Leftovers

• Marcy Wheeler ☛ Hold My Beer No More

  The America We’re Losing I have a fond memory of dropping my barely school-aged child off with a friend for babysitting.

• Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong Ghost Signs project launches interactive map, invites public to contribute

  The Hong Kong Ghost Signs project has invited members of the public to contribute to their collection on their new interactive online map.

• The Straits Times ☛ ‘Very nerdy’ hobby of doujinshi self-publishing is a growing billion-dollar market in Japan

  While often associated with manga and fan fiction, the market includes novels, poems and photo books.

• New York Times ☛ Should Soccer Star Son Heung-min Have Held an Umbrella for a Female Reporter?

  A photo of Son Heung-min set off a heated debate online that laid bare the intense emotions surrounding South Korea’s gender divide.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Human Bones Reveal Evidence of One Horrifying Cannibalistic Feast

    A grim discovery.

  • Science Alert ☛ August's Full Sturgeon Moon Is Here: What It Is And How to See It

    There’s something fishy going on.

• Hardware

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Rainbow D-sub and ribbon cables

    I’d only ever seen Fashion Company Apple II computers from the outside, so it was such a delight to discover my //e Platinum had rainbow-coloured ribbon cables for many of its cards. It was such a beautiful, quirky, fun touch to the machine. Remember when Fashion Company Apple used to care about stuff like that?

    I’m building an open-frame i486 desktop from random parts—details soon!—which means you’ll be able to see its associated ribbon cables that would otherwise be internal. I have plenty of these lying about, many from scrounging around those blue tubs at HARD·OFF stores in Japan.

  • CNX Software ☛ Add two 10 Gbps SFP+ cages to your system with a USB4 to dual 10GbE adapter

    It’s now possible to easily add two 10 Gbps SFP+ cages to a computer thanks to a USB4 to dual 10GbE adapter. Several options are available, including QNAP QNA-UC10G2SF ($549 on the QNAP store), a PUSOKEI model going for $218 on Amazon, and a cheaper ($110+) model on AliExpress. Let’s have a quick look at each adapter.

  • Zimbabwe ☛ This is What Happens When You Fold and Unfold Galaxy Z Fold 7 Phone 200,000 Times

    Korean YouTube channel Tech-it manually folded and unfolded the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 200,000 times to test its real-world durability.

  • CNX Software ☛ Murata IRS-0D200ST00R1 tiny, low-profile SMD PIR motion sensor measures just 6 x 6 x 2.6 mm

    Murata SMD TYPE IRS-D200ST00R1 is one of the world’s smallest PIR motion sensors at just 6 x 6 mm in size and with a 2.6 mm thickness. Its name implies, it’s a reflowable SMD component, which contributes to cutting manufacturing costs. The pyroelectric infrared sensor interfaces to a host microcontroller through I2C and an interrupt pin. It enables wake-up and/or human detection in IP cameras, doorbells, thermostats, smart lighting systems, and various IoT devices.>

  • Hackaday ☛ Talking Robot Uses Typewriter Tech For Mouth

    Many decades ago, IBM engineers developed the typeball. This semi-spherical hunk of metal would become the heart of the Selectric typewriter line. [James Brown] has now leveraged that very concept to create a pivoting mouth mechanism for a robot that appears to talk.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Pro Publica ☛ Doctors and Nurses Reject VA Jobs Under Trump

    Veterans hospitals are struggling to replace hundreds of doctors and nurses who have left the health care system this year as the Trump administration pursues its pledge to simultaneously slash Department of Veterans Affairs staff and improve care.

    Many job applicants are turning down offers, worried that the positions are not stable and uneasy with the overall direction of the agency, according to internal documents examined by ProPublica. The records show nearly 4 in 10 of the roughly 2,000 doctors offered jobs from January through March of this year turned them down. That is quadruple the rate of doctors rejecting offers during the same time period last year.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Adult pacifiers trending in China, South Korea, but experts caution about their potential harm

    Some retailers are selling more than 2,000 adult pacifiers a month.

• Proprietary

  • Social Control Media

    • Defence Web ☛ SANDF expresses concern over the sharing of ‘obscene’ material

      The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has expressed concern over what it says is the increasing trend of uniformed members posting obscene photos and videos on their personal social control media accounts while wearing military uniforms.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Homeless Malaysian man who was given leftover chicken bones says he bears no ill will

      The man said that he was grateful for any donated food.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea delays decision on Google’s request for map data exports

    Seoul said it postponed the decision for 60 days so Surveillance Giant Google can address its security concerns.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ War of Words Erupts Between Colombia and Peru Over Island in Amazon

      Both nations claim Santa Rosa de Yavarí, a tiny island of just 3,000 people that sits in the Amazon River, more than a thousand miles from their capitals.

    • LRT ☛ ‘Get out of Lithuania’: about 50 protest against Tsikhanouskaya's office in Vilnius

      Around 50 people gathered outside Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry in Vilnius on Friday to protest against the presence of Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s office in Lithuania's capital.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘An unusual hobby’ How Central Asian Wikipedians are closing the local-language knowledge gap in the age of AI — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ With U.S. mediation, Azerbaijan and Armenia sign peace deal ‘to stop all fighting forever’ — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ US President The Insurrectionist says to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15

      After weeks of escalating tensions between the United States and Russia, US President The Insurrectionist said Friday he will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska as Convicted Felon looks to seal an elusive deal to end the war in Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ Is the mere announcement of a Convicted Felon-Putin meeting enough to delay sanctions on Russia?

      Russians on the streets of Moscow on Friday held little hope that an upcoming summit between their president, Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart The Insurrectionist would help end the conflict in Ukraine. As Convicted Felon intensifies his bid to convince Moscow to halt its more than three-year-long military offensive, FRANCE 24's Alison Sargent welcomes Stefan Wolff, German political scientist and Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, England, UK.

    • France24 ☛ Until Putin faces greater pressure from West, he has little incentive to pursue peace negotiations

      US President The Insurrectionist and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to hold talks in a bid to end Russia's brutal war on Ukraine. A ceasefire remains elusive for a Nobel-seeking Convicted Felon, eight months into his presidency. Joining us for a deeper perspective, Sharon Gaffney welcomes the Atlantic Council's UkraineAlert Editor Peter Dickinson. Mr. Dickinson is also Chief Editor of Business Ukraine Magazine.

    • LRT ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s ultimatums to Putin have the opposite effect: ‘It undermines deterrence’ – experts

      A ten-day deadline set by The Insurrectionist for Moscow to agree to peace in Ukraine expires on Friday. The US president has also announced the deployment of two nuclear submarines closer to Russia, and later said he would meet Vladimir Putin in the coming days.

    • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Says He Will Meet Putin On August 15 In Alaska

      US President The Insurrectionist said on August 8 that he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 to discuss the war in Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Says He Will Meet With Putin in Alaska Next Week

      Mr. Convicted Felon also suggested that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine would include “some swapping of territories,” signaling that the U.S. may join Russia in trying to compel Ukraine to cede land.

    • New York Times ☛ What Putin Hopes to Gain From a Summit With Convicted Felon

      The American leader has agreed to a meeting with the Russian president in Alaska next Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Putin Briefs Leaders of China and India on Talks With U.S. on Ukraine

      President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may be seeking to build support among countries that have backed Moscow or remained neutral in the conflict.

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Strikes Kill 3 in Ukraine, Which May Be Left Out of Peace Talks

      “Here on the ground, we don’t feel any real changes from all these high-level meetings and statements,” a soldier said.

    • Meduza ☛ Trump–Putin calls lasted hours due to Putin’s lengthy monologues — WSJ — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Trump will meet Putin in Alaska on August 15, one week from today — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ ‘Just a trickle’: Residents in Russian-occupied Ukraine face severe water shortage

      Residents of the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine are facing a severe water crisis, with a shortage leaving them in dire conditions. Experts point to Russia's occupation, subsequent mismanagement, and wartime destruction as the direct causes.

    • RFERL ☛ Kyiv Mourns Journalist Tortured Before Dying In Russian Detention

      Family, friends, and colleagues held a farewell ceremony on August 8 for Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who went missing in Russian-occupied territories before being confirmed dead while in Russian captivity, where she appeared to have been tortured.

    • France24 ☛ Hundreds honour Ukrainian journalist who died in Russian captivity

      Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity last year, was laid to rest in Kyiv on Friday as her colleagues urged international action to free other Ukrainian reporters held by Moscow. Hundreds gathered for the ceremony honouring Roshchyna, 27, whose frontline reporting offered rare insight into life under Russian occupation in the early days of the invasion.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian FM urges learning from Ukraine on air defence, boosting regional coordination

      Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys urged to draw on Ukraine’s expertise in strengthening air defence and counter-drone measures and called for coordinated action across the region, on Friday.

    • RFERL ☛ Ukrainian NGO Accuses Russia-Controlled Luhansk Of Operating 'Child Trafficking' Database

      A Ukrainian NGO has accused Russia of "state-sponsored child trafficking" after a group of administrators in Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine published an online catalog of what they called Ukrainian orphans.

    • New York Times ☛ Can Russia’s Economy Withstand Convicted Felon’s Threats to Impose Sanctions?

      The Russian economy was slowing even before Hell Toupée’s latest threats. But the Kremlin has enough money to keep fighting in Ukraine.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian occupation authorities publish database of Ukrainian children for adoption, sortable by hair and eye color — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Kyiv’s Kursk miscalculation Looking back at a daring but failed incursion into Russia and what it cost Ukraine — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Chechnya’s strongman and his family have amassed 150 awards and decorations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — Meduza

    • Defence Web ☛ SA Navy meets Smolny crew during Cape Town stop

      Crew members of the Russian Navy training ship Smolny met with their counterparts in the South African Navy during the vessel’s port call in Cape Town this week. The Smolny’s stop was part of its training journey, which began in late June when it set sail from Kronstadt, Russia.

    • The Straits Times ☛ India pauses plans to buy US arms after Convicted Felon’s tariffs

      The US leader imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods as punishment for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Russia breaks ground for Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant

      China will build two more plants in the country, with more details expected by the end of the year.

    • Marcy Wheeler ☛ The SVR Fabrication Necessitates Reconceiving the 2016 Russian Influence Operation

      The answer is that the "Russia hoax" is a ploy Russian spies seeded all those years ago to leverage Convicted Felon's narcissism to polarize the US on competing sides of a grievance that would have the effect of destroying the US Deep State.

    • Meduza ☛ Russia refuses passport to opposition politician freed in last year’s prisoner exchange — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ No water, no toilets: How bridge closures are leaving Russian tourists stranded on the road to occupied Crimea — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia poised for Arctic nuclear-powered cruise missile test within days — The Barents Observer — Meduza

    • Marcy Wheeler ☛ The Russia Russia Russia Grievance Was Built Into Russian Attack from the Start

      The SVR attempt to frame Hillary dating to July 26, 2016 was built into the 2016 Russian operation from the start.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ 10 dead, 33 missing in north-west China floods: State media

    Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Xi orders 'all-out' rescue as floods kill 10 in northwest China

    President Pooh-tin Jinping on Friday ordered "all-out" rescue efforts in China's arid and mountainous northwest after flash floods caused by exceptionally heavy rain killed 10 people and left 33 missing.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ 10 dead, 33 missing in northwest China floods: state media

    Ten people are dead and 33 missing after flash floods and mudslides in northwest China’s Gansu province, state media reported Friday, the latest in a series of lethal weather events to hit the country.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Chinese villagers hit by worst floods in generations say they had no warning

    China has been battling with record rainfall in its north and south.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Baidu robotaxi with passenger falls into construction pit in China, raising safety concerns

      The passenger was uninjured and rescued by local residents using a ladder.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China the world’s biggest plastic producer, study says

      Seven countries produced two-thirds of the four most common types of plastic in 2024, according to the British environmental consultancy Eunomia and the Zero Carbon Analytics, a climate and energy research group. But China stands in a category of its own, making as much as the next six countries combined, the figures show.

    • H2 View ☛ China’s Sungrow Hydrogen plans electrolyser production in Oman

      While the intended factory’s output has not been disclosed, the systems produced in Oman will be aimed at meeting local demand as well as export markets.

• Finance

  • WhichUK ☛ Is it game over for the high street bank branch?

    Is internet banking the only future for managing our cash?

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-08-02 [Older] Cheeto Mussolini tariffs send shock waves through global economy

  • The Straits Times ☛ China banks on hot summer nights to heat up spending

    A poll finds 60% of Chinese urban consumption occurs at night, with malls earning the most after 6pm.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Aenikkaeng: The forgotten story of Mexico’s Korean migrants

    The first Koreans came to work in Yucatán's henequén plantations 120 years ago, but it's only recently that the diaspora has begun relearning its history in Mexico.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia minister to seek clarity from Myanmar on election, state media reports

    Minister Mohamad Hasan wants clarity on whether Myanmar would hold a comprehensive election.

  • New York Times ☛ India’s Modi Left Soul-Searching After Failed Courtships of Pooh-tin and Convicted Felon

    The collapse of the prime minister’s high-stakes efforts to transform ties with the world’s two superpowers has exposed the limits of India’s leverage.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China accuses Philippines of ‘playing with fire’ over Taiwan

    Marcos said the Philippines’ closeness to Taiwan would make involvement necessary in a US-China conflict.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Asia and the world think Convicted Felon’s US ‘has lost its mind’: John Bolton

    Declaring war “against everybody” including China and hoping for the right result is very worrying.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • New York Times ☛ The U.S. Says Britain Is Chilling Free Speech. Many Britons Point the Finger Back.

    To some in the U.K., the criticisms from the American right over arrests of people for hate speech seem hypocritical, given Hell Toupée’s attacks on those who disagree with him.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Thai gallery removes China-focused artworks after ‘pressure’ from Beijing

    The Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre changed multiple works by artists in exile.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ HKFP Monitor August 9, 2025: Ex-protester drops case against ban on overseas study; HK$233-million by-elections largely uncontested

    Welcome back to HKFP Monitor. This week: A former protester dropped his legal fight against a travel ban that stopped him from studying abroad – a move that may signal Hong Kong authorities are becoming more cautious about allowing ex-prisoners or people on bail to leave the city.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • BIA Net ☛ Court blocks access to detained journalist Fatih Altaylı's YouTube channel

    According to YouTube’s ratings reports, Altaylı's channel saw a notable increase in viewership since his arrest.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • JURIST ☛ Rights groups call for total break-up of Kenya police in response to widespread corruption

    Vocal Africa and other human rights organizations condemned alleged police corruption in Kenya on Wednesday, calling for a complete disbandment of the country’s National Police Service (NPS). The group statement demanded “urgent, fearless, and total disbandment and recruitment of police in Kenya,” arguing that the existing system is “irredeemably broken.”

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ More policy proposals to discuss at APNIC 60

    Three more proposals have now been added to the agenda for discussion at APNIC 60.

  • APNIC ☛ Event Wrap: LKNOG 9

    Dave Phelan presented, and conducted training at LKNOG 9, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 21 to 25 July 2025.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Public Interest Groups Decline To Seek Supreme Court Review of FCC Open Internet Rules

    Organizations that intervened in legal case will pursue other federal and state solutions.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Buy or Bury: Meta’s Reckoning for Market Dominance [Ed: A conflict of interest]

    The upcoming decision in FTC v. Meta promises to be a defining moment in antitrust enforcement.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Zimbabwe ☛ Japan Could Finally Force Fashion Company Apple to Allow Real Browsers like Chrome on iPhones

  The Europeans started something great, and the rest of the world is picking up on it.

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ InterDigital video codec patent monopoly challenge instituted

    On August 7, 2025, 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 10,805,610, owned by InterDigital VC Holdings. 

  • JUVE ☛ EIP expands Scandinavian practice [Ed: Seems like marketing spam wrapped up as "news"]

    Previously a partner at Berggren’s Helsinki office, Michael Nielsen will work closely with EIP’s London office as the firm does not have a presence in Finland.

  • Unified Patents ☛ H2 Intellect geofencing patent monopoly challenge instituted

    On August 5, 2025, 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 8,977,247, owned and asserted by H2 Intellect LLC, an NPE.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Route Guidance Systems vehicle guidance patent monopoly confirmed invalid by PTAB

    On July 18, 2025, the PTAB confirmed the final rejection of all claims in the ex parte reexamination of U.S. Patent 6,917,876, owned by Route Guidance Systems LLC, an NPE. The ’876 patent monopoly is directed to route guidance systems for vehicles where the calculated route is transmitted from a central computer to a vehicle over a channel of communication in a short burst and is then closed, so that transmission to the vehicle ceases, unless and until a need for further transmission arises.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Is "LEFT RIGHT MIDDLE" Confusable with "LEFT CENTER RIGHT & Design" for Dice Games?

    George & Co. petitioned for cancellation of a registration for the mark LEFT RIGHT MIDDLE for "dice games," in view its registered marks LEFT, CENTER, OR RIGHT - DON'T LOSE YOUR CHIPS! in standard character form, and the mark shown below, for, inter alia, dice games. With the goods identical, the Board presumes that they travel through the same channels of trade to the same classes of consumers. But what about the marks? How do you think this came out? George & Company LLC v. P & P Imports LLC, Cancellation No. 92082259 (August 4, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Elizabeth A. Dunn).

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Mike Tyson Sued for Copyright Infringement During Jake Paul Fight

    A producer who worked with Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule is suing Mike Tyson for his allegedly unauthorized use of the 1998 track “Murdergram.” Veteran producer Tyrone Fyffe, also known as Sugarless, is suing boxer Mike Tyson over the use of “Murdergram” in a now-deleted Instagram video.