Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Putting A Teensy To Task As A Transputer Link

  One downside of working with the old Inmos Transputer devices is the rarity and cost of the original silicon. Obviously, you can’t sidestep the acquisition of the processor—unless you emulate—but what about replacing the IMS C011/C012 link chip? You need this (expensive) part to interface the transputer to the programming host, but as [Erturk Kocalar] discovered, it’s perfectly possible to coax a Teensy to do that job for you just as well.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong gov’t to launch disciplinary probe over bottled water procurement scandal

    The Hong Kong government will begin a disciplinary investigation into a multimillion-dollar bottled water procurement scandal involving a dozen civil servants, including senior officials from the logistics department.

  • Pro Publica ☛ How the Idaho Medical Freedom Act Set a Precedent for Vaccine Mandate Bans in the U.S.

    Three women become choked up as they deliver news in a video posted to social media. “We did it, everybody,” says Leslie Manookian, the woman in the middle. She is a driving force in a campaign that has chipped away at the foundations of modern public health in Idaho. The group had just gotten lawmakers to pass what she called the first true “medical freedom” bill in the nation. “It’s literally landmark,” Manookian said. “It is changing everything.”

    With Manookian in the video are two of her allies, the leaders of Health Freedom Idaho. It was April 4, hours after the governor signed the Idaho Medical Freedom Act into law.

• Proprietary

  • New York Times ☛ Amazon’s proprietary trap AWS Disruption Creates Outages for Hundreds of Websites for Hours

    Amazon Web Services, a major provider of cloud services, cited a problem at its data center in Northern Virginia. The outage highlighted the fragility of global internet infrastructure.

  • France24 ☛ Amazon web services start to recover after major outage

    Amazon Web Services (AWS) says it found significant errors in its Domain Name System, or DNS, which translates website names to IP addresses so browsers and apps can load on internet-connected devices. No evidence of foul play has been reported and the company says the DNS issue has been "fully mitigated", amid reports of a resurgence in issues. Also in the segment, Gucci owner Kering is selling its beauty unit to L'Oreal only two years after launching it, as the group aims to reduce debt.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Hours-long proprietary trap AWS outage takes numerous services offline

    An outage in Amazon Web Services Inc.’s North Virginia data center cluster disrupted numerous online services this morning.  proprietary trap AWS disclosed the issue shortly after midnight PDT. Around the same time, users started losing access to ChatGPT, Disney+, Snapchat, Venmo, Perplexity and a long list of other online services.

  • Futurism ☛ Amazon’s proprietary trap AWS Goes Down, Takes Out “Half of the Internet”

    "Really shows how easy it would be for Bezos and Ellison to just turn off the internet if they wanted to, for any reason."

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Colossal proprietary trap AWS outage breaks the internet — Roblox, Fortnite, Zoom, Snapchat, and beyond all crippled

    Amazon is tracking a massive proprietary trap AWS outage that has crippled large parts of the internet.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Inventor of Vibe Coding Admits He Hand-Coded His New Project

      It's a disaster waiting to happen.

  • Social Control Media

    • Public Knowledge ☛ Instagram’s Borrowed Credibility: Why its “PG-13 Ratings” Initiative Falls Short

      The new rating system has some major differences from its film industry counterpart.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Security Week ☛ South Korea Seeks to Arrest Dozens of Online Scam Suspects Repatriated From Cambodia

      South Korea faces public calls to take stronger action to protect its nationals from being forced into overseas online scam centers.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Apple and Surveillance Giant Google challenged by parents’ rights coalition on youth privacy protections

      The Digital Childhood Institute, which filed a complaint with the FTC, is part of a newer crop of online safety groups focused on shaping tech policy around conservative political beliefs. 

• Defence/Aggression

  • Myanmar junta says it seized 30 Starlink receivers in scam center raid

    Photos show what appear to be dozens of internet dishes on roofs of KK Park at the Myanmar-Thai border.

  • JURIST ☛ UN Security Council reinforces Haiti arms embargo as mass gang violence continues

    The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on Friday that strengthens current sanctions on Haiti, extending them for a year, in order to mitigate persistent organized gang violence in the country. The resolution aimed to reinforce the current territorial arms embargo against Haiti and cut gang-access to weapons and ammunition.

  • New York Times ☛ Louvre Museum Remains Closed After Jewelry Robbery: What to Know

    A stunning heist has raised uncomfortable questions about security at the Paris museum.

  • France24 ☛ Louvre heist sparks security scramble across French museums

    France ordered a security review at the Louvre and checks at other cultural sites on Monday while a hunt was underway for thieves who lifted priceless crown jewels in an audacious daylight heist at the world's most popular museum. FRANCE 24's Charlotte Lam reports.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia’s Albanese to discuss rare earths, security in first Convicted Felon summit

    Australia is willing to sell shares in its planned strategic reserve of critical minerals to allies.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea ramps up security ahead of high-stakes Apec summit next week

    Seoul has conducted large-scale field exercises and imposed higher terrorism alert levels.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China says it has foiled a series U.S. cyberattacks on its critical infrastructure — Ministry of State Security says it has 'irrefutable evidence' NSA tried to cause 'international time chaos'

    China’s Ministry of State Security has taken to social control media to boast about foiling a series of cyberattacks it says were directed by the U.S. National Security Agency.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ China’s spy agency accuses NSA of yearslong attack on the country’s timekeeping service

    The NSA did not confirm nor deny the allegations made by China’s Ministry of State Security. China said the origins of the attack date back to March 2022.

  • Security Week ☛ China Accuses US of Cyberattack on National Time Center

    The Ministry of State Security alleged that the NSA exploited vulnerabilities in the messaging services of a foreign mobile phone brand to steal sensitive information.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia flags China’s ‘unsafe’ flare drop in aerial encounter

    The flares posed a risk to an Australian maritime patrol plane carrying out surveillance in the South China Sea.

  • France24 ☛ Ceasefire in Gaza tested amid new strikes and talks

    Israel has reinstated the Gaza ceasefire and reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing for aid, but tensions remain. Palestinians accuse Israel of violating the truce, with nearly 100 killed in recent strikes. Israel says the attacks responded to the deaths of two soldiers. US envoys and Hamas officials are in the region for renewed talks, but experts warn that without a plan for a Palestinian state, progress is unlikely.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Federal News Network ☛ ‘This has never happened before’: NNSA furloughs 1,400 staff

      About 400 NNSA staff will continue working to maintain minimum safe operating conditions at the nuclear security agency.

    • France24 ☛ ✈️ A cargo aircraft skids off a Hong Kong runway into the sea, killing 2 airport workers

      A cargo aircraft skidded off a Hong Kong runway and collided with a security patrol car before both fell into the sea early Monday, killing the two people in the car.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Cargo plane slides off runway in Hong Kong, killing two airport staff

      Flights at Hong Kong International Airport will not be affected on Oct 20, the Airport Authority said.

• Finance

  • LRT ☛ As foreign worker quota runs out Lithuania weighs security and economic needs

    As Lithuania's attractiveness to foreign jobseekers coninues to trail behind Latvia and Poland, businesses, while recognising the security risks, are urging the government to distinguish between economic migrants and those seeking long-term residence in Lithuania.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • France24 ☛ White House starts demolishing part of East Wing for Convicted Felon's ballroom

    The White House began demolishing part of its East Wing on Monday to build President The Insurrectionist’s new ballroom, despite lacking approval from the federal agency overseeing such projects. Photos showed a backhoe tearing into the façade as reporters watched from a nearby park near the Treasury Department.

  • Pro Publica ☛ What You Should Know About Russ Vought, Trump’s Shadow President

    On the second day of the federal government shutdown, President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video set to the classic song “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” by Blue Öyster Cult. The star of that video, which quickly went viral, was Russell Vought, the president’s top budget adviser. More than that, Vought is the architect of Trump’s broader plan to fire civil servants, freeze government programs and dismantle entire agencies, and he’s a big reason the second Trump administration has been more effective at accomplishing its goals than the first. In the video shared by Trump, Vought appeared as the scythe-wielding Grim Reaper of Washington, D.C.

    Vought’s title is director of the Office of Management and Budget. The OMB directorship is one of the most powerful jobs in Washington, and Vought has used his position to wage a quiet war to change the shape of the entire U.S. government. In Vought’s hands, OMB has acted as a choke point for the funding that Congress approves and agencies rely on to run the government. While he tends to operate behind the scenes as much as possible, his influence in Trump’s second administration is so pronounced that people have described him as akin to a shadow president.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • EDRI ☛ DDI Knowledge Hub Community Call: On mapping of HRD support mechanisms with Expectation State

    Learn more about the state of digital attacks on Human Rights Defenders, when researchers and experts come together to discuss a recently concluded report.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ A new NRO resource for network operators working across multiple RIRs

    Guest Post: The NRO has published a new reference page to help network operators and other members of the Internet technical community learn how to create ROAs through each of the five RIRs.

  • APNIC ☛ WSIS+20: An important moment for the future of the Internet

    APNIC welcomes the WSIS+20 Zero Draft and reaffirms its commitment to inclusive digital development, multistakeholder governance, and technical capacity building across the Asia Pacific region.

  • APNIC ☛ mnNOG 7: Strengthening Mongolia’s Internet community

    mnNOG 7 showcased the strength of Mongolia’s technical community, where collaboration, shared learning, and local leadership continue to shape the future of Internet operations.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Assignment of Future Patents: Continuations-in-Part

    Causam Enterprises, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, No. 23-1769 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 15, 2025).

    This case is ultimately about patent monopoly ownership -- and turns on whether a 2007 assignment covers "continuations-in-part."  The assignment document lists  certain covered patents along with "divisions, reissues, continuations and extensions," but does not particularly list "continuations-in-part."  Holding: The assignment does not include continuations-in-part.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Automated Search Pilot: USPTO’s First Step Toward AI-Assisted Examination [Ed: Slop is illegal for this]

    The USPTO Automated Pre-Examination Search Pilot Program launched today.  Here is how it works: Applicants filing original utility applications can petition to receive an Automated Search Results Notice (ASRN) before human examiner review. The pilot is currently limited to only 1,600 applications over the next six months. [PTO-P-2025-0011].  The ASRN program represents a modest but significant implementation of AI-assisted examination concepts I explored in a February 2025 proposal for pre-filing certification. While my proposal envisioned a comprehensive automated pre-filing examination, the ASRN happens after filing.  While both approaches share the core insight that automated prior art analysis before human examiner review can streamline prosecution and provide applicants with earlier intelligence about patentability, the timing shift from pre-filing to post-filing reflects the USPTO's preference particularly for streamlining the examination processes. This first step allows the agency to evaluate Hey Hi (AI) performance within established quality frameworks before considering more radical reforms.

  • JUVE ☛ Novo Nordisk and D Young defend crucial patent monopoly for tablet form of semaglutide

    Novo Nordisk’s EP 3 746 111 B1 protects a new formulation that leads to better bioavailability of the active ingredient in the tablet form of the drug.  Several opponents had challenged the patent monopoly due to lack of inventive step.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ UPC grants PI to Abbott in dispute with Sinocare and Menarini [Ed: UPC is illegal, but EPO corruption has spread to the EU and now they ban people based on kangaroo courts]

      Abbott aims to prevent the distribution of Sinocare’s GlucoMen iCan CGM system in Europe and filed two PI applications with the Dutch local division in June 2025.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ On Remand, TTAB Reverses Course, Sustains Section 2(d) Opposition to ECHO D'ANGELUS for Alcoholic Beverages and Wine

    On remand from the CAFC, the Board reversed course, sustaining this opposition to registration of the mark ECHO D’ANGÉLUS for "alcoholic beverages except beers" and "wines." The Board had originally found the mark not confusingly similar with opposer's mark ECHO DE LYNCH BAGES, for wine, placing "great weight" on its finding that the marks "incorporate[d] different-appearing house marks as part of unitary expressions." [pdf here]. The CAFC concluded that that finding was not supported by substantial evidence and, "since the Board gave 'predominant' weight to the similarity factor in its DuPont analysis, it is not clear whether the Board would have arrived at the same." [TTABlogged here]. Chateau Lynch-Bages v. Chateau Angelus S.A., Opposition No. 91268431 (On Remand October 15, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Thomas L. Casagrande).