Leftovers

• Standards/Consortia

  • Hackaday ☛ Video Tape Hides Video Player

    While it might not be accurate to say VHS is dead, it’s certainly not a lively format. It continues on in undeath thanks to dedicated collectors and hobbyists, some of whom may be tempted to lynch Reddit user [CommonKingfisher] for embedding a video player inside a VHS tape.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ 500-Million-Year-Old Fossil Suggests Ocean Origin For Spiders

    Let the debates begin.

  • Science Alert ☛ Blinking 'Unicorn' Discovered in Space a One-of-a-Kind Object

    It's getting faster.

  • Hackaday ☛ The Hall-Héroult Process On A Home Scale

    Although Charles Hall conducted his first successful run of the Hall-Héroult aluminium smelting process in the woodshed behind his house, it has ever since remained mostly out of reach of home chemists. It does involve electrolysis at temperatures above 1000 ℃, and can involve some frighteningly toxic chemicals, but as [Maurycy Z] demonstrates, an amateur can now perform it a bit more conveniently than Hall could.

• Career/Education

  • France24 ☛ US withdraws from UN cultural and education agency UNESCO

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ If education doesn’t make you rich, it’s a waste of time – or is it really?

    The newspapers are full, as is customary at this time of the year, of stories about local kids who have done well in the school-leaving exams.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ In South Korea’s ‘apple county’, farmers beg not to be sacrificed for US trade deal

    A South Korean farmer said that they cannot compete with the US which produces cheap apples.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Trump May Slash Environmental Rules for Rocket Launches

    The Trump administration is considering slashing rules meant to protect the environment and the public during commercial rocket launches, changes that companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX have long sought.

    A draft executive order being circulated among federal agencies, and viewed by ProPublica, directs Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to “use all available authorities to eliminate or expedite” environmental reviews for launch licenses. It could also, in time, require states to allow more launches or even more launch sites — known as spaceports — along their coastlines.

  • Science Alert ☛ Common Sweetener Could Damage Critical Brain Barrier, Risking Stroke

    Sugar-free still has its risks.

  • Science Alert ☛ 5 Questions That Could Reveal a Truth About Your Aging

    Are you ready?

  • Science Alert ☛ Dopamine Doesn't Work in Our Brains Quite The Way We Thought

    It's a complex chemical.

  • Science Alert ☛ Secret Bone Armor Discovered Beneath Skins of Australian Lizards

    What's it for?

• Proprietary

  • New York Times ☛ William H. Neukom, Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Lawyer Who Led Antitrust Fight, Dies at 83

    In the 1990s, the U.S. called Abusive Monopolist Microsoft a bullying monopoly and sought to rein it in. The company lost in a landmark decision, but emerged intact.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Nvidia's desktop PC chip holdup purportedly tied to backdoored Windows delays — ongoing chip revisions and weakening demand also blamed

    Nvidia and MediaTek have allegedly delayed the N1X Hey Hi (AI) PC platform to early 2026, possibly because of Microsoft’s next-gen OS delays, ongoing Nvidia chip revisions, and weakening consumer notebook demand. The launch will now prioritize enterprise PCs, while GB10-based Hey Hi (AI) workstations are expected to debut much sooner.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Okay Google, Stop Spreading Buick Grand National Comeback Rumors: AI Slop Report

      Of course, the Grand National is an obvious target for this sort of thing, given its widespread admiration among enthusiasts. Introduced in the early ‘80s and reaching its peak with the legendary 1987 Grand National GNX, this performance coupe earned its stripes with a stealthy all-black exterior, turbocharged power, and eye-widening performance. Its legacy as a muscle car for the modern era still resonates with enthusiasts who recognize it as one of GM’s most assertive expressions of performance and attitude.

      Because on that legacy, it’s no surprise that a revival of the Grand National nameplate is part of an AI-generated hoax. Its cult status and performance heritage make it ripe for recycled rumors, a formula that slop content creators love to exploit for views and search traffic.

  • Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ 158-year-old company forced to close after ransomware attack precipitated by a single guessed password — 700 jobs lost after hackers demand unpayable sum

      The 158-year established Knights of Old transportation company has collapsed in the wake of a ransomware attack, with 700 jobs lost.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Sex offenders in schools: how government botched a crucial learner safety project

    More than a year after the government’s deadline to remove convicted sex offenders from South Africa’s public schools, a national vetting drive continues to falter. Despite lofty promises, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has still screened fewer than one in ten teachers and staff at schools against the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO).

  • Defence Web ☛ Lesotho claims there are illegal military training camps on SA farms

    In an extraordinary joint press briefing at the police headquarters in Maseru on Friday, the heads of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF), Lesotho Mounted Police Service and other national security organs warned of what they describe as a growing national threat, involving the recruitment and military training of Basotho youths on farms in South Africa.

  • France24 ☛ Syria investigation finds more than 1,400 killed in March sectarian violence

    More than 1,400 people were killed in a spate of sectarian violence lasting several days near Syria's coast in March, a government investigation released on Tuesday found. Security forces in the south carried out widespread violence against civilians, seeking out members of the Alawite sect, investigators found.

  • France24 ☛ Gaza: 'It's impossible to get food' says a resident to FRANCE 24

    As Gaza is facing an escalating humanitarian and food crisis, FRANCE 24 interviewed Bahaa Zaqout, a resident of Gaza, who describes an unimaginable situation: 'It's impossible to get food. I haven't had a decent meal in three days because I’d rather give it to my children.' According to him, most Gazans avoid aid centres due to security risks and rely on scarce, overpriced goods from small local markets. He describes the distress of Gazans who have nothing left.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Syria’s Kurds want autonomy. Damascus wants unity. Can they find middle ground?

    A key challenge for postwar Syria is building trust between Arabs and Kurds. The security in Kurdish parts of Aleppo show how difficult that may be.

  • New York Times ☛ Syrian Inquiry Says Military Leaders Did Not Order Sectarian Killings in March

    A fact-finding committee presented findings on a wave of sectarian killings earlier this year. Human rights experts said the report failed to hold the country’s security establishment accountable.

  • France24 ☛ France moves notorious drug traffickers to supermax prison in major crackdown

    France on Tuesday transferred 17 of its "most dangerous" drug traffickers to a high-security prison in Vendin-le-Vieil under tight security, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said on X. The move is part of a broader crackdown on narcotics trade, with more relocations expected.

• Environment

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Pro Publica ☛ The Forest Service Says It’s Fully Staffed. Data Shows Otherwise.

      Despite the Trump administration’s public pronouncements that it has hired enough wildland firefighters, documents obtained by ProPublica show a high vacancy rate, as well as internal concern among top officials as more than 1 million acres burn across 10 states.

      Less than a month ago, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the Trump administration had done a historically good job preparing the nation for the summer fire season. “We are on track to meet and potentially exceed our firefighting hiring goals,” said Rollins, during an address to Western governors. Rollins oversees the wildland firefighting workforce at the U.S. Forest Service, a subagency of the Department of Agriculture. Rollins had noted in her remarks that the administration had exempted firefighters from a federal hiring freeze, and she claimed that the administration was outdoing its predecessor: “We have reached 96% of our hiring goal, far outpacing the rate of hiring and onboarding over the past three years and in the previous administration.”

• Finance

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Nat. sec clause in application for new scheme to convert commercial buildings into student hostels

    A national security clause is included in the application guidelines of a new scheme that allows commercial buildings in Hong Kong to be converted into student hostels.

  • Latvia ☛ Finance Ministry plans insurance sector shake-up in Latvia

    Latvia's Ministry of Finance (FM) said July 21 it was planning to introduce changes to the laws governing the insurance industry "In order to promote the development of the insurance market, competition and improve the protection of customer interests".

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Scoop News Group ☛ House Republicans endorse stricter state and federal-led voter roll purges despite dearth of evidence on fraud

    GOP lawmakers say they’re committed to altering national voting laws to make it easier for states to purge potentially eligible voters. 

  • JURIST ☛ Rights group alerts to abusive practices in Florida immigration detention centres

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) exposed alleged “degrading and dehumanizing” treatment of detainees in three Florida immigration detention facilities Monday, claiming detainees have suffered “dangerously substandard medical care, overcrowding, abusive treatment, and restrictions on access to legal and psychosocial support.”

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man escalates war on the press

    The Insurrectionist has banned The Wall Street Journal from his official press pool for his visit to Scotland, following the paper’s report alleging he sent Jeffrey Epstein a suggestive birthday letter—including a nude drawing—accompanied by a $10 billion defamation lawsuit. This marks a continued escalation in his confrontational approach toward media outlets as FRANCE 24's Doug Herbert explains.

  • Press Gazette ☛ 2025 journalism job cuts tracked: Fortune and Informa Techtarget both separately cut 10% of workforce

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Internet Society ☛ How YOU Run the Internet

    Without you, there is no Internet. The Internet is so much more than just devices connecting to each other; it’s a place for all of us to come together to share information, experiences, and ideas.  

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ FCC proposal aims to nix long-term gigabit internet speed goals, pricing analysis

    An FCC proposal seeks to undo the Biden administration's efforts to encourage increased availability of gigabit download speeds.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Are Mugs and Drinking Straw Cleaning Brushes Related Under Section 2(d)?

    The USPTO refused to register the mark VENTURI for, inter alia, "cleaning brushes, pull-through cleaning members and push-through cleaning members for cleaning internal surfaces of drinking straws," finding confusion likely with the registered mark shown below, for "housewares namely, mugs." Applicant GI Scientific argued that the involved goods are “fundamentally different” and “there is no commercial or technological relationship” between them, and it further contended that the marks have "distinct meanings." How do you think this appeal came out? In re GI Scientific, LLC, Serial No. 97790646 (July 17, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Robert Lavache).

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Personal/Opinions

    • shared the dolphin video with K & audrey -- it's so good

      chaotic morning involving my former workplace -- glad i left when i did, the remaining workers are very unhappy and one got fired on the spot for asking if she could take a week off for her mental health.

  • Technology and Free Software

    • On sheeple, dupes, and rabbit holes

      Let me introduce you to an interesting rabbit hole to descend into. Its community thrives in journals devoted to media studies or political psychology.

      One of the most recent findings in research about conspiracy theorists is that they are overconfident in their beliefs, and tend to grossly over-estimate the number of people who share their view. Previous studies apparently have tried to stick psychological labels on conspiracy theorists such as narcissists or attention seekers. Could it be a subtle way for these researchers to hint that they don't want to be associated with the dupes whose bizarre world views they cannot fathom?