moderately complex tasks, ultimately fail at higher complexities. That exposes fundamental limits in their ability to generalize reasoning.

    • OPINION: Lessons from testing Hey Hi (AI) on the truth of Tiananmen

      An artificial model can only be as effective at establishing and recognizing truth as its creator.

    • Beyond Code: Hey Hi (AI) as the Next OSS Battleground [Ed: Redmond front groups pressing ahead with hype and slop]

      On August 13th, 2010, Oracle sued Surveillance Giant Google over copyright monopoly and patent monopoly infringement claims relating to the reimplementation of the Java runtime within its Android platform. The suit took over a decade to resolve, and had several major twists and turns, but ultimately the Supreme Court decided in Google’s favor on April 5th, 2021.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ ChatGPT 'got absolutely wrecked' by Atari 2600 in beginner's chess match — OpenAI's newest model bamboozled by 1970s logic

      It is claimed that OpenAI’s Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot 4o model “got absolutely wrecked on the beginner level” of Atari Chess on an Atari 2600 console from the 1970s.

    • JURIST ☛ UK judge warns lawyers of consequences for misusing Hey Hi (AI) in court filings

      A judge in the UK has warned lawyers of the consequences for submitting court filings with fake cases generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

  • Social Control Media

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Social media, e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu – or RedNote in English – sets up office in Hong Kong

      Chinese social network and e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu, known in English as RedNote, has set up an office in Hong Kong – its first outside mainland China.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Internet infamy drives The Com’s crime sprees

      Unit 221B’s Allison Nixon said crackdowns have effectively shown the group that their actions carry real consequences.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Daniel Miessler ☛ Why Surveillance Giant Google I/O Scared This 2007 Fashion Company Apple Fanboy for the First Time

      As an Fashion Company Apple Fanboy going back to 2007, this is the first year I’ve felt fear for Apple’s future. And after just watching Apple’s WWDC I am still scared for them.

    • Xe's Blog ☛ Apple just Sherlocked Docker

      This is an absolute game changer. One of the biggest pain points with my MacBook is that the battery life is great...until I start my GNU/Linux VM or run the Docker app.

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ New Way to Track Covertly Android Users

      Researchers have discovered a new way to covertly track Android users. Both Meta and Yandex were using it, but have suddenly stopped now that they have been caught.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan confirms China’s aircraft carrier sailed east of Iwo Jima for first time

    Iwo Jima is located 1,000 km south of Tokyo.

  • The Straits Times ☛ On the edge of hope: Life on Philippines’ quiet front line in the South China Sea

    A small but resilient Filipino community has been living on Thitu Island since 2002.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US, China seek to extend trade truce with London talks

    After a round of talks in Geneva last month, the United States and China will sit down at the negotiating table in London on Monday to attempt to preserve a fragile truce on trade, despite simmering tensions.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ China is carrying out ‘dress rehearsals’ to take Taiwan. Here’s how the US should respond.

    With China escalating its operation tempo in the Taiwan Strait, the Uni

  • Pro Publica ☛ Death Penalty Cases in Maricopa County Rarely End in a Death Sentence

    In 2010, Vikki Valencia’s 24-year-old brother, Triny Rey Lozano, died in an almost unimaginably brutal way. He was shot in the head multiple times, dumped on a remote road outside Phoenix and set on fire.

    Valencia saw only one way prosecutors could bring her family justice: The killer should get the death penalty.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Satellite images show damaged North Korean warship moved to a port for repair, report says

    Leader Kim Jong Un, who witnessed the failed launch of the destroyer, called the accident a "criminal act".

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea close to $6 billion tank deal with Poland in June, Yonhap reports

    South Korea is close to signing a deal worth around $6 billion to supply 180 K2 tanks for Poland, Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. and China Meet at Precarious Moment in Trade War

    Officials from both sides are meeting on Monday in London, aiming to resolve differences over tariffs and supply chains that have endangered a fragile truce between the countries.

  • New York Times ☛ China’s Grip on an Obscure Rare Earth Metal Threatens the West’s Militaries

    China produces the entire world’s supply of samarium, a rare earth metal that the United States and its allies need to rebuild inventories of fighter jets, missiles and other hardware.

  • CS Monitor ☛ How rare earths, Hey Hi (AI) chips, and student visas raise the stakes in the US-China trade war

    The United States and China have agreed to a new round of trade talks in London on June 9. In the ongoing trade war, China slowed the export of its “rare earths” as the U.S. issued export control guidelines for Hey Hi (AI) chips and revoked Chinese student visas.

  • New York Times ☛ California Lawsuit Challenges Convicted Felon’s Order Sending National Guard to L.A.

    The state’s attorney general argued that local law enforcement had been capable of handling the situation and could have requested support from state partners had it been necessary.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ Pavel and Tucker, together again Telegram founder Durov returns for hour-long interview with Carlson to discuss France’s criminal charges — Meduza

    • Latvia ☛ State Security Service to look at MP Rosļikovs

      On 9 June, the State Security Service (VDD) launched criminal proceedings against Member of Parliament Aleksejs Rosļikovs (For Stability!) on suspicion of aiding Russia in its actions against Latvia and inciting national hatred and intolerance.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian ministry seeks €120m to fortify border with Russia

      Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič says Lithuania needs an estimated 120 million euros to ramp up security along its border with Russia.

    • Damaged North Korea warship now in drydock near Russian border

      Less than three weeks after its botched launch, the naval destroyer has been righted and is now undergoing repairs

    • New York Times ☛ NATO Chief Urges Members to Spend Far More on Military

      “Learn to speak Russian,” the secretary-general of the alliance warned nations unwilling to make politically unpopular budget decisions.

    • Meduza ☛ Contract soldier in southern Russia flees unit with assault rifle and shoots two local residents — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ North Korea moves damaged warship near Russian border, possibly seeking Moscow’s aid in repairs — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Latvian State Security Service investigates parliament member for inciting ethnic hatred after heated defense of Russian speakers — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Video appears to show Russian soldier firing grenade launcher at house in Sudzha — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘A dirty political and propaganda game’: Russia displays body bags containing remains of Ukrainian soldiers to journalists after swap falls through — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Pure terrorism’: See the aftermath of Russia’s biggest strike of the war on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia and Ukraine begin large exchange of young and severely wounded POWs — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Israel confirms that it transferred Patriot air defense missile systems to Ukraine — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Says Russia Launched 499 Missiles and Drones in Biggest Air Assault of War

      The attack used almost 500 drones and missiles, breaking a record set just days earlier, as Russia tries to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses, which shot down most of the weapons.

    • New York Times ☛ Crimea, Once a Crossroad of Civilizations, Finds Itself Isolated and Under Attack

      Mostly Russian visitors now cavort along its historic beaches, hoping to avoid the Ukrainian drones whizzing toward military targets.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Unleashes Record Number Of Air Strikes Overnight On Ukraine

      Ukraine said Russia launched almost 500 air strikes overnight, the largest total in more than 3 years of war, as Moscow continues to increase pressure on Kyiv ahead of an expected summer offensive and ongoing peace talks that have made little progress.

    • RFERL ☛ Hugs, Tears, And Flags Greet POWs Returning Home In Russia-Ukraine Swap

      Russia and Ukraine exchanged several busloads of prisoners of war under the age of 25 on June 9, sparking what are expected to be days of emotional scenes in both countries as the massive swap continues under an agreement reached last week at talks in Istanbul.

    • LRT ☛ Ukraine ushers in warfare revolution – where does it leave us?

      By now we all know it to be one of the greatest raids in modern military history – a fleet of FPV drones took off from unmarked lorries parked near military airfields and proceeded to decimate one of  Russia’s nuclear deterrent branches.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian president slams Merz: threatening Russia and not acting undermines credibility

      Making constant threats to slap tough sanctions on Russia and never doing it is undermining the credibility of Ukrainian backers, insists Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.

    • Defence Web ☛ Drones: a propaganda tool for Africa’s armed groups?

      Ukraine’s recent drone attack on Russia shows how potent weaponised UAS can be, both on and off the battlefield. Africa is experiencing a rapidly expanding drone environment in terms of localised manufacturing, deployment and use, bringing a complex array of players and proxies.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘When the horse dies, get off’: How Russia’s political consultants built Putin’s regime — and then lost their careers to it — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Says Ukraine Still Pressing For Prisoner Swap, Accuses Putin Of 'Dirty' Games

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would press on with plans for a prisoner swap with Moscow, although he expressed doubts about a successful outcome, while his military leaders denied Russian claims that its forces had for the first time advanced into the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • JURIST ☛ Spain protesters demand early elections over leaked audio recordings

    Thousands of opposition protesters demonstrated in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday, accusing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) of corruption and calling for an early election.

• Environment

  • The Strategist ☛ Harnessing NIC surveillance for better climate security outcomes

    Australia’s National Intelligence Community could substantially enhance Australia’s climate security response. It could do so by applying its surveillance resources to the task.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • France24 ☛ Race to the bottom? The dangers of deep sea mining

      Overheated and overfished, an sos for oceans under duress sent from a summit in Nice… but try telling that to those who advocate deep sea drilling for precious metals.

      In a world hungry for the minerals that power our batteries and connect our computers, the United States but also China, India, Japan, Norway and more are seriously studying whether science fiction can become reality.

    • France24 ☛ How the global shipping industry has grown over the years

      As France hosted a UN conference on protecting the ocean, NGOs denounced the fact that large shipping companies were sponsoring the event, calling them some of the biggest polluters.  The maritime transport sector accounts for 3% of global CO2 emissions, as dry cargo shipments more than doubled since 2000. Plus, the US and China have started a new round trade talks in London, with Beijing's export control of rare earths firmly in focus.

    • New York Times ☛ BlackRock Is Accused of a Plot Against Coal. The Firm Says That’s ‘Absurd.’

      An unusual lawsuit in Texas claims investment firms illegally conspired to fight climate change. On Monday, a judge heard arguments to dismiss the case.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • CS Monitor ☛ Only 2.7 percent of the ocean is protected. Can the world do more?

      The top priority of the third U.N. Ocean Conference is to ratify the High Seas Treaty, which would allow nations to establish marine protected areas in international waters. Without a healthy ocean, experts say, climate goals will remain out of reach.

    • Science Alert ☛ Videos Show Chimpanzees Using The Forest as Their Drumkit

      A fascinating ritual.

    • Science Alert ☛ World Oceans Day: Scientists Freeze Coral to Save The Great Barrier Reef

      A backup plan, as things get increasingly dire.

    • Science Alert ☛ Volcanic Eruptions Can Create Ice in The Sky, And We Finally Know How

      "The results completely overturned our original expectations."

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ China to make all hospitals offer epidurals to incentivise childbirth

      The authorities said the move would help promote a "friendly childbearing environment" for women.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean President calls for measures to respond to rising prices

    He said the increasing cost of living is causing "too much pain".

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia's inflation rate dipped in May

    The latest Central Statistical Bureau data show that, compared to May 2024, the average level of Latvia's consumer prices fell slighty to 3.6 % in May 2025.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea President Lee’s election law violation hearing postponed indefinitely, court says

    The court said its decision to do so was due to "Constitution Article 84".

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea President Lee, Japan PM Ishiba agree to strengthen ties, Lee’s office says

    The two leaders have said they aim for the countries to continue coordination on North Korea issues.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Luxury for pets? Shallow pool at South Korea’s presidential residence raises questions

    The pool is estimated to be 5m long and 2m wide, with a shallow end about 50cm deep.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Their parties were fierce rivals. Now they rule South Africa together.

    South Africa’s unlikely coalition government has survived a year. Few thought that possible.

  • Pro Publica ☛ North Dakota Leaders Argue Ethics Commission Can’t Enforce Ethics Laws

    Ever since North Dakota voters created an ethics watchdog agency seven years ago, dubious lawmakers have pushed back against giving it power to actually keep an eye on state officials.

    That was true in the session that just ended, as legislators shut down many requests from the Ethics Commission, keeping the agency on a modest budget and rebuffing measures that would have given it more latitude in its investigations.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Chinese police crackdown on writers of online erotic fiction

    Legal scholars say police are punishing writers outside their jurisdiction in an over-reach of authority.

  • France24 ☛ Kenyan blogger dies in police custody

    In tonight's edition, authorities claim that a Kenyan man, who died in a police station after criticizing a senior police officer hit his own head.

    Also, days after pulling Wagner mercenaries out of Mali, Russia says it wants to deepen security ties with Africa.

    And world leaders, scientists, and environmental campaigners meet for a crucial ocean conference geared at saving the world's oceans from   pollution and dangerous levels of exploitation.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ 2 Hong Kong men convicted of rioting during 2019 protests following retrial

    A retrial has found two Hong Kong men guilty of rioting during the 2019 pro-democracy protests and unrest, nearly six years after the event. On Monday, Chan Lok-sun, 31, and Lam Hin-shing, 21, were convicted of rioting.

  • New York Times ☛ Justin Baldoni’s Suits Against Blake Lively and The New York Times Dismissed by Judge

    Mr. Baldoni had accused Ms. Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, of trying to destroy his reputation by accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ 2025 journalism job cuts tracked: Latest cuts at Business Insider and Techcrunch

  • Press Gazette ☛ Dale Vince legal claim against Daily Mail publisher thrown out

    Associated Newspapers had called it a "resurrection" of a libel claim thrown out last year.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ Human rights organizations demand release of Egyptian activist Ibrahim Metwally

    Amnesty International, in conjunction with numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), released a statement calling for Egyptian authorities to immediately set free lawyer and activist Ibrahim Metwally after nearly seven years in pre-trial detention. The statement recounted the series of injustices that have befallen Metwally since his arrest.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Axel Springer to mandate four days per week in the office

    Change of policy will impact staff at titles including Politico and Business Insider.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ A day in the life of BGP

    What an ordinary Thursday reveals about Internet routing from the edge.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 awarded for Polaris Innovations memory patents prior art

    Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winners below totaling $2,000 in cash prizes. The patents are owned by Polaris Innovations Limited, an NPE and entity of Owlpoint IP Opportunities JVF I LP.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Empire IP entity, IOT Innovations, IOT controller patent monopoly challenge instituted

    On June 5, 2025, less than three weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 8,085,796, owned and asserted by IOT Innovations, LLC, an NPE and Empire IP entity. The ‘796 patent monopoly relates to controlling communications with a user's various communication devices.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The Boundaries of Equivalence: Vitiation in the Complex Arts

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Dűsseldorf Local Division opines on second medical use – Sanofi and Regeneron v Amgen (13 May 2025) [Ed: UPC is illegal]

      Tempus fugit.  It’s hard to believe that the UPC opened for business over two years ago and, after a relatively slow start, is now flourishing.  It would be fair to say that, with certain notable exceptions, life sciences companies have not engaged with the UPC as enthusiastically as other sectors to date.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ Precedential No. 5: TTAB Will Not Accept Incorporation-By-Reference of An Appellant's Prosecution Arguments

    The Board wasted little time in affirming a Section 2(e)(2) refusal to register the mark PRINCETON EQUITY GROUP, agreeing with Examining Attorney Marc Leipzig that the mark is primarily geographically descriptive of Applicant's financial services. The Board was more concerned about applicant's arguments on appeal, or lack thereof, and particularly with applicant's attempt to incorporate its prosecution arguments by reference. In re Princeton Equity Group LLC, Serial No. 97397212 (June 6, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Thomas L. Casagrande).

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Indie Songwriters Bristling Over ‘Closed-Door’ Major Label Hey Hi (AI) Negotiations, Demand ‘Open, Legislative Dialog and Process’

    Indie songwriters and composers are frustrated at the major labels’ “closed-door” Hey Hi (AI) negotiations and demand an open process. Independent songwriters and composers have heard this song before; Bloomberg reports that major multi-national record labels are engaged in closed-door meetings with yet another group of tech companies over Hey Hi (AI) negotiations and copyright monopoly infringement liability.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Getty legal action against Hey Hi (AI) photo firm is ‘day of reckoning’, start of trial hears

    Stability Hey Hi (AI) says Getty claim is "overt threat" to its business.