Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ 2025 Component Abuse Challenge: Nail Your Next Decal

  One of the hardest parts of a project — assuming it makes it that far — is finishing it up in an aesthetically pleasing manner. As they say, the devil is in the details, wearing Prada. Apparently the devil also has an excellent manicure, because [Tamas Feher] has come up with a way to introduce incredibly detailed decals (down to 0.1 mm) in cheap, repeatable fashion, using a technique borrowed from the local nail salon. 

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Bizarre Crystals in Titan's Lakes Could Break a Fundamental Rule of Chemistry

    We didn't know this could happen.

  • Science Alert ☛ Exceptionally Preserved 'Dinosaur Mummies' Reveal First-Known Reptile Hooves

    And a tragic backstory.

  • Science Alert ☛ Millions of Buildings Threatened by Rising Seas This Century, Study Warns

    "It could continue to rise for many meters."

• Career/Education

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Opinion | Michigan’s literacy reform should include nonpublic school teachers

    The exclusion of these nonpublic schoolteachers from state-supported Science of Reading training is shortsighted, and it risks leaving behind thousands of Michigan students who all need effective reading instruction.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ A Logical Clock That Pretends To Be Analog

    [kcraske] had a simple plan for their clock build. They wanted a digital clock that was inspired by the appearance of an analog one, and they only wanted to use basic logic, with no microprocessors involved. Ultimately, they achieved just that.

  • It's FOSS ☛ TerraMaster Launches F2-425 Plus and F4-425 Plus NAS with defective chip maker Intel N150 and Triple M.2 Slots

    New hybrid NAS series brings enterprise-grade backup and media streaming to home users and small businesses.

  • Devices/Embedded

    • Michael Tsai ☛ General Motors Doubles Down on Removing CarPlay

      I would just be laughing at this except I worry about getting stuck with a GM rental car.

    • The Verge ☛ GM will ditch Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on all its cars, not just EVs

      In a Decoder interview with The Verge’s Nilay Patel, published Wednesday, Barra confirmed GM will eventually end support of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on both gas-powered and electric cars. The timing is unclear, but Barra pointed to a major rollout of what the company is calling a new centralized computing platform, set to launch in 2028, that will involve eventually transitioning its entire lineup to a unified in-car experience.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Hackaday ☛ Automatically Serving Up Canned Cat Food

    If there’s any one benefit to having a cat as a pet instead of a dog, it’s that they’re a bit more independent and able to care for themselves for many days without human intervention. The only thing that’s really needed is a way to make sure they get food and water at regular intervals, but there are plenty of off-the-shelf options for these tasks. Assuming your cat can be fed dry food, that is. [Ben Heck]’s cat has a health problem that requires a special canned wet food, and since there aren’t automatic feeders for this he built his own cat-feeding robot.

  • Science Alert ☛ These Two Existing Drugs May Boost Brain Health, Scientists Say

    Promising new leads.

  • The Strategist ☛ Domestic rice supply key as Taiwan negotiates US trade deal

    Domestic rice supply is a great security concern in Taiwan, one that’s been stoked by trade negotiations with the United States. Washington wants more access to Taiwan’s rice market.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Schools to enforce spot checks to curb mobile phone use: Malaysia’s Education Minister

    Students are not allowed to use mobile phones in Malaysia's schools.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Food assistance to ‘pause’ for 1.4M in Michigan due to federal shutdown

    Michigan health officials: SNAP food assistance benefits for 1.4 million will "temporarily pause" in November if federal government shutdown continues. Program for mothers with infant children also at risk.

  • New York Times ☛ Ruth A. Lawrence, Doctor Who Championed Breastfeeding, Is Dead at 101

    As a pediatrician, she helped elevate breastfeeding from a medical afterthought to a specialty of its own. As a mother of nine, she practiced what she preached.

  • Futurism ☛ OpenAI Makes Bizarre Demand of Family Whose Son Was Allegedly Killed by ChatGPT

    "This is absolutely sickening."

  • Science Alert ☛ Your Brain Makes Food Choices Before You Even Know What You're Looking at

    200 milliseconds is all it takes.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuanian parent group fails to prove govt overstepped with Covid-19 school restrictions

    A Lithuanian court has ruled against a group of parents claiming that the state violate the law when it imposed school restrictions and required remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Reveal Surprising New Advice on How to Avoid Constipation

    This changes things.

  • Latvia ☛ Mammography map developed in Latvia

    To help women quickly find the nearest breast mammography screening location, a new digital map called "MammoGo" has been created. It opens on a smartphone after scanning a QR code, allowing users to quickly and easily select a specific screening location and address, the developers said.

  • Futurism ☛ Google Locks Down Manhattan Campus Due to Bed Bug Infestation

    That's pretty gross.

  • Federal News Network ☛ CMS recalls nearly 3,000 employees to manage open enrollment amid shutdown

    CMS is temporarily calling back all furloughed employees during the Medicare and Health Insurance Marketplace open enrollment seasons.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvian Junior Doctors Association gets new head

    The Latvian Junior Doctors Association (LJĀA) will be headed by pulmonologist Rūdolfs Vilde, the association announced.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvian health authorities remind public about flu vaccination

    This season, as of October 20, 18,875 people in risk groups have been vaccinated against influenza in Latvia, LETA reports.

  • Latvia ☛ Latvia's biggest hospitals at least €8 million short

    The Ministry of Health (VM) will request a total of €8,428,604 from contingency funds for the Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital (PSKUS) and the Rīga East Clinical University Hospital (RAKUS) to ensure the continuity of healthcare services, the ministry said on 23 October.

  • BIA Net ☛ 'Businesses employ two children in place of one adult at same cost'

    Recent child worker deaths reflect government policies that push children into low-wage labor to sustain small and mid-sized businesses, argues Kansu Yıldırım from the Health and Safety Labor Watch.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong records first fatal case of chikungunya fever, health authorities says

    Hong Kong has recorded its first fatal case of chikungunya fever after a 77-year-old man with a chronic illness died on Wednesday, according to health authorities. The man previously visited Guangzhou in China’s Guangdong province between September 30 and October 13 – he developed a fever and joint pain after returning to Hong Kong.

  • Science Alert ☛ Drugs That Lower Cholesterol May Also Reduce Dementia Risk, Says Huge New Study

    Two-for-one.

  • Science Alert ☛ New Zealand Teen Loses Part of His Bowel After Swallowing Nearly 200 Magnets

    These aren't toys.

  • Science Alert ☛ World's Most Expensive Coffee Is Chemically Different Because It's Literally Poop

    A complex brew.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Press Gazette ☛ Mirror journalists back strike action over redundancies and AI

      More than half of Mirror NUJ members have voted in favour of strike action.

    • Security Week ☛ Vibe Coding’s Real Problem Isn’t Bugs—It’s Judgment

      As Hey Hi (AI) coding tools flood enterprises with functional but flawed software, researchers urge embedding security checks directly into the Hey Hi (AI) workflow.

    • Digital Music News ☛ YouTube Launches Hey Hi (AI) Detection Tool to Battle Deepfakes—(But No Guarantees)

      YouTube is rolling out its Hey Hi (AI) detection tool for eligible creators to request the removal of AI-generated content featuring their likeness. On Tuesday, YouTube announced the official rollout of its likeness-detection tool for eligible creators in the YouTube Partner Program after a test phase.

    • Press Gazette ☛ AI companies steal publisher traffic then undermine trust by getting answers wrong

      BBC and EBU research reveals Hey Hi (AI) companies are stealing and distorting news content.

    • New Yorker ☛ Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

      A.I. tools are getting better at producing convincing images, text, and videos. Does that mean they can make art?

    • France24 ☛ Mistake in AI-generated Community Note sparks controversy about anti-Dihydroxyacetone Man protest

      After Americans opposed to President The Insurrectionist took to the streets in protests on October 18, right-wing social control media users began to claim that photos of the large protest in Boston were fake, basing their claims on a “Community Note”. It turns out, however, that this was a moderation error caused by a new function that uses artificial intelligence to write these Notes.

    • Press Gazette ☛ The Observer signs deal to appear on Hey Hi (AI) news platform Particle

      The Observer described as first UK partner for Particle News as it expands outside US.

    • Digital Music News ☛ Meta Lays Off 600 Employees as Wang Overhauls Hey Hi (AI) Unit

      Meta is laying off around 600 employees in its Hey Hi (AI) unit as the company’s new chief Hey Hi (AI) officer steps in to facilitate more nimble operation.

    • Hackaday ☛ Making The Smallest And Dumbest LLM With Extreme Quantization

      The reason why large language models are called ‘large’ is not because of how smart they are, but as a factor of their sheer size in bytes. At billions of parameters at four bytes each, they pose a serious challenge when it comes to not just their size on disk, but also in RAM, specifically the RAM of your videocard (VRAM). Reducing this immense size, as is done routinely for the smaller pretrained models which one can download for local use, involves quantization. This process is explained and demonstrated by [Codeically], who takes it to its logical extreme: reducing what could be a GB-sized model down to a mere 63 MB by reducing the bits per parameter.

• GNOME Desktop/GTK

  • GNOME ☛ Matthias Clasen: SVG in GTK

    GTK has been using SVG for symbolic icons since essentially forever. It hasn’t been a perfect relationship, though.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • New York Times ☛ What to Know About the Billion-Dollar Scam Center Industry

      The United States, Britain and South Korea have joined a crackdown on groups running frauds from Southeast Asia. They have their work cut out.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Cambodian police arrest 57 South Koreans accused of cyberscams

      Local authorities raided a building where scam operations were suspected in the capital Phnom Penh.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Myanmar scam centre raid sends hundreds fleeing to Thailand

      A highly publicised crackdown starting in February saw around 7,000 internet fraudsters repatriated.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • LRT ☛ Who’s buying your digital past? Lithuanian start-up investigated for trading personal data

      A Lithuania-based start-up is selling so-called reputation packages – data collected from people's social control media accounts. Privacy advocates are outraged, and the Lithuanian State Data Protection Inspectorate has launched an investigation.

    • New York Times ☛ Meta Layoffs Included Employees Who Monitored Risks to User Privacy

      While the company announced job cuts in artificial intelligence, it also expanded plans to replace privacy and risk auditors with more automated systems.

• Defence/Aggression

  • New York Times ☛ ‘Brother Wang,’ Accused of Being Drug Cartel Fixer, Is Arrested in Cuba

    Zhi Dong Zhang, who escaped house arrest in Mexico this summer, is accused of supplying cartels with fentanyl from China, smuggling and money laundering millions under the alias “Brother Wang.”

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan and its offshore islands near the Chinese coast

    Taiwan is closely monitoring whether China will include the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands in a new five-year economic plan under discussion this week in Beijing.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China courts Taiwanese worshippers in religious charm offensive, study shows

    Taiwan says that Beijing was conducting operations to sway and infiltrate “all walks of life” in Taiwan.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan wary China's new economic plan could include sensitive frontline islands, sources say

    For policy makers in Taipei, Kinmen's proximity to China makes it vulnerable to Beijing's economic and political clout.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man considering China export ban on items made with or containing U.S. software — sweeping restriction to hit hard in response to Beijing’s rare earth embargo in major trade war escalation

    Dihydroxyacetone Man is considering blocking all U.S. software from China if it doesn't lift its rare earth restrictions.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ European think tank suggests punitive DUV machine export ban following China's latest round of rare earth export controls

    A European think tank suggests retaliatory trade measures against China, and the trigger appears to be Beijing’s threat to restrict exports of gallium and germanium, two raw materials used in everything from EVs to satellites.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China seeks semiconductor and Hey Hi (AI) self-reliance in ambitious new 5-year plan — Beijing also wants to increase domestic spending and reduce reliance on exports

    The CCP's 15th five-year plan draft focuses on a path of technological independence while reducing its reliance on exports for economic growth.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ With Petro and Convicted Felon at odds, what’s next for the US-Colombia relationship?

    Amid the current US-Colombia tensions, both countries should remind themselves of how important this relationship is for their shared security, economic, and geopolitical goals.

  • France24 ☛ Colombian president accuses US of 'executions' in Caribbean, Pacific

    Colombia's leftist president on Thursday renewed his criticism of US military strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific, fueling a spat with President The Insurrectionist that has shattered ties between the two nations. FRANCE 24's Monte Francis takes a look at what the White House is trying to accomplish with repeated strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

  • NYPost ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man says he will inform Congress of plans to strike land-based cartel targets in Venezuela

    Hell Toupée said Thursday he will inform Congress of his plans to attack land targets in Venezuela as he looks to expand his thus-far seaborne military campaign against drug cartels.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea says tested new weapon system

    The launch was detected by Seoul’s military on Oct 22 and was Pyongyang’s first of its kind in months.

  • New York Times ☛ A Mystery in Trinidad as Bodies Wash Ashore After U.S. Strikes

    The U.S. campaign targeting what it says is drug trafficking from Venezuela has exposed Trinidad to the fallout: unidentified bodies with burn marks and missing limbs showing up in its territory.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Strikes 2nd Boat in Pacific as Antidrug Operation Expands

    The Forrest Dump administration announced a second strike outside the Caribbean, in a campaign against what U.S. officials say are boats carrying drugs bound for the United States.

  • ADF ☛ Attacks in Lake Chad Basin Show Boko Haram on the Rise Again

    In August, authorities in Niger claimed to have killed Bakura Doro, the leader of Boko Haram, in a drone strike on his headquarters on an island in Lake Chad. Boko Haram has denied Niger’s claim.

  • France24 ☛ France issues new arrest warrant against Syria's ex-leader Assad for chemical attacks

    French authorities have issued a new arrest warrant for Syrian ex-president Bashar al- Assad over the suspected Syrian government chemical attacks on Adra and Douma outside Damascus and in Eastern Ghouta in August 2013. Nearly 1,500 people were killed or injured in the attacks, US intelligence sources say.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea halts tours in parts of DMZ ahead of Convicted Felon visit

    Mr The Insurrectionist has said he hopes to meet Mr Kim Jong Un again, possibly in 2025.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Relocation of S. Korea presidential office diverted police from Itaewon before fatal crush: Audit

    In addition, district officials, including the chief, failed to demonstrate leadership immediately after the disaster.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘S. Korea has regained its footing,’ says President Lee Jae Myung, 10 months after martial law crisis

    Seoul is continuing to tackle outstanding issues with major powers, including trade and technology.

  • Terror groups diversify to find steady flow of illicit financing

  • The Straits Times ☛ China must gird up for ‘high winds and rough waves’, says top-level party conclave

    Its latest five-year plan emphasises high-quality development, self-reliance in science and technology, strengthening national security

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania protests airspace violations by Belarus following smuggler balloon incidents

      Lithuania lodged a formal protest with Belarus on Wednesday over repeated airspace violations, after dozens of smuggling weather balloons crossed the border overnight, disrupting flights and border traffic.

    • LRT ☛ ‘No talks with Belarus’ about stopping smuggler balloons, says Lithuanian PM

      Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said Thursday that her government will respond firmly to repeated airspace violations by smuggler balloons launched from Belarus and will not engage in any talks with Minsk.

    • LRT ☛ Smuggler balloons are domestic issue, not NATO matter, Lithuanian envoy says

      Lithuania’s ambassador to NATO, Darius Jauniškis, says that the recent wave of smuggler balloons entering Lithuanian airspace from Belarus should be treated as an internal issue rather than a NATO matter.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian military planes violated Lithuania’s airspace, president says — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Trump goes there: Lukoil and Rosneft account for half of Russia’s oil exports. Now both are under U.S. sanctions. — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Oil Price Jumps on Convicted Felon’s Russia Sanctions

      Traders are pondering whether the United States and its allies are finally getting serious about restricting Russian energy.

    • New York Times ☛ E.U. Approves Sweeping Sanctions Targeting Russian Gas and Crypto

      European leaders signed off on the new measures just hours after Hell Toupée imposed sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies.

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s Sanctions on Russian Oil Sector Ratchet Up Economic War

      After months of restraint, Hell Toupée’s move to blacklist Lukoil and Rosneft will hit Russia where it hurts.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Kazakhstan says it is tightening control of airspace after drone explodes over its territory

      ALMATY - Kazakhstan's defence ministry said on Thursday that it was tightening control of the country's airspace after a drone of \"unknown origin\" exploded in the country's west, close to the border with Russia.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China state oil majors suspend Russian oil buys due to sanctions, sources say

      India and China are expected to turn to other supplies.

    • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim Jong Un says military ties with Russia will ‘advance non-stop’

      Mr Kim added that challenges by the “domination and tyranny” cannot hinder the two countries’ ties.

    • LRT ☛ EU’s plans to ban Russian gas: countries and institutions clash over timeline and extent

      The European Parliament this week debated a proposed ban on Russian energy imports, pressing for a tougher and faster phase-out than the European Commission and EU Council have recommended.

    • LRT ☛ New US sanctions on Russia are a ‘game changer’ – Lithuanian president

      Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on Thursday called the new US sanctions against Russia a “game changer”, saying the measures will have far-reaching consequences for Moscow and global markets.

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man pardon's Binance founder Chanpeng Zhao

      US President The Insurrectionist has issued a pardon for the founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.  Chanpeng Zhao spent four months in prison last year after pleading guilty to charges that he failed to implement measures to prevent money laundering while running the platform. We also take a closer look at the latest US and EU sanctions against Russia.

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Ex-L3Harris executive accused of selling trade secrets to Russia

      The Department of Justice filed charges against Peter Williams, an Australian national who served as general manager of Trenchant, a specialized cybersecurity division within L3Harris.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Spencer in Eurasianet on Russia’s creation of a digital iron curtain

      On October 22, Katherine Spencer, program assistant at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, was published in Eurasianet on Russia’s increasing internet restrictions and blackouts.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ How Moldova’s democracy succeeded against Russian interference

      The recent election demonstrated that parties committed to democracy and European alignment can triumph at the ballot box despite Russian tactics.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ How the new US sanctions on Russian oil will impact energy markets

      US sanctions on Russian oil and gas producers could have major implications for energy markets, but their impact depends on multiple factors.

    • NYPost ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s sanctions on Russian energy are a massive step toward peace

      The sanctions, levied against Russia's two largest energy companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, are a sign that the White House is ready to start dealing out hefty punishments to Moscow.

    • European Commission ☛ EU adopts 19th package of sanctions against Russia *

      European Commission Press release Brussels, 23 Oct 2025 The European Commission welcomes the adoption by EU Member States of the 19th package of sanctions against Russia.

    • JURIST ☛ EU announces new sanctions on Russia oil, gas, and cryptocurrency

      The European Union (EU) on Thursday approved the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, the latest effort to hinder Russian aggression in Ukraine, adding new restrictions on individuals and sectors supporting Moscow’s war effort.

    • ADF ☛ Kenyan Police Rescue Citizens Bound For Russian Battlefield

      Russia’s war on Ukraine has opened a dangerous front in Africa, as the Kremlin is exploiting and tricking job-seeking civilians into being part of its war machine.

    • New York Times ☛ Can Europe Agree on Turning Frozen Russian Assets Into Cash for Ukraine?

      European Union officials want to make a large loan to Ukraine backed by Russian state assets, but on Thursday, they deferred any clear decision on that plan to December.

    • New York Times ☛ The U.S. and Europe Are Trying New Ways to Pressure Russia

      For the first time in his second term, Hell Toupée is imposing new sanctions, but they may not shift the course of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s peaceful way to end the war in Ukraine

      As more Russians turn against the war, the United States and its allies ramp up oil sanctions that hit the Kremlin war machine, as well as gas prices at the pump in Russia.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China says it opposes new US sanctions on Russian oil over Ukraine war

      Beijing said dialogue and negotiations are the only feasible way out of the Ukraine crisis.

    • RFERL ☛ Hungarians March In Budapest At Rival Political Rallies On Anniversary Of 1956 Revolt

      Tens of thousands of people marched in Budapest on October 23 in rival political rallies to mark the anniversary of the 1956 revolt against the communist government that was violently put down by Soviet troops.

    • RFERL ☛ Lithuania Summons Russian Diplomat Over Airspace Violation By Two Military Planes

      Lithuania summoned the charge d‘affaires from the Russian Embassy in Vilnius and issued a strong protest over what it said was the entry of two Russian planes into its airspace on October 23.

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky calls for EU decision on frozen Russia assets as soon as possible

      President Volodymyr Zelensky urged European allies on Thursday to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons after failing to secure a promise from US President The Insurrectionist to provide Kyiv with powerful Tomahawk missiles. Zelensky, who addressed European Union leaders in Brussels, also called on them to agree as soon as possible on a plan to use frozen Russian assets and said Kyiv would use a "significant part" of any funds made available to buy European-made weapons. France24 International Affairs Commentator Douglas Herbert joins us for more.

    • France24 ☛ REPLAY: Ukrainian President Zelensky addresses reporters after EU Summit

      During his speech at the European Parliament on Thursday, Ukrainian President Zelensky said Ukraine should be able to use Russian frozen assets for domestic weapons production. Here’s the replay of his address.

    • France24 ☛ Zelensky urges EU to use frozen Russian assets to arm and rebuild Ukraine

      President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine should be allowed to use frozen Russian assets to fund domestic weapons production and purchase arms from Europe and the U.S. Speaking at a press conference in Brussels, he urged the EU to approve a major “reparations loan” backed by those assets, saying he hoped for a positive political decision soon. “Russia brought war to our land, and they must pay for it,” Zelensky said. France24 International Affairs Commentator Douglas Herbert explains what's at stake.

    • France24 ☛ No deal in Brussels as Belgium holds out on frozen Russian assets

      EU leaders failed to come to a formal agreement on the use of frozen Russian assets to fund a massive loan to Ukraine, after objections from Belgium, where the bulk of the Russian central bank funds are held. EU leaders pushed a formal decision to December. FRANCE 24's Armen Georgian reports from Brussels.

    • France24 ☛ EU leaders task Commission with Ukraine funding plan, eye frozen assets loan

      EU leaders on Thursday asked the European Commission to prepare options to fund Ukraine for two more years, keeping open the possibility of a vast loan backed by frozen Russian assets. After marathon Brussels talks, they deferred a final decision on the proposed 140-billion-euro ($162 billion) “reparations loan” to December.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ The CRINK: Inside the new bloc supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine

      The latest report in the Atlantic Council's Russia Tomorrow series details how Russia’s war against Ukraine has brought together a new set of partners--united not by shared values, but by shared grievances--on the international stage: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Russia’s ‘human safari’ in southern Ukraine is a warning to the world

      Russia's escalating campaign of drone attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine's Kherson region highlights the destructive power of modern drone technologies, writes Oleksandr Tolokonnikov.

    • New York Times ☛ Putin Calls U.S. Sanctions ‘Unfriendly Act’ and Says Russia Won’t Bend

      President Vladimir V. Putin warned of an overwhelming response if the Convicted Felon administration arms Kyiv with powerful missiles it seeks.

    • CS Monitor ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man sanctions Russian oil. His position on ending the war remains fluid.

      U.S. sanctions on Russia’s largest oil companies place new pressure on President Vladimir Putin. But, evidenced by President The Insurrectionist’s frequently shifting positions, it’s still unclear where he will land on how to end the war in Ukraine.

    • Meduza ☛ ‘I took a Russian passport to live’: How Putin’s forced passportization campaign deprives Ukrainians living under occupation of medical care and other vital services — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Putin’s Budapest cope, fallout from new U.S. sanctions on Russian oil, and new war crimes allegations: Meduza breaks down today’s biggest Russia-related news stories, October 23, 2025 — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ US, EU Ramp Up Sanctions On Key Russian Oil Firms As Convicted Felon Cancels Putin Summit

      Western countries have ratcheted up pressure on Moscow with sanctions announcements in Washington and Brussels targeting the oil and gas sectors that are key to financing Russia's nearly four-year long full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ Putin says Russian response to Ukrainian use of Tomahawks would be 'overwhelming'

      Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that if Ukraine gets and uses US Tomahawk missiles the response from Russia would be "very serious, if not overwhelming". At the same time, the Russian president pledged to continue dialogue with the US, despite US counterpart The Insurrectionist shelving a summit between the two leaders.

    • France24 ☛ When does Putin feel the pinch?

      It's been a long seven days, even by Russia-Ukraine standards.

      Last week at this time, the talk was of Tomahawks. But instead of delivering missiles, The Insurrectionist instead gave a closed-door earful at the White House to Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Then came talk of a mano a mano U-S-Russia summit in Budapest.

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man is 'sick and tired of being lied to' by Putin, analyst says

      Speaking on FRANCE 24, Melinda Haring, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Centre, says that sanctions hurt the Russian war effort and the EU and US 'need to continue to squeeze'. She adds that 'The Insurrectionist knows that he put his neck out politically' for Vladimir Putin for the last six months and 'he's sick and tired of being lied to'.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ US voices concern over Chinese support for Russia’s Ukraine invasion

      US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has raised concerns over Chinese components in Russian military drones amid fresh allegations of Beijing’s mounting support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, writes Katherine Spencer.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Moldova’s ongoing legal disputes with investors could jeopardize its EU hopes

      The list of lawsuits brought by aggrieved foreign investors who claim their efforts to do business in the country have been stymied is long and growing.

• Environment

  • New York Times ☛ She Worked on Tsunami Alerts. Then She Was Fired.

    “I always wanted to be a public servant and do science for the good of the people,” said Corina Allen, who lost her job at NOAA.

  • The Revelator ☛ After the Show, Where Do the Earth Songs Go?

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea plans to stop calling incinerating of plastic ‘recycling’

    Thermal recycling has been included in South Korea’s official recycling rate since 1999.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Stanford University ☛ California Energy Commission Chair praises energy transition in Climate Week keynote speech

      At the second annual Climate Week, California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild’s keynote speech focused on California’s record-breaking clean energy gains, including the expansion of battery storage, upgrades to wind farms and the surge in electric vehicle adoption.

    • Futurism ☛ Worker Falls Into Nuclear Reactor, Drinks a Little “Cavity Water”

      Boss: can you come back into work tomorrow?

    • Bridge Michigan ☛ Michigan: Gotion battery plant plan is dead after years of controversy

      A proposed $2.4 electric vehicle battery plant near Big Rapids has been beset over by lawsuit and questions about its ties to Communist China. It’s the second big-ticket project to die in the past few months.

    • Hackaday ☛ Keep An Eye On Your Air-Cooled Engine

      There was a time, long ago, when passenger vehicles used to be much simpler than they are today. There were many downsides of this era, safety chief among them, but there were some perks as well. They were in general cheaper to own and maintain, and plenty could be worked on with simple tools. There’s perhaps no easier car to work on than an air-cooled Volkswagen, either, but for all its simplicity there are a number of modern features owners add to help them with these antiques. [Pegor] has created his own custom engine head temperature monitor for these vehicles.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Straits Times ☛ Tigers in trouble as Malaysian big cat numbers dwindle

      The tiger population has dwindled from 3,000 in the 1950s to less than 150 roaming free today.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia identified as main recipient of imported electronic waste from US: Report

      Each month, around 2,000 shipping containers that may be filled with discarded electronics waste are leaving US ports.

  • Overpopulation

    • Marcy Wheeler ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man’s GOP Death Panel in Progress

      Dihydroxyacetone Man-GOP's refusal to negotiate on health care subsidies is a Dickensian death panel: "If they would rather die, ...they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Massive strike in New Zealand as 100,000 demand better pay and conditions

    The government has dismissed the protests as a union-orchestrated political stunt.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s consumers are in a years-long funk, will anything get them to spend?

    Households in China generally have less income today than they did before the pandemic.

  • Federal News Network ☛ US hits $38 trillion in debt, after the fastest accumulation of $1 trillion outside of the pandemic

    The $38 trillion update is found in the latest Treasury Department report, which logs the nation’s daily finances.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s wage gap hits record as more seniors take low-paid part-time jobs

    The age profile of South Korea’s non-regular workforce continues to shift as the country ages.

  • The Straits Times ☛ S. Korea’s ex-first lady embroiled in new scandal: She sat on throne at Gyeongbokgung Palace

    The Korea Heritage Service confirmed that no past president had ever sat on the throne.

  • ADF ☛ China’s BRI Revealed as Economic, Environmental Threat

    Jingjing Zhang is a lawyer and environmental activist who has fought Chinese companies that pollute for decades. Her work has brought her to many countries, where she says her native China is using a hazardous development model: Pollute now, get rich and attempt to clean up later.

  • Breach Media ☛ Financialized landlords are targeting Black and Arab neighbourhoods across Canada

    New research reveals how Canada’s biggest landlords squeeze racialized neighbourhoods for profit—buying undervalued housing, evicting tenants, and raising rents

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • New York Times ☛ The White House Wrecking Ball

    Hell Toupée’s demolition of the East Wing to make way for a ballroom seems to mirror his determination to remake America.

  • Stanford University ☛ Political scientists emphasize need for pro-democracy coalitions at launch of Democracy Action Lab

    Political science scholars emphasized the need to strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in a Wednesday event marking the launch of CDDRL’s new Democracy Action Lab.

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Futurism ☛ Meta Allows Deepfake That Irish Presidential Election Is Canceled to Go Viral

      "Simply put, Friday's election is now cancelled."

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • JURIST ☛ Rights group urges Afghanistan authorities to end media censorship

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Thursday that the Taliban have severely undermined media freedom in Afghanistan by closing major news outlets and subjecting remaining ones to surveillance and censorship. The group called on authorities to cease mistreatment of journalists and remove discriminatory restrictions imposed on women reporters.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • BIA Net ☛ Court orders journalist Ercüment Akdeniz’s release after eight months in detention

    Akdeniz was among several people who were arrested in a "terrorism" investigation into the Peoples' Democratic Congress, a pro-Kurdish and leftist umbrella organization.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • The Strategist ☛ Elevating women’s voices and leadership in the humanitarian reset

    The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda is more relevant than ever in humanitarian action, as the sector grapples with funding cuts and the ‘humanitarian reset.’

  • Digital Music News ☛ Broadway Musicians Announce Tentative Agreement, Averting a Strike — And Hundreds of Shows Cancellations

    Broadway musicians’ union AFM Local 802 has reached a tentative agreement with the Broadway League, averting a potential strike. AFM Local 802 has announced reaching a tentative agreement with the Broadway League and Disney Theater Productions.

  • JURIST ☛ UN warns of deepening crises for women and girls in Democratic Republic of Congo

    The UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA) on Tuesday described women and girls across the Democratic Republic of the Congo as “one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises,” facing widespread insecurity, rising sexual violence, and severely disrupted life-saving services.

  • ACLU ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man's Attempt to Roll Back Key Civil Rights-Enforcement Tool

    On April 23, President The Insurrectionist signed an executive order aimed at narrowing civil rights protections and directing federal agencies to roll back the use of the disparate impact standard in “all contexts to the maximum degree,” including across housing, lending, employment, education, and healthcare. The order represents a major reversal in civil rights protections undermining a critical enforcement tool that has for decades been used to challenge policies and practices that appear neutral but impose unjustified and discriminatory barriers for marginalized communities to housing, jobs, and more.

  • JURIST ☛ Rights group criticizes new EU-Uzbekistan agreement amid continuing human rights violations

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday criticized the announcement of the new EU-Uzbekistan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement that describes respect for democratic principles and the preservation of fundamental freedoms as “essential” yet fails to properly address Uzbekistan’s deteriorating rights record.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Internet Society ☛ What Is Meaningful Connectivity?

    The Internet is for everyone. But for that to be a reality, we need more than to connect the unconnected: we need to make access meaningful. 

• Digital Restrictions (DRM)

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ China releases 'UBIOS' standard to replace UEFI — Huawei-backed BIOS firmware replacement charges China's domestic computing goals

    Support for chiplets, heterogeneous computing, and a step away from U.S.-based standards are key features of China's BIOS replacement.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Spotify Lossless Is Rolling Out to Sonos Users, But the Android App Keeps Crashing

    Spotify Lossless is gradually rolling out to Sonos users, but Android users are reporting app crashes on some WiFi networks. Spotify Lossless is rolling out slowly to Sonos users today, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Universal Music Triumphs in Dutch Streaming Royalty Lawsuit

    Universal does not have to pay Dutch musicians Arriën Molema, Henk Westbroek, and Marinus de Goederen more streaming revenue, an Amsterdam court ruled. Universal Music was victorious in a court case in Amsterdam that centered on whether the company underpaid three Dutch musicians in streaming royalties.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Digital Music News ☛ Apple Loses $2 Billion App Store Lawsuit in the UK—Tech Giant Vows Immediate Appeal

  Apple has lost a landmark lawsuit in the UK over App Store fees, which could benefit millions of iPhone and iPad users. The company vows to appeal. Fashion Company Apple users in the UK might get compensation after the tech giant lost a landmark case over $2 billion (£1.5 billion) in app store fees.

• Futurism ☛ Secret Plans Reveal Amazon Plot to Replace 600,000 Workers With Robot Army

  And others could follow.

• Patents

  • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 awarded for Proxense authentication patent monopoly prior art

    Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winners, Ketan Sachdeva, Adrei Gilya, Ekta Aswal, and Umesh Kumar, who split an award of $2,000 for their prior art submissions on U.S. Patent 9,251,332, owned and asserted by Proxense LLC, an NPE. The ‘332 patent monopoly presents a security system and method for controlling access to computing resources, featuring the use of personal digital keys (PDKs) and readers to manage and secure access. The patent monopoly has been asserted against Hyundai and LG.

    We would also like to thank the dozens of other high-quality submissions that were made on this patent.

  • Unified Patents ☛ International Semiconductor Group Wi-Fi 6 patent monopoly challenge instituted

    On October 15, 2025, four weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims (1-12) of U.S. Patent 12,137,063, owned and asserted by the International Semiconductor Group, an NPE. The '063 patent monopoly is directed to coordinating transmissions for adjacent access points (APs) that have overlapping coverage areas.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ 2025 Economics Nobel: What the Industrial Revolution Teaches About Patent Policy [Ed: A fake award]

    Economic historian Joel Mokyr recently received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics (shared with Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt) for reshaping our understanding of why historic sustained technological progress and economic growth emerged in Europe in the 1700s.  For patent monopoly law scholars and practitioners, Mokyr's work offers critical historical perspective on a question that echoes through modern IP policy debates: what institutional arrangements best promote innovation? His historic answer from the Industrial Revolution push against any patent-centric narrative, but still argue that knowledge dissemination is the key factor.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ UPC denies Abbott second injunction against Sinocare [Ed: UPC is illegal and should not exist, but EPO corruption breed this abuse of the EU courts]

      Diabetes affects millions worldwide, making the glucose-monitoring device market particularly lucrative. Continuous glucose-monitoring systems have gained significant popularity by allowing users to track blood glucose levels via mobile phone. Both US company Abbott and its Chinese competitor Sinocare offer such systems. >

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ Two Recent Section 2(d) Oppositions Sustained by the TTAB

    For some reason we are in the doldrums as far as TTAB decsions go. Here are two recent Section 2(d) oppositions that I will briefly summarize, for lack of anything more interesting to discuss. In the first, the goods and services of the parties overlapped and the marks were nearly identical. In the second the goods were complementary and the marks identical. (I may have to take tomorrow off.)

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Cox v. Sony Music Amicus Briefs Flurry Continues — SoundExchange, A2IM, Former Lawmakers, Copyright Officials, and Others Weigh In

    Amicus briefs are continuing to pour in ahead of the high-stakes Cox v. Sony Music Supreme Court arguments. Now, SoundExchange, A2IM, former members of Congress, and others have fired off filings of their own.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Hooked on Sonics: Experimenting with Sound in 19th-Century Popular Science

    Of all the senses cultivated throughout the 19th century, it was the sense of hearing that experienced the most dramatic transformation, as the science of sound underwent rapid advancement. Lucas Thompson delves into a particular genre of popular acoustics primers aimed at children and amateurs alike, which reveal the pedagogical, ludic, and transcendental strivings of Victorian society.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Recording Academy’s ‘Grammy House Giza’ Event and Additional Concerts In Motion Despite Lawsuit Challenging Pyramids Performances

    Despite the recent lawsuit looking to halt concerts staged before the Great Pyramids, the Recording Academy is moving forward with plans for a massive Grammy House Giza happening.