Leftovers

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ A Glowing Bar of Iron Is Haunting The Ring Nebula – And No One Knows Why

    A giant mystery right at its core.

  • Science Alert ☛ Viruses Play a Critical Role in The Ocean's Food Web, Study Finds

    Don't let their size fool you.

  • Science Alert ☛ Starfish Control Hundreds of Feet Without a Brain. Here's How.

    These tubes are made for walkin'.

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Identify Brain Waves That Define The Limits of 'You'

    Where to draw the line?

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Lost City' Deep Beneath The Ocean Is Unlike Anything Seen Before on Earth

    Now that we've found it, we can't afford to lose it.

  • Science Alert ☛ Hot, Black Ice Might Be Responsible For Neptune's Wild Magnetism

    Water is weird.

• Hardware

  • The Straits Times ☛ When the chips are down: US threat of 100% semiconductor tariffs rattles South Korea

    The semiconductor industry is the backbone of South Korea’s export-driven growth, making up 20% of total exports.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ El Jalapeño: 1 in 5 tacos sold in Mexico now made in China

    In news that would shock the nation if it was real, 20% of Mexico tacos are now imported from China. At least they're priced competitively.

• Proprietary

  • compromising encryption keys

    You think you're preserving the privacy of your data by using cryptography?

    Think again, or your data sovereignty will be at risk.

    Cryptography can indeed keep your private data safe, but only if you guard the keys privately and safely.

    Microsoft's practice of uploading your keys to its own servers is the opposite of that.

    That malpractice just makes it easier for Abusive Monopolist Microsoft to comply with orders from terrorist governments that don't respect human rights.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Asset Manager Warns That Proprietary Chaffbot Company Is Likely Headed for Financial Disaster

      "I've watched companies implode for decades. This one has all the warning signs."

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Salesfarce tries to keep a lid on ‘agentic sprawl’ through MuleSoft Agent Fabric

      Salesfarce Inc. is attempting to tackle the growing challenge of artificial intelligence “agent sprawl” through the latest expansion of MuleSoft Agent Fabric, aiming to rein in the unchecked proliferation of autonomous systems operating across enterprises with limited oversight.

    • Futurism ☛ Job Seekers Sue Company Scanning Their Résumés Using AI

      "I think I deserve to know what’s being collected about me and shared with employers."

    • Futurism ☛ OnlyFans Rival Seemingly Succumbs to Hey Hi (AI) Psychosis, Which We Dare You to Try Explain to Your Parents

      Bizarre and kind of sad.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ ChatGPT found to be sourcing data from AI-generated content — popular LLM uses content from Grokipedia as source for more obscure queries

      ChatGPT has been found to be citing Grok in some of its answers, returning recursive results that risks spreading hallucinated or incorrect information.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Taiwan monitoring ‘abnormal’ China military leadership changes after top general put under investigation

    Taipei said it will use various methods to decipher Beijing’s intentions.

  • The Strategist ☛ Southeast Asia facing China: views in The Strategist

    In the South China Sea, Chinese aggression rubs up against complex intraregional politics. This selection of Strategist articles explains China’s aggressive and coercive behaviour in the South China Sea and analyses Southeast Asian states’ responses ...

  • The Straits Times ☛ Top China general Zhang Youxia accused of leaking nuclear secrets to US: WSJ

    The 75-year-old general is also accused of accepting bribes for official acts.

  • France24 ☛ South Sudan crisis heightens 'risk of mass violence' against civilians, UN experts say

    Independent UN experts warned on Sunday that escalating violence in South Sudan was raising the risk of mass atrocities against civilians, citing fresh clashes and inflammatory rhetoric. The UN Commission on Human Rights said it was gravely alarmed by fighting in Jonglei state, where witnesses reported civilians fleeing into nearby swamps.

  • France24 ☛ Aftermath challenges daily life in Syria

    The withdrawal of the Kurdish-led SDF from northeastern Syria represents the most significant shift in control in the country since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, according to reports from D. Alboz, H. Hammoud and Liza Kaminov.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Bangladesh criticises India over fugitive leader Hasina’s speech

    Hasina was found guilty in absentia by a Dhaka court in November and was sentenced to be hanged.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • LRT ☛ From Greenland to Kapčiamiestis: the perspective from NATO’s military headquarters

      Lieutenant General Remigijus Baltrėnas, Director General of NATO’s International Military Staff, has told LRT that the Alliance is preparing to respond to a changing security and geopolitical landscape. He says disagreements among allies over Greenland – like debates over the proposed military training area in Kapčiamiestis, Lithuania – are likely to be resolved, but that time is needed.

    • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim views sculptures for memorial of soldiers who died in Ukraine

      The sculptures are to be displayed at a memorial for North Korean troops who died fighting overseas.

    • RFERL ☛ Peace Talks Set To Resume Amid Ground Fighting And Severe Power Outages In Ukraine

      Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are set to resume negotiations in Abu Dhabi next week after two days of what officials described as “constructive” peace talks, even as the war shows no signs of easing.

    • France24 ☛ US security agreement for Ukraine is '100% ready' to be signed, Zelensky says

      Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that a US security guarantees document for Ukraine is "100% ready" after two days of talks involving representatives from Kyiv, the US and Russia. Zelensky sought more air defence support from allies as hundreds of buildings in Ukraine's capital were without heating in sub-zero temperatures for a second day after overnight Russian strikes. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.

    • France24 ☛ “An electrical ceasefire is needed”: warnings as Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid

      Russia’s strikes have hit Ukraine’s power infrastructure, leaving many communities without heat and electricity. For more, France 24’s Catherine Viette is joined by Peter Zalmayev from the Eurasia Democracy Initiative.

    • France24 ☛ ‘Singing for Stolen Children’  Escaping Russian Abduction. A Ukrainian teeenager’s account.

      France 24's Gavin Lee is joined by Liza, a teenager who escaped Russia after being forcibly displaced from Ukraine. Around 20,000 children have been taken from their homes and sent to Russia or occupied territories. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for President Putin over charges of unlawful deportation. While the Kremlin calls it a "humanitarian evacuation," independent investigators continue to uncover the truth. Nearly 1,900 children have been returned, but many remain missing. Liza, part of the Ukrainian music group Daughters of Donbass, shares her remarkable story.

    • France24 ☛ Mass blackouts hit Kyiv: Resident describes living in freezing temperatures and without electricity

      As President Zelensky says today that peace talks are progressing and that a U.S. security guarantee is “100 percent there,” awaiting only formal approval from Hell Toupée, there has so far been no confirmation from the White House, nor does it address President Putin’s continued insistence on claiming more Ukrainian territory; meanwhile, away from the front lines, civilians are bearing the brunt of the war, with some left without electricity for more than 16 days, prompting Ukraine’s foreign minister to describe repeated attacks on the energy grid as acts of genocide, as we now turn to the left bank to hear from resident Olena Zviahina, who describes the damage to her building, the freezing conditions inside her apartment, how she keeps warm, what support—if any—is available from neighbors or authorities, how long she believes she can endure these conditions, whether she plans to stay, and whether people around her believe a ceasefire is near or that Russia’s demand for the Donbas could bring an end to the war.

• Environment

  • The Straits Times ☛ Death toll from landslide in Indonesia’s West Java rises to 17

    Seventy-three people are still missing.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Cold snap grips South Korea as power outages leave hundreds without heating

    Apartment buildings comprising about 1,800 households in total were affected in two separate outages.

  • Energy/Transportation

    • New York Times ☛ Winter Storm Drives U.S. Flight Cancellations to Pandemic-Level Numbers

      Nearly 9,000 departures were canceled on Sunday, more than on any other day since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ For many young South Koreans, one job doesn’t cut it

    Nearly half of South Korean workers juggle multiple incomes as daily expenses outpace earnings.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea withdraws budget minister nominee after range of allegations

    Ms Lee Hye-hoon was accused of unlawful real estate investments and mistreating staff.

  • JURIST ☛ Second former Malaysia general charged with corruption in ongoing crackdown

    Malaysia’s anti-corruption commission (MACC) on Friday arrested the country’s former Chief of Armed Forces, Mohamad Nizam Jaafar, as part of the ongoing anti-corruption crackdown within the military.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • New York Times ☛ Amid Two-Week Internet Blackout, Some Iranians Are Getting Back Online

    Many in Iran are gaining brief and unexplained windows of online connectivity, offering a widening glimpse of the extent of the government crackdown.

  • RFERL ☛ Iran's Internet Blackout Persists As Report Says Protest Death Toll May Exceed 30,000

    Iran’s nationwide Internet blackout remained largely in place as the reported death toll from recent protests continued to rise, with one account saying the number of fatalities may exceed 30,000.