Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Precision, Imprecision, Intellectual Honesty, And Little Green Men

  If you’ve been following the hubbub about 3I/ATLAS, you’re probably either in the camp that thinks it’s just a comet from ridiculously far away that’s managed to find its way into our solar system, or you’re preparing for an alien invasion. (Lukewarm take: it’s just a fast moving comet.) But that doesn’t stop it from being interesting – its relatively fast speed and odd trajectory make astronomers wonder where it’s coming from, and give us clues about how old it is likely to be.

• The Guardian UK ☛ ‘No one makes money from them’: with MTV channels switching off, is the music video under threat?

  For some, it represents the end of an era. Others, such as the musician Hannah Diamond, suggest that era may have been over some time ago. “The last few years, MTV has sort of transformed [into] more of a nostalgic memory,” she says. “It hasn’t been part of the conversation for such a long time that it really doesn’t surprise me that they’re ending it.” As an independent artist, she says, YouTube has always been the primary platform for music video releases.

• Ruben Schade ☛ I found a Rubik’s Cube

  It’s at this stage that I admit I’ve never had one of my own, though I used to mess with them when I’d see them. My late grandad was one of those people who could solve one in record time with merely a passing glance at its coloured squares. A few of my friends in Sydney can too.

• Michael Burkhardt ☛ What’s New in the Mihobuverse - Michael Burkhardt’s Whirled Wide Web

  One of the perils of being a so-called “perfectionist” is that I’m never content to leave things be. In what became a cascade of events precipitated by a new call sign, I have made whole bunch of changes in the last few months. Here they are in a nutshell.

• Robert OCallahan ☛ Some Thoughts About Money From A Christian In Big Tech

  I’m a Christian, I work for Google, I have money, so I try to never forget Jesus’ words: “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

• Giles Turnbull ☛ Doing Presentations en español

  A little update about Doing Presentations. I got a kind offer from Julián Rodriguez Orihuela to translate the site into Spanish. He kept wanting to share it with Spanish-speaking clients, so he generously took the time to do all the translating himself.

• Science

  • Bartosz Milewski ☛ Modeling Identity Types

    Let me first explain why the naive categorical model of dependent types doesn’t work very well for identity types. The problem is that, in such a model, any arrow can be considered a fibration, and therefore interpreted as a dependent type. In our definition of path induction, with an arrow d that makes the outer square commute, there are no additional constraints on \rho: [...]

  • Science Alert ☛ Can a New Blood Test Actually Detect ME/CFS? Here's What We Know

    The first of its kind.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Caught Sperm Ignoring A Major Law of Physics

    Some rules were made to be broken.

  • Science Alert ☛ Older Men's Sperm Carry More Mutations, And They May Turn Harmful

    An unexpectedly high result.

  • Science Alert ☛ Rare New Form of Diabetes Is Unique to Babies, Scientists Report

    A rare diagnosis.

  • Science Alert ☛ You Only Need 1 Piece of Equipment For Strength Training, And It's Free

    No sign-up fees.

  • Science Alert ☛ Male Brains Shrink Faster Than Female Brains, Study Finds

    It's about time we knew more.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Week in Science: 'Universal' Kidney, Earthly Anomaly, And Much More!

    Our weekly science news roundup.

• Career/Education

  • The Guardian UK ☛ Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?

    With some MIT colleagues, Kosmyna set up an experiment that used an electroencephalogram to monitor people’s brain activity while they wrote essays, either with no digital assistance, or with the help of an internet search engine, or ChatGPT. She found that the more external help participants had, the lower their level of brain connectivity, so those who used ChatGPT to write showed significantly less activity in the brain networks associated with cognitive processing, attention and creativity.

    In other words, whatever the people using ChatGPT felt was going on inside their brains, the scans showed there wasn’t much happening up there.

  • Digital Camera World ☛ Age is just a number: these photography icons all found success with a camera after a first career

    Don't you just love a good second act? There’s something so inspiring about watching someone switch career paths and find their true calling. And it's incredible to think that some of the biggest names in photography didn’t start out behind the lens at all.

    So if you’re reading this while juggling another job, or wondering if it’s too late to take photography seriously, we can all take encouragement from their example. Not least because their previous occupations gave them unique perspectives – and that’s part of what made their work so powerful.

  • Seth Godin ☛ Attention is a luxury good

    Luxury isn’t about quality, suitability or performance. Luxury isn’t a more accurate watch or a faster processor. Luxury is a marker that we can afford to do something others might consider wasteful.

  • Kev Quirk ☛ Career Snakes & Ladders

    After years of climbing the ladder in cyber, I’ve learned that sometimes the best move isn’t up. It’s stepping back to make life sustainable again.

    The corporate ladder is less of a climb and more of a game of Snakes & Ladders. Moments of progress, setbacks, and the occasional lucky roll where everything just seems to align. Sometimes you go up, sometimes it’s a move sideways, and sometimes it’s a move down.

  • Ankur Sethi ☛ Just read

    So I’ve been trying something new: I’m reading without taking notes, highlighting important lines, or even trying to remember everything I read. If I encounter something important, I re-read it or stop to reflect for a minute. But at no point do I turn my reading time into a study session.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ A Toolchanging Inverse SCARA 3D Printer

    There are some times when a picture, or better yet a video, really is worth a thousand words, and [heinz]’s dual-disk polar 3D printer is one of those projects. Perhaps the best way to describe it is as an inverted SCARA system that moves the print bed around the hot end, producing strange and mesmerizing motion paths.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Jensen says Nvidia’s China Hey Hi (AI) GPU market share has plummeted from 95% to zero — the Chinese market previously amounted to 20% to 25% of the chipmaker's data center revenue

    Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said last week that the company’s share of China’s advanced Hey Hi (AI) accelerator market has collapsed from roughly 95% to zero as US export controls continue to bite.

  • Hackaday ☛ Broken Phone To Cinema Camera With A Lens Upgrade

    The advent of the mobile phone camera has caused a revolution in film making over the last couple of decades, lowering the barrier to entry significantly, and as the cameras have improved, delivering near-professional-grade quality in some cases. Mobile phone manufacturers hire film makers to promote their new flagship models and the results are very impressive, but there is still a limitation when it comes to the lenses. [Evan Monsma] has broken through that barrier, modifying an iPhone to take C-mount cinema lenses.

  • James G ☛ Typewriters and labyrinths

    In response to my question about getting started with typewriters, the shopkeeper gave me some advice, among the most prescient of which was that typewriters need to be pressed much more firmly than a computer keyboard. As I typed, I realised that some of my letters were not showing up. I made several typos, too. With that said, I proudly wrote a few lines of text, and confidently signed it - james.

  • Hackaday ☛ 2025 Component Abuse Challenge: A Self-Charging LED Flasher By Burkhard Kainka

    [Tito] entered a Self-Charging LED Flasher into the Component Abuse Challenge. It’s a simple re-build of a design by the unstoppable [Burkhard Kainka], and while [Tito] doesn’t explain its workings in detail, it’s a clever experiment in minimalism, and a bit of a head-scratcher at the same time.

  • Hackaday ☛ Was The Napier Nomad The Most Complex Aero Engine Ever Made?

    From 1945 to 1955, a British aeronautical company called Napier & Son produced not just one but two versions of an intricate hybrid piston engine, which they named the Napier Nomad. The post-World War II era saw the development of several fascinating (and highly complex) piston-powered aeronautical engines alongside the emerging gas turbine engine designs. During this period, gas turbines were inefficient, unreliable, and primarily used for military applications. The (then) British Ministry of Supply commissioned the design and creation of a more fuel-efficient piston engine for aeronautical purposes, both military and civil, aiming to achieve gas turbine-like power while maintaining piston engine efficiency. Quite the challenge!

  • Hackaday ☛ JLCPCB Locking Accounts, Mentions “Risky IP Addresses, Activities”

    In the past week, a few forum and Reddit threads have popped up, with people stating that JLCPCB has emailed them with a notice, saying their accounts are set up for terminations after an assessment by JLCPCB’s “Risk Control Team”. Reasons given are vague, the terminations are non-appealable, and if you’re planning a JLCPCB order sometime soon, it can certainly come as a surprise. From the looks of it, the accounts restricted do not appear to be tied to any specific country – and not even from the same “kind” of countries.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ Ontario Psychologists Clash Over How Much Training Is Enough

    Psychologists are pushing back against a proposal to cut their training requirements in a bid to license more providers.

  • New York Times ☛ The Indonesian Free-Food Program That Has Sickened Thousands

    Indonesia’s president says the meals are improving nutrition in the country. Critics have called for a halt to the program, saying it threatens public health.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Jakarta to ban dog, cat meat trade to curb rabies risks

    Indonesia does not classify dogs and cats as livestock, with no explicit laws banning their trade.

  • Greece ☛ Instagram unveils teen safety features for AI chatbots

    Instagram on Friday unveiled safety features for teenagers who use its artificial intelligence chatbots amid growing concerns over how the chatbots are affecting young people’s mental health.

  • The Walrus ☛ How Tamagotchi Trained Millennials for the Era of Needy Devices | The Walrus

    The psychological conditioning produced by 1990s devices such as Tamagotchi is relevant, and even uncanny, when facing the trends of the 2020s and potentially beyond. Indeed, the Tamagotchi-clutching millennial children of the 1990s are now the smartphone-clutching millennials entering middle age.

  • Futurism ☛ Tech Bros Have Been Accidentally Poisoning Themselves With Severe Brain Toxins for Years

    Earlier this week, a bombshell analysis by Consumer Reports found that popular meal replacement drinks — a long-time favorite of tech bros — contain more lead in a single serving than a healthy adult should eat in a day.

  • Declan Chidlow ☛ Nootropical Notes

    Many people attempt experiments with assorted nootropics, but I find they’re often difficult to attain value from. You of course have placebo effects, but you also have the case of most outcomes being difficult to detect. Even in the cases of double-blinded trials, factors such as ‘mood’ and ‘productivity’ are so vague that they’re difficult to track or log, and they’re so easily manipulated by an unquantifiable number of variables that their validity is questionable.

  • Chris Holdgraf ☛ My system for beating jet lag

    The basic idea is to shift your body’s internal clock by timing your exposure to light, exercise, and melatonin around your body’s daily minimum temperature (your lowest temperature in a 24-hour cycle, usually 2-3 hours before you wake up).

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia weighs caning, tighter phone ban amid alarm over rising student violence in schools

    Experts warn a tougher stance may overlook deeper emotional and cultural problems driving student behaviour.

  • New York Times ☛ The Spritzes and Carbonaras That Ate Italy

    Tourism has turned some Italian streets into monochromatic eating zones. Some officials have banned the opening of new restaurants.

• Proprietary

  • The Guardian UK ☛ ‘I lost 25 pounds in 20 days’: what it’s like to be on the frontline of a global cyber-attack

    The notification about the hack came in a phone call from Kevin Mandia, the founder of the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, to SolarWinds’ then CEO Kevin Thompson.

    Mandia told Thompson that SolarWinds had “shipped tainted code” to its Orion software, which helps organisations monitor outages on their computer networks and servers.

  • [Repeat] Security Week ☛ 'Highest Ever' Severity Score Assigned by Microsoft to ASP.NET Core Vulnerability

    The tech giant says the vulnerability can be exploited to leak sensitive information such as user credentials, tamper with file contents, or cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition by forcing a crash within the server.

  • Spacebar.News ☛ I made a website with Apple iWeb in 2025

    Even though Apple's web hosting services are long gone, you can still use iWeb and save your finished site to a local folder or FTP server. The last versions were Intel-native Mac applications, so iWeb should work all the way up to macOS 10.14 Mojave, released in 2018. It can't run in newer macOS releases because Apple ripped out support for 32-bit applications.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Woman Wins Court Case by Using Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot as a Lawyer

      "I never, ever, ever, ever could have won this appeal without AI."

    • Futurism ☛ Two People Almost Drown After Asking ChatGPT When Low Tide Was

      As local news outlet WalesOnline reports, the swimmers attempted to wade back from Sully Island, a rocky outcropping thousands of feet offshore, shortly before the tide came back in. The restaurant owner, Gordon Hadfield, got out his megaphone and yelled at them to turn back, which was likely lifesaving advice.

    • New York Times ☛ Does A.I. Count as Art? Ask the Curators

      In response, major art museums are wrestling with what, within the kaleidoscope, counts as art, and are trying to teach the public to see beyond spectacle. In so doing, they are creating a canon that artists, collectors and audiences will treat as a guide to what matters and why.

      Curators argue A.I. art is less about aesthetics — some of it is, in a word, ugly — than about intent and process.

      “The technology is not the art,” said Paola Antonelli, a senior curator at MoMA and director of the museum’s research and development. “In the end, it’s about the person’s creativity and vision.”

    • PC Mag ☛ Wikipedia: AI-Generated Summaries Are Hurting Our Traffic

      After crunching the numbers to exclude armies of data-scraping AI bots, the Wikimedia Foundation says that between March and August of this year, the number of Wikipedia page views coming from real humans declined by 8% year-on-year.

    • Pivot to AI ☛ ChatGPT sales are flat — so Altman offers OpenAI adult chat

      OpenAI has been flat broke its whole existence. In late 2025, it’s even more flat broke than that. Sam’s been frantically lining up about a trillion dollars’ worth of deals. Well, deals to make a deal.

  • Social Control Media

    • SBS ☛ AI bullying fears raised as $10 million tipped into new school plan

      The best results, however, typically involve taking steps to help repair relationships and address underlying causes for the harmful behaviour.

      One in four students between years four and nine have reported bullying every few weeks or more, according to the review.

    • Nick Heer ☛ NSO Group Banned From Using or Supplying WhatsApp Exploits

      Once again, I am mystified by Apple’s decision to drop its suit against NSO Group. What Meta won is protection from WhatsApp being used as an installation vector for NSO’s spyware; importantly, high-value WhatsApp users won a modicum of protection from NSO’s customers. And, as John Scott-Railton of Citizen Lab points out, NSO has “an absolute TON of their business splashed all over the court records”. There are several depositions from which an enterprising journalist could develop a better understanding of this creepy spyware company.

    • AJ Bourg ☛ Deactivating

      I deactivated both of my Meta social media accounts today — Instagram and Facebook.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • The Straits Times ☛ 64 South Koreans held in Cambodia return home under arrest

      They are implicated in crimes such as those linked to voice phishing and romance scams.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Cambodia and South Korea form joint task force to combat online scamming

      The two countries will look to introduce a blacklist and step up education to curb scam networks.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Futurism ☛ MIT Grads Allegedly Googled “Money Laundering” Before Pulling Off $25 Million Crypto Heist

      "In 12 seconds, the defendants tricked their victims out of $25 million."

    • LRT ☛ EU shelves child protection proposal over fears of mass surveillance

      “If a mother sends a photo of a child to the father, AI might automatically flag it as inappropriate, leading to message surveillance,” said European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius. “There would be no real privacy left – even doctors and patients communicate this way.”

      The European Council had been expected to vote on the regulation this week, but the decision was postponed indefinitely after several member states withdrew their support.

    • PC World ☛ Ring lets police ask for security videos. Here’s how to opt out

      But the functionality has drawn fierce criticism from privacy advocates, who argue that the program (a newer and reworked incarnation of Ring’s earlier Request for Assistance effort) represents Ring’s “most invasive feature.”

    • PC Mag ☛ Ring Wants You to Share Your Camera Footage With Police (Again)

      The partnership comes just days after a letter revealed that government agencies, including parts of ICE, had access to Flock’s network of cameras.

    • Macworld ☛ Sorry, Mac users, it looks like Face ID is still ‘years away’

      According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is “exploring another Mac change” in addition to bringing multitouch to the display. He reports that Apple is working on “a shift from the Touch ID fingerprint scanner to Face ID” for future Macs. However, he notes that the change is still “years away.”

    • Paris Buttfield-Addison ☛ The Government Wants Your Selfie to Use Instagram | hey.paris

      Australia has a new plan to keep kids safe online. On the surface, it sounds simple, maybe even sensible. The government is banning anyone under sixteen from having a social media account. From December, platforms like Instagram and TikTok will have to kick the kids off in an effort to stop social harm. It’s a nice idea. But when you pull back the curtain, you find a privacy disaster waiting to happen. It’s a plan that won’t work, and it will end up hurting the very people it’s supposed to protect.

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Tunisia: Violence erupts during anti-pollution protest as anger boils

    Police rained tear gas on crowds and several demonstrators and riot police were injured in the southern Tunisian city of Gabes as thousands of people marched Wednesday to protest worsening air pollution from a phosphate-processing plant. The protest descended into clashes with police who attempted to disperse protesters trying to reach the plant in an industrial complex, which is a designated military zone. Gabes, home to more than 400,000 residents, lies at the heart of Tunisia’s phosphate industry, one of the key sources of export revenue for the North African country. Report by Lilia Blaise and Hamdi Tlili.

  • RFERL ☛ Afghan, Pakistani Negotiators Begin Talks In Doha After Deadly Clashes

    Afghanistan and Pakistan began peace talks on October 18 in the Qatari capital of Doha after border clashes and attacks raised fears of an all-out war between the two countries.

  • New Yorker ☛ The Gaza Ceasefire and the Business of Convicted Felon’s Diplomacy

    While touting a major diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and Hamas, the President also talked a lot about money.

  • France24 ☛ Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of breaking truce after deadly cross-border strikes

    Pakistan's military carried out strikes in southeastern Afghanistan on Friday just hours after a two-day ceasefire between the neighboring countries expired, an Afghan police official said. The bombings struck southeastern Paktika province and two other areas close to the Pakistan border, and included a strike on a civilian house in Khanadar village that resulted in casualties, police spokesman Mohammadullah Amini Mawia said. He gave no further details, including how the strikes were delivered. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan about the Afghan claim. Story by Peter O'Brien.

  • JURIST ☛ Perú dispatch: Congress ousts President Dina Boluarte amid crime surge and political turmoil

    On October 10, Dina Boluarte Medina, then serving as President of Perú, was removed from office after the Congress of the Republic approved a presidential vacancy motion accusing her of moral “incapacity” amid a deepening crisis of organized crime and insecurity across the country.

  • No Kings! Power belongs to the people

    To my friends and their friends and family in the USA: stand up against blatant corruption, greed and power grabs. Fight the corrosion of your democracy and the rise of authoritarianism and fascism in the “land of the free”. I stand with you.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Myanmar junta recaptures town on China trade route

    There were 28 clashes and “engagements” in the two weeks leading up to the town's recapture.

  • Mike Brock ☛ We Have No Kings

    The Constitution is not a suggestion.
    The Bill of Rights is not negotiable.
    Judicial review is not insurrection.
    Due process is not weakness.
    The Fourth Amendment does not pause for political convenience.

    These are not technicalities to be optimized away by people who think themselves too smart for constraints.
    They are the foundations that make self-governance possible.
    They are what we defend—or lose everything.

  • Maine Morning Star ☛ Thousands across Maine protest against Trump administration in second No Kings day

    Exactly 250 years to the day after the British attacked what is now Portland, Maine, during the Revolutionary War, thousands gathered in the city and across the state to declare the same thing Americans had been fighting for then: no kings.

    This was the overarching rallying cry of the more than 30 demonstrations across the state and more than 2,600 across the country known as No Kings day in response to what a broad coalition of liberal advocacy organizations say is “the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration, which they have doubled down on since June.”

  • Rolling Stone ☛ ‘No Kings’: Protesters Speak Against Trump’s ‘Authoritarianism’

    A rally more than a march, the “No Kings” protest centered on a stage set up on Pennsylvania Avenue with the U.S. Capitol in the background. The event comes as the Trump administration becomes increasingly eager to directly confront its political opponents using the varied levers of state power — including by using anti-terror tools originally designed to fight foreign extremists against domestic targets, and by deploying the National Guard to major cities under federal authority.

  • Heather Cox Richardson ☛ October 18, 2025 - by Heather Cox Richardson

    In fact, protesters turned out waving American flags and wearing frog and unicorn and banana costumes and carrying homemade signs that demanded the release of the Epstein files and defended Lady Liberty. They laughed and danced and took selfies and sang. City police departments, including those of New York City, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., said they had made no protest-related arrests.

  • Common Dreams ☛ King Donald the First: Fuck That | Opinion

    Organizers vowing, "No Thrones, No Crowns, No Kings" are predicting the largest, one-day demonstration in U.S. history, with people in 2,500 towns and cities across the country celebrating the First Amendment's guarantee to "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The original No Kings protest took place 250 years ago, Robert DeNiro noted in a sober ad for Indivisible , when Americans decided they didn’t want to live under the rule of King George III; they declared their independence and fought a bloody war for democracy, which since then has proved "often challenging, sometimes messy and always essential." As to today's would-be king, he said, "Fuck that." Indeed.

  • CS Monitor ☛ ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump bring a street party vibe to cities nationwide

    With signs such as “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” or “Resist Fascism,” in many places, the events looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the U.S. Constitution’s “We The People” preamble that people could sign, and demonstrators wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.

    It was the third mass mobilization since Mr. Trump’s return to the White House and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services but is also testing the core balance of power, as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that protest organizers warn are a slide toward authoritarianism.

  • Alabama Reflector ☛ 'We've got to do something:' Thousands attend 'No Kings' protests in Alabama

    About 15 protests were scheduled around Alabama, part of over 2,600 demonstrations scheduled on Saturday that were expected to draw millions of people. Speakers and participants criticized the administration’s seizure of power; its arrest and detention of immigrants and its policies toward health care. Others said Trump administration policies were hurting members of their families.

    The protests were largely peaceful, with no major incidents reported.

  • The Georgia Recorder ☛ Thousands, including many dressed as frogs, rally against Trump at Atlanta No Kings protest • Georgia Recorder

    Speakers, which included prominent Georgia political figures and leaders of civil rights and advocacy organizations, described the current climate as a move away from democracy. It was a noticeable shift in tone from the No Kings events in June, when organizers warned of some of the administration’s undemocratic behaviors, such as hosting a military parade coinciding with President Donald Trump’s birthday.

    Former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams framed the political battle as a fight over the nation’s direction.

  • The Indiana Capital Chronicle ☛ 'Not pawns': Thousands of Hoosiers turn out for No Kings protests • Indiana Capital Chronicle

    It was one of about 40 No Kings demonstrations around the state, and one of 2,600 scheduled around the country that drew millions collectively. Indianapolis organizers boasted 6,000 in attendance while those in Fort Wayne said 8,000 joined the event.

    Protesters are citizens and voters, not “subjects” or “pawns,” said Danielle Drake, advocacy manager for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

  • Kansas Reflector ☛ No Kings day brings millions into US streets in anti-Trump protests

    Millions of Americans packed streets, parks and town squares across the United States Saturday for No Kings day, according to the organizers of the massive day of demonstrations protesting President Donald Trump’s administration — from his deployment of troops to cities to his targeting of political opponents.

  • Kentucky Lantern ☛ 'I love America': 'No Kings' protesters rally across Kentucky opposing Trump • Kentucky Lantern

    Thousands of Kentuckians turned out under the autumn sun to protest President Donald Trump’s administration, some pointedly refuting Republican claims disparaging their motives.

  • Michigan Advance ☛ Demonstrators amplify growing fear of Trump autocracy during Michigan-wide No Kings rallies

    More than 100 communities from southeast Michigan to the westernmost part of the U.P. joined in the show of might to advocate for civil rights, democracy and the rule of law. The protests were expected to attract millions of people nationwide to speak out against the Trump administration since he took office this year for a second term.

  • Michigan News ☛ ‘Whose streets? Our streets!’: Thousands across Michigan denounce Trump in ‘No Kings’ marches - mlive.com

    There were close to 100 No Kings demonstrations on Saturday, Oct. 18, that erupted in chants, cheers and honking horns — at times, laden with expletives and ire — in communities across Michigan in a nationally coordinated day of protest against President Donald Trump. Another was held earlier this year.

  • Nevada Current ☛ 'There's so much.' Nevadans exercise First Amendment rights at multiple No Kings events

    Thousands of Nevadans took to streets and sidewalks Saturday to peacefully protest President Donald Trump and air myriad grievances against his administration, including but not limited to the ramping up of disappearances by immigration officers, the deployment of troops into U.S. cities, directing the Justice Department to target his political enemies, attempts to strip health care and social service programs, defunding of medical research, and what even federal judges are characterizing as an unprecedented disregard for the rule of law.

  • North Dakota Monitor ☛ 'I love America:’ Thousands join No Kings rallies in 11 North Dakota cities

    Thousands protested Trump administration policies at rallies in Fargo and Bismarck with smaller events held in Grand Forks, Jamestown, Bottineau, Devils Lake, Dickinson, Williston, Minot and Medora. Some communities reported larger crowds than similar events in June, while others said windy weather deterred some participants.

  • Nebraska Examiner ☛ Protesters gather around Nebraska Capitol for No Kings protest

    Saturday wasn’t the first crop of No Kings protests in the state; there were a dozen similar protests in June. This time around, there are 15. The protesters held anti-Trump signs criticizing the callousness of the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts and cuts to federal services. Some chanted for President Donald Trump “to go.”

  • Deseret Media ☛ 'No Kings' protesters emerge en masse nationwide for anti-Trump rallies

    Four marchers dressed in prison stripes and large caricature heads of Trump and other officials displayed a sign saying, "Impeach Trump Again."

    Protester Aliston Elliot, wearing a Statue of Liberty headpiece and holding a "No Wannabe Dictators" sign, said: "We want to show our support for democracy and for fighting (for) what is right. I'm against the overreach of power."

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ Police declare 'unlawful assembly' at downtown L.A. protest

    Police declared an unlawful assembly Saturday evening near the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles after “No Kings Day” protesters gathered there. Officers used nonlethal rounds and tear gas on crowds, with protesters accusing police of escalating tensions after peaceful daytime demonstrations.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ SoCal 'No Kings' protests draw tens of thousands alongside massive crowds nationwide

    Organizers say the goal of “No Kings” goes beyond just getting Americans out on the streets by aiming to connect people who are upset and frustrated with the Trump administration to local organizing groups.

    Podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen roused the crowd at Grand Park, pointing to the scope of the “No Kings” protests nationwide.

  • Los Angeles Times ☛ Heightened sense of urgency around this ‘No Kings Day’

    Organizers say Trump’s actions have escalated since June, including expanded immigration raids, prosecutions of political opponents and pressure on universities.

  • US News And World Report ☛ Photos Show ‘No Kings’ Rallies Against Trump Across the US and in Europe

    This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

  • Deccan Chronicle ☛ No Kings Protests Sweep US Against Trump

    In Washington, Iraq War Marine veteran Shawn Howard said he had never participated in a protest before but was motivated to show up because of what he sees as the Trump administration’s “disregard for the law.” He said immigration detentions without due process and deployments of troops in U.S. cities are “un-American” and alarming signs of eroding democracy.

    “I fought for freedom and against this kind of extremism abroad,” said Howard, who added that he also worked at the CIA for 20 years on counter-extremism operations. “And now I see a moment in America where we have extremists everywhere who are, in my opinion, pushing us to some kind of civil conflict.”

    Trump, meanwhile, was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.

  • NDTV ☛ No Kings Protests, Donald Trump: 'No Kings' Protests Sweep US Cities, Millions Rally Against Trump

    By all accounts, the demonstrations were largely festive, often featuring inflatable characters and marchers dressed in costumes. The demographically mixed crowds included parents pushing youngsters in strollers alongside retirees and people with pets in tow.

  • CBC ☛ 'Trump must go': Large crowds join 'No Kings' protests across U.S.

    This is the third mass mobilization since Trump's return to the White House in January and comes against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.

    Many protesters were especially angered by attacks on their motives. In Bethesda, Md., one held a sign that read: "Nothing is more patriotic than protesting."

  • The Guardian UK ☛ Millions across all 50 US states march in No Kings protests against Trump

    Crowds of Americans, many in costumes, aligned behind message that US is sliding into authoritarianism

  • The Independent UK ☛ ‘No Kings’ protests pass in festival atmosphere as an estimated 7 million across US rally against Trump’s ‘authoritarianism’

    Saturday’s event marked the third mass mobilization since Trump reclaimed the White House and one of the largest single-day nationwide demonstrations in U.S. history, surpassing the more than 5 million demonstrators who turned up to the first iteration of No Kings protests in June, organizers said.

    “Today, millions of people showed that we, the people, will not be silenced,” Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

  • France24 ☛ Israel returns 15 Palestinian bodies to Gaza, identifies remains of another hostage

    Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Saturday, bringing the total number handed over to 135, the Gaza health ministry said. Meanwhile, Israel said it had identified the remains of another hostage that Hamas handed over as Eliyahu Margalit, the tenth returned hostage body since the Gaza ceasefire went into effect over a week ago.

  • France24 ☛ US jury finds French bank BNP Paribas liable for complicity in Sudan atrocities

    A New York jury on Friday found that French banking giant BNP Paribas' work in Sudan helped to prop up the regime of former ruler Omar al-Bashir, making it liable for atrocities that took place under the regime. The eight-member jury sided with three plaintiffs originally from Sudan, awarding a total of $20.75 million in damages, after hearing testimony describing horrors committed by Sudanese soldiers and the Janjaweed militia. Story by Florent Marchais.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan opposition party's firebrand new leader pledges peace with China

    Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, elected a firebrand new leader on Saturday who opposes increased defence spending but pledged to ensure peace with giant neighbour China.

  • France24 ☛ Kenya: At least two die in stampede at Raila Odinga's funeral

    Two people died and 18 people were injured in Kenya after a stampede broke out during the state funeral of Kenya’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The incident comes a day after three people were killed when security forces opened fire to disperse a crowd that had gathered to see Odinga's body in a separate ceremony. Story by Clémence Waller.

  • New York Times ☛ Israeli Military Fires on Vehicle, Saying It Crossed Gaza Cease-Fire Line

    Gaza’s rescue service said at least nine people, including several children, were killed in the strike in northern Gaza on Friday, underscoring the fragility of the week-old cease-fire.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Is Repatriating Survivors of Its Strike on Suspected Drug Vessel

    Two men rescued by the U.S. military after it attacked a boat in the Caribbean Sea were being sent to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador, Hell Toupée said.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Amid ‘drug boat’ strikes, US military ramps up presence near Venezuela. Why?

    Without congressional approval, the Convicted Felon administration is building up military forces in the Caribbean, mainly in Puerto Rico, suggesting a land operation might follow.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ Ukraine Braces for New Talks Without the Leverage of New Missiles

      Hell Toupée backed off selling Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv, opting instead for talks with Russia. Still, Ukraine’s negotiating position has strengthened since the summer.

    • RFERL ☛ Russian Forces Renew Night-Time Strikes On Ukraine

      Russia carried out several attacks on Ukrainian cities on October 18 evening using guided bombs that struck a residential area in at least one of the strikes, Ukrainian officials said.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine: Convicted Felon tells Zelensky to 'make a deal' as Tomahawk plea misfires

      The Insurrectionist told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday to make a deal with Russia, pouring cold water on Kyiv's hopes for Tomahawk missiles as the US leader renews a push to settle the war. Story by Charlotte Lam.

    • France24 ☛ After meeting with Zelensky, The Insurrectionist says 'too soon' for Tomahawks delivery

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came to the White House on Friday looking for weapons to keep fighting his country's war with Russia, but met an American president who appears more intent on brokering a peace deal than upgrading Ukraine's arsenal. Details by FRANCE 24 correspondent in Kyiv, Gulliver Cragg, and analysis by Melinda Haring, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, in Washington D.C.

    • France24 ☛ What is Russia's current strategy in Ukraine?

      Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine started more than 3 years ago - and Convicted Felon has been pushing to end it even at the cost of Ukraine abandoning its invaded territories to Russia. After appearing to press Moscow, with the mention of long-range missiles that could be provided to Ukraine, Convicted Felon decided not to send the weapons at this point. But what is the current situation on the ground — how much territory does Russia control and what is its current strategy? Story by Shirli Sitbon.

    • RFERL ☛ Former Russian Diplomat, Implicated In FBI Agent Scandal, Sentenced To 2 Months In Jail

      A former Russian diplomat, Sergei Shestakov, has been sentenced to two months in prison for lying to FBI agents in a sanctions-evasion case involving a top ex-FBI counterintelligence official and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • The Independent UK ☛ Prince Andrew ‘gagged’ Virginia Giuffre to stop her tarnishing the Queen’s platinum jubilee, memoir says

    Ms Giuffre said she got "more out of" Andrew than a reported 12-million-dollar payout and two-million-dollar donation to her charity because she had "an acknowledgement that I and many other women had been victimised and a tacit pledge to never deny it again".

• Environment

  • CBC ☛ AI-related data centres use vast amounts of water. But gauging how much is a murky business

    Her main concern, shared by other local opponents, is the amount of municipal drinking water the 200,000-square foot data centre would need for its cooling system. In a region beset by drought, Barnwell says similar-sized facilities can churn through 70,000 litres of potable water a day.

  • PC World ☛ NASA supercomputers calculated when life will end on Earth. Here's our deadline

    For us humans, things will become grave even earlier. As the sun gets hotter and hotter, the Earth’s atmosphere will change considerably. This will lead to falling oxygen content, poor air quality, and a sharp rise in temperatures. These changes were predicted using a detailed model for climate change and solar radiation.

  • New York Times ☛ The Kids Who Sued Convicted Felon Just Lost Big in Court. Or Did They?

    A federal judge threw out their climate lawsuit against the president a few days ago. But legal experts say there was a silver lining in the judge’s opinion.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ In China, climate litigation starts with the state, shutting out NGOs, activists

    By Sam Davies With thousands of dedicated courts and more than a million recent cases, environmental and climate litigation is booming in China, but it often looks different to the trend seen elsewhere.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ North Korean state-sponsored hackers slip unremovable malware inside blockchains to steal cryptocurrency — EtherHiding embeds malicious JavaScript payloads in smart contracts on public blockchains

      Google says DPRK group UNC5342 is using EtherHiding to deliver backdoors and steal crypto, marking the first nation-state adoption of a tactic built for takedown-resistant attacks.

    • JURIST ☛ US states sue Convicted Felon administration for termination of $7B solar energy grant

      Twenty-four states on Thursday commenced a lawsuit against the Convicted Felon administration for cancelling a $7 billion solar grant which would have brought solar energy to more than 900,000 low-income families across the country.

    • NYPost ☛ Lithium battery ignites on Air China flight in mid air, horrifying passengers as flames burst out in cabin

      Air China said in a post on Weibo that "a lithium battery in a passenger's carry-on luggage stored in the overhead compartment spontaneously ignited."

    • The Straits Times ☛ Air China flight safely diverted to Shanghai after battery fire in cabin

      Flight CA139 from Hangzhou, China, was headed to Incheon International Airport in South Korea.

    • Mexico News Daily ☛ Mexico’s week in review: Flood recovery and booming electric vehicle exports

      Other headlines include the U.S. decision to revoke dozens of politicians' visas and a groundbreaking lawsuit on behalf of Mexican whales.

    • New York Times ☛ Lithium Battery Fire Aboard Air China Flight Forces Emergency Landing

      The battery spontaneously combusted while stored in a luggage in the overhead bin. The airline said there were no injuries.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Power bricks and wall warts for EU market must include detachable USB-C cables by 2028 — New legislation also adds power rating labels for cables

      The new EU legislation targets power units of all types, referring to them as External Power Supplies (EPS). The primary goals are interoperability and sustainability, allowing buyers to use one EPS and/or cable for multiple devices, as is already the case for phones and tablets. The refreshed laws apply to power supplies of up to 240 W, requiring them to include at least one USB-C port and have a detachable cable. Naturally, the power delivery comes by way of the USB-PD standard.

    • Molly White ☛ Anatomy of a [cryptocurrency] meltdown

      Bitcoin shed more than $10,000 in a matter of minutes, with the flash crash wiping out at least 10%a of its value instantly and pushing prices 15% below their morning levels. Traders holding $19 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated in a blink, and complaints erupted on social media as crypto platform glitches exacerbated losses.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • New York Times ☛ Sea Otters Are Stealing Surfboards in Santa Cruz. Again.

      Two years after Otter 841 menaced wave riders near Santa Cruz, there have been new encounters between the furry marine mammals and surfers.

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ These South Korean supermums aren’t just raising kids. They’re hitting the books for notorious exams

      On social control media, young mothers are sharing their daily routines in a growing community of “momsisaeng".

• Finance

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China and US agree to fresh trade talks in coming week

    China and the United States agreed Saturday to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world’s two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle.

  • The Straits Times ☛ New Zealand's Finance Minister eyes stronger regional ties in face of US-China trade war

    New Zealand Finance Minister Nicola Willis said regional and bilateral trading relationships will continue to strengthen against the backdrop of the worsening U.S.-China trade war, as small countries like hers adjust to a new reality and hold fast to priorities such as fighting climate change.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Register UK ☛ Ruby Central tries to make peace after 'hostile takeover'

    Ruby Central, the non-profit that recently seized some Ruby open source tools from maintainers, is transferring the repository ownership of RubyGems and Bundler to the Ruby core team. The move appears to be an attempt to mollify the Ruby community following a divisive power grab, but it does not restore the control of those tools to the maintainers who previously oversaw them.

  • Beej ☛ Exploring Rust Traits

    Welcome to my first blog in my Rust Rabbit Holes series! In these I'll just try implementing something relatively simple and then pull on the various threads to see where they lead.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • JURIST ☛ Afghan journalist killed in border clashes raises alarms over press freedom in conflict zones

    The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged both Taliban and Pakistani authorities on Thursday to investigate the killing of Afghan journalist Abdul Ghafor Abed on Thursday.

  • BIA Net ☛ Prolonged detentions and judicial control tighten pressure on journalists

    Media freedom in Turkey continues to suffer as the politicized judiciary extends arbitrary detentions and judicial control measures, using them as tools of intimidation instead of ending operations targeting journalists.

  • YLE ☛ MPs cool on state funding for news agency STT

    Few parliamentary groups support using public funds to prop up STT, the Finnish News Agency, according to a survey by Uutissuomalainen.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Pro Publica ☛ How Trump is Building a Violent, Shadowy Federal Police Force

    Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, the official rattled off scenes that once would’ve triggered investigations: “Accosting people outside of their immigration court hearings where they’re showing up and trying to do the right thing and then hauling them off to an immigration jail in the middle of the country where they can’t access loved ones or speak to counsel. Bands of masked men apprehending people in broad daylight in the streets and hauling them off. Disappearing people to a third country, to a prison where there’s a documented record of serious torture and human rights abuse.”

    The former official paused. “We’re at an inflection point in history right now and it’s frightening.”

  • Rolling Stone ☛ 'No Kings' Playlist: Anti-Authoritarian Songs for Anti-Trump Protests

    Music has been an integral part of protests movements across generations, the present one being no exception. We released our Top 100 Protest Songs of All-Time earlier this year — chronicling how artists from Woody Guthrie to Public Enemy have inspired millions to stand up for their rights — and ahead of this weekend’s “No Kings” demonstrations we’ve put together a playlist fit for the moment, filled with anti-authoritarian anthems in which some of our favorite artists put their foot down and give an emphatic middle finger to the idea of a king.

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Right to Repair ☛ A Manufacturer’s Guide to Right to Repair Compliance

    Overview: The New Reality of Repair

    With Right to Repair laws now active in states representing over a third of the U.S. market, non-compliance is no longer a viable option. For manufacturers, this shift presents a critical choice: treat repair as a burdensome legal obligation or embrace it as a strategic opportunity to build customer loyalty, open new revenue streams, and enhance brand reputation. This guide provides a clear roadmap for navigating the new legal landscape. 

    The Legal Foundation of Right to Repair

    Resistance to Right to Repair statutes has often been based on flawed legal arguments that have consistently proven ineffective. The legal framework supporting repair is built on long-standing principles: [...]

  • Six Colors ☛ Apple strikes five year deal for Formula 1 rights

    Apple’s coverage is starting-line-to-checkered-flag, including everything from practice to the Grands Prix and will be available to all Apple TV1 subscribers. Practices and some races will also be available for free to all in the app.

  • CNBC ☛ Apple, F1 reach 5-year media deal, bringing races to Apple TV streaming

    Apple and Formula 1 announced a five-year U.S. media rights deal that will bring all races to the Apple TV platform beginning next season.

    Apple is paying about $140 million per year for F1 rights, sources told CNBC.

  • Matt Birchler ☛ Apple just closed their F1 deal, and I think it’s good news for me?

    Shortly after this announcement was made, I got an email from F1 TV, informing me of basically the same information, as well as the fact that my annual subscription will not renew in March as it normally would. As an American, I will not have the option to sign up for the service at all, as Apple TV is the only way to watch. Again, everything here sounds good. I just really hope I can still watch those old races and qualifying sessions like I can today.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ CSU Law’s IP+ Conference 2025 [Ed: "IP" is a misleading term. Copyrights are limited to one type of thing.]

  On Friday, November 14, I’ll be in Cleveland to speak at CSU|LAW’s annual IP+ Conference (with a simultaneous livestream).  I’m excited about the line up with Professors Donald Chisum and Janice Mueller as a keynote duet, followed by a fireside chat with retired Federal Circuit Judges Kathleen O’Malley and Richard Linn. I’ll join them for an afternoon “State of IP” panel that will dig into the ongoing generational shift in our patent monopoly and copyright monopoly systems. It’s a huge honor to share a stage with scholars and jurists whose work shapes so much of what we teach and practice.  In my patent monopoly law course I assign Janice Mueller’s hornbook; in class we work through opinions authored by Judges O’Malley and Linn; and like nearly everyone in our field, I regularly lean on Chisum on Patents as the treatise of record.

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• Trademarks

  • Rolling Stone ☛ Slipknot Sue to Reclaim Slipknot.com From Squatter Selling Fake Merch

    Citing the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, the band - forced to use Slipknot1.com for nearly 25 years - seeks to retake URL bearing their name

  • Right of Publicity

    • India Times ☛ OpenAI pauses video generations of Martin Luther King Jr after ‘disrespectful depictions’

      Artificial intelligence (AI) major OpenAI said users will not be able to use the likeness of Martin Luther King Jr when generating videos with its model, Sora. The action followed objections raised by his estate over crude representations of the late US civil rights activist on the platform.

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Cox v. Sony Music: Supreme Court Schedules Legal Arguments for December

    The Supreme Court has scheduled oral hearings in December regarding the ongoing legal battle between Sony Music and ISP Cox Communications. In the continuing saga of the legal battle between internet service provider (ISP) Cox Communications and Sony Music, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on December 1.

  • Futurism ☛ It’s Still Ludicrously Easy to Generate Copyrighted Characters on ChatGPT

    This is embarrassing.

  • India Times ☛ AI music boom may hit artist royalties, warns Fitch Ratings

    According to Fitch, AI tools are enabling users to create and distribute music at unprecedented speeds, flooding digital service providers (DSPs) platforms and intensifying competition for listener-based revenues.

  • Pivot to AI ☛ How OpenAI dodged Hollywood on Sora 2

    That’s not how copyright or personality rights work. There’s a century of precedent — you do a deal and you pay. Anthropic successfully claimed fair use on training — but OpenAI has built a machine to churn out violations.

    WME has notified OpenAI it does not have permission to use any of WME’s clients. Disney has notified OpenAI that it could just sue under copyright if OpenAI does not desist.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Manga Pirate Site Operator Fails to Dodge DMCA Subpoena Over Cloudflare Cache

    Rightsholders can breathe a sigh of relief after a California federal court concluded that Cloudflare can be compelled to comply with DMCA subpoenas. The anonymous operator of now-defunct manga piracy site Mangajikan argued that Cloudflare is a 'mere conduit' provider that doesn't have to comply with DMCA subpoenas. However, in a key decision in favor of publisher Shueisha, the court ruled that because Cloudflare caches content, it must identify the operator.

  • Torrent Freak ☛ Direct Sales & Direct Anti-Piracy Action Underpin Japan's Plan For Explosive Growth

    With a mission to dramatically increase overseas sales of anime, manga, video games, and other creative content by 2033, Japan's Entertainment and Creative Industry Strategy is ambitious and prepared for new risks. Relatively safe licensing models seem to be on the way out, in favor of content companies establishing overseas bases, from where marketing, sales and distribution will be handled directly. Rampant piracy will face a two-pronged strategy, including enhanced enforcement measures targeting areas where piracy causes the most damage.