Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ Nikon Small World Competition Announces 2025 Winners

  They say that, sometimes, less is more. That would certainly apply to photomicrography, where you want to take pictures of tiny things. Nikon agrees, and they sponsor the Small World contest every year. The 2025 winners are a big — or not so big, maybe — deal.

• Hardware

  • Russell Coker ☛ Russell Coker: Internode NBN500

    I have just converted to the Internode NBN500 plan which is now the same price as the NBN100 plan. I’m in a HFC area so they won’t let me get fiber to the home (due to Malcolm Turnbull breaking the NBN to help Murdoch) so I’m limited to what HFC can do.

  • Science Alert ☛ World's Tiniest Pixel Shatters Records… But There's a Catch

    A full HD display on the tip of your finger.

  • Hackaday ☛ Original E39 Head Unit Modernized

    Although most modern cars have moved to using proprietary components nearly everywhere, especially when it comes to infotainment systems, for a brief moment which peaked in the 90s and 00s most cars shipped with radios that fit in a standard size opening called a DIN slot. If you wanted a new Pioneer or Kenwood stereo it was usually a simple matter to slide the factory radio out and put your choice of aftermarket head unit in its place. [Stefan] has an E39 BMW from this era and wanted to upgrade the factory radio but use the original hardware instead of replacing it.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Futurism ☛ University Denies Monkeys That Escaped in Truck Crash Were Infected With Horrific Diseases

    "We are continuing to look for the one monkey that is still on the loose."

  • Latvia ☛ Medical tourism has had a good year in Latvia

    2024 has been a successful year for medical tourism in Latvia. A total of 40,733 foreign patients received medical services in Latvia, including remotely, according to information compiled by the Latvian Health Tourism Cluster (LVTK).

  • Privacy International ☛ Whose business is your healthcare? Why digital health tools need careful assessment

  • Science Alert ☛ A Common Sleeping Pill May Reduce Buildup of Alzheimer's Proteins, Study Shows

    Intriguing...

  • Science Alert ☛ Prolonged Fasting Isn't a Cancer Cure. Here's What Might Happen Instead.

    Biology isn't that simple.

• Proprietary

  • Futurism ☛ After Bringing Down Internet, Amazon Announces Biggest Mass Firing in Its History

    "Just yesterday I joked that it wouldn't be the worst thing if I got laid off. I take it back."

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ MElon’s Grokipedia Extensively Copied From Wikipedia

      "Even Grokipedia needs Wikipedia to exist."

    • Futurism ☛ Grokipedia’s Article on the Cybertruck Clearly Shows Why the Whole Project Is Doomed

      As absurd as you'd expect.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Security Week ☛ Cybercriminals Trade 183 Million Stolen Credentials on Telegram, Dark Forums

      The email addresses were pulled from various sources and 16.4 million of them were not present in previous data breaches.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Meduza ☛ Raising the pressure Trump is hitting Russia with sanctions that even Biden shied away from. Can its war-weary economy handle them? — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘Negative messaging doesn’t work’: In Africa, Ukraine’s fight for allies runs up against Russia’s long arm — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘We traveled across the whole world’: YouTuber MrBeast removes mention of Ukraine from Russian-language version of video showing war-torn zoo — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia changes military recruitment tactics, a mayor threatens a constituent for ‘dislikes,’ and Ukraine will start exporting weapons: Meduza breaks down today’s biggest Russia-related news stories, October 28, 2025 — Meduza

• Environment

  • Science Alert ☛ 2 Factors Made Hurricane Melissa Dangerous – And They're on The Rise, Say Experts

    "It's a bit of a terrifying situation."

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Links Mysterious Lights in The Sky to Historic Nuclear Tests

    What are they?

  • Energy/Transportation

    • European Commission ☛ Commission approves €750 million Estonian strategic reserve to support security of electricity supply

    • Futurism ☛ Leaked Document Shows Amazon Scheming to Keep Hey Hi (AI) Data Center Water Use Secret

      They lied for an amazing reason.

    • Hackaday ☛ Testing Cheap DC Breakers And How To Not Start Fires

      One characteristic of adding PV solar to homes is a massive increase in high-voltage and high-current DC installations. With this comes a need for suitable breakers, but without the requisite knowledge it can be easy to set up a fire hazard. There is also the issue of online shopping platforms making it easy to get fuses and breakers that may not be quite as capable as they claim, never mind being rated for DC use.

• Finance

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ The emergence of US-style financing in Mexico’s real estate market

    Mexico's real estate marking is changing and in a good way, with new U.S.-style financing models finally available to buyers.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ 3 Mexican financial institutions cease operations after US money laundering claims

    Four months after the U.S. Department of the Treasury made public its accusations against the banks Intercam and CIBanco and the brokerage firm Vector, all three of the financial institutions have ceased to operate in Mexico.  

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • AccessNow ☛ #KeepItOn: Authorities in Tanzania must commit to unrestricted access to the internet during elections

    In an open letter to President Samia Suluhu, Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition are urging authorities in Tanzania to uphold human rights and ensure open and secure access to the internet and digital communications before, during, and after the upcoming elections on October 29, 2025, to guarantee a participatory and transparent electoral process.

  • AccessNow ☛ #KeepItOn: Government of Tanzania must ensure unrestricted internet access throughout upcoming elections

    We, the undersigned organizations and members of the #KeepItOn coalition — a global network of over 345 organizations from 106 countries working to end internet shutdowns —  appeal to you, President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, to publicly commit to ensuring that people in the Republic of Tanzania have unfettered access to the internet, digital platforms, and all other communication channels throughout the upcoming elections on October 29, 2025. 

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • ACLU ☛ Government Pressure to Suspend Jimmy Kimmel Was an Abuse of Power

    Earlier this month, Jimmy Kimmel joined a long line of comedians and entertainers to survive the government’s attempt to limit free speech.

    “Walter Cronkite must be spinning in his grave right now. (He’s dead, right?),” Kimmel said during the opening monologue on his first show back after ABC suspended his late-night talk show. “Look, I never imagined I would be in a situation like this. I barely paid attention in school. But one thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and Howard Stern is that a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American. That’s anti-American.”

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • APNIC ☛ Summary of feedback from the ICP-2 Review webinar of 25 October 2025

    The summary of questions and feedback from the ICP-2 Review webinar held on 25 October 2025 is available. You have until 7 November 2025 to share your feedback on the RIR Governance Document.

  • APNIC ☛ Rate-based versus credit-based flow control: Part 2 — Notes on flow control

    Guest Post: Flow control is a fundamental concept in the design of high-performance networks. In part two of this three-part deep dive series, we compare rate-based and credit-based approaches to flow control.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Urges FCC To Ensure Consumers Don’t Bear Cost of Next Gen TV

    Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to adopt a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to seek comment on steps to support the nation’s voluntary, market-based broadcast television transition to Next Gen TV, a new broadcasting standard also known as ATSC 3.0.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Public Knowledge Urges FCC Chairman Carr To Protect Phone Network in VOIP Action

    Today, the Federal Communications Commission voted to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to examine the future interconnection requirements impacting the phone network as part of the transition from the legacy phone system to an all-IP network that uses voice-over-IP (VOIP) for all phones. 

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ “That’s Why We Become Witches”: Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Lolly Willowes (1926)

    A novel about a woman who throws off the yoke of patriarchy to become a witch.

  • Federal News Network ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man administration asks the Supreme Court to allow it to fire head of US Copyright Office

    The administration’s newest emergency appeal was filed Monday, weeks after a federal appeals court held that the official could not be unilaterally fired.