Leftovers

• New Yorker ☛ Alice Austen’s Larky Life

  The Victorian photographer has gained a cult following for her intimate and surprising images of women.

• Science

  • Futurism ☛ Scientists Say Huge Structures Inside Earth Are Related to the Origin of Life

    "These are not random oddities. They are fingerprints of Earth's earliest history."

  • Futurism ☛ Scientists Discover That People Act Way Better When Batman Is Present

    Social ills solved.

    >

  • Science Alert ☛ One Form of Exercise Improves Sleep The Most, Study Finds

    And it takes less than 30 minutes.

  • Science Alert ☛ Type 1 Diabetes Cured in Mice Given Experimental Hybrid Treatment

    There's huge potential here.

  • Science Alert ☛ An Amazing Thing Happens in The Brain When We See Someone Touched

    It only takes milliseconds.

  • Science Alert ☛ Rare Earth Element Crystals Found Forming in a Plant For The First Time

    An incredible discovery.

  • Science Alert ☛ Earth's Continents Are Slowly Peeling Away Below, And Here's Why

    An age-old mystery.

  • Futurism ☛ Scientists Discover Weird Structure in Outer Solar System

    A cluster of objects has astronomers puzzled.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Building An Acoustic Radiometer

    A Crookes radiometer, despite what many explanations claim, does not work because of radiation pressure. When light strikes the vanes inside the near-vacuum chamber, it heats the vanes, which then impart some extra energy to gas molecules bouncing off of them, causing the vanes to be pushed in the opposite direction. On the other hand, however, it is possible to build a radiometer that spins because of radiation pressure differences, but it’s easier to use acoustic radiation than light.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Homeland Security thinks Chinese firm's Bitcoin mining chips could be used for espionage or to sabotage the power grid — Bitmain probed by U.S. gov't over national security concerns

    The U.S. government is looking into Bitmain to see whether its products pose a risk to its national security.

  • Hackaday ☛ Baby’s First Synth Was Daddy’s First Project

    We absolutely adore inspired labor-of-love tales such as this one. [Alastair] wanted to build a synth for his daughter’s third birthday in spite of having no prior hardware knowledge. It became the perfect excuse to learn about CAD, microcontrollers, PCB design, and of course, 3D printing.

  • Hackaday ☛ DIY TENS Machine Is A Pain-Relief PCB

    Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is one of those things that sounds like it must be woo when you first hear of it. “A trickle of current that can deal with chronic pain better than the pills we’ve been using for decades? Yeah, and what chakras do you hook this doo-hickie up to?” It seems too good to be true, but in fact it’s a well-supported therapy that has become part of scientific medicine. There are no crystals needed, and you’re applying electrodes to the effected area, not your chakras. Like all medical devices, it can be expensive if you have to buy the machine out-of-pocket… but it is just a trickle of current. [Leon Hillmann] shows us its well within the range of hackability, so why not DIY?

  • Hackaday ☛ Assistive Radio Tells You What You Can’t See

    We think of radios as audio devices, but for people who are visually impaired, it can be difficult to tell which channel you are listening to at any given time. [Sncarter] has a family member with vision impairment and built a radio to help her. Unfortunately, it was difficult to replicate, so he decided to try again. The result is an FM radio that provides audible status notifications about power and frequency. Check it out in the video below.

  • Hackaday ☛ Why Do We Love Weird Old Tech?

    One of our newer writers, [Tyler August], recently wrote a love letter to plasma TV technology. Sitting between the ubiquitous LCD and the vanishing CRT, the plasma TV had its moment in the sun, but never became quite as popular as either of the other display techs, for all sorts of reasons. By all means, go read his article if you’re interested in the details. I’ll freely admit that it had me thinking that I needed a plasma TV.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Futurism ☛ CEO of Roblox Says Child Predators on the Platform Are an “Opportunity”

    Who said CEOs don't have a sense of humor?

• Proprietary

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ A 34-year-old Fashion Company Apple Mac crash bug ‘would have gone undiscovered for all eternity,’ but the accuracy of the MAME emulator shone a light on it

    A computing enthusiast unearthed a 34-year-old Fashion Company Apple Mac bug that should have crippled the system at startup, but it never did, thanks to an undocumented feature in the Motorola CPU that quietly neutralized the flaw.

  • Hackaday ☛ RavynOS: Open Source MacOS With Same BSD Pedigree

    That MacOS (formerly OS X) has BSD roots is a well-known fact, with its predecessor NeXTSTEP and its XNU kernel derived from 4.3BSD. Subsequent releases of OS X/MacOS then proceeded to happily copy more bits from 4.4BSD, FreeBSD and other BSDs.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Windows 1.01 was launched 40 years ago, but it didn't start well — Microsoft's graphical OS adventures were uncompetitive at launch

    Windows 1.01 was released by Abusive Monopolist Microsoft 40 years ago. It didn't start well.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Something Disturbing Happens When You “Learn” Something With ChatGPT

      Scare quotes intended.

    • AI-generated news sites spout viral slop from forgotten URLs

      Last year, Icelandic teacher María Hjálmtýsdóttir wrote a column for The Guardian on the country’s experiment with a 36-hour workweek. The piece offered rich personal anecdotes that only a local could provide. Readers learned, for instance, that Hjálmtýsdóttir’s husband is using some of his newfound free time to chat with his fellow hobbyist pigeon keepers.

      In the months since her Guardian piece came out, Hjálmtýsdóttir’s essay has been stripped of its color, repackaged, and republished at least a dozen times by “news outlets” that almost nobody has ever heard of.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • New York Times ☛ A Swath of Bank Customer Data Was Hacked. The F.B.I. Is Investigating.

      SitusAMC, a technology vendor for real estate lenders, holds sensitive personal information on the clients of hundreds of its banking customers, including JPMorgan Chase.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Former South Korean president Yoon indicted on allegations over cover-up of marine’s death

    11 former high-ranking officials were also indicted.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Closed-network cybercafe in North Korea gives Pyongyang locals access to Western games

    Some players visit the cybercafe almost daily, costing them US$2 (S$2.60) per hour to play games there.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan blasts China’s ‘entirely baseless’ claims after UN letter

    A sticking point is the fundamental mismatch between how both sides understand the Japan PM's remarks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Air China to significantly cut flights between Chinese and Japanese cities from Nov 30

    Sichuan Airlines has also decided to cancel all flights between Chengdu and Sapporo from Jan 1 to March 28.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Japan’s foreign ministry rebuts China’s assertion of ‘surge in crime’ against Chinese nationals in Japan

    The ministry said the number of Chinese nationals murdered stood at 15 in both 2023 and 2024.

  • France24 ☛ Mehdi Kessaci: France honors victim of shooting in Marseille

    🇫🇷The high-security tribute to Mehdi #Kessaci began in #Marseille on Saturday, drawing several hundred people along with numerous political figures from all sides, all determined to “stand together” against drug-related crime.

  • JURIST ☛ UN expert condemns Security Council Resolution on Gaza endorsing US-led peace plan

    United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2803 violates Palestine’s right to self-determination, Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese stated on Wednesday, calling it “security-first, capital-driven model of foreign control” that entrenches existing power asymmetries.

  • JURIST ☛ Canada Supreme Court allows inmates to challenge denied security transfers

    The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Friday that federal prisoners can use habeas corpus to challenge decisions denying them transfer to lower-security institutions, holding that such refusals can amount to a deprivation of liberty that courts must be able to review.

  • New York Times ☛ 20 Killed in Israeli Strikes as Israel and Hamas Trade Blame Over Truce

    Violence has repeatedly flared up in the weeks since a cease-fire was reached, killing hundreds of Palestinians and at least three Israeli soldiers.

  • France24 ☛ Israel launches strikes on Gaza in latest test to fragile ceasefire

    Israel launched on Saturday airstrikes on Gaza which killed at least 24 people and wounded dozens in the latest test of the fragile October 10 ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the strikes targeted and killed five senior Hamas members.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • New York Times ☛ The Aftermath of a Deadly Strike in Western Ukraine

      At the site of an apartment building in western Ukraine where a Russian strike killed dozens of people, the New York Times reporter Kim Barker heard reactions to a 28-point U.S. proposal to end the war.

    • New York Times ☛ G20 Leaders Push Back on Convicted Felon’s Ukraine Peace Plan

      In a joint statement, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine, which faces the prospect of losing American support if it rejects the latest proposal.

    • New York Times ☛ After Russian Strike on Apartment Buildings, Ukraine’s Hope for Survivors Fades

      Russian missiles hit apartment buildings in Ternopil this week, far from the war’s front line. Dozens of civilians, including children, were killed.

    • New York Times ☛ In Russian-Occupied Mariupol, Everything Ukrainian Must Go

      Russia is remaking Mariupol, which was devastated by a brutal siege in 2022. Ukrainians seeking to move back are finding it hard to recognize the city, or to reclaim their property.

    • CS Monitor ☛ US senators slam Convicted Felon’s Russia-Ukraine peace plan as rewarding aggression

      U.S. senators critical of President The Insurrectionist’s approach&

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine Marks Holodomor As Russia Strikes, US Peace Pressure Mounts

      Ukraine marked Holodomor Remembrance Day on November 22 as Russia launched a massive overnight attack amid rising pressure on Kyiv to accept a US-proposed peace deal to end the war.

    • RFERL ☛ Lukashenko Releases 31 Ukrainians Imprisoned In Belarus In US-Brokered Deal

      Belarusian authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko has pardoned and released 31 Ukrainian citizens who had been held in Belarus, a move Minsk said was part of an agreement reached with US President The Insurrectionist.

    • RFERL ☛ With Europe's Backing, Ukraine To Meet US Officials In Crucial Geneva Talks

      Ukrainian officials are set to meet with US counterparts in Geneva on November 23 to discuss President The Insurrectionist’s 28-point peace plan -- one that Kyiv’s allies have said is highly tilted in Russia’s favor.

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man forces Zelensky into a corner with plan to end war on Russian terms

      Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country faces a pivotal choice between standing up for its sovereign rights and preserving critical support from Washington as it faces intense pressure to agree to a US peace proposal that meets many of Russia's main war aims.

    • France24 ☛ European leaders say US plan for Ukraine 'requires additional work' ahead of Geneva talks

      Ukraine said Saturday that its officials will meet US counterparts in Switzerland to discuss Washington’s proposed peace plan. Kyiv will seek to push back against provisions that mirror some of Moscow’s toughest demands, while European leaders said the US plan "is a basis which will require additional work".

    • France24 ☛ Kyiv and its foreign allies 'are being very diplomatic'

      A Ukrainian delegation, bolstered by representatives from France, Germany and the UK, is preparing for direct talks with Washington in Switzerland on Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been "holding phone conversations with all of the other foreign allies of Ukraine," said FRANCE 24's correspondent in Kyiv Gulliver Cragg. "They have worked out a strategy of not making any [. . .] 'loud statements' [. . .] they are being very diplomatic," added Cragg.

    • NYPost ☛ Marco Rubio told US senators that Ukraine peace plan was not America’s — but a ‘leaked’ Russian ‘wish list’

      "It is not our peace plan."

    • European Commission ☛ Leaders' statement on Ukraine

• Environment

  • European Commission ☛ EU secures an agreement on a global response to keep the 1.5C limit within reach

  • New York Times ☛ Stopping the Greatest Threat to the Amazon, One Fire at a Time

    After four decades of research, a scientist returns to the Amazon in an effort to change the behavior that has led to years of environmental crisis.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Futurism ☛ Crypto Company Creates Bizarre Drug

      You haven't seen anything like this.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Australia’s airlines to ban use and charging of power banks on flights

      The ban applies to all international and domestic flights operated by these airlines.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • New York Times ☛ Lemurs in Madagascar Face an Unexpected Killer

      Thousands of the endangered primates end up on the dinner plates of people in the upper rung of the country’s society who have money to spare.

    • The Straits Times ☛ PM Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks cloud prospects for new pandas in Japan

      The two pandas are due to return to China in February.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Johor to implement RM3 hotel tax for overnight visitors from 2026

    The move mirrors other Malaysian states that have implemented tourist-related taxes.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Seoul mulls over raising retirement age amid demographic crisis

    Labour groups support the move, saying it will help to ease elderly poverty, but business groups warn that younger workers will suffer.

  • The Straits Times ☛ A harsh winter for gold sellers in China’s largest jewellery market

    Business is slow at jewellery wholesale market Shuibei amid soaring gold prices and a lacklustre economy.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Japan businesses brush off worries over China tourists

    By Mathias Cena and Kyoko Hasegawa, with Jing Xuan Teng in Shanghai Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewellery shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Mexico’s week in review: Sheinbaum weathers the storm

    A week that began with Mexico's sovereignty under siege ended with security wins, record investment and a Miss Universe crown.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Why my early hope in Sheinbaum’s Mexico has wilted

    María Melendez explains why she had hope in a Mexico under Claudia Sheinbaum and how that hope is fading amid Sheinbaum's polarizing reactions to citizen outcry for security and justice.