Leftovers

• Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-12-26 [Older] The global rise of Chinese dramas: Why millions are hooked

• Science Alert ☛ How Feasible Is Asteroid Mining? A New Study Investigates

  Better out there than down here.

• Games

  • Wouter Groeneveld ☛ 2025 In Board Games

    This post is the board game counterpart of the previous 2025 In Video Games end of year note. There hasn’t been a Board Game Shelf Analysis post in 2025 for some reason so I can’t point you to recent photos of my collection. Because of two very young kids our board game time has been reduced to almost nothing, but nonetheless, I/we’ve managed to squeeze in about 150 plays. That’s even better than last year!

    Here’s a collage of all board games I played in 2025 along with the amount of plays on the bottom right of each cover, ranked from most played to least: [...]

  • Gabriel ☛ A game I am playing: BotW

    I, like many of you, picked up this game along with the console. I still remember walking, randomly, into the local Best Buy, unemployed at the time, I might add, and with my severance monies, very unwise, purchased a Nintendo Switch gaming console and BotW.

  • Dan Q ☛ D&D 5e is not for everyone

    I listed a good few options above, but also, I’d encourage you to take a gander at a few of the following games, most if not all of which I will write full reviews for eventually: [...]

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Horror of Life on Roman Frontier Revealed in Gut-Wrenching Study

    Foot-long parasites anybody?

  • Science Alert ☛ Tattoos Affect Your Immune System in Ways We're Only Beginning to Understand

    What's in your ink?

  • Science Alert ☛ Blocking One Protein Slows Cancer Growth in Mice, Scientists Discover

    "Could make current immunotherapies more effective."

  • Science Alert ☛ This Week in Science: Reversing Alzheimer's, Solving a Tapestry Mystery, And More!

    Our weekly science news roundup.

  • Futurism ☛ The Large Hadron Collider Is Being Shut Down

    It's time to wind down.

  • New York Times ☛ The Year in Neanderthal Discoveries

    They drew with crayons, possibly fed on maggots and maybe even kissed us: Forty millenniums later, our ancient human cousins continued to make news.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Pickle Diodes, Asymmetric Jacobs Ladders, And Other AC Surprises

    While we’re 100 years past Edison’s fear, uncertainty, and doubt campaign, the fact of the matter is that DC is a bit easier to wrap one’s head around. It’s just so honest in its directness. AC, though? It can be a little shifty, and that results in some unexpected behaviors, as seen in this video from [The Action Lab].

  • Security Week ☛ Hell Toupée Orders Divestment in $2.9 Million Chips Deal to Protect US Security Interests

    The deal involved aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp. selling its computer chips and wafer fabrication operation.

  • Hackaday ☛ Apollo Lunar Module Thrust Meter Lives Again

    [Mike Stewart] powers up a thrust meter from an Apollo lunar module. This bit of kit passed inspection on September 25, 1969. Fortunately [Mike] was able to dig up some old documentation which included the pin numbers. Score! It’s fun to see the various revisions this humble meter went through. Some of the latest revisions are there to address an issue where there was no indication upon failure, so they wired in a relay which could flip a lamp indicator if the device lost power.

  • Hackaday ☛ Quote Printer Keeps Receipts

    In the world of social media, “keeping receipts” refers to the practice of storing evidence that may come in handy for a callout post at a later date. For [Teddy Warner], though, it’s more applicable to a little printer he whipped up to record the very best banter from his cadre of friends.

  • Hackaday ☛ Are We Ready For AR Smart Glasses Yet?

    In a recent article from IEEE Spectrum, [Alfred Poor] asks the question what do consumers really want in smart glasses? And are you finally ready to hang a computer screen on your face?

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Plasma-powered solid-state laptop cooler to debut at CES — new cooler design uses ionized gas and electrical discharge to generate airflow

    YPlasma has developed a new solid-state cooling solution that uses corona discharge to generate airflow without any moving parts. The new cooler will be on display at CES 2026 and will be presented with a live demo.

  • Hackaday ☛ The Setun Was A Ternary Computer From The USSR In 1958

    [Codeolences] tells us about the FORBIDDEN Soviet Computer That Defied Binary Logic. The Setun, the world’s first ternary computer, was developed at Moscow State University in 1958. Its troubled and short-lived history is covered in the video. The machine itself uses “trits” (ternary digits) instead of “bits” (binary digits).

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Carrying small trash bags, rubbish in pockets: How Malaysians adapt to stricter littering rules

    Community service punishment came into force in Malaysia nationwide on Jan 1.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • LLMs cannot lie

      Large Language Models apologize often when called out.

      Sometimes they even claim to be sincere.

      They're not lying.

      But they aren't being sincere either.

      They can't.

      They can't feel regret, they can't feel sorry, they have no understanding of what they did wrong.

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • Mexico News Daily ☛ How to stop extortion in Mexico

      Extortion is a terrible crime. But it, like bribery, is so ingrained in Mexico that it's hard to imagine new laws being able to curb its use. But new strategies are being proposed to do just that.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Rlang ☛ Running Around: an R package to analyse Garmin running data

      In my previous post, I shared my annual running stats which were generated in R using summary data from Garmin Connect. The code I use to generate these summaries was beginning to get a bit unwieldy, so I have now rebased it into a package.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea fires ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast

    The last time Pyongyang tested its ballistic missile was in November.

  • France24 ☛ Iran blasts Convicted Felon's intervention threat

    Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeed Iravani, has urged the UN secretary-general and the president of the Security Council to condemn what he calls “unlawful threats” from U.S. President The Insurrectionist, following his statement that the U.S. was “locked and loaded and ready to go” if more protesters were killed amid ongoing demonstrations in Iran over the rising cost of living. Assistant Professor of Middle East Politics in Washington DC, Sina Azodi, explains further.

  • New York Times ☛ What to Know About the Protests in Iran

    Galloping inflation and a currency crisis have provoked demonstrations across the country.

  • RFERL ☛ Iran Pushes Back At Convicted Felon As Protests Over Economic Crisis Intensify

    Deadly protests over Iran’s deepening economic crisis near their second week, triggering a fierce war of words between Tehran and Washington.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India security forces kill 14 Maoist rebels in clashes: Police

    More than 10,000 people have died in the decades-long rebellion waged by Naxalite rebels in central India.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-12-26 [Older] US strikes 'terrorist targets' in Nigeria

  • France24 ☛ Venezuela: US ready ‘to run’ the country, ‘Maduro captured’

    The overnight attacks on January 2 follow recent US military operations that, according to Washington, targeted 35 alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean.

    Those strikes brought the total number of people killed to at least 115, according to figures released by the Convicted Felon administration.

    After the overnight strikes, Venezuela declared a state of emergency, reporting a significant escalation in the US administration’s pressure campaign against President Nicolas Maduro.

  • RFERL ☛ Maduro Arrives In NY After Capture, As US Foes, Allies Express Concerns

    Venezuela ruler was seized in a large-scale US military strike. Russia and Iran condemned the action and some of Washington's allies expressed caution, although some did hail the move.

  • RFERL ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Says US Captures Maduro During Strikes That Moscow, Others Denounce

    US President The Insurrectionist announced that Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro has been captured and flown out of the country after the United States carried out a large-scale strike that has been sharply condemned by Iran, Russia, and other allies of the South American nation.

  • France24 ☛ Venezuela: What's next for Nicolas Maduro?

    US President The Insurrectionist on Saturday posted a photo of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro handcuffed and blindfolded on Truth Social, hours after he was captured, along with his wife, by US forces in Caracas. What's next for Venezuelan leader? Caroline Baum takes a closer look.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Shares Photo of Captured Nicolás Maduro, Blindfolded and Handcuffed

    The Venezuelan president and his wife were flown out of Caracas by helicopter to the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, a warship taking them to New York.

  • France24 ☛ US launch strikes on Venezuela, captures President Maduro

    The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said its president, Nicolas Maduro, had been captured and flown out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington – an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President The Insurrectionist on social control media hours after the attack.

  • France24 ☛ Venezuela: A sign of relief, but country's future remains uncertain

    US President The Insurrectionist said on Saturday he was looking at whether Venezuela's opposition leader Maria Corina Machado might lead the country after President Nicolas Maduro was captured and flown out of the country. Maduro has been slammed with terrorism and drug charges by the US after a "large-scale strike" rocked Caracas with explosions and aircraft-like sounds. Venezuelan writer, Author of "I killed Simon Bolivar", Vicente Ulive, shares his insights.

  • France24 ☛ Mexico condemns US strikes on Venezuela

    President Claudia Sheinbaum made reference to Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations by sharing Mexico's position on social control media, rejecting the United States' aggression against Venezuela. France24 correspondent, author and journalist Ioan Grillo tells us the latest from Mexico City.

  • France24 ☛ The Insurrectionist says Maduro and his wife aboard a US warship

    ttorney General Pam Bondi said Saturday that Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro has been charged with drug trafficking and “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.” The announcement came after President The Insurrectionist said the U.S. carried out “a large-scale strike” in Venezuela and had captured and flown the pair out of the country. France24 International Affairs Editor Kethevane Gorjestani tells us more.

  • France24 ☛ US strikes Venezuela and captures Maduro and his wife

    President The Insurrectionist said that US forces had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a "large-scale strike" on the South American country.

    "The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country," Convicted Felon said on Truth Social.

  • France24 ☛ FRANCE 24 speaks to Venezuelans after Maduro 'captured' by US

    FRANCE 24 Reporter Claire Paccalin has been speaking with Venezuelans in Caracas about the atmosphere in the capital following US strikes and the "capture" of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

  • France24 ☛ US announces terrorism, drug charges against Venezuela's Maduro

    The United States on Saturday announced terrorism and drugs charges against Venezulean President Nicolas Maduro, just hours after saying he had been captured and flown out of the country. The Venezuelan government demanded "immediate proof of life" of Maduro and his wife after a US "large-scale strike" rocked Caracas with explosions and aircraft-like sounds. For more analysis, Washington Bureau Chief for The Guardian and journalist Noris Argotte Soto, explain.

  • France24 ☛ Venezuelan leader Maduro and wife indicted in New York on drug, terrorism charges

    The United States on Saturday announced terrorism and drugs charges against Venezulean President Nicolas Maduro, just hours after saying he had been captured and flown out of the country. The Venezuelan government demanded "immediate proof of life" of Maduro and his wife after a US "large-scale strike" rocked Caracas with explosions and aircraft-like sounds. Washington Bureau Chief at The Guardian, David Smith, together with France24 journalist Shirli Sitbon, share their insights.

  • JURIST ☛ US attacks Venezuela, captures President Maduro

    US President The Insurrectionist’s administration claimed that it conducted a “large-scale strike” in Venezuela early Saturday morning.  The attack included the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, who are reportedly being transported to face criminal charges in the US.

  • New York Times ☛ Venezuela Live Updates: Maduro Arrives in N.Y.; Convicted Felon Says U.S. Will ‘Run’ Venezuela

    President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela arrived late Saturday in Brooklyn, where he will be held on drugs and weapons charges. The country’s interim leader demanded his return.

  • New York Times ☛ How Democrats Are Hitting Convicted Felon Over Nicolás Maduro’s Ouster

    Some of the nation’s most influential Democrats condemned the move as unjustified and argued that the president was trying to distract from his domestic challenges.

  • New York Times ☛ Zohran Mamdani Called Hell Toupée to Criticize Venezuela Strikes

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York accused Hell Toupée of violating international law. It was the first time he had criticized the president since their White House meeting.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man says US will now ‘run’ Venezuela, serving a warning to other world leaders

    The Forrest Dump administration’s ouster of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro deposes an unpopular world leader. It also raises important legal and geopolitical questions for the Western Hemisphere.

  • New York Times ☛ In Wake of U.S. Strike, Venezuelan Paramilitaries Are Little Seen

    As the armed civilian groups often used to suppress protests kept a low profile, the role they might play in the country’s new situation remained unclear.

  • New York Times ☛ Venezuelan Official Says at Least 40 People Were Killed in U.S. Attack

    The official said the dead included civilians and military personnel. At least one of the civilians was killed in a U.S. airstrike outside of Caracas, according to her family.

  • New York Times ☛ Venezuela broadcasts messages of resistance from Maduro loyalists after the U.S. attack.

  • New York Times ☛ Maduro’s Inner Circle Appears to Survive U.S. Strikes on Venezuela

    Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, next in the line of succession, and other top Venezuelan officials issued defiant pronouncements after Mr. Maduro’s capture.

  • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man administration declines to back Venezuela’s opposition leader.

  • New York Times ☛ Airlines Are Canceling Flights After U.S. Closes Airspace Over the Caribbean

    The Federal Aviation Administration cited “safety-of-flight risks” in restricting the U.S.-controlled airspace as a result of the military operation in Venezuela.

  • JURIST ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man pulls National Guard out of Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland after court ruling

    US President The Insurrectionist announced on Wednesday that he is “removing” National Guard troops from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland after a major Supreme Court setback that sharply narrowed his authority to federalize state guard units for domestic law-enforcement missions.

  • New York Times ☛ Americans turn out for protests in Chicago and Washington.

    Opponents of the U.S. intervention in Venezuela called it illegal and warned of a widening war. Supporters celebrated an authoritarian president’s fall.

  • JURIST ☛ US appeals court strikes down California’s urban open-carry ban

    A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Friday ruled that California’s restrictions on openly carrying firearms in the state’s more populous counties violate the Second Amendment, as incorporated against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

  • JURIST ☛ China launches ‘Justice Mission’ drills after condemning US over $11.1b arms sale to Taiwan

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi condemned on Tuesday the $11.1 billion US arms sale to Taiwan, characterizing the deal as a violation of the “One China” principle and a controversial signal to “separatist forces.” 

  • New York Times ☛ An ‘Avoidable Tragedy’: The Hazards That Led to the Swiss Fire Disaster

    The fire that killed at least 40 people in a Swiss bar on New Year’s Day was made more likely by apparent flaws in the site’s design and management, experts say.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • NYPost ☛ Zelensky calls for US to take down Putin following capture of Venezuela dictator Nicolás Maduro

      Zelensky didn't hold back when pressed about the US toppling Maduro's regime after Hell Toupée ordered airstrikes on military sites around the Venezuelan capital of Caracas early Saturday morning.

    • RFERL ☛ Ahead Of Big Week, Zelenskyy Vows Ukraine Will Fight On If Peace Talks Fail

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that if a diplomatic end to the war cannot be struck during the current peace talks, his country would continue to defend itself against Russia's full-scale invasion.

    • LRT ☛ 'I have no idea what's going on'. Stories of released Belarusian prisoners in Lithuania

      Some of the political prisoners released in Belarus on December 13 and forcibly taken to Ukraine have arrived in Lithuania. In total, 20 people arrived in Vilnius last week after being freed from prison in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilisers.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Hosts Security Talks As Russia Presses Drone Attacks Across Ukraine

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is hosting high-stakes security talks in Kyiv on January 3 with Western allies, as Russia intensifies its drone strikes.

    • New York Times ☛ Why Security Guarantees Are So Crucial, and Thorny, for Ukraine

      While Kyiv has reported progress in negotiations, and is accelerating talks in the coming days, major questions remain unresolved about which countries will provide what kind of security for how long.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • Hackaday ☛ Teardown Of Boeing 777 Cabin Pressure Control System

      Modern passenger airliners are essentially tubes-with-wings, they just happen to be tubes that are stuffed full with fancy electronics. Some of the most important of these are related to keeping the bits of the tube with humans inside it at temperatures and pressures that keeps them alive and happy. Case in point the Boeing 777, of which [Michel] of Le Labo de Michel on YouTube recently obtained the Cabin Pressure Control System (CPCS) for a teardown.

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Young South Koreans warming to marriage again, survey shows

      A local matchmaking firm said the number of marriages they arranged hit a record high in 2024.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘More hassle than fun’: Philippines struggles to draw tourists as it lags regional peers in arrivals

    The country is welcoming fewer visitors amid S-E Asia's post-pandemic recovery.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Irish PM Martin to visit China as Beijing shores up EU ties

    BEIJING, Jan 3 - Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin will visit China from Sunday, the Asian nation's foreign ministry said, the first such trip by an Irish Taoiseach since 2012 as Beijing shores up ties with individual members of the European Union bloc.

  • Deutsche Welle ☛ 2025-12-26 [Older] Malaysia: Ex-PM Najib sentenced to 15 years on new charges

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • France24 ☛ Maduro's 'tiger' with designer fashion tastes: Who is Venezuela's VP Delcy Rodriguez?

    Hours after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured in an audacious US raid, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez insisted he remains the Latin American country’s only leader. In a televised speech, Rodriguez, who is also finance and oil minister, called for calm. Rodriguez denounced Maduro's kidnapping and vowed to defend Venezuela's resources.

  • France24 ☛ Venezuelan VP Rodriguez’s speech contradicts Convicted Felon’s claims

    Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Saturday claimed that Nicolas Maduro is Venezuela's "only president", denouncing the US operation that resulted in his capture as a flagrant violation of the United Nations charter. Rodriguez's speech contradicted remarks made by The Insurrectionist who claimed that Rodriguez was willing to cooperate with Washington, FRANCE 24's correspondent Noris Argotte Soto said, reporting from Caracas.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s PM Anwar could face troubles with rekindling of UMNO-PAS romance

    Growing unhappiness in both the government and opposition could shake up the ruling coalition or lead to snap polls.

  • The Straits Times ☛ 7 Malaysian siblings finally get citizenship after relative’s DNA confirms family ties

    Their DNA test results were finalised in June 2025.

  • The Straits Times ☛ India unveils Buddha gems after century abroad

    One of the caskets unearthed with the treasure confirmed the contents as “relics of the Buddha”.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Supreme Court’s January 2026 IP Docket: Hikma Leads a Small but Significant Field

    The Supreme Court has not granted cert in any patent monopoly case this term. Four remain pending, with Hikma's Hatch-Waxman case the strongest candidate.