Leftovers

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ WCH BLE Analyzer Pro – A Bluetooth LE sniffer, analyzer, and debugging tool

    WCH BLE Analyzer Pro is a USB-based Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sniffer and debugging tool designed to capture, decode, and analyze BLE communication packets in real-time. The analyzer supports adjustable polling intervals, broadcast and connection packet tracking, address filtering, and detailed packet inspection with statistics and graphical representation. It can monitor BLE broadcast and connection data in real-time and includes functions such as PHY mode selection and whitening control.

  • CNX Software ☛ CamThink NeoEyes NE301 – An ultra-low-power, STM32N6-based Edge Hey Hi (AI) camera

    CamThink NeoEyes NE301 is an ultra-low-power Edge Hey Hi (AI) camera built around the STM32N6 Arm Cortex-M55 MCU with Neural-ART NPU that “offers significantly enhanced features and performance” compared to the company’s earlier ESP32-S3-based NeoEyes NE101. The camera ships with a 4MP MIPI CSI camera sensor by default, but USB camera sensors are also supported. It also features 64MB PSRAM, 128MB hyperflash, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless connectivity, optional support for a 4G LTE module (global or US), audio wafers, USB-C and UART debug, a 16-pin GPIO header, and support for either USB, battery, or PoE power.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Amazon Demands That Hey Hi (AI) Browser Stop Automatically Shopping on Behalf of Users

      "It's not just bullying, it's bonkers."

    • SANS ☛ Updates to Domainname Hey Hi (AI) (Wed, Nov 5th)

      For several years, we have offered a "new domain" list of recently registered (or, more accurately, recently discovered) domains. This list is offered via our API (https://isc.sans.edu/api). However, the size of the list has been causing issues, resulting in a "cut-off" list being returned. To resolve this issue, I updated the API call. It is sort of backward compatible, but it will not allow you to retrieve the full list. Additionally, we offer a simple "static file" containing the complete list. This file should be used whenever possible instead of the API.

    • Citizen Lab ☛ Citizen Lab Researchers Sign Open Letter on Canada’s Hey Hi (AI) Strategy

      Citizen Lab researchers and director Ron Deibert have signed an open letter to the Canadian Minister of Hey Hi (AI) and Minister of Industry rejecting the “National Sprint” on Hey Hi (AI) strategy. The letter calls upon the ministers to extend the consultation deadline, rewrite the public survey, and create a more representative Hey Hi (AI) task force.

• Security

  • Security Week ☛ Nikkei Says 17,000 Impacted by Data Breach Stemming From Slack Account Hack

    The Japanese media giant says compromised Slack credentials were used to steal employee and business partner information.

  • Scoop News Group ☛ Court reimposes original sentence for Capital One hacker

    A federal judge has reimposed a sentence on Paige Thompson, the former Amazon Web Services engineer convicted in the 2019 Capital One data breach that compromised the personal information of more than 100 million people.

  • Security Week ☛ Exploited ‘Post SMTP’ Plugin Flaw Exposes WordPress Sites to Takeover

    The critical vulnerability allows attackers to read arbitrary emails, including password reset messages.

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • WhichUK ☛ Scam alert: fraudsters impersonate Lidl in a series of fake ads

      Which? found 49 adverts appearing on Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram

• Defence/Aggression

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia to host international conference on sanctions

      On 6th November 2025, the Financial Intelligence Unit of Latvia (FIU Latvia) will organize the 7th Annual Sanctions Conference “Guarding the Gate: Sanctions, Export Controls & Business Responsibilities”, bringing together international experts and decision-makers to discuss how effective sanctions implementation and enforcement contributes to global security and resilience.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Estonia FM urges China to join US, European pressure on Putin

      Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna called on China to stop its economic support of Russia's war in Ukraine and urged Beijing to join European and U.S. efforts to pressure President Vladimir Putin into a ceasefire during a Tuesday interview.

    • Latvia ☛ Ukrainian Defence Minister pays a visit to Latvia

      November 5th brings a very welcome visitor to Latvia in the form of Ukrainian Minister of Defence Denys Shmyhal on a working visit. Shmyhal is being hosted by Latvian Minister of Defense Andris Sprūds.

    • France24 ☛ Why Ukraine is struggling to hold on to the ruined city of Pokrovsk

      Russian and Ukrainian troops are locked in a desperate fight in the ruins of Pokrovsk, a road and railway hub at the heart of the Donets River coal basin. The near-emptied city has been the target of a grinding Russian offensive for more than a year – and one that has exposed the struggle Kyiv faces in manning a front line stretching some 1,250 kilometres.

    • France24 ☛ Ukraine war is in a "stalemate" due to slow European aid and US reluctance

      The Donbas city of Pokrovsk is at the centre of intensifying fighting as Russia tries to take it, one year down the line. If Pokrovsk is key, it's because taking it means controlling the entire Donbas region. After over three years of conflict, "we're in one of those periods where nothing appears to be happening" FRANCE 24's Angela Diffley tells us because of slow European aid and reluctance from the US to help Ukraine.

    • Meduza ☛ Studying abroad in occupied territory Russian-accredited universities in Ukraine’s Donbas are admitting foreign students. Will their diplomas be recognized anywhere else? — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ As Angelina Jolie tours war-torn Ukraine, her driver is arrested and drafted into the army — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ The plunder and violence unleashed in occupied Ukraine has reached Russia’s own towns — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ A Harrowing Escape From the Drone-Infested Hellscape of Ukraine’s Front Lines

      In Ukraine, unmanned weapons hunt the wounded and medics alike. Moving injured soldiers to safety has never been more difficult.

• Environment

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • New York Times ☛ Brazil Proposes a New Type of Fund to Protect Tropical Forests

      The multibillion-dollar fund would essentially pay countries to keep forests standing, hoping for success where earlier forest-protection ideas have struggled.

• Finance

  • France24 ☛ The heavy toll of the US shutdown on low-income families in California

    The US government shutdown is set to become the longest in history and its effects are starting to hit home for millions of Americans. One of the hardest-hit groups are low-income families who rely on food stamps. With funding frozen, many are left without aid and food banks are seeing a surge in demand. FRANCE 24's Wassim Cornet reports from Los Angeles.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Federal News Network ☛ White House ‘open to discussing’ back pay for furloughed workers, following mixed messages on earlier guarantee

    An SSA spokesperson said two field offices were closed Monday, "due to limited staffing," and that one of them reopened for normal operations on Tuesday.

  • Federal News Network ☛ False Claims Act and cybersecurity: A survival guide for federal contractors facing new frontiers

    As the sea of cybersecurity laws and regulations expands and the enforcers remain on high alert, the False Claims Act presents yet another formidable challenge.

  • New York Times ☛ Five Key Takeaways From the Supreme Court Tariff Argument

    The Supreme Court justices grappled with the legality of Hell Toupée’s tariffs in an oral argument that stretched for almost three hours.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong appeals court cuts sentences of 10 people jailed over 2019 university siege by up to 6 months

    A Hong Kong court has reduced the years-long jail terms of 10 people found guilty of rioting near the besieged Polytechnic University (PolyU) in 2019 by up to six months following their appeals.

  • Stanford University ☛ First Amendment panelists discuss free speech, political polarization

    Student leaders from The Daily, Stanford College Democrats and the Stanford America Club gathered at Meyer Green on Democracy Day for a student-led discussion on how free speech and civic discourse intersect on campus.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • BIA Net ☛ Photographer Yıldız Çelik’s portraits of labor and life in 1980s now accessible online

    The collection made accessible by Salt Research highlights Yıldız Çelik’s photographs from the late 1980s, focusing on scenes around Kazlıçeşme and the Galata Bridge.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Privileged Conversations | Nov. 2025

    Public Knowledge has the pleasure of inviting you to a multifaceted program focused on training and developing the next generation of tech policy experts and public interest advocates that reflects the diversity of voices and experiences in our society. Please join us for our monthly Career Breakfast Series.

  • APNIC ☛ Your elected leaders: Yoshinobu Matsuzaki, APNIC EC Treasurer

    From encouragement to leadership: A journey built on community and collaboration.

  • APNIC ☛ A first look at the adoption of BGP-based DDoS scrubbing services: A five-year longitudinal analysis

    Guest Post: A first global look at how many networks use BGP-based DDoS scrubbing — revealing who’s protected, how adoption has grown, and what it means for Internet resilience.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ NPE asserts US patents against BMW in Munich [Ed: Patent trolls exploit a corrupt patent system on actual cocaine]

    Head units control car infotainment systems. US based NPE Onesta claims BMW is infringing its patents on processor technology in several models, including the BMW i4. The company is seeking injunctive relief and damages from the Munich Regional Court (case IDs: 21 O 12768/25, 21 O 13056/25 and 21 O 13057/25).

  • JUVE ☛ Ones to Watch Germany 2025: Oliver Bäcker [Ed: SPAM/marketing disguised as information about patents]

    JUVE Patent recently carried out extensive research in the German patent monopoly market, culminating in the publication of the German patent monopoly rankings. Our latest research highlighted Oliver Bäcker as one of the current ‘Ones to Watch Germany’. The lawyer is 41 years old and a child of the 1990s, as he puts it himself.

• Gemini* and Gopher

  • Technology and Free Software

    • MOO News

      For some background information I've been interested in MUD/MOO servers for some time. Not so much playing games on them, but the technology and maybe "serious" applications. A common design is to have a combined network daemon & programming language compiler/interpreter; and a "core database" that uses this to implement some user-facing system like a game. A rather influential such network daemon/language system is "LambdaMOO", a later fork of which is "ToastStunt". These are usually paired with the LambdaCore & ToastCore databases respectively.

    • Unihertz Titan 2

      I have long wanted a pocket terminal and had a few attempts. There was using a touch screen phone, touch screen tablet and the odd Blackberry clone of the Beepy. The touch screens are error prone and fairly unsatisfactory to use. The Beepy is good but I ended up getting the colour Beepy which uses a closed source driver which only works with a fairly old PiOs version. It is annoying and makes the device harder to deal with. However, it satisfies my pocket terminal desires.

      Well I had been considering the Unihertz Titan range for a while. They are large phones with physical keyboards. I just didn't bother going further as it involved dealing with well out of date Android versions and I was not sure about keyboard quality. Then I saw an advert for a crowd source campaign for the Titan 2. Well, of course I fell for it.