Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Trapped Soul In Time For Halloween

  While it is sort of disturbing, it is one of the best uses for a round LCD we’ve seen lately. What is it? Just [vishalsoniindia]’s SoulCage — a pendant that appears to have a poor soul trapped inside of it. Just in time for the upcoming spooky holiday. You can see the device in operation in the short video below.

• Hackaday ☛ Surprisingly Refined Perpetual Motion Device Teardown

  Perpetual motion devices are either a gag, a scam, or as in the case of this particular toy that [Big Clive] bought on AliExpress, a rather fascinating demonstration of a contact-free inductive sensor combined with a pulsed magnet boost for the metal ball. A cool part about the device is that it comes with a completely clear enclosure, so you can admire its internals while it’s operating. Less cool was that after unboxing the device wasn’t working as the detector wasn’t getting the 12 V it needs to operate, requiring a bit of repairing first.

• Hackaday ☛ Tube Furnace Is The Real Hotness

  We aren’t sure what [theglassman] is working on, but based on his recent projects, we think it is probably something interesting. He’s been decapping ICs, growing oxide on silicon substrates, and has built a tube furnace capable of reaching 1200 °C.

• Science

  • The Straits Times ☛ Ancient skull from China may shake up timeline of human evolution

    In 1990, an ancient human skull was unearthed in China's Hubei Province that was so badly deformed during fossilization that it was hard to gauge its significance. A new analysis now indicates that the skull belongs to an early branch of a sister lineage to our species in a finding that may shake up the understanding of how human evolution unfolded over the past million years or so.

  • France24 ☛ Ancient skull from China redraws human family tree, researchers say

    A newly reconstructed 1-million-year-old skull from central China may rewrite key chapters of human evolution. Researchers say the fossil, Yunxian 2, represents the earliest known member of a lineage that includes the Denisovans – suggesting our species diverged from other ancient humans far earlier than previously thought.

  • Science Alert ☛ Musicians Don't Feel Pain Like The Rest of Us, Surprising Study Reveals

    Retrain your brain.

  • Science Alert ☛ Microplastics Found Deep Inside Human Bones, Scientists Warn

    Life in plastic, not so fantastic.

  • Science Alert ☛ Roots of Your Anxiety May Trace Back to a Time Before You Were Born

    The earliest effects on health.

  • Science Alert ☛ Half of Heart Attacks in Younger Women Aren't From Clogged Arteries

    We're not getting the full story.

  • Science Alert ☛ Breakthrough Gene Therapy Slows Huntington's Disease by 75%

    "Changes everything."

  • Science Alert ☛ Fat Bear Week Has Officially Started, And The Competition Is Chonky

    Thick thighs save lives.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientist Connected Light And Matter Century Before Quantum Physics

    Before his time.

  • Science Alert ☛ Vast Reserves of Precious Platinum Could Be Hidden on The Moon

    If only we can get them.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientist Connected Light And Matter a Century Before Quantum Physics

    Before his time.

• Career/Education

  • Stanford University ☛ Frosh twins empower upcoming Black writers

    Through their initiatives, twin sisters Anais and Mirabelle Lee ’29 are working to create safe spaces to empower young Black writers by helping them develop their skills and express their creativity.

• Hardware

  • Futurism ☛ Tesla Worker Knocked Unconscious by Robot, Lawsuit Claims

    He's suing the company for $51 million.

  • Hackaday ☛ Hovercraft Suitcase Gives Your Luggage A Smooth Ride

    The wheels on roller suitcases are one of their primary failure points. After the destruction of the wheel mount on her DIY suitcase, [Laura Kampf] wondered if it would be better to dispense with wheels altogether.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia’s social control media ban for teens draws praise at UN

    It is expected to become the first country to block the use of social control media by those younger than 16.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Over 1,000 Indonesians sick from school meals in more food poisoning outbreaks

    Kitchens are feeding too many students and have too little time to prep the food properly.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Case may decide if Michigan schools must tell parents of kids’ gender identity

    A federal lawsuit challenges Rockford schools’ decision to call a child by a different name and pronouns without telling parents. That may have violated the couple’s constitutional rights, a judge ruled last week.

  • New York Times ☛ Kashmir’s Apple Harvest Rots After Landslide Blocks Road

    The Himalayan region supplies most of India’s apples. But when heavy rains left a major highway blocked for weeks, farmers couldn’t get them to markets.

  • Pro Publica ☛ NIH Launches New Multimillion-Dollar Stillbirth Prevention Effort

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Fiverr Told Its Employees to Embrace AI, Then Stabbed Them in the Back

      Where are fired Fiverr employees going to get work? On Fiverr?

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel reportedly raising prices on ever-popular Raptor Lake chips — 'outdated' CPUs to get over 10% price hike due to disinterest in Hey Hi (AI) processors

      Intel's Raptor Lake Refresh processors are expected to become more expensive because of increasing demand, despite being one generation behind the company's latest chips.

  • Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets

    • NVISO Labs ☛ Securing Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Entra ID: Lessons from the Field – Part 1 [Ed: Don't use it; that would be security, Microsoft's stuff is meant to be back doored, based on NSA leaks]

      This multipart blog series is focused on the real-world lessons learned while securing Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Entra ID. Based on hands-on experience across various environments and organizations, we’ll explore the practical, high-impact strategies that work and more importantly, the common misconfigurations, overlooked settings, and pitfalls that can expose your identity perimeter.

• Security

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Cisco uncovers new SNMP vulnerability used in attacks on IOS devices

    Cisco Systems has issued security updates to address a critical vulnerability in its widely deployed IOS and IOS XE network operating systems, after confirming the flaw is being exploited in active attacks. Designated CVE-2025-20352, the vulnerability resides in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) subsystem of Cisco’s core network software.

  • SANS ☛ Webshells Hiding in .well-known Places, (Thu, Sep 25th)

    Ever so often, I see requests for files in .well-known recorded by our honeypots. As an example:

  • Security Week ☛ Chinese Hackers Lurked Nearly 400 Days in Networks With Stealthy BrickStorm Malware

    Google’s Threat Intelligence Group and Mandiant link the BrickStorm campaign to UNC5221, warning that hackers are analyzing stolen code to weaponize zero-day vulnerabilities.

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Malicious-Looking URL Creation Service

    • Call for caution as police scam makes the rounds

      The South African Police Service (SAPS) is cautioning the public about a phishing scam in which criminals misuse the SAPS name and insignia to deceive unsuspecting citizens into handing over money or disclosing personal information.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • NYOB ☛ Over 40,000 CRIF queries: Klarna, banks and telecoms entangled in CRIF network

      Over 40,000 CRIF queries: Klarna, banks and telecoms entangled in CRIF network

• Defence/Aggression

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Taiwan sentences 4 ex-ruling party members over spying for China

    A Taiwan court handed jail terms Thursday ranging from four to ten years to four people, including a former staffer in President Lai Ching-te’s office, for spying for China.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan sentences 4 ex-ruling party members on China spying

    Taiwan’s National Security Bureau said in 2024 that 64 people were prosecuted for Chinese espionage.

  • The Strategist ☛ China may soon reach far into the Pacific with many uncrewed bombers

    China is clearly thinking ambitiously about long-range power projection with autonomous aircraft. Pictures have emerged of large new Chinese uncrewed aircraft of a configuration remarkably like the United States’ B-2A Spirit and B-21 Raider bombers.

  • Defence Web ☛ Motshekga and her deputies run up a big travel bill

    The civilian triumvirate heading the South African Department of Defence (DoD) racked up more than R20 million in travel, accommodation and related expenses in the 12 months ending July this year, a Parliamentary question bought to light.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Security forces patrol India’s Ladakh during curfew after deadly protests

    Six people among the 80 injured in clashes were in critical condition, and police arrested more than 50.

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ Shoplifters could soon be chased down by drones

    Flock Safety, whose drones were once reserved for police departments, is now offering them for private-sector security, the company announced today, with potential customers including including businesses intent on curbing shoplifting.  Companies in the US can now place Flock’s drone docking stations on their premises.

  • JURIST ☛ UN decries racism against people of African descent in criminal justice systems

    The UN International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement warned in a report on Wednesday of the prevalent racism against Africans and people of African descent in criminal justice systems worldwide, which violates international human rights standards.

  • France24 ☛ 'Unless the UN is reformed, its own survival is at stake,' Kenya’s Ruto says

    In an interview with FRANCE 24 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Kenyan President William Ruto warned that “unless the UN is reformed, its own survival is at stake" and called for changes to the UN Security Council and international financial architecture. On Haiti, he said Kenya had “achieved some landmark achievements” and “stabilised the place” but confirmed that Kenyan troops would return home.

  • France24 ☛ Uganda: Bobi Wine cleared to run for president as clashes erupt at rally

    Ugandan voters now have the line-up of candidates for next year's elections, including firebrand opposition leader Bobi Wine. Wine is one of incumbent long-time leader Yoweri Museveni's fiercest critics and has been cleared to stand against him for a second time. He first tried in 2021, and his supporters took to the streets in celebration despite clashes with security forces.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuanian politicians clash over using EU funds to buy Brazilian military aircraft

    Prime minister-designate Inga Ruginienė faced pointed questions in parliament last week over a proposal to buy three Embraer military transport planes with money from the European Union’s Cohesion Fund, as defence minister Dovilė Šakalienė defended the plan on Facebook (Farcebook) and opposition lawmakers warned it could come at the expense of health, education and regional projects.

  • New York Times ☛ Abbas Says Hamas Will Not Govern Palestine After War With Israel

    Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, delivered a speech by video to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday in which he thanked countries for recognizing Palestinian statehood.

  • New Yorker ☛ The Insurrectionist Keeps Finding New Ways to Shock the World

    Two speeches—one endorsing hate and another warning foreign nations “you will fail”—encapsulate a Presidential agenda that is like no other.

  • New York Times ☛ Israel Attacks Yemeni Capital, a Day After Houthi Drone Strike

    The Israeli military said it was targeting sites linked to the Houthi militia, but a witness said a residential building was hit. A day earlier, a Houthi drone hit the Israeli city of Eilat.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Poland Reopens Belarus Border As China Moves To Protect Trade Routes

      Poland has reopened its border with Belarus after a nearly two-week closure tied to the Russia–Belarus “Zapad-2025” military exercises, with Beijing playing a quiet but important role in the decision.

    • RFERL ☛ Oligarch Plahotniuc Extradited Back To Moldova Days Before Pivotal Elections

      Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc has been extradited to Chisinau to face long-running criminal charges, jolting the country just days before a tense general election already roiled by allegations of Russian interference.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Modi backs ‘time-tested’ ties with Russia despite Convicted Felon pressure

      India has said it will continue buying Russian energy as long as it remains financially viable.

    • New York Times ☛ Denmark Briefly Closes More Airports After Unexplained Drone Sightings

      European governments are on alert after Russian incursions into NATO airspace, but the Danish authorities said they could not say who was behind the latest incidents.

    • Meduza ☛ Caught on satellite: Why is a Chinese ship sneaking into Crimea’s sanctioned ports? — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Drone debris sparks fire at major industrial plant in southern Russia — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russians are about to get a tax hike to pay for the war. Here’s how state TV spun it. — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia reports first collision between civilian plane and drone — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Zelensky says Kremlin officials should find nearest bomb shelter if Russia doesn’t end the war — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ NORAD intercepts Russian aircraft near Alaska amid NATO airspace tensions in Europe — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Lack of intelligence on new drone flights in Denmark 'disconcerting', expert says

      Denmark's military intelligence service said Thursday it had not been able to identify who was behind a series of drone flights over the country's airports that triggered security fears. Speaking on FRANCE 24, Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, says that 'this is very much part of Russian tactics' and that it is 'disconcerting' that such an operation would catch Western air defenses unawares.

    • France24 ☛ Vote-buying from Russia has doubled since last year, Moldova expert says

      The EU on Thursday said Moldova was facing "an unprecedented campaign of disinformation" from Russia ahead of key parliamentary elections. Speaking on FRANCE 24, Clara Volintaru, Director of the Black Sea Trust for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, says that vote-buying from Russia has doubled since last year's presidential vote and that voter infiltration and manipulation has also increased among the diaspora.

    • Latvia ☛ Moldovan pro-Russia politician Vlah blacklisted by Latvia

      Moldovan politician Irina Vlah has been added to the list of personae non gratae in the Republic of Latvia, according to a release from the Foreign Ministry on September 25th.

    • Futurism ☛ Russia Tests Whether Life Could Spread Between Planets With Spacecraft Filled With Critters

      This out-of-this-world experiment may affirm wild theory.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Big clean-up in south China in wake of Typhoon Ragasa

    The storm churned into Guangdong after sweeping past Hong Kong and killing at least 14 in Taiwan.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Super Typhoon Ragasa: Hong Kong to look into whether storm chasing with children constitutes neglect

    Hong Kong authorities will consider whether bringing children storm chasing could constitute neglect, after a family was swept into the sea while watching waves at a waterfront during Super Typhoon Ragasa. While the incident was “unfortunate,” Hong Kong does not have laws explicitly criminalising storm chasing, Secretary for Security Chris Tang said on Thursday.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Super Typhoon Ragasa slams into southern China after killing 17 in Taiwan

    By Peter Catterall with Joy Chiang in Taipei Fierce winds, pounding rain and rough seas battered southern China on Wednesday as powerful Typhoon Ragasa made landfall in Guangdong province after killing at least 17 in Taiwan.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ South China cleans up after powerful Typhoon Ragasa

    Hundreds of thousands of people in southern China were clearing up Thursday after powerful Typhoon Ragasa crashed through Guangdong Province, ripping down trees, destroying fences and blasting signs off buildings.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong labour chief rejects suggestion to mandate work suspension under adverse weather

    Hong Kong’s labour minister has rejected a suggestion to mandate work suspension during adverse weather, after lawmakers raised concerns over employees’ safety in the wake of Super Typhoon Ragasa.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s new climate target ‘falls well short’, says EU

    The emissions target of the world’s biggest polluter will be decisive for global efforts to curtail climate change.

  • New York Times ☛ 4 Strong Earthquakes Strike Venezuela

    The quakes and other smaller aftershocks shook cities in Venezuela and Colombia overnight. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Hackaday ☛ Vertical Solar Panels Are Out Standing

      If you’re mounting solar panels, everybody knows the drill, right? Point them south, angled according to latitude. It’s easy. In a video which demonstrates that [Everyday Dave] is truly out standing in his field, we hear a different story. [Dave] has a year’s worth of data in his Solar Panel Showdown that suggests there are good reasons to mount your panels vertically.

• Finance

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ China launches trade investigation into Mexico’s planned tariff hike

    In pushing back against Mexico's planned tariff hike, China has accused Mexico of bowing to Convicted Felon — but President Sheinbaum says that's not true.

  • HT Digital Streams Ltd ☛ Accenture layoffs: 11,000 jobs lost to AI, more cuts coming soon? Here's what company said

    The IT consulting firm has outlaid an $865 million restructuring programme as it expected slower growth for the year, thanks to sluggish corporate demand owing to federal spending clampdown.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Breach Media ☛ Confronting a new anti-immigrant chapter in Canada

    Deena Ladd on how the Liberals’ harsher immigration policies negatively affect all workers

  • CS Monitor ☛ Beneath the surface at UN gathering, remarkable moments of progress

    The annual U.N. General Assembly, UNGA, draws the usual grousing about the usefulness and focus of such a giant gathering. But a quick look behind the curtain finds cooperation.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Anti-foreigner sentiment takes root in race for Japan’s next prime minister

    The new leader is likely to respond by tightening the laws on foreigners and immigration.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Metro Boomin Acquitted of All Charges in Sexual Assault Case

    Producer Metro Boomin has been found not liable in a civil sexual assault case, following a verdict clearing him of all allegations. The case involved accusations made by a former acquaintance and concluded after a three-day trial in Los Angeles. The lawsuit was filed by Vanessa LeMaistre, who accused the hip-hop producer of sexual assault.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong’s registered voters drop for 4th straight year ahead of ‘patriots-only’ legislative elections

    The number of registered voters in Hong Kong has dropped for the fourth straight year ahead of the city’s “patriots-only” legislative elections in December.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • AccessNow ☛ #KeepItOn: Time to end Sudan’s isolation; lift the WhatsApp block now

    We, the undersigned civil society organisations and humanitarian actors, call on the international community to urgently address the physical and cyber threats people are experiencing in Sudan

  • BIA Net ☛ Talk show host, guest jailed after 'MILF' joke on YouTube program

    The two men are facing charges of “inciting the public into hatred and enmity.”

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Press Gazette ☛ STV to make 60 job cuts with two news programmes merging

    Scottish broadcaster STV is cutting 60 jobs including journalists as advertising revenue declines. The plans include the creation of one 6pm news programme across the two licences held by STV, covering central and north of Scotland. These are the two Channel 3 licences not held by STV.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Spam unsubscribe amusement

    I’m tempted to reply asking if they need an architect to help them design a more robust automated unsubscribe system. They’re probably overpaying for their hosting costs, but here at $JOB I could help them with that too. Then I could keep emailing them, over and over (and over) again with “just following up” and “in case you didn’t see”. I’d also offer an unsubscribe link that doesn’t work.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • New York Times ☛ Amazon to Pay $2.5 Billion in Prime Membership Settlement

    The settlement is one of the largest in the history of the Federal Trade Commission, which sued Amazon two years ago.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Spotify Pushes Back Against ‘False’ Claims About Its Terms of Service Update — Artist Criticism and Exits Continue

    Amid an avalanche of controversy – and some more artist exits – Spotify has responded to purported “misinformation” about its newest terms of service update. According to multiple X posts, said controversy reignited closer to September’s beginning, when artists and observers resumed criticizing Spotify terms describing sweeping derivative-work authorizations.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ Unified files amicus in support of a separation of powers mandamus question in Fed. Cir.

    On September 22, 2025, Unified filed an amicus brief challenging in support of a separation of powers mandamus question presented by SanDisk and Western Digital to the Federal Circuit. This brief raises questions of the statutory authority of discretionary denials.

    Unified Patents is represented by in-house counsel, Michelle Aspen and Jonathan Stroud.

  • JUVE ☛ Newron defends SPC for Parkinson’s drug Xadago against Purem

    The original medication is safinamide, sold under the brand name Xadago. Newron holds the patent monopoly and has licensed distribution to Zambon. According to its 2024 annual report, Newron received licence fees of €6.9 million from Zambon for Xadago last year. These fees stem partly from existing SPCs in several European countries.

  • Software Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ Dolby HEVC patent monopoly revocation confirmed by EPO appeal

      On July 7, 2025, the EPO Board of Appeals confirmed the decision to revoke all claims of EP 3694209 B1, owned by Dolby International AB. EP ‘209 generally relates to video coding techniques that use data hiding to decrease bandwidth. The patent monopoly is related to others that have been designated essential to the Access Advance (HEVC) pool.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Dolby VVC patent monopoly revocation confirmed by EPO appeal

      On July 7, 2025, the EPO Board of Appeals confirmed the decision to revoke all claims of EP 3675491, owned by Dolby International AB. EP ‘491 generally relates to video coding techniques that use data hiding to decrease bandwidth.

    • Unified Patents ☛ Fortress Investment entity, DivX, video codec patent monopoly challenged

      On September 19, 2025, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 11,611,785, owned and asserted by DivX LLC, an NPE and entity of Fortress Investment Group LLC. The ‘785 patent monopoly is generally directed to encoding video at different bit rates and evaluating the quality to provide the lowest bitrate at which the highest quality video can be achieved for a given resolution and frame rate.

    • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ USPTO Director Squires’s First Patents: Crypto Software and Diagnostic Methods [Ed: Software Patents disguised as "Crypto Software and Diagnostic Methods"]

      On September 23, 2025, John A. Squires—just sworn in as the 60th Director of the USPTO—issued his first public act. In his first official act as USPTO Director, John Squires held a ceremonial signing of two newly issued patents—one covering diagnostic methods using a discovered antibody and the the other a blockchain-based resource allocation FinTech software.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ Precedential No. 8: TTAB Shuts Down "THE HOTEL EL ROBLAR" Application Due to Lack of Bona Fide Intent

    In an exhaustive and rather exhausting 71-page decision, the Board sustained this opposition to registration of the mark THE HOTEL EL ROBLAR for hotel services, finding that Applicant Bianca Roe lacked a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce for hotel services when she filed the opposed application on June 9, 2020. Instead, the Board concluded, she filed the application "merely to reserve a right in the mark." El Roblar Investment Property LLC v. Bianca Roe, Opposition No. 91272200 (September 22, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Christopher C. Larkin).

• Copyrights

  • Creative Commons ☛ From Shared Vision to Global Action: Paving the Road to the Open Heritage Statement

    “A Turn in the Road” by Alfred Sisley (1873), CC0, Art Institute of Chicago, remixed with “TAROCH balloon” by Creative Commons/Dee Harris, 2025, CC0. The (Under-Realized) Potential of Open Heritage To understand our present, we need to know our past: our memories, our history, our heritage.