Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Honoring The Legacy Of Robert Murray-Smith

  We at Hackaday are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Robert Murray-Smith. The prolific experimenter had spent over a decade on YouTube, creating more than 2,500 videos where he gleefully demonstrated his seemingly endless collection of homemade contraptions. At least eighteen of which ended up on the pages of Hackaday since we first crossed paths with him back in 2013.

• Linuxiac ☛ UpCloud Becomes Linuxiac’s New Home: Here’s Why I Made the Move

  Linuxiac now runs on UpCloud! Here’s why I decided to make the move to this high-performance cloud hosting provider and what makes their VPS service so impressive.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ His Lab Tested Cutting-Edge Spacecraft

    Mason Peck, an aerospace engineer at Cornell, was trying to test innovative designs in spacecraft when a stop-work order hit.

  • New York Times ☛ MacArthur Foundation Announces 2025 ‘Genius Grant’ Winners

    Twenty-two people in a broad spectrum of the arts and sciences were awarded the fellowship, which comes with an $800,000 stipend.

  • Science Alert ☛ Physicists Predict When The Universe Will End in a Reverse Big Bang

    Say your farewells, kids.

  • Science Alert ☛ 2025 Nobel Prize For Chemistry Awarded For a Whole Lot of Nothing

    Tiny bits of nothing, in fact.

  • Science Alert ☛ A New Class of Drug Created That Fights Aging on a Cellular Level

    Here's how it works.

  • Science Alert ☛ Women Have Twice as Many Depression Genes as Men, Says Largest-of-Its-Kind Study

    This could explain a lot.

  • Science Alert ☛ Medieval Artifacts Uncovered in Vulture Nests Across Southern Spain

    They were saving them for later.

  • Science Alert ☛ Brains of Stranded Dolphins Showed Signs of Alzheimer's Disease

    And climate change could be to blame.

  • Science Alert ☛ Cocoa Extract Supplements Could Reduce Aging-Related Chronic Inflammation

    The secret ingredient: flavanols.

  • Hackaday ☛ Where Is Mathematics Going? Large Language Models And Lean Proof Assistant

    If you’re a hacker you may well have a passing interest in math, and if you have an interest in math you might like to hear about the direction of mathematical research. In a talk on this topic [Kevin Buzzard], professor of pure mathematics at Imperial College London, asks the question: Where is Mathematics Going?

  • Science Alert ☛ Humans May Be Among The First Intelligent Beings in The Universe

    Let's get this party started!

  • Stanford University ☛ Living Laboratory Summit draws engineering and energy experts

    The summit’s 125 guests got to tour Stanford Living Laboratories and listen to speakers about education, innovation and implementation.

• Hardware

  • The Straits Times ☛ China tightens rare earth export controls, targets defence, semiconductor users

    It is also barring companies from unauthorised overseas cooperation.

  • New York Times ☛ Why Diamonds Are Computer Chips’ New Best Friend

    Data centers squander vast amounts of electricity, most of it as heat. The physical properties of diamond offer a potential solution, researchers say.

  • Hackaday ☛ A Minicomputer Tape Drive Receives Some Love

    Taking on a refrigerator-sized minicomputer  is not for the faint-hearted, but [Usagi Electric] has done it with a DEC PDP-11/44. He’s not doing it in half measures either, for his machine is tricked out with an impressive array of upgrades. Among them however is no storage, and with two co-processors there’s a meager 3U of rack space left. The plan is to fit a period 8″ hard drive in the space alongside a TU50 tape dive, and it’s this final component that’s the subject of his latest video.

  • Hackaday ☛ Ask Hackaday: Why Is TTL 5 Volts?

    The familiar five volts standard from back in the TTL days always struck me as odd. Back when I was just a poor kid trying to cobble together my first circuits from the Forrest Mims Engineer’s Notebook, TTL was always a problem. That narrow 4.75 V to 5.25 V spec for Vcc was hard to hit, thanks to being too poor to buy or build a dedicated 5 V power supply. Yes, I could have wired up four 1.5 V dry cells and used a series diode to drop it down into range, but that was awkward and went through batteries pretty fast once you got past more than a few chips.

  • Hackaday ☛ Why Stepper Motors Still Dominate 3D Printing

    It’s little secret that stepper motors are everywhere in FDM 3D printers, but there’s no real reason why you cannot take another type of DC motor like a brushless DC (BLDC) motor and use that instead. Interestingly, some printer manufacturers are now using BLDCs for places where the reduction in weight matters, such as in the tool head or extruder, but if a BLDC can be ‘stepped’ much like any stepper motor, then why prefer one over the other? This is the topic of a recent video by [Thomas Sanladerer], with the answer being mostly about cost, and ‘good enough’ solutions.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ Chinese Surgeons Perform First Pig-to-Human Liver Transplant

    The transplanted portion of the genetically modified pig liver was removed after 38 days, and the patient, who had advanced liver cancer and cirrhosis, died several months later.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia plans to split hospitals into 'ecosystems'

    Latvian health authorities plan to integrate hospitals of different profiles and levels into "ecosystems", according to the plan presented by the Ministry of Health (VM) at the meeting of the Social and Labour Affairs Committee of the Saeima on Tuesday, LETA reported.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China plans to boost hepatitis A and B vaccination coverage for young children

    The country had about 120 million carriers of hepatitis B in the early 1990s.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Indian police arrest owner of cough syrup company linked to deaths of 17 children

    The medicine contained toxic diethylene glycol in quantities nearly 500 times the permissible limit.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Silicon Angle ☛ New reports add to concerns about potential Hey Hi (AI) bubble

      A series of reports published this week has raised new concerns about the potential risks of the artificial intelligence boom. The Bank of England warned today that the likelihood of a “sharp market correction” has increased.

    • Ruben Schade ☛ Tech optimism outside the commercial space

      Back in July I discussed how I missed being optimistic about technology. I grew up starry-eyed about the possibilities, but that the modern world’s obsession with dark patterns, hostile behavior, and terrible tech like blockchain and gen-“AI” felt so crass and cynical. I didn’t want to face my childhood self and disappoint him with how The Future turned out.

    • Ruben Schade ☛ “Written by Humans, Not AI” badges

      Given my vocal antipathy towards gen-“AI”, a few of you have asked me why I don’t have one of the many “Written by a Human” badges gracing my pages. Here’s a cheerful example from Not by AI:

      It’s cute, and I like the idea in principle. Such badges push back against “AI” slop in a positive way, by reframing human works as more desirable. You probably wouldn’t boast about your site being “AI” generated, unless you’re a cursed Microsoft's Surveillance Arm LinkedIn influencer or selling a gas-powered theft machine yourself. Such badges also invite people viewing them to think about an issue they otherwise may not have.

    • Futurism ☛ Bank of England Warns of Impending Hey Hi (AI) Disaster

      "The risk of a sharp market correction has increased."

    • Futurism ☛ Jeff Bezos Says Hey Hi (AI) Bubble Is Good Because It Will Eliminate the Weak

      "This is real, the benefits to society from Hey Hi (AI) are going to be gigantic."

    • Futurism ☛ Man Embraces Hey Hi (AI) at Work, Gets Rewarded by Boss Replacing Him With It

      "I considered the LLM as a collaborator."

    • Futurism ☛ This Listing for a Rental House Is Mangled With Hey Hi (AI) So Badly That You’ll Cackle Out Loud

      "We live in an era of house catfishing."

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ Posts Calling Luigi Mangione Guilty Did No Harm, Top U.S. Prosecutor Argues

    A judge had demanded an explanation for why Justice Department officials were publicly expressing views on Luigi Mangione’s guilt in the killing of a health insurance executive.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China says Taiwan president is ‘prostituting’ himself, after interview lauding Convicted Felon

    The statement said efforts to seek independence through relying on foreign forces were doomed to fail.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China honing abilities for a possible future attack, Taiwan defence report warns

    China is increasing the frequency of its military activities around Taiwan and developing new equipment to hone its ability to stage a surprise attack, the island's defence ministry said on Thursday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China, Malaysia set to hold joint military drill in October

    The regular drills are part of Beijing’s efforts to build closer defence cooperation with South-east Asian nations.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Beijing watching closely as Japan’s incoming PM Takaichi signals pragmatism in China policy: Experts

    Known for her revisionist statements, she has moderated her stance in her successful run for office.

  • ADF ☛ History Shows a Divided Sudan Could Face Prolonged War

    Experts say the recent announcement of a parallel Sudanese government run by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, is likely to lead to more violence that could result in a Libya-style partition that takes years to resolve.

  • ADF ☛ Both Sides in Sudan’s War Blamed for Rising Civilian Deaths

    Sudan’s devastating civil war intensified over the first half of 2025 as civilians continued to bear the brunt of the violence amid an out-of-control humanitarian crisis. Both the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Gen.

  • ADF ☛ Ongoing Houthi Support of Somali Terror Groups Threatens Regional Stability

    Growing ties between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Somali terror groups threaten to fuel greater insecurity in Somalia and further disrupt shipping in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

  • New York Times ☛ A New Security Decree Weighs Heavily on Italy’s Young Protesters

    Students said they feared a longtime tradition of civil disobedience was in jeopardy because of a decree issued in June by the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

  • New York Times ☛ Kristi Noem Attacks Zach Bryan’s New Lyrics About ICE

    After the homeland security secretary called the lyrics “disrespectful,” Bryan, a country music star, said they had been “misconstrued.”

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Top UK prosecutor blames gov’t for dropped China spy case

    A high-profile case involving two men accused of spying for China was dropped because the UK government failed to provide evidence Beijing was a security threat, the chief prosecutor has said. Prosecutors have come under fire from lawmakers and government officials after charges against two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, were dismissed last month.

  • Pen Test Partners ☛ What Speed 2 gets right and wrong about ship hacking

     TL;DR   Introduction   In the field of maritime cyber, we often cite the movie Speed 2: Cruise Control from 1997 as an interesting prediction of the future.

    It illustrates the reality of today quite well, despite being nearly 30 years old! 

  • New York Times ☛ Why a China Spy Case in the U.K. Collapsed Before It Went to Trial

    The British government has come under scrutiny after charges against two men accused of spying for Beijing were dropped. Here’s what to know.

  • JURIST ☛ China urged to drop charges against detained artist Gao Zhen

    Human Rights Watch called on the Chinese government to immediately drop all charges against US permanent resident Gao Zhen and allow him to return to the United States on Tuesday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Filipino vlogger accused of inciting sedition arrested for Facebook (Farcebook) post about president

    The authorities described the post as making a veiled death threat against the president.

  • With rising political assassinations, is South Africa becoming a mafia state?

    Is South Africa turning into a mafia state? A mafia state is characterised by government institutions [...]

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Violent crime is down but fear is up: Wednesday’s mañanera recapped

    The president addressed a rising perception of insecurity among Mexicans, which she attributes to the fact that "a lot of media outlets" exaggerate "issues of violence," creating an environment of fear.

• Environment

  • New York Times ☛ He Studied How Emissions Are Heating Up U.S. Cities

    “Fundamentally, we were trying to learn about these systems to prevent people from dying unnecessarily from heat,” said Kevin Gurney, an atmospheric scientist.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hong Kong logs record number of ‘very hot’ October days

    Hong Kong’s health authorities urged the public to take precautions against heat-related illnesses.

  • CS Monitor ☛ What China’s landmark climate pledge means for the fight against global warming

    In a first, China has set an absolute target for cutting emissions. Its pledge also covers greenhouse gas emissions and economic sectors.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Federal News Network ☛ Staffing shortages cause more US flight delays as government shutdown reaches 7th day

      Staffing shortages led to more flight delays at airports across the U.S. on Tuesday as the federal government shutdown stretched into a seventh day, while union leaders for air traffic controllers and airport security screeners

    • Science Alert ☛ 4 Plane Failures That Are More Common – And Less Dangerous – Than You Think

      Keep calm.

    • Security Week ☛ North Korean Hackers Have Stolen $2 Billion in Cryptocurrency in 2025

      The hackers are believed to have stolen over $6 billion for the Pyongyang regime, financing its military programs.

• Finance

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Opinion | Protect Michigan families’ health care not tax breaks for the wealthy

    Small business owners, self-employed workers and middle-income families across Michigan would face impossible choices. Some would be forced to drop coverage altogether.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Affordable Care Act subsidies and US shutdown: What’s at stake in Michigan

    Republicans and Democrats in Congress are divided on a government spending plan, while a decision to extend the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits remains in limbo. Here’s what that means for Michigan.

  • New York Times ☛ Irish Factory Prospered Because of China’s Babies. Then Nestlé Pulled the Plug.

    China’s baby boom enriched a small Irish town where a Nestlé factory made formula for Chinese newborns. Then a baby bust unraveled it all. Or so it seemed.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s next year's budget to tackle social, defence funding

    Lithuania is putting together next year’s budget, with defence and social security needs topping the list of priorities.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ Meet ‘Porky,’ Lima’s Right-Wing Mayor Embracing Convicted Felon’s MAGA Movement

    By embodying Hell Toupée’s brash style, Rafael López Aliaga has become a leading candidate to be Peru’s next president.

  • France24 ☛ Bargaining and backstabbing: How to break France's political deadlock?

    48 hours after France’s coalition government collapsed after 14 hours, caretaker prime minister Sebastien Lecornu still trying to pull off the impossible and a strike a deal that can get a budget over the line before the end of the year and avoid a further spiraling of public borrowing costs. But for that you need a compromise…

  • Latvia ☛ Ministers snipe at each other during Latvian cabinet meeting

    The Ministry of Education and Science (MIS) does not popularize "gender ideology", Minister of Education and Science Dace Melbārde (New Unity) emphasized at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday in response to comments made by Minister of Welfare Reinis Uzulnieks (Greens and Farmers Union/ZZS) in evidence of further tensions within the three-party ruling coalition.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Federal government shutdown grinds into a week two as tempers flare at the Capitol

    As the federal government shutdown enters a second week, there’s no discernible endgame in sight. No negotiations, at least publicly, are underway, but quiet talks are emerging. This comes amid signs of political discomfort. Federal worker union leaders are pushing Congress to do its job. Military troops are preparing to go without paychecks. Flight delays are happening nationwide. And tensions flared at the Capitol. The Republicans who have majority control in Congress believe they have the upper hand politically as the fend off Democratic demands to quickly address expiring health care funds. But Democrats are also dug in, convinced that Americans are on their side in the fight to vent the looming health care price spikes.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim lauds ruling party’s legacy ahead of 80th anniversary

    Mr Kim also pledged to preserve the party's ideological purity and vitality.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian PM Anwar’s appearance at pro-Palestine rally risks US ire

    The Gaza conflict threatens to complicate US Hell Toupée’s planned attendance at the Asean summit on Oct 26 to Oct 28.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia eyes more subsidies, aid to tackle living costs in 2026 budget

    PM Anwar Ibrahim is set to announce the government’s spending plan for 2026 in Parliament on Oct 10.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Protest in the ‘Beverly Hills of Malaysia’ sparks anti-elitist backlash

    The reaction reflects a shifting public mood that is increasingly intolerant of perceived elitism and entitlement.

  • JURIST ☛ Singapore urged to halt execution of Malaysia national for drug offense

    Amnesty International on Monday urged Singaporean authorities to immediately halt the execution of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, scheduled for Wednesday, October 8. The Malaysian national has been on death row since 2017 for importing 51.84 grams of diamorphine (heroin) into Singapore.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Apple comes under criticism for removing apps related to ICE arrests

    Apple Inc. is currently taking flak for its decision to remove two apps from the App Store that tracked the activity of people being arrested by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • JURIST ☛ Egypt authorities condemned over detention of journalist Ismail Iskandarani

    Egyptian authorities detained prominent independent journalist and researcher Ismail Iskandarani over Facebook (Farcebook) posts critical of government policies, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Joins 21 Public Interest Groups Urging FCC To Defend First Amendment, Rule of Law

    Today, Public Knowledge joined 21 other public interest, civic, civil rights, and media advocacy organizations in a letter urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to defend the First Amendment and the rule of the law.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • RFERL ☛ Watchdog Says Taliban Restricting Social Media In Afghanistan Days After Internet Blackout

    Internet watchdog NetBlocks has confirmed reports from inside Afghanistan that several major social control media sites have been "intentionally restricted."

  • Internet Society ☛ Specialized Services Cannot Be the Excuse to Break the Internet

    Altering net neutrality to introduce exceptions for “specialized services” risks fracturing the Internet’s features and allowing telecom gatekeepers to pick winners and losers. 

  • Public Knowledge ☛ That Escalated Quickly. Chairman Carr Completely Restructures the Wireless Market into an Oligopoly.

    The Chairman's approach to wireless competition is likely to promote anything but.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Supreme Court: Still no Patent Cases

    Following up on my September 29 post covering the patent monopoly and trademark cases at the Supreme Court's long conference, the Court released its order list on October 6, 2025, and the results are in.  All patent monopoly cases denied.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Denies Petition to Cancel Registration of President XI Likeness Due to Lack of Statutory Standing

    Jinchun Ma, appearing pro se, fended off a petition for cancellation of his registration for the mark shown immediately below, for "pet accessories," including "canvas pouches for holding disposable bags to place pet waste in." Petitioner Zhejiang Import, allegedly a Chinese “trade organization for various pet food and pet products that are manufactured in China and sold internationally, including to the United States," asserted six claims:false suggestion of a connection with Chinese President Pooh-tin (claiming that the Chinese characters for “Xi Da Da” are a nickname for President Xi), abandonment, nonuse, lack of consent (2)(c), failure-to-function, and fraud. Zhejiang Import & Export Pet Food and Product Industry Association v. Jinchun Ma, Cancellation No. 92076309 (October 6, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Jennifer L. Elgin).

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ The Adventures and Experiences of the First Slovak Novel

    Partially banned upon publication and translated into English for the first time this year, *René, or: A Young Man’s Adventures and Experiences* (1783) found new readers in the communist era thanks to its critiques of feudalism, capitalism, and the Catholic Church. Dobrota Pucherová introduces us to this hybrid work, which mixes the bildungsroman with the philosophical novel, the romance, the adventure story, the travelogue, the history book, and the orientalist fantasy.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Dolly’s Sister Freida Parton Solicits Prayer for Her Sister’s ‘Health Challenges’

    Freida Parton, the younger sister of country music icon Dolly Parton, took to Facebook (Farcebook) this week to ask fans to pray for her sister during her unspecified health challenges. Freida revealed that Dolly has been struggling with unspecified health issues, prompting concern among fans.