Distributions and Operating Systems

• Open Hardware/Modding

  • Hackaday ☛ Open Source Controller For Old And Expensive Industrial Robots

    Industrial robots like robotic arms are basically everywhere, albeit usually out of the public’s eye in factories. This also means that they get replaced and scrapped all the time, making for many opportunities to snap up an industrial robot that once cost as much as a pretty fancy car for essentially peanuts. Over the years the bloke behind the [Excessive Overkill] YouTube channel did this a lot, which also revealed the main issue with these ‘cheap’ robots: the electronics and associated software, with the manufacturer rarely going out of their way to appease to hobbyists trying to fix up one of these units, never mind for free.

  • CNX Software ☛ kv4p HT – Turn an Android smartphone into an ham radio transceiver

    kv4p HT is an open-source hardware VHF or UHF radio designed to plug into the USB-C port of an Android smartphone and turn it into a handheld ham radio transceiver. It’s based on on ESP32 wireless module and a SA818 radio module. This accessory makes your phone capable of off-grid voice and text communication with a Technician-class amateur radio license. It’s small enough to fit into a pocket, partially because it does not need a battery, relying on the built-in battery of your phone.

Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ How Do The Normal People Survive?

  It was one of those weeks last week at Hackaday’s home office. My mother-in-law handed me her favorite power bank and said “it’s not charging”. She had every expectation that I’ll open it up, desolder the weary pouch inside, scrounge a LiPo out of some corner of the basement, and have it back up and running before the weekend. And of course that’s what happened, although maybe it looks a little worse for wear because it was hard to open the sealed case without excessive force. Sorry about that!

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ This Week in Science: Remembering Jane Goodall, a Fertility Breakthrough, And More!

    Our weekly science news roundup!

  • Science Alert ☛ 7 Baffling Space Mysteries We're Dying For Scientists to Solve

    What a time to be alive.

  • Science Alert ☛ Your Fresh Vegetables Could Be Sucking Up Plastic Right From The Soil

    Nothing is plastic-free now.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mitochondria Dump Their Rubbish DNA, And It Could Be Costing Us Our Health

    But can we fix it?

  • Science Alert ☛ We Finally Know How The Lights Switched on at The Dawn of Time

    This changed everything.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ 3D Printing A Cheap VR Headset

    The modern era of virtual reality really kicked off in earnest just over a decade ago, when the Oculus Rift promised 3D worlds beyond your wildest dreams. Since then, nobody’s been able to come up with a killer app to convince even a mild fraction of consumers to engage with the technology. Still, if you’re keen to tinker, you might like to make your own headset like [CNCDan] has done.

  • Hackaday ☛ 2025 Component Abuse Challenge: Digital Logic With Analog Components

    [Tim] noticed recently that a large number of projects recreating discrete logic tend to do so with technology around 70 years old like resistor-transistor logic (RTL) or diode-transistor logic (DTL). To build something with these logic families nowadays requires an intense treasure hunt of antique components bordering on impossible and/or expensive. Rather than going down this rabbit hole he decided to invent a somewhat new logic system using analog components in this entry in our Component Abuse Challenge.

  • Hackaday ☛ Simple Counter Mechanism In An Asthma Inhaler

    Recently [Anthony Francis-Jones] decided to take a closer look at the inhaler that his son got prescribed for some mild breathing issues, specifically to teardown the mechanical counter on it. Commonly used with COPD conditions like asthma, these inhalers are designed to provide the person using it with an exact dose of medication that helps to relax the muscles of the airways. Considering the somewhat crucial nature of this in the case of extreme forms of COPD, the mechanical counter that existed on older versions of these inhalers is very helpful to know how many doses you have left.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ More Retirees Are Living on Less, and Losing a Means of Help to Pay for Medicare

    The budget bill signed by Hell Toupée suspended an effort to enroll more low-income older Americans in programs that assist them with rising health care costs.

  • Lee Yingtong Li ☛ Infant blood pressure centiles from the Second Task Force on Blood Pressure Control in Children

    Warning! The intended audience of this article is medical professionals and students. I am not your doctor. This article is not medical advice. This article has not been subject to formal peer review.

    Below is presented a high-resolution centile chart for blood pressure in infants aged 7 days to 12 months, extracted from the report of the Second Task Force on Blood Pressure Control in Children.

  • New York Times ☛ How Private Equity Oversees the Ethics of Drug Research

    Many drug trials are vetted by companies with ties to the drugmakers, raising concerns about conflicts of interest and patient safety.

  • New Yorker ☛ What Happens to School Lunches in the MAHA Era?

    R.F.K., Jr., promised healthier food for kids, but the Convicted Felon Administration is cutting programs that achieve this goal.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Petal power: Blossoms and battles in Malaysia’s floriculture hubs

    The multimillion-dollar industry faces a shortage of foreign labour and price competition from China.

  • Science Alert ☛ Chromium Does Nothing For Our Body. So Why Is It Considered Essential?

    You're fine without it.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Former Proprietary Chaffbot Company Employee Horrified by How Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot Is Driving Users Into Psychosis

      "Believe me when I say: the things that Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot has been telling users are probably worse than you think."

    • The Register UK ☛ Big money is nervous about AI hype, but not ready to call it a bubble

      In an employee share sell-off this week, OpenAI achieved a nominal value of $500 billion. In terms of valuation, the posterchild of GenAI — which is yet to make a profit — left in its dust companies like Toyota, the world's largest automaker.

      [...]

      The fact that some of Oracle core customers don't yet have the money for all the spending against which it is borrowing huge sums has caught the eye of credit rating agency Moody's, which pointed out the significant "counterparty risk" in Oracle's projected growth – the possibility that another party fails to meet its obligations.

  • Social Control Media

    • The Straits Times ☛ TikTok says it’s engaging with Indonesia authorities after licence suspended

      This comes after the firm declined to fully share data on its live-streaming activity during the August protests.

    • France24 ☛ Will Fentanylware (CheeTok) deal affect Pro-Palestinian speech on platform?

      This week on FRANCE 24's media show Scoop we look at the future of TikTok. US President The Insurrectionist says a deal to find a new American owner is done. We look at who the investors are and what changes could be in store for the app's powerful algorithm, particularly over the war in Gaza. Our guests are two content creators: Raymond Wei, from the NGO the Conscious Citizens, and Sean Szolek-Van Valkenburgh, a big tech and data policy educator.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ UK cops busted for faking productivity while working from home by holding down keys on keyboard — 26 officers and staff reportedly caught trying to trick keylogging software

      Officers and staff are finding creative ways to trick the system.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Motion sensors in high-performance mice can be used as a microphone to spy on users, thanks to Hey Hi (AI) — Mic-E-Mouse technique harnesses mouse sensors, converts acoustic vibrations into speech

      Researchers from UC Irvine developed a way to capture vibrations from surfaces using high-quality mouse sensors and convert them into audio.

  • Confidentiality

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Discord data hacked in latest customer service breach to expose user information — hackers gained access via third-party support systems but didn't steal passwords

      Discord's support systems were recently compromised in a data breach, where hackers gained access to some user information via third-party service providers. The hackers intended to extort money from Discord by holding the data, but the company has already begun an investigation and severed the affected provider's access to its ticketing system.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ 23 Malaysians on Global Sumud Flotilla detained by Israel taken to Istanbul on Oct 4: Anwar

    The Malaysians will stay in Turkey for a day or so before coming home to Malaysia, said Malaysia's PM.

  • Futurism ☛ MElon Caught Letting China Invest in SpaceX, a Huge US Military Contractor

    "They obviously have Chinese investors to be honest."

  • JURIST ☛ US-Columbia tensions escalate over disagreements on drugs, Venezuela, and Palestine

    The US accused Colombian President Gustav Petro of doing too little to reduce crime and drug trafficking on Friday. US Ambassador Mike Waltz told a UN Security Council meeting that Petro’s policies toward “narco-terrorist groups” are “irresponsible failures.”

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim says country will develop additional military measures, state media reports

    North Korea has been tightening military ties with Russia, with Mr Kim also deepening alignment with China.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Drones Hit 2 Passenger Trains, Ukraine Says

      The drone strikes killed at least one person and injured dozens of others, officials said. The attack came amid rising alarm about the status of a nuclear plant relying solely on generators.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Drone Strike On Ukrainian Passenger Train Kills At Least 1, 'Dozens' Of Casualties

      A Russian drone has hit a passenger train, killing a 71-year-old man and injuring dozens of others, including children, in the latest strike against a civilian target in the Kremlin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ Russia strikes hit two passenger trains in northern Ukraine

      Dozens were injured and one killed after a Russian drone attack hit a Ukrainian railway station on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Moscow is stepping up its strikes on Ukraine's railway network, which is essential for military transport, targeting it almost every day for the past two months.

    • France24 ☛ Russian strike hits train station in Ukraine, killing at least one

      Russian drones struck trains at a station in Ukraine's northern Sumy region, killing one person and injuring at least 30 others, officials said on Saturday (October 4), with Ukraine's foreign minister accusing Moscow of deliberately hitting passenger trains.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ Andrej Babis Likely to Return as Czech Prime Minister After Parliamentary Win

    The party of Andrej Babis, a billionaire and a skeptic of military support to Ukraine, prevailed in parliamentary elections by focusing on the economy.

  • RFERL ☛ Former Czech PM Babis Makes Comeback With Election Win, Tough Coalition Talks Loom

    Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has made a dramatic political comeback, winning parliamentary elections four years after losing power, but now faces tough talks on forming a governing majority in a vote that’s being watched internationally for its impact on Prague’s policy on Ukraine.

  • RFERL ☛ Czech Winner Babis Bids To Reassure West, But May Find Coalition Complications

    Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, after scoring a dramatic political comeback in the October 4 parliamentary elections, looked to reassure the West over his commitment to the EU and NATO, but he may be forced to partner with even-more Eurosceptic partners to form a government.

  • France24 ☛ 'Dihydroxyacetone Manist' billionaire Andrej Babis wins Czech parliamentary election

    Populist, billionaire and self-proclaimed "Dihydroxyacetone Manist" Andrej Babis won the Czech parliamentary election Saturday in a political comeback that put the country on a course away from supporting Ukraine and toward Hungary and Slovakia, which have taken a pro-Russian path.

  • France24 ☛ Andrej Babis leads vote count in Czech parliamentary election

    Billionaire Andrej Babis's ANO party cruised to victory in the Czech Republic's parliamentary election on Saturday, raising the prospect of a government that would boost Europe's populist, anti-immigration camp and reduce support for Ukraine. "It is one of the greatest results ever for any party in the history of the modern Czech Republic", said Ian Willoughby, FRANCE 24 correspondent in Prague.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Futurism ☛ Horrific Sora 2 Video Shows Scam Altman Grilling a Dead Pikachu

      "Alright Nintendo it may be time to assemble your famed lawyer squad."

    • Futurism ☛ AI Endangering Tourists by Sending Them to Nonexistent Landmarks in Hazardous Locations

      "The proliferation of Hey Hi (AI) is an impending threat to travel."

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ AOL's dial-up internet service killed with a final modem screech after 34 years — America Online goes offline this week, but other dial-up services still exist

    AOL's 34-year established dial-up service was finally shuttered this week.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Linuxiac ☛ Open Printer Promises Freedom From Proprietary Cartridges

    Open Printer is a repairable, open-hardware inkjet powered by Raspberry Pi, built for makers who want freedom from vendor lock-in.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Personal/Opinions

    • Dances with Trolls

      If the most or almost most distant troll has the highest priority, their move may fail as they cannot move any closer to the hero. This may lead to delays advancing on the hero, especially if the monster closest to the hero is the slowest, and those behind it stack up on it wasting many turns.

      One might fix this problem by allowing monsters to swap or trample or push aside one another, possibly based on the relative sizes of the monsters (Angband?), or whether the monsters are of the same species (Brogue?), or whatever.

    • Christina's Five Questions, October 2025

      Christina's much beloved "Five Questions" have been back for a little while now, and I've been genuinely meaning to get on the bandwagon for most of that time. Looks like I'm finally making it happen!

      [...]

      1. What's your favourite item to cook?

      I don't really enjoy cooking, I have to admit. I do more of it these days than I ever used to, and I think more about recipes as well, out of both health and environmental concerns, but actual honest-to-God enjoyment seems slow to arrive. I guess I've been cooking Muaddara somewhat recently for a while now, and I don't hate it. It's not super quick, but it's not super fiddly, either, and uses mostly staple ingredients.

    • Christina's Five Questions, October 2025

      2. What films have you watched over and over again?

      I used to rewatch Fight Club a lot back when I had in on tape a long time ago, but haven't seen it in, let's say, 20 years. I probably should rewatch it again some time. Blade Runner is more of a perennial answer to this question, and at this point probably my most watch film? But the most topical answer I could give (and, honeslty, probably the last one), is Sneakers, starring the recently deceased Robert Redford (along with surprisingly many other big names, given how relatively obscure a film it seems to have remained). Everyone knows Hackers, of course, and if you ask for an older film about computer hacking you'll probably get WarGames recommended to you, but Sneakers (released between these two) beats 'em both, IMHO.