Leftovers

• Hackaday ☛ 3D Printed Mail Is A Modern Solution To An Ancient Problem

  The human body and sharp objects don’t get along very well, especially when they are being wielded with ill-intent. Since antiquity there have been various forms of armor designed to protect the wearer, but thankfully these days random sword fights don’t often break out on the street. Still, [SCREEN TESTED] wanted to test the viability of 3D printed chain mail — if not for actual combat, at least for re-enactment purposes.

• Hackaday ☛ Cheap Multimeter Gets Webified

  [Mellow Labs] wanted to grab a multimeter that could do Bluetooth. Those are cheap and plentiful, but the Bluetooth software was, unsurprisingly, somewhat lacking. A teardown shows a stock Bluetooth module. A quick search found a GitHub with software. But then he had a fiendish idea: could you replace the Bluetooth module with an ESP32 and use WiFi instead of Bluetooth?

• Standards/Consortia

  • Hackaday ☛ Radio Apocalypse: Survivable Low-Frequency Communication System

    In the global game of nuclear brinksmanship, secrets are the coin of the realm. This was especially true during the Cold War, when each side fielded armies of spies to ferret out what the other guy was up to, what their capabilities were, and how they planned to put them into action should the time come. Vast amounts of blood and treasure were expended, and as distasteful as the whole thing may be, at least it kept armageddon at bay.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ How to Capture the Northern Lights With Just Your Smartphone

    Modern cellphone cameras make it easy to capture the famously fickle Aurora Borealis.

  • Science Alert ☛ Your IQ May Affect How Well You Can Hear Speech, Study Shows

    It isn't always down to hearing loss.

  • Science Alert ☛ 3 Giant Solar Outbursts Explode Towards Earth, Prompting Aurora Forecast Across US

    A ‘Cannibal’ CME stack, and the most powerful flare yet of 2025.

  • Science Alert ☛ Constant Rain of Tiny Meteoroids Poses 'Silent Threat' to Future Moon Base

    Don't let their itty-bitty size fool you.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Are Hacking Bacteria to Fight Cancer, Then Self-Destruct

    "Bugs as drugs."

  • Science Alert ☛ Brain Scans Reveal Surprising 'Tipping Point' Minutes Before We Fall Asleep

    It can predict almost exactly when you will nod off.

  • Science Alert ☛ World's Top Infectious Killer Claimed 1.23 Million Lives Last Year, WHO Says

    There is hope.

  • Science Alert ☛ Astronomical First: Storm Seen Erupting on Another Sun, And It's a Monster

    Pity any planets standing in its way.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Venting Doesn't Reduce Anger, But Something Else Does, Study Discovers

    Blowing off steam may do more harm than good.

  • Latvia ☛ Food inflation in Latvia higher than other EU countries, economists say

    There are some problems in the Latvian food market, as the prices of food products in Latvia have been rising faster than in the rest of the European Union (EU) over the past few years, Uldis Rutkaste, Head of the Monetary Policy Department of the Latvian Central Bank, said in an interview on the Latvian Radio programme "Krustpunktā" on 12 November.

  • Science Alert ☛ A Saliva Test Could Quickly Reveal Your Hidden Risk of Heart Failure

    The sooner the better.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Michigan defends new pot tax, arguing it doesn’t alter voter-approved law

    Attorneys for the Whitmer administration say marijuana industry lawsuits over a new 24% wholesale tax should be tossed.

• Proprietary

  • Qt ☛ Qt License Server 3.6 - Flexibility for License Management [Ed: Proprietary junk]

    Qt License Server is centralized solution for managing license verification and reservations across all Qt Group products. It authenticates users, validates product licenses, manages license reservations and provides detailed usage reporting and statistics.
    
    

  • PC Gamer ☛ For the third time this year, Crystal Dynamics is making layoffs: Nearly 30 people are being put out of work 'to optimize the continued development of our flagship Tomb Raider game'

    For the third time this year, Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics has laid off employees: The company announced today that it's making a "difficult but necessary" reorganization of its studios and team, and that as a result nearly 30 people will be put out of work.

    The cuts will be made "across various departments and projects," Crystal Dynamics said on LinkedIn, "as we restructure the company and business for our next generation."

  • Ubuntu Handbook ☛ .NET 10 Released as New Long Term Support (LTS) [Ed: It's very disappointing to see Ji M promoting this Microsoft trap]

    Microsoft announced .NET 10, the free open-source cross-platform developer platform, a day ago! The new .NET 10 is a Long Term Support (LTS) release that features three years support until November 10, 2028.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • New York Times ☛ Who Pays When Hey Hi (AI) Is Wrong?

      New court cases seek to define content created by artificial intelligence as defamatory — a novel concept that has captivated some legal experts.

    • New Yorker ☛ That New Hit Song on Spotify? It Was Made by A.I.

      Aspiring musicians are churning out tracks using generative artificial intelligence. Some are topping the charts.

    • TechnologyAdvice ☛ AI Pioneer Yann LeCun Shocks Meta With Exit Plan

      Meta’s chief Hey Hi (AI) scientist — one of the most influential figures in the field — is set to leave the company to start his own venture.

    • Futurism ☛ AI Is Failing at the Most Hilarious Task Imaginable

      And it's failing by a lot.

    • Futurism ☛ Billboard’s Top Country Song Is Currently Hey Hi (AI) Slop

      It's turning into a huge problem.

    • Press Gazette ☛ Google promises Discover ‘fix’ as more fake Hey Hi (AI) stories top rankings

      Google has promised it is working on a “fix” for spam sites in its Discover app after more fake news stories topped the rankings in the UK last week.

• Linux Foundation

  • It's FOSS ☛ IBM Joins OpenSearch Software Foundation to Advance AI-Powered Search and RAG

    The OpenSearch Software Foundation is a vendor-neutral organization under the Linux Foundation that hosts the OpenSearch Project. It recently appointed a new Executive Director, and the project itself has already seen over 1 billion software downloads since launch.

    If you didn't know, OpenSearch focuses on search, analytics, observability, and vector database capabilities.

  • Ledger Insights ☛ Paladin privacy framework graduates as Bank of Korea joins LF Decentralized Trust

    Two critical developments are shaping institutional tokenization. One is this year’s leap forward in the adoption of digital money, both stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The other is persuading regulators to get comfortable with institutional usage of permissionless blockchains. Both of these topics featured in the latest news from the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust (LFDT, formerly Hyperledger).

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • WhichUK ☛ Leaked Meta documents predicted 10% of its revenue came from scam ads in 2024

      The social control media giant projected earnings of $16bn from scam and banned adverts on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp

    • Scoop News Group ☛ Google files lawsuit against Lighthouse ‘phishing for dummies’ text scammers

      The suspected Chinese schemers behind it enable those constant fake E-Z Pass and U.S. Postal Service smishing messages.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Google sues Chinese hacker group it says stole $1 billion from a million victims in 121 countries — 'Lighthouse' platform offers phishing services to crooks for a monthly fee

      The Lighthouse Enterprise is a group of Chinese hackers that offers a complete service to scammers, from phishing websites all the way to sending millions of spam messages.

• Defence/Aggression

  • JURIST ☛ Venezuelans deported to El Salvador were tortured, rights groups say

    Venezuelan nationals deported to El Salvador in the spring by the US government were tortured and ill-treated, advocacy groups reported Wednesday.

  • New York Times ☛ Former Syrian Security Official Indicted in Austria

    Prosecutors say a Syrian security official accused of torture hid in plain sight in Europe for years, protected by Israeli and Austrian intelligence agents.

  • New York Times ☛ Gustavo Petro, the Rebel Turned President Willing to Take on Convicted Felon

    From his guerrilla roots, Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, has long embraced a confrontational style. Now, he has incurred Hell Toupée’s wrath and is facing political fallout at home.

  • Futurism ☛ Robotics Company Explains Why Its Terminator-Style Robot Features Prominent Bazongas

    "These things are mega creepy."

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia and Indonesia announce new security treaty

    The treaty commits the neighbours to consult each other if either country is threatened.

  • JURIST ☛ UN officials warn that illegal firearms are deepening insecurity worldwide

    The deputy disarmament chief at the UN, Adedeji Ebo, issued a warning on Monday to the Security  Council on the escalating violence across the world that has been attributed to the cross-border exchange of small arms and light weapons, in conflicts ranging from Haiti to Africa’s Sahel region.

  • CS Monitor ☛ A grassroots initiative opens digital pathways for nomadic Kashmiri children

    Since mid-2024, urban young people across India have been connecting tribal Bakarwal kids to training in digital animation, coding, and web design.

  • The Straits Times ☛ At least 1 dead as Cambodia, Thailand trade accusations over fresh border clashes

    Photos of the clashes were shared by Cambodia’s Information Ministry, but AFP could not verify their provenance.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Pakistan tightens Islamabad security after suicide blast

    The district court remained closed on Nov 12, while security was stepped up at other court buildings.

  • New York Times ☛ Rubio Shrugs Off Allies’ Concerns Over U.S. Drug Strikes

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio said no one raised the Caribbean military operation in closed-door meetings at a G7 summit. But ministers from France and the European Union publicly called them unlawful.

  • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man's rhetoric against Venezuela 'cloaks a regime-change programme', expert says

    A US aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the Latin America region on Tuesday, escalating a military buildup that Venezuela has warned could trigger a full-blown conflict. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney, Brian Finucane, Senior Adviser for the US Programme at the International Crisis Group, says that the Convicted Felon administration is using 'a rhetoric of counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics to cloak a regime-change programme'.

  • France24 ☛ Is US 'dramatic show of force' designed to scare military into removing Maduro, send him into exile?

    A US aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in Latin America, escalating a military buildup Venezuela has warned could trigger a full-blown conflict as it announced its own "massive" deployment. The USS Gerald R. Ford's deployment was ordered nearly three weeks ago with the stated goal of helping to counter drug trafficking in the region. For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, Angela Diffley welcomes Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House. Mr. Sabatini warns that the Convicted Felon administration is seeking to dislodge Maduro from power." He insists that Venezuela does not even produce fentanyl and "there's no reason why the US would be so concerned with drug traffickers leaving Venezuela."

• Transparency/Investigative Reporting

  • American Oversight ☛ American Oversight Reaches Settlement in Lawsuit Against Georgia State Election Board

    It’s a victory for accountability heading into 2026 as board members intensify their conspiratorial push of anti-voter policies. Our suit led to new safeguards requiring board members to properly preserve public records of official actions.

• Environment

  • New Yorker ☛ Battling the Sea on the Outer Banks

    Daniel Pullen offers beautifully composed and striking images of the destruction that climate change has brought to his lifelong home.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Strategist ☛ Even out of China’s hands, mines still rely on its equipment

      The landmark critical minerals agreement between Australia and the United States is vital to both nations’ security and sovereignty.

• Finance

  • JURIST ☛ France votes to suspend pension reform law

    France’s National Assembly on Wednesday voted to suspend a contentious pension reform law until after the 2027 presidential election. Wednesday’s vote, included as part of the vote on the amendment to France’s 2026 social security budget, passed by a margin of 255 to 146 with 104 abstentions.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Sheinbaum celebrates record formal sector employment: Wednesday’s mañanera recapped

    World Cup-related tourism, job creation and the government's security strategy were among the topics President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about at her Wednesday morning press conference.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Yes, tech stocks have taken a hit. But the real danger lies elsewhere.

    Tech stocks’ sharp selloff has grabbed headlines, but the real risk may be in tightening US dollar funding. As the Fed drains liquidity and repo rates surge above policy benchmarks, hedge funds and foreign banks—holding trillions in dollar assets—face rising pressure. The danger isn’t just market volatility, but whether global finance can withstand a squeeze in the world’s core funding system.

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ So long, pennies! US stops making cents. Michigan customers feel the pinch

    From rounding to the nearest nickel to bonuses at banks, the penny shortage is hitting home in Michigan.

  • France24 ☛ House passes bill to end record-breaking 43-day US government shutdown

    The House on Wednesday approved a bill to end the nation’s longest-ever government shutdown, clearing the measure for President The Insurrectionist’s signature after a 43-day funding lapse that left federal workers unpaid, travelers stranded and families relying on food banks to get by.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Stanford University ☛ Levin and Rice discuss challenges for universities in ‘era of misinformation’

      University president Jon Levin ’94, Hoover Institute director Condoleezza Rice and student leaders discussed campus political climate, free speech and the definition of diversity.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Public Knowledge ☛ How Fragmenting Media Can Carve a Path toward a New Journalism

    The crisis facing journalism does not have to spell disaster; it can mark a turning point in its transformation instead.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong broadcasters give way to gov’t-organised election forums – reports

    Hong Kong’s three major television broadcasters have reportedly called off plans to hold election forums for the “patriots only” legislative race in December, giving way to those organised by the government.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • New York Times ☛ Algeria Pardons Writer Boualem Sansal at Germany’s Request

    Boualem Sansal, an Algerian-French writer, was arrested on accusations of undermining national security during a visit to his homeland a year ago and sentenced to five years in prison.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • JUVE ☛ Ones to watch Germany 2025: Lara Gwinner [Ed: Spam or marketing placement disguised as news; JUVE is still at it...]

    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 Lara Gwinner as one of the current ‘Ones to Watch Germany’. Lara Gwinner loved analysing data on the computer and focusing on writing her doctoral thesis.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ An Era of No: The USPTO’s New 0% Institution Rate

    USPTO Director John Squires has denied every IPR since taking control, issuing no-opinion orders that test the limits of transparency and accountability.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Is TRIFOX for Bicycle Forks Confusable With FOX for Bicycle Shock Absorbers?

    Fox Factory petitioned for cancellation of a registration for the mark TRIFOX for “bicycles; bicycle frames; bicycle handlebars; bicycle parts, namely, forks; bicycle parts, namely, handle bar stems; bicycle saddles; bicycle seat posts; bicycle water bottle cages; bicycle wheels,” claiming likely confusion with its registered mark FOX, in standard and logo form, for bicycle shock absorbers and other bicycle parts. How do you think this came out? Fox Factory, Inc. v. Dong Yongqiang, Cancellation No. 92081730 (November 6, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Thomas W. Wellington).

• Copyrights

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Last Order Dates for the Holiday Season - 2025

    The recommended cut-off dates to order from our shop by to ensure delivery in time for Dec 25th.

  • Public Domain Review ☛ Roma Lister, Aradia, and the Speculative Origins of a Witchcraft Revival

    In 1899, Charles Godfrey Leland published Aradia, “the gospel of the witches”, containing a goddess-orientated creation and saviour narrative, purported to descend from an ancient, hermetic tradition of witchcraft in Italy. A. D. Manns explores this text via an enchanting conjecture: that the writer, medium, and witch Roma Lister played a pivotal role in the formation of both Aradia and, therefore, a new form of paganism called Wicca.