Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ #SciArtSeptember: Chaos

  Today’s #SciArtSeptember prompt was too good of a syncronicity to pass up.

  I’ve been reading up more into the history of Sun Microsystems for a personal project, and by chance landed on a video by Asianometry talking about the famed UNIX Wars. Asianometry’s videos are thoughtful and well presented, and while I thought this specific chapter skimmed over some interesting detail during the BSDi/USL lawsuit, it was otherwise a succinct summary of events.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Our Moon Is Drifting Away. Here's What We Can Expect to Happen.

    We've got time.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel Arc A750 prototype spotted with 16GB VRAM — Engineering sample made by Gunnir sports sticker claiming a 512-bit memory bus

    A new engineering sample for the defective chip maker Intel Arc A750 has just surfaced with 16 GB of VRAM, double the memory that was in the standard A750. It also has dual 8-pin power connectors and somehow a 512-bit memory bus. The prototype is made by Gunnir and it works when connected to a computer, just like any other GPU.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Man's COVID Infection Lasted 2 Years, Setting a New Record

    It has implications for us all.

  • NYPost ☛ Luigi Mangione to appear in NYC court as he tries to block jury from seeing his diary

    Luigi Mangione is due in Manhattan court Tuesday for a hearing over whether jurors will be allowed to see his diary -- where the Ivy League grad allegedly plotted murdering a healthcare exec.

  • New York Times ☛ When a Simple Swim Carries a Risk of Dangerous Illness

    The parasitic infection schistosomiasis affects an estimated 200 million people globally, many of them children. But campaigns to identify and treat it face formidable hurdles.

  • New York Times ☛ Hepatitis B Vaccine, Once a Public Health Win, Is Under Threat From RFK Jr.

    Rates of the disease have fallen since 1991, when a vaccine committee recommended all newborns receive the shot.

  • New York Times ☛ RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Committee Likely to Target Hepatitis B Shot for Newborns

    Committee members, some of whom are vaccine skeptics, are likely to recommend restricting the use of the shots at birth or delaying them until later in childhood.

  • France24 ☛ Ebola vaccinations underway in DR Congo as deadly outbreak spreads

    The World Health Organization has begun vaccinating health workers and exposed individuals in DR Congo’s Kasai province, following an Ebola outbreak that has killed at least 16. With limited doses and funding delays, officials warn the response remains slow as the country battles its 16th outbreak of the deadly virus.

• Proprietary

  • Qt ☛ The new Qt Multimedia space on Qt Forums

    Qt Multimedia is getting its own category at the Qt Forums!

  • Qt ☛ High Contrast Mode in Qt 6.10

    As accessibility continues to gain traction across major operating systems, high contrast mode has become a key feature for improving visual clarity and usability. With the release of Qt 6.10, applications built with Qt now readily get support for high contrast modeacross multiple platforms, ensuring more inclusive and visually adaptive UIs. In this post, I explore how Qt 6.10 supports high contrast mode, what it means across different systems, and what Qt now provides for built-in styles.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ ASRock's revamped Hey Hi (AI) Quickset WSL virtualization tool makes it easy to run GNU/Linux Hey Hi (AI) apps on Windows [Ed: A backdoored Windows doing worse (more slowly, no security, no stability) what one can do for free on GNU/Linux]

    ASRock has developed a new iteration of its Hey Hi (AI) Quickset tool that provides users with an automated method of deploying Linux-based Hey Hi (AI) models on backdoored Windows with the help of virtualization.

  • ASRock Announces AI QuickSet WSL Run Linux AI Apps on Windows [Ed: This won't appeal to geeks; it's slow, not secure, more expensive, and people who do such things can handle GNU/Linux OK]

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • It's FOSS ☛ I Ran Local LLMs on My Android Phone [Ed: Slop is bad; no matter what generates slop. Does It's FOSS celebrate slop again?]

      I love the idea of having an Hey Hi (AI) assistant that works exclusively for me, no monthly fees, no data leaks. I won’t lie, it’s not perfect. Here's my experience.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Google terminates 200 Hey Hi (AI) contractors — 'ramp-down' blamed, but workers claim questions over pay and job insecurity are the real reason behind layoffs

      Google has fired over 200 Hey Hi (AI) response rating contractors as part of what it claims is a "ramping down" of that role. They join hundreds of other low-paid Hey Hi (AI) workers who have been let go at various Hey Hi (AI) developers in recent weeks.

    • Zimbabwe ☛ Google’s Hey Hi (AI) summaries could hurt website, Rolling Stone, Billboard owner sues

      Penske Media Corporation (PMC), the parent company of Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, and other big media outlets, has filed a lawsuit against Google.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Billboard and Rolling Stone Publisher Penske Media Files Antitrust Suit Against Surveillance Giant Google Over Hey Hi (AI) Summaries — Surveillance Giant Google Responds to the ‘Meritless Claims’

      Google is leveraging its “unlawful monopoly in search” to divert traffic from news sites via Hey Hi (AI) summaries – at least according to a new antitrust lawsuit from Penske Media. The Billboard, Variety, and Rolling Stone publisher fired off the in-depth suit this past Friday.

  • Social Control Media

    • New York Times ☛ ‘Squid Game’ Star Lee Jung-jae Talks About Korean Fan Culture

      Lee Jung-jae, who has been a star in South Korea for decades, said social control media has made audiences more zealous. He thinks he knows how to keep them happy.

  • Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Microsoft Still Uses RC4

      Senator Ron Wyden has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Abusive Monopolist Microsoft over its continued use of the RC4 encryption algorithm. The letter talks about a hacker technique called Kerberoasting, that exploits the Kerberos authentication system.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Security Week ☛ Google Launched Behind-the-Scenes Campaign Against California Privacy Legislation; It Passed Anyway

      Powerful companies typically combine traditional lobbying and strategies used by civil society organizations when regulatory pressures threaten their core business model.

      >

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Seoul to review rights violations during US raid

    Around 475 people, mostly South Korean nationals, were arrested at a construction site.

  • Analysis: Kim Jong Un’s daughter steps into ‘successor spotlight’

    North Korea leader is signaling daughter Ju Ae as likely successor, Seoul spy agency says.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Explainer: Why South Korea cannot make the same US trade deal as Japan

    Its negotiations with the US on a trade deal to lower tariffs have stalled.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China fires water cannon at Philippine ships in South China Sea

    Simmering tension over Scarborough Shoal has led to diplomatic rows between Beijing and Manila in recent years.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan launches new civil defence guide, says not aiming to cause panic

    Taiwan has stepped up its resilience and defence preparations as China has increased its military activities around the island over the past five years.

  • Defence Web ☛ Mali receives more CS/VP14 and VN22 vehicles from China

    Mali’s military has taken delivery of another batch of military hardware from China, with the latest consignment including CS/VP14 armoured personnel carriers and VN22 fire support vehicles. A convoy carrying CS/VP14 and VN22 armoured vehicles arrived in Mali’s capital Bamako on 3 September, having driven from Guinea’s port of Conakry.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Jet fuel, China, and lanthanum: a hidden risk to US military power projection

    The making of jet fuel for military use depends on the rare earth element lanthanum. With China in control of most of the element's supply, the United States must prepare for potential supply disruptions.

  • France24 ☛ Suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting likely to face charges before court hearing

    Spencer Cox, Utah Gov., said Robinson is “not cooperating” and that his friends have painted a picture of someone radicalized in the dark corners of the internet. Cox stressed on several Sunday morning news shows that investigators are still trying to pin down a motive for the attack on the father of two and confidant of President The Insurrectionist.

  • Defence Web ☛ Parliament hears Denel owes the Auditor-General R82 million

    State-owned defence and technology conglomerate Denel, in addition to battling to regain ground in the wake of State Capture, intellectual property (IP) theft and a skills exodus, has to find R82 million to settle its outstanding Auditor-General (AG) account.

  • NYPost ☛ Katz: ‘Gaza is burning’ as IDF expands operation in Gaza City

    "The IDF strikes with an iron fist at the terror infrastructure," said the Israeli defense minister.

  • France24 ☛ ‘Beginning of a major assault’: Israel bombards Gaza City after Rubio visit

    Israel launched airstrikes across Gaza City early Tuesday in what appears to be the “beginning of a major assault”, FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky said, citing images of “fireballs” as well as reports of Israeli tanks within the Strip’s biggest city.

  • France24 ☛ Gulf States 'questioning the efficiency of their military cooperation with the United States'

    Speaking on FRANCE 24, Dr Ziad Majed, professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the American University of Paris, says that Gulf States are increasingly concerned that the defense systems they purchased from the US did not work when Israel attacked. Arab and Muslim leaders called for a review of ties with Israel after emergency talks in Doha on Monday following last week's deadly strike on Hamas members in the Qatari capital.

  • New York Times ☛ Angered by Israel’s Attack in Qatar, Arab Leaders Meet to Weigh Response

    Some Arab officials are pushing for tangible, but not military, action against Israel, and Egypt’s president said the Israeli strike threatened diplomatic ties that Israel spent years cultivating.

  • France24 ☛ Marco Rubio asks Qatar to stay as mediator after Israel strike

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Qatar on Tuesday a week after an Israeli strike on the Gulf state targeting leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Philip Turle has more.

  • JURIST ☛ Three killed in second US strike on Venezuela boat allegedly carrying narcotics

    US President The Insurrectionist announced Monday that the US military carried out another targeted strike on a Venezuelan boat allegedly transporting drugs, killing three men aboard. The action comes two weeks after an initial strike on a Venezuelan speedboat allegedly engaged in drug-trafficking activity.

  • New York Times ☛ Venezuela’s President Maduro Denounces U.S. Boat Attack, as Convicted Felon Announces Another

    The Venezuela leader, Nicolás Maduro, said that the Convicted Felon administration was trying to start a war in the Caribbean.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Strikes a 2nd Venezuela Boat, Killing 3, Convicted Felon Says

    The president said the vessel was heading to the United States, but he did not offer details about its location. Legal specialists condemned the action as illegal.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Landslide claims lives of five family members in Malaysia’s Kota Kinabalu

    They were in a makeshift wooden house when the landslide struck.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s former climate envoy to meet with EU to revive flailing UN pact

    He could urge the EU to announce more ambitious climate goals and coordinate joint diplomatic efforts.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Latvia ☛ 53 bus services cancelled Tuesday ahead of driver strike in Latvia

      Passenger carriers have cancelled 53 regional bus services on Tuesday, 16 September, citing driver shortages, according to information on the website of the Road Transport Directorate (ATD).

    • The Straits Times ☛ Illegal plate-flipping devices sold online in Malaysia, aid rogue motorists in evading law

      The plate flipper can instantly conceal or swop a vehicle’s registration number using a remote control.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s Sarawak aims to be region’s ‘green battery’ amid deforestation, displacement fears

      The state remains dogged by concerns over the destruction of ancient tropical rainforests for hydropower construction.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea to waive highway tolls, offer discounts for Chuseok holiday period in October

      Its government is offering extra incentives to encourage travel and ease household costs.

    • Pro Publica ☛ Some North Dakota Lawmakers Say Change Is Needed to Protect Oil and Gas Royalty Owners

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong to offer free tram rides, half-priced movie tickets, MTR giveaways on China’s National Day

      Hong Kong will offer free tram rides, half-priced movie tickets, free access to some government leisure facilities, and other special perks on October 1 to mark China’s National Day.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Straits Times ☛ Mosquitoes return as weather cools in South Korea

      Environmental conditions like high temperatures make it less favourable for mosquitoes to be active.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Three arrested in Malaysia after tiger carcass found in vehicle

      The tiger had severe injuries, possibly from a trap, and six gunshot wounds to the head.

• Finance

  • ACLU ☛ Digital Driver’s Licenses Could Make “Surveillance Pricing” Much Easier for Companies

    Free Future home

    There has been a surge of concern and interest in the threat of “surveillance pricing,” in which companies leverage the enormous amount of detailed data they increasingly hold on their customers to set individualized prices for each of them — likely in ways that benefit the companies and hurt their customers. In my previous post on this, I suggested a paradigmatic case: an airline, knowing that you’ve had a death in your family, jacks up the price they offer you for a flight to your loved one’s funeral.

    Consumers will fight back — but can they win?
    

  • New York Times ☛ How China Is Weathering the Trade War With Convicted Felon

    Tariffs triggered a plunge in China’s exports to the United States, but its global trade surplus is larger because sales to other regions are surging.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ US, China resume trade talks in Madrid

    By Noemi Gragera, with Isabel Kua in Beijing China and the United States resumed trade talks on Monday in Madrid, seeking to narrow differences on trade and technology that have strained relations between the world’s two largest economies. Talks restarted at Spain’s foreign ministry, a day after delegations led by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent […]

  • The Straits Times ☛ China is longing for the ‘Beauty of the Boom Years’

    Younger Chinese grappling with economic and social issues long for an era when the economy was booming.

  • New York Times ☛ With a Hashtag, Young Chinese Are Mourning the ‘Beauty of the Boom Years’

    Nostalgia for the fashion and culture of the years after the millennium, when the future held promise for many, is a commentary on today’s mood.

  • Pro Publica ☛ Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Wins Most of Its Claim Disputes in Mandatory Arbitration

    Last October, Peter and Linda Kilfoil returned from an overnight trip and found water pooling in the kitchen of their Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home. The pair couldn’t pinpoint the source of the leak and had a hard time getting a plumber. So Linda Kilfoil called their insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

    The call was the beginning of the Kilfoils’ journey through an alternate legal universe set up by Citizens, a quasi-governmental insurer in Florida, to reduce its staggering legal costs. In this state-sanctioned world, the judges’ salaries are funded by Citizens, the rules followed in Florida’s circuit courts don’t all apply and the insurance company almost always triumphs.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ The Fed struggles to balance Convicted Felon’s demands with economic reality

    The US Federal Reserve balances both inflation and employment as part of its dual mandate. Mounting political pressure could jeopardize its ability to maintain financial stability.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Farm Aid Given the Green Light After Tentative Union Deal Arranged

    Farm Aid’s 40th edition is a go after a tentative deal was reached between the University of Minnesota and members of Teamsters Local 320. It’s been a week of uncertainty for Farm Aid, whose organizers cautioned that the ongoing strike involving service workers at the University of Minnesota could put the event in jeopardy.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ Thai ex-PM Thaksin moved to prison hospital wing

    Thaksin was moved to his prison’s medical wing due to his age and chronic health issues.

  • France24 ☛ Milei changes course: Argentina will boost social spending after austerity years

    Argentine President Javier Milei has proposed sizeable hikes in pensions, health, education and disability aid for 2026, signalling a policy reversal even as he faces backlash following his party's poor showing in recent Buenos Aires province elections.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Can PAS really change? Malaysia’s Islamist party courts minorities with language

    As it acts to allay non-Muslim fears of an Islamic theocracy, PAS needs to go beyond race and religion to gain traction.

  • France24 ☛ ‘Dark woke’ Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom trolls Convicted Felon with Hey Hi (AI) satire

    Memes, fake Time magazine covers... To take on US President The Insurrectionist on social control media, California Governor Gavin Newsom imitates the president's outrageous communication style – even if it means producing fake AI-generated content in the name of satire, which can sometimes be misleading.

  • France24 ☛ Malawi prepares for elections as cost of living tops voters' concerns

    On Tuesday, 7.2 million registered voters in Malawi will head to the ballot boxes for a day of voting in three elections: presidential, parliamentary and local. In the presidential election, incumbent Lazarus Chakwera is seeking a second term in office, while former presidents Peter Mutharika and Joyce Banda are attempting political comebacks. All 17 candidates have pledged to address Malawi’s worsening economic hardship, which is the defining issue of this election. Soaring inflation, unaffordable fuel prices, mass unemployment and a lack of foreign exchange are all exacerbating the country's already dire situation.

  • France24 ☛ Malawi heads to the polls in tight presidential rematch amid economic turmoil

    Malawians voted Tuesday in a tense presidential race between incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera and former leader Peter Mutharika as the nation battles economic crisis, inflation and deep voter frustration. Though 17 candidates are running, the contest is seen as a rematch between the two front-runners, with many voters torn between hope and disillusionment.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • The Straits Times ☛ US says China spreading ‘false’ World War II narratives to pressure Taiwan

      Beijing says documents like the Potsdam Proclamation support its legal claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Public Knowledge ☛ The Censorship Alarm Is Ringing in the Wrong Direction

    Instead of trying to influence laws across the Atlantic, Congress would serve American speech rights better by tackling the real censorship happening at home.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ Royal cleaner stories removed by Times and Sun after authenticity questions

    Dozens of stories published based on questionable press releases.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Food publisher Eye to Eye Media enters liquidation

    Publisher of Delicious magazine ceases trading.

  • Press Gazette ☛ Daily Mail ‘arbitrarily’ stopped from joining Fashion Company Apple News

    Mail publisher also reveals 'tens of millions' revenue hit from Fashion Company Apple ad privacy changes

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • CS Monitor ☛ ‘You have a right to an attorney.’ Massachusetts bar strike and the Sixth Amendment.

    Since May, Massachusetts bar advocates have refused to take new cases, leaving more than 6,000 defendants without counsel. The State Legislature raised their pay, but a deeper question remains: Can states build systems strong enough to fully uphold the Sixth Amendment?

  • Pro Publica ☛ How to Make H-2A Farmworker Visa Program Safer, According to Experts

    The H-2A visa program has long been touted as a way to ensure that farmers can access enough workers without hiring people who are undocumented. But for some migrant farmworkers seeking better-paying jobs in America, their seasonal gigs have morphed into a nightmare.

    As a recent ProPublica story revealed, the promises of the H-2A visa program can be undermined by extreme abuses the workers suffer, mostly by labor contractors. Some workers have had their wages stolen and been threatened with deportation if they complain about unsafe work conditions, a federal investigation found. In the worst instances, others have been assaulted or raped or have even died. It’s gotten so bad that, in one of the largest H-2A criminal cases ever, a federal judge described the abuse of these workers as a form of modern-day slavery. And without further changes to the H-2A program, experts told ProPublica, foreign farmworkers may continue to be harmed.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Is IP fragmentation still considered vulnerable?

    Guest Post: IPID has a 25+ year history of abuse as a network side channel. This post categorizes IPID exploits, and makes a surprising recommendation about mitigating them.

  • Zimbabwe ☛ Starlink goes down, showing how internet outages hit differently

    Starlink, the satellite internet service that’s now used by over 7 million people around the world, went dark for a while today (Monday, 15 September).

  • APNIC ☛ RPKI best practices and lessons learned

    Guest Post: The technical community has identified the best ways to get started with RPKI. Some our most important RPKI experience is collected in this post.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• New York Times ☛ Nvidia Broke Antitrust Law, China Says, as Tensions With U.S. Mount

  Chinese regulators, on a day of U.S. trade talks, said that an acquisition by Nvidia had violated antimonopoly regulations.

• The Straits Times ☛ In latest trade warning to US, China says Nvidia violated anti-monopoly law

  China in December launched a probe into Nvidia over suspected violations of its anti-monopoly law.

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Still Pending: Three Mandamus Petitions Test USPTO’s Expanded Denial Powers

    The Federal Circuit is still sitting on a trio of related mandamus petitions asking the  Court to step-in against the USPTO's 2025 up-ramp of discretionary denial practice.

  • Software Patents

    • JUVE ☛ Microsoft and Eyesmatch agree on licence for gaze correction patents

      Eyesmatch and Abusive Monopolist Microsoft have concluded a worldwide licence agreement, ending their patent monopoly litigation. The NPE Eyesmatch holds patents for technology that creates the illusion of eye contact during video calls. The technology compensates for the fact that callers typically look at their screens rather than directly into their cameras, which can make them appear unfocused.

• Copyrights

  • Michael Geist ☛ The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 243: What Are Canada’s Digital Policy Plans as Parliament Returns from the Summer Break?

    The return of the Law Bytes podcast series this week coincides with the return of Parliament from its summer break. Digital policy may not be at the very top of the legislative agenda, but there are no shortage of issues that could attract attention. This includes lawful access legislation introduced last June, the prospect of online harms safeguards, and ongoing concerns regarding privacy and artificial intelligence regulation.