Leftovers

• Jonathan Dowland ☛ Jonathan Dowland: inert media, or the exploitation of attention

  It occurred to me recently that one of the attractions of vinyl, or more generally physical media, could be that it's inert, safe: the music is a groove cut into some plastic. That's it. The record can't do anything unexpected to you¹: it just contains music.

• Hackaday ☛ Share Your Projects: Imperfectionism

  Everyone has a standard for publishing projects, and they can get pretty controversial. We see a lot of people complain about hacks embedded in YouTube videos, social media threads, Discord servers, Facebook posts, IRC channels, different degrees of open-sourcing, licenses, searchability, and monetization. I personally have my own share of frustrations with a number of these factors.

• The Strategist ☛ ASIO’s step-up in warning frequency means we are less secure

  The frequency with which Australia’s director-general of security now addresses the public should give us pause. Before Director-General Mike Burgess, leaders of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) rarely spoke beyond closed briefings.

• Ruben Schade ☛ “Backalog”

  I have a post series where I share random things I overhear at coffee shops, which are shops that sell coffee.

  Inner monologue: Thanks Ruben, once again, your ability to deliver exquisite (and necessary) exposition remains unparalleled. I would never have guessed that an establishment referred to as a coffee shop would sell the aforementioned beverage. It is a testament to your unparalleled genius that you considered that pertinent information to share.

• Gary Benson: Terminal colours

  \x1B[38;5;105m and \x1B[38;5;141m are a great combo.

• Standards/Consortia

  • APNIC ☛ Bridging the gaps between protocol specifications and practice

    Most Internet standards are still written in prose and pseudocode, which is excellent for readability, but open to interpretation. Different implementations may read the same standards differently, leading to interoperability issues, hidden vulnerabilities, and unexpected edge-case behavior.

  • ACM ☛ It Takes a Village: Bridging the Gaps between Current and Formal Specifications for Protocols

    In this paper, we discuss the different roles that specifications play in the networking and formal methods communities. We then illustrate the potential benefits of specifying protocols formally, presenting highlights from several recent success stories. Finally, we identify key differences between how formal specifications are understood by the two communities and suggest possible strategies to bridge the gaps.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Arachnid Megacity Discovered in Cave May Be World's Largest Spider Web

    More than 100,000 spiders live there.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Found 2 Existing Drugs Can Reverse Alzheimer's Brain Damage in Mice

    This could be a major discovery.

  • Science Alert ☛ Longevity Supplement 'Rejuvenates' Aging Immune Cells in Just 4 Weeks

    The initial results are promising.

  • Science Alert ☛ Massive New Map Reveals 300,000 Km of Ancient Roman Roads

    "Only the tip of the iceberg."

  • Science Alert ☛ Hidden Rhythms in Your Brain And Gut Share a Surprising Link

    Everything is connected.

  • New York Times ☛ Her Research Could Improve Training For Service Dogs

    “This is a type of science that has an impact that most people could see in their homes,” said Erin Hecht, a canine researcher at Harvard. “Now there’s just no money.”

  • New York Times ☛ What Scientists Are Learning From Brain Organoids

    Lab-grown “reductionist replicas” of the human brain are helping scientists understand fetal development and cognitive disorders, including autism. But ethical questions loom.

  • New York Times ☛ Where You See a Fancy Fish, Engineers See Alan Turing’s Math

    Using a new computer model, scientists simulated the stripes, spots and hexagons on a species of boxfish, imperfections and all.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania’s new culture vicemin faces scrutiny over pseudoscience links and political ties

    Questions have emerged over the appointment of Aleksandras Brokas as Lithuania’s new vice minister of culture, following reports linking him to a pseudoscientific movement and concerns about possible political affiliations.

  • New York Times ☛ Canada Is About to Lose Its Status as Having Eliminated Measles

    One province with an outsize number of cases has seen a collision of politics and public health policy.

• Career/Education

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Unlike Michigan, Indiana got tough on missing school. It’s already working

    Cross the border into Indiana, and chronic absenteeism rates are often half of what they are in Michigan. That’s because Indiana noticed a problem and passed laws demanding accountability.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ AAEON PICO-ARU4 “Arrow Lake” Pico-ITX SBC is powered by up to an defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra 7 255U processor

    AAEON PICO-ARU4 might be the world’s first Pico-ITX SBC powered by defective chip maker Intel Core Ultra 5/7 “Arrow Lake” (Series 2) processor family. More specifically, it’s available with the Core Ultra 5 225U or Core Ultra 7 255U, both with a 15W TDP.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ US govt committee slams Nvidia over shared campus with banned Huawei affiliate — says China has been in Nvidia’s backyard for a decade, literally

    Former Huawei affiliate Futurewei allegedly maintained an office in Nvidia's Santa Clara campus for around a decade until 2024.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Nvidia wants China's market share to secure the future of CUDA in the region — America's trade war threatens Huang's influence, and could bolster competition

    The United States and Nvidia have come to a head over trading the latest GPU technology to China. While the US wants to retain a technological lead and strengthen supply chains, Nvidia is concerned of its waning influence in the region, which could lose out to domestic suppliers in the near future.

  • Hackaday ☛ DIY Powerwall Blows Clouds, Competition Out Of The Water

    Economists have this idea that we live in an efficient market, but it’s hard to fathom that when disposable vapes are equipped with rechargeable lithium cells. Still, just as market economists point out that if you leave a dollar on the sidewalk someone will pick it up, if you leave dollars worth of lithium batteries on the sidewalk, [Chris Doel] will pick them up and build a DIY home battery bank that we really hope won’t burn down his shop.

  • Hackaday ☛ 2025 Component Abuse Challenge: Overdriven LEDs Outshine The Sun

    Tagging wildlife is never straightforward in the best of times, but it becomes a great deal more complicated when you’re trying to track flying insects. Instead of trying to use a sensor package, [DeepSOIC] attached tiny, light retroreflectors to bees and hornets, then used a pulsed infrared light mounted on a drone to illuminate them. Two infrared cameras on the drone track the bright dot that indicates the insect, letting the drone follow it. To get a spot bright enough to track in full sunlight, though, [DeepSOIC] had to drive some infrared LEDs well above their rated tolerances.

  • Hackaday ☛ 2025 Component Abuse Challenge: Reverse Biasing An NPN BJT

    For the Component Abuse Challenge our hacker [Tim Williams] observes that N-P-N reads the same way forwards and backwards, so… what happens if we reverse bias one? (Note: this remark about N-P-N reading the same forward and backward is a lighthearted joke; in fact the level of doping in the emitter and collector is different so those Ns are not fungible and will exhibit different properties and have different characteristics.)

  • Hackaday ☛ The Water-Cooled PS3 Sony Never Made

    The Playstation 3 had a dizzying number of variants from its first launch in 2006 to when they stopped selling the slim models over a decade later in 2017. Of all those, you’ve probably never heard of the water-cooled Playstation 3 Pro, for the simple reason that it did not exist until [Zac] of Zac Builds created it in a video to push the limits of the now-vintage hardware.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ 4 Malaysians arrested for trying to smuggle 86kg of cannabis buds worth $2.58m into UK

    The suspects are believed to have been used as drug mules.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Hong Thai inhaler not registered, banned in Malaysia, says Health Ministry

    The ministry will continue monitoring advertisements for medicines, including those on e-commerce platforms.

  • Science Alert ☛ Common Sweetener Could Damage Critical Brain Barrier, Risking Stroke

    Sugar-free still has its risks.

  • New York Times ☛ What Convicted Felon’s New Drug Pricing Deal Means for People With Obesity

    The president’s agreement with drug companies involves a range of prices, depending on dose, product and how you’re paying.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Announces Deal to Drop Obesity Drug Prices to as Little as $149 a Month

    Hell Toupée announced a deal with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to lower prices on hugely popular weight-loss drugs for Medicare, Medicaid and American patients who pay with their own money.

  • Futurism ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Strikes Deal to Offer Americans GLP-1 Drugs for Much Cheaper

    Talk about government intervention.

  • CS Monitor ☛ End the shutdown? That’ll point Congress back to Obamacare’s rising costs.

    The idea of federal subsidies to help more people afford health insurance was baked into the Affordable Care Act from the start. But they’ve grown, as has the strain of overall health care spending on federal budgets.

  • JURIST ☛ Cholera outbreak in Haiti sparks international concern

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised alarm on Wednesday over a spike in cholera cases in Haiti’s West department. The rights group emphasized “the urgent need for coordinated, long-term action to restore basic water and sanitation systems.”

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Migrant farm work has boomed in Michigan. The feds just cut workers’ pay

    The lower minimum wage for migrant farmhands has some farmers celebrating the cost savings and others wondering if they’ll still be able to attract the workers they need.

  • Stanford University ☛ Women’s athletic health conference presents breakthrough research for female athletes.

    In the “Nutrition and Fueling” panel discussion at Stanford’s Female Athlete Research Meeting (FARM), researchers revealed how energy availability, meal timing and gut health can prevent injuries and optimize recovery for females in athletes.

  • Stanford University ☛ Research Roundup: Accessing a healthier world through forests and fibers

    From climate science to human health, Stanford researchers are identifying scientific trends and developing technologies to improve sustainability, human well-being and healthcare.

  • Futurism ☛ Man Collapses During Oval Office Event on Drug Prices

    It happened right in front of president Convicted Felon.

  • New York Times ☛ Jury Awards $10 Million to Abigail Zwerner, Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old Student

    The teacher, Abigail Zwerner, was shot in the hand and chest by a first grade student who brought his mother’s gun to class in 2023.

  • New York Times ☛ Big Food’s Fight Against Kennedy Is Heating Up

    A new industry group wants to set aside the piecemeal state-by-state approach imposing food dye and labeling laws in favor of federal control. The opposition has roiled the MAHA coalition.

• Proprietary

  • Qt ☛ AI-Powered Translation Comes to Qt Linguist [Ed: Proprietary Qt is hugging slop]

    Modern software development demands efficient internationalization (i18n) workflows, and translation bottlenecks can significantly slow down product delivery. With Qt 6.11, we're excited to introduce Hey Hi (AI) Translation in Qt Linguist. This is a powerful new feature that leverages local Large Language Models (LLMs) to automatically generate translations for your application strings.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ People Are Using Sora to Create Unbelievably Cursed Gender Reveals

      Seriously?

    • Futurism ☛ The Hey Hi (AI) Industry Can’t Profit Unless It Replaces Human Jobs, Warns Man Who Helped Create It

      "I believe that to make money you’re going to have to replace human labor."

    • Security Week ☛ Researchers Hack Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot Memories and Web Search Features

      Tenable researchers discovered seven vulnerabilities, including ones affecting the latest GPT model.

    • NYPost ☛ Google’s biased Hey Hi (AI) accused me of rape — shut down its rampant lies

      Google's Gemma large language fabricated an elaborate criminal allegation against me — and it's not the first time the company's products have smeared and targeted conservatives.

• Security

  • Devices/Embedded

    • Fortra LLC ☛ The Rising Tide of Cyber-Attacks Against the UK Water Sector

      The disclosure that attackers are probing the systems relied on to manage the delivery of safe drinking water to millions of households comes in newly-released information from the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), following a freedom of information request from The Record.

      Between January 2023 and late October 2024, the DWI - which ensures the safety and acceptability of drinking water supplies in England and Wales - received 15 notifications of incidents involving water companies' digital systems. Five of these were confirmed to be cybersecurity-related.

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Bruce Schneier ☛ Rigged Poker Games

      The Department of Justice has indicted thirty-one people over the high-tech rigging of high-stakes poker games.

    • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong influencer Joseph Lam granted bail in HK$1.6 billion JPEX crypto fraud case

      A Hong Kong court has granted bail to influencer Joseph Lam and at least 13 others in the alleged HK$1.6 billion scandal surrounding cryptocurrency trading platform JPEX, the city’s largest crypto fraud case to date.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Education

      • EDRI ☛ 39th Chaos Communication Congress (39C3)

        Congress offers lectures and workshops and various events on a multitude of topics including (but not limited to) information technology and generally a critical-creative attitude towards technology and the discussion about the effects of technological advances on society.

      • CCC ☛ 39th Chaos Communication Congress Infos

        Starting in 1984, Congress has been organized by the community and appreciates all kinds of participation. You are encouraged to contribute by volunteering, setting up and hosting hands-on and self-organized events with the other components of your assembly or presenting your own projects to fellow hackers.

      • EDRI ☛ Data Privacy Day

        Data Privacy Day is an annual event organized by the Restena Foundation and the Digital Learning Hub – under the umbrella of Cybersecurity Luxembourg – in the framework of the Data Protection Day which is held every year on 28 January.

      • EDRI ☛ Finance For Society Forum 2025

        Organised by Finance Watch, the Finance for Society Forum is a high-level event held biennially to bring together policymakers, academics, civil society, and financial sector professionals to shape the future of finance.

      • EDRI ☛ European Young Innovators Festival

        For the last last ten years, the EYI festival has fostered meaningful exchange, encouraged peer-to-peer and intergenerational learning, and celebrated cross-cultural connection.

      • EDRI ☛ IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress

        IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress 2025 returns to Brussels for its 14th year. Join colleagues from across the data protection, Hey Hi (AI) governance and cybersecurity law professions to discuss the top issues affecting the region.

      • EDRI ☛ Workshops – Internet Rules: Understanding digital rights and policies in South and Southeast Asia

        The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has for a number of years organised capacity building workshops on digital rights and policies for a wide variety of stakeholders to enable better understanding of a rights-based approach to ICT policy making.

      • EDRI ☛ Collective Redress and Digital Fairness Conference

        The Collective Redress and Digital Fairness Conference, organized by the University of Amsterdam with support from the Stichting Onderzoek Collectieve Actie, provides a forum to examine how collective redress can ensure effective judicial protection against Big Tech’s contested business practices.

      • EDRI ☛ World Children’s Day: digital futures for children – children’s rights under pressure in the digital environment

        In 2021, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child introduced General Comment No. 25 on children’s rights in the digital environment, marking a milestone in aligning child rights with the digital age. But what real impact has it had?

      • EDRI ☛ International Digital Rights Days

        Digital rights are human rights. In a society increasingly shaped by the digital world, it is essential to emphasize the importance of everyone’s right to access, use, and create digital technologies and content. These rights encompass the protection of privacy, freedom of expression, and the right to access information online. They ensure that individuals can engage with digital platforms, participate in online communities, and share content freely and safely, without facing undue censorship, surveillance, or discrimination.

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

      • Joel Chrono ☛ RE: Escaping my phone

        However, the conclusion I’ve reached is closest to Jana’s.

        I am not addicted to doom-scrolling, I am not addicted to algorithms, I am not addicted to AI slop, I am not addicted to posting random stuff online—other than this blog, but not microblogging-style posts.

        I simply enjoy chatting with people a lot, I guess.

        Signal, XMPP, Discord and Tusky remain at the top for me, even Matrix shows up sometimes. Jana says: [...]

• Defence/Aggression

  • France24 ☛ Satellite image of livestock in Sudan misinterpreted as mass graves

    Following reported mass killings late October by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the beseiged city of El Fasher, internet users shared a screenshot from Surveillance Giant Google Earth purporting to show the site of a massacre. But according to satellite image analysts, this images are dated and in fact depict livestock. We spoke directly to the expert involved in this fact-check in this episode of Truth or Fake.

  • New York Times ☛ Sexual Assault of the President Exposes Mexico’s Endemic Machismo

    President Claudia Sheinbaum was groped on the street this week, in an episode that set off a national conversation about what has and has not changed since Mexico elected its first female leader.

  • ACLU ☛ Border Patrol Agents Replace Top Leadership at ICE Offices Despite Human Rights Violations

    In a major overhaul of immigration enforcement leadership, the Convicted Felon administration is replacing nearly half of top leaders at ICE offices across the country with current or retired Border Patrol officers.

    For months, masked immigration agents have brought terror to communities across the U.S., arresting parents in carpool lines, dragging people into unmarked vans, threatening protestors, and arresting elected officials. So far, there has been no governmental accountability for these tactics.

  • France24 ☛ El-Fasher: 'The final battle of the Darfur Genocide that began in 2003'

    Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, at war with the regular army for more than two years, announced on Thursday that they had agreed to a proposal for a humanitarian truce put forward by mediators. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, Erin Ogunkeye welcomes Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director at the YSPH Humanitarian Research Lab and Lecturer at Yale School of Public Health.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian rapper Namewee drops new song while in remand in influencer’s death probe

    It is believed that the track had been scheduled for release in advance, rather than being a deliberate move by the rapper.

  • JURIST ☛ UN rights experts see potential war crimes in US strikes on vessels in Caribbean

    UN human rights experts raised concern on Tuesday over “repeated and systematic lethal attacks” by the US military against vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, which they said could constitute war crimes under international maritime law. >

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania seeks to have 500 trucks return from Belarus via Šalčininkai crossing

      Lithuania is taking steps so that around 500 Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus could return home through the closed Šalčininkai border crossing, Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said Thursday.

    • Meduza ☛ Ex-policeman allegedly murders pageant queen in Russia’s Buryatia after failing to obtain refugee status in U.S. — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Bookstores on Edge as Kremlin Sets Sights on Policing Books

      Restrictions on publishers and sellers have grown more severe. Volumes are being pulled from shelves or redacted like secret documents, but bookstores remain important sources of community.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Inside the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation, as transatlantic leaders work to displace Russian gas for good

      US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and eight European energy ministers gathered with our Global Energy Center in Greece to talk about the future of transatlantic energy security.

    • Meduza ☛ Russian forces close in on Pokrovsk: Meduza’s military analysts on the threat of encirclement and Ukraine’s chances of defense — Meduza

    • France24 ☛ Pokrovsk could be most significant Russian capture in about two years

      Russia's defence ministry said on November 6 that its forces had advanced in the battered Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk and were fighting house-to-house battles in a bid to eject Ukrainian forces from the city. Russia has been threatening Pokrovsk for more than a year, seeing it as the "gateway" to the Donetsk region. Kyiv has acknowledged that the situation in Pokrovsk has become difficult in recent days but denies its troops are surrounded.

    • Meduza ☛ Meduza talks to analyst Balázs Jarábik about how war and martial law are reshaping Ukraine’s political landscape — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Angelina Jolie’s Driver in Ukraine Is Taken Away for the Draft

      A frontline visit to bring attention to Russian drone attacks on civilians sheds an inadvertent light on the Ukrainian Army’s troop shortages.

    • Meduza ☛ A Russian medical student read about Ukraine’s Azov Regiment while riding the bus. Within hours, federal agents arrested him for an ‘illegal Internet search.’ — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine, Russia Trade Air Strikes Overnight On Key Infrastructure

      Russian air attacks again targeted Ukraine's civilian infrastructure overnight as Kyiv struck back, hitting an oil refinery in Russia's Volgograd and energy sites in Russia-occupied Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ ‘We must return to diplomacy’: IAEA's Grossi on Iran, Ukraine and his UN ambitions

      The head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, told FRANCE 24 that Iran still has enough highly enriched uranium – and the necessary knowledge – to develop nuclear weapons, despite recent attacks on its nuclear facilities. He also discussed Ukraine and his bid for the top job at the UN.

    • France24 ☛ IAEA's Director General Grossi speaks on FRANCE 24

      The UN's nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told FRANCE 24 that, despite recent attacks on its nuclear facilities, Iran still has enough highly enriched uranium and the knowledge - to develop a few nuclear weapons, if it chooses to do so. He also said that a deal he recently brokered with Russia and Ukraine has helped stabilise the situation at Zaporizhzhia power plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility, located on the frontline - for now. FRANCE 24's Jessica Le Masurier spoke to him.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Learning the lessons from Ukraine’s fight against Russian cyber warfare

      The Russian invasion of Ukraine is among the most technologically advanced wars the world has seen. But while rapid developments in drone warfare tend to attract most attention, the cyber front also offers important lessons for international audiences, write Oleksandr Bakalynskyi and Maggie McDonough.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine’s youth exodus highlights mounting demographic challenges

      Thousands of young Ukrainian men have left the country since the relaxation of martial law travel restrictions in August. The exodus has highlighted Ukraine's mounting demographic challenges, write Kateryna Odarchenko, Zoryana Golovata.

    • Latvia ☛ Next year's budget sees reduced support to Ukrainians in Latvia

      The 2026 state budget allocates €39.7 million to provide support to Ukrainian civilians in Latvia. The planned amount is almost €25 million less than in 2025, when €65 million was allocated for this purpose.

    • European Commission ☛ Commission welcomes political agreement on the Defence Mini-Omnibus and possibility of Ukraine's participation in European Defence Fund

      The European Commission welcomes the political agreement reached yesterday between the European Parliament and the Council, which opens the possibility for Ukraine to be associated with the €7.3 billion European Defence Fund (EDF).

    • Meduza ☛ Homo Putinus In April, Kremlin ideologist Alexander Kharichev wrote a ‘blueprint for Putinism.’ In his new essay, he envisions Russia’s ‘person of the future.’ — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Russia Close to Its Biggest Capture of a Ukrainian City Since 2023

      The Kremlin is focusing its fire on Pokrovsk, a gateway to the Donetsk region, which Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, has long coveted.

    • LRT ☛ Fleeing Putin’s draft: A Russian’s desperate jump from train and perils in Europe

      When 21-year-old Daniil Mukhametov received notice to report for regular military service in the Russian Army, he chose a path to safety that involved a leap into the dark from a moving train and a manhunt aiming to track him down.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Vladimir Putin’s endless nuclear threats are a sign of Russian weakness

      Since 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly used nuclear threats to deter Western support for Ukraine, but this scare tactic risks exposing Russia's inability to project strength via more conventional means, writes Stephen Blank.

    • Latvia ☛ Latvia has detected hundreds of sanctions violation cases, but few big ones

      Financial Intelligence Unit (FID) Deputy Head for Sanctions Pauls Iļjenkovs said in an interview with Latvian Television's "Morning Panorama" that there are few very serious sanctions violations which would merit a prison sentence.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ One worker dead, six trapped after South Korea power plant incident

      The worker had died due to cardiac arrest, said local firefighting authorities.

    • New York Times ☛ Boiler Tower at Power Plant in South Korea Collapses

      The structure was being demolished when it collapsed. Two people were rescued, one was found in the rubble and six more were believed to still be buried.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Seven trapped after S. Korea power plant structure collapse

      The National Fire Agency said that two other people have been rescued.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea officials question feasibility of building nuclear submarine in US shipyard

      The South Korean-owned Philly Shipyard in the United States does not currently have the capability to build a nuclear-powered submarine, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Thursday during a parliamentary hearing.

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea deems building nuclear submarine at home ‘reasonable’

      Dihydroxyacetone Man had announced that South Korea would build the submarine in a Philadelphia shipyard.

    • France24 ☛ China 'focusing on solutions' to combat emissions and climate change, analyst says [Ed: Just greenwashing]

      China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases but it is also spearheading a clean energy revolution, with more solar and wind capacity than the rest of the world combined. Speaking on FRANCE 24, Chris Aylett, Research Fellow in the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House, says that China is focusing on 'rolling out the solutions and making the changes we need' and is becoming, albeit reluctantly, the leader in the fight against emissions.

    • France24 ☛ Brazil's contradictions : can COP 30 Summit host truly go green ?

      When it came to the Amazon, his predecessor was all for 'chop, baby, chop'.

    • The Straits Times ☛ China's vice premier urges end to trade barriers holding back green transition

      China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Thursday called for an end to trade barriers that are holding back the global energy transition, as he urged "true multilateralism" from fellow leaders at a global climate summit in Brazil.

    • New York Times ☛ Lula Hitches a Ride to the COP30 Climate Talks in a Chinese E.V.

      The climate-friendly ride, part of a fleet assembled to shuttle delegations to the gathering in Brazil, sent a clear signal: China is making inroads in Latin America.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Nepal searches for avalanche victims near border with China

      Crews are digging through snow, and scanning the white landscape with electronic detectors.

    • France24 ☛ COP30: Host city Belem is 'at the heart of the issues' and a gateway to the Amazon

      Brazil's port city of Belem will open its doors to 50,000 participants for the COP30 conference on climate change from November 10-21. While President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva intentionally picked the location to be “as close as possible to the heart of the issues” discussed at the climate conference, his choice came with its own set of challenges.

    • New York Times ☛ COP30 U.N. Climate Talks Are Starting in Brazil. Here’s What to Know.

      Diplomats and leaders from around the world are gathering on the edge of the Amazon rainforest for annual talks on how to limit global warming.

• Finance

  • CS Monitor ☛ Restoring shared gain in world trade

    A White House summit with Central Asian leaders might mark a step back from a year of mercantile practices led by the U.S. and China.

  • NYPost ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man touts affordability while inflation rages across America on everything from food to furniture to cars

    After nearly a year under Convicted Felon’s tariffs, Americans are paying more for everything from a cup of joe and plush living room sofas to children’s toys.

  • JURIST ☛ SCOTUS dispatch: justices signal skepticism of Convicted Felon’s emergency tariffs

    Joshua Villanueva is JURIST’s Washington, D.C. Correspondent and an LL.M. candidate in National Security and U.S. Foreign Relations Law at The George Washington University Law School. 

  • NYPost ☛ Affordability is an urgent and burning issue, Mr. President — Americans want action

    Hell Toupée campaigned on making life more affordable. ­Inflation may have been tamed to 2%-3%, which is positive, yet prices aren’t going down as he says — and probably never will.

  • France24 ☛ Unfinished infrastructure, wasted public funds: Colombia's 'white elephants' exposed

    In Colombia, an Instagram account called "White Elephant" exposes unfinished infrastructure (often referred to as “white elephants”), the waste of public funds and irregularities surrounding certain toll booths. The account visits the sites, then posts videos and files complaints to pressure officials and companies. The Observers team spoke to the individual behind this account followed by more than 300,000 people.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Federal News Network ☛ Unions sue Convicted Felon administration over ‘loyalty question’ added to federal job applications

    The lawsuit says the new essay question has appeared on over 5,800 federal job applications so far, as part of the administration's Merit Hiring Plan.

  • JURIST ☛ US federal lawsuit challenges race-based redistricting in California Proposition 50

    A coalition of California voters and the state’s Republican Party filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging the legality of Proposition 50’s congressional redistricting maps. The lawsuit argues that Proposition 50 constitutes unlawful racial gerrymandering in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong director appeals for censorship office to ‘release’ film after approval delays

    Hong Kong director Kiwi Chow has made an open appeal to the censorship office to “release” his Taiwan-produced film, citing months-long delays in the movie’s approval.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • The Straits Times ☛ Rights activists in Malaysia call for justice as High Court orders reparations for missing men

    The government was ordered to pay millions of ringgit to the families of Pastor Raymond Koh and Mr Amri Che Mat.

  • New York Times ☛ In China, Victims of Abuse Are Told to ‘Keep It in the Family’

    Cases of domestic violence in China point to a legal system that looks good on paper but is failing victims because of a lack of resources and political will.

  • Cold Harbor: Eugenics, Epstein and Big Tech

    In the recent cache of Jeffrey Epstein emails unveiled by Bloomberg, Epstein’s connections to the elites of academia illuminate his interest in transhumanism, or neo-eugenics — a philosophy that has become commonplace among Big Tech oligarchs and ruling class elites. Shaping the development of pharmaceutical products, inspiring emergency-based deregulation and dovetailing with the expansion of the biomedical surveillance state, the material implications of this belief system are consequential and widespread.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • New York Times ☛ How ‘The Office’ Memes Became the Language of the Internet

    Oh my God, OK, it’s happening! From social-media posters to the F.C.C. chair, we are all living in Michael Scott’s world.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ The People’s Oversight Hearing

    The federal agencies responsible for protecting the public interest in the technology, telecommunications, and financial sectors are drifting from their core missions. Without robust congressional oversight, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have become less accountable and less effective, leaving consumers, workers, and communities vulnerable.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Federal News Network ☛ Where the government shutdown is affecting intellectual property [Ed: They talk about patents here, not intellectual property]

    "[USPTO] could potentially run in perpetuity because it is one of the few, maybe the only profitable agency of the U.S. government," Jarom Kesler said.

  • Software Patents

    • JUVE ☛ Plasseraud bolsters patent monopoly practice with Hey Hi (AI) expert from Cabinet Netter [Ed: Marketing spam for what seems like software patents disguised as "AI"]

      Jérémie Palacci (46) built his career at Cabinet Netter, where he became partner in 2012 and later General Director. A French and European patent monopoly attorney, Palacci brings recognised technical expertise in artificial intelligence and quantum computing to the group.

    • Unified Patents ☛ IPVal entity Artax navigation patent monopoly found invalid

      On November 5, 2025, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) entered a notice of intent to issue a reexamination certificate cancelling all challenged claims (1-4) of U.S. Patent 8,169,343, owned by Artax LLC, an NPE and entity of IP Valuation Partners, LLC. The ’343 patent monopoly relates to advancements in navigational technology focusing on integrating both spatial and non-spatial information for mobile computing devices, such as laptops and smartphones.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Orders Cancellation of EDGE GAMES Registration Due to Nonuse, Rejecting Founder's Testimony

    In a rare case in which a party proved a negative, the Board granted Mobigame's petition for cancellation of a registration for the mark EDGE GAMES for computer game software, on the ground of nonuse. The Board found that the case "ultimately . . .turns on the answer to a simple question: do we believe the testimony of Dr. Timothy Langdell, the CEO of Respondent Edge Games, Inc., that Respondent used the mark EDGE GAMES on or before the date it filed the use-based application that matured into the challenged registration?" The answer was "no." Mobigame v. Edge Games, Inc., Cancellation No. 92075393 (October 30, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Thomas L. Casagrande).

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Section 314(d)’s Bar Holds: Federal Circuit Rejects Constitutional and APA Challenges to IPR Institution Denials

    Federal Circuit upholds USPTO’s broad discretion in IPR institution, rejecting mandamus challenges to the rescission of Sotera guidance.

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Mamdani’s Bob Dylan-Themed Ad Yanked After Universal Music Publishing Issues Takedown, Citing Dylan’s ‘Longstanding Policy’ of No Political Ads

    Zohran Mamdani’s Bob Dylan-themed ad was removed from X (Twitter) after Universal Music Publishing Group issued a takedown notice. New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani posted one final advertisement before his election night victory, scored by Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”

  • Digital Music News ☛ WMG-Owned 10K Projects Slapped With $4 Million Lawsuit Over Deal Gone Sour

    Elliot Grainge’s 10K Projects faces a lawsuit from Taz Taylor’s Internet Money with allegations that the company violated contractual obligations. Warner Music Group-owned 10K Projects, headed by Lucian Grainge’s son Elliot, has been sued by Taz Taylor’s Internet Money, with which 10K entered into a joint venture in 2019.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Spotify Accused of ‘Payola’ in Class Action Lawsuit Tied to Discovery Mode Recommendations

    Spotify faces a class action lawsuit alleging its Discovery Mode is just a form of “payola,” allowing record labels and artists to pay for promotions.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Lydia Harris Moves to Revive Her Death Row Lawsuit, Files Proposed Amended Complaint and ‘Proof of Service Plan’

    Lydia Harris is attempting to revive her Death Row Records lawsuit against Snoop Dogg, Suge Knight, Universal Music head Lucian Grainge, and others. But as things stand, the presiding judge is refusing to reconsider the $107 million case’s dismissal.