Leftovers

• Hardware

  • It's FOSS ☛ I Tried the TerraMaster F4-425 Plus as My First NAS; Here’s What I Liked (and Didn’t)

    Thinking about your first NAS, too? Here’s my hands-on TerraMaster F4-425 Plus review covering setup, performance, software, and limitations.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Meditation Can Reshape Your Brain Activity, Study Reveals

    Meditation doesn’t empty the mind, it activates it.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mixing Up Your Exercise May Reduce Risk of Death, Study Finds

    Variety is the spice of life.

  • Science Alert ☛ One Dietary Supplement Was Found to Reduce Aggression by Up to 28%

    A new tool for anger management?

  • Science Alert ☛ Why Do Some People Think We Live in a Simulation? An Expert Explains

    Will it ever be resolved?

• Proprietary

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Microsoft purges backdoored Windows 11 printer drivers, putting millions of devices on borrowed time — legacy printers face extinction as Abusive Monopolist Microsoft stops distributing V3 and V4 drivers

    Microsoft is preparing a significant change to how printers are supported in backdoored Windows 11, ending support for drivers that primarily support older hardware.

  • Futurism ☛ Microsoft’s Hey Hi (AI) Efforts Are Faceplanting

    Customers simply ain't loving Copilot.

  • I went back to Linux and it was a mistake | The Verge [Ed: Published controlled by Bill 'Russian Girls' Epsteingate]

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Creative Commons ☛ CC at the Hey Hi (AI) Impact Summit: Core Interventions for the Public Interest

      This month, CC will be represented at the Hey Hi (AI) Impact Summit in Delhi, an international gathering shaping the future of Hey Hi (AI) policy and practice. The 2026 Summit follows the Hey Hi (AI) Action Summit in Paris in February 2025, where CC underscored a simple but essential truth: without civil society, there can be no public interest.

    • Futurism ☛ The Reviews are in on Darren Aronofsky’s AI-Generated Show, and May We Just Say: “Yikes”

      "Everybody involved should be ashamed."

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ One-third of consumers reject Hey Hi (AI) on their devices, with most saying they simply don’t need it — latest report highlights privacy fears and potential costs among other real-world concerns

      A report from consumer firm Circana has shown that two-thirds of those opposed to Hey Hi (AI) believe it isn't useful on their devices, while a third weren't interested at all in the technology.

  • Social Control Media

    • France24 ☛ Paris cyber crime unit raids X offices, concerned by deepfakes and child safeguarding online

      This past week the Paris prosecuter's cyber crime unit raided the offices of X, formerly known as Twitter. It's part of an investigation into a range of alleged offences, including spreading deepfakes and child pornography. MElon and the company's CEO have been called for "voluntary interviews" on April 20th. We speak to Jean Cattan, co-director of the Future of Technology Institute about what's driving France's hardline stance on social control media companies.

    • Marcy Wheeler ☛ MElon Under Investigation for Trafficking Child Sexual Abuse Material

      MElon had been pulling all the levers he could to claim enforcement of basic EU law was instead an attempt to censor him. But by turning Grok into a Child Sexual Abuse machine, Elon gave France the opportunity to exercise a warrant.

    • New York Times ☛ France’s Raid on X Escalates Trans-Atlantic Showdown Over Social Media

      The French investigation into MElon’s X illustrated a fundamental divide between European and American leaders about how to regulate social control media — or whether to restrict it at all.

    • JURIST ☛ European Commission urged to invoke digital law against TikTok

      Amnesty International on Friday urged the European Commission to enforce the Digital Services Act (DSA) against TikTok’s addictive design and improve the safety of the social control media platform.

• Pseudo-Open Source

  • Openwashing

    • Open Source Initiative ☛ Open Source at the Heart of Europe’s (and the World’s) Digital Future [Ed: Proprietary software people speak for OSI]

      From Code & Compliance and the EU Open Source Academy Awards and Policy Summit, to multiple FOSDEM devrooms, the Open Source Initiative (OSI) engaged directly with the community throughout the week, convening conversations, contributing expertise, and reinforcing the importance of open governance in an increasingly regulated digital landscape.

• Security

  • Bleeping Computer ☛ DKnife Linux toolkit hijacks router traffic to spy, deliver malware

    A newly discovered toolkit called DKnife has been used since 2019 to hijack traffic at the edge-device level and deliver malware in espionage campaigns.

    The framework serves as a post-compromise framework for traffic monitoring and adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) activities. It is designed to intercept and manipulate traffic destined for endpoints (computers, mobile devices, IoTs) on the network.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Dutch authorities allegedly seize VPN server without a warrant — company claims that law enforcement will return it after analyzing the device fully

      Canada-based VPN company Windscribe says that Dutch law enforcement took their server in Europe without a warrant, claiming that law enforcement will return it after they "fully analyze it."

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ UN to approve sanction exemptions on N. Korea aid projects: Sources

    The move would the provision of aid such as medical equipment and water purification systems.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China conducts naval, air patrols around disputed South China Sea

    China conducted naval and air patrols in the South China Sea from Monday to Friday, the China Southern Theater Command said in a statement on Saturday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Australia’s opposition coalition reunites after split over hate laws

    The coalition had split for the second time in less than a year.

  • JURIST ☛ UN warns child malnutrition reached alarming levels in Sudan

    The UN raised concerns on Thursday about catastrophic levels of child malnutrition in Sudan’s North Darfur state and Greater Kordofan region due to ongoing armed conflict, warning of a looming famine crisis across the country if immediate action is not taken.

  • RFERL ☛ US Negotiating Team Visits Strike-Force Carrier Off Iranian Waters

    Washington appeared to ramp up pressure on Tehran on February 7 as its leading negotiators visited the US aircraft carrier that heads a powerful American strike force off the waters of Iran, even as indirect nuclear talks between the adversaries proceeded.

  • New York Times ☛ Iran Is at Work on Missile and Nuclear Sites, Satellite Images Show

    Repairs at key missile sites began soon after they were hit by Israeli and U.S. strikes last year, but work at Iran’s nuclear facilities has been slower.

  • RFERL ☛ 31 Killed In Suicide Attack On Shi’ite Mosque In Pakistani Capital

    In one of the deadliest attacks in years, a suicide bomber killed at least 31 people during an attack on a Friday prayers congregation in a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

  • RFERL ☛ Pakistani Authorities Make First Arrests After Deadly Mosque Attack

    Pakistani authorities said that four people have been arrested in connection with the suicide bomb attack that killed at least 32 people on a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in the capital, Islamabad, as they observed Friday Prayers.

  • France24 ☛ Isis claims suicide attack, Islamabad mourns 31 killed in bombing

    In Islamabad, Shiites held funerals for the victims of Friday's mosque bombing, a suicide attack that killed at least 31 people, marking the deadliest incident to strike the capital in two decades. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which has shocked the city and intensified concerns over sectarian violence. Shirli Sitbon reports.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Thousands in Islamabad mourn 31 killed in suicide bombing of Shi’ite mosque

    Residents are also concerned there could be further attacks.

  • New York Times ☛ A Mosque Bombing Undercuts Pakistan’s Bid for Security

    Pakistan has made headway against the Islamic State and other militants, but a bloody suicide attack showed how fragile its progress has been.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Suicide bomber kills 31 in Shi’ite mosque in Pakistan’s capital, officials say

    The blasts wounded almost 170 other people.

  • New York Times ☛ Suicide Bombing Kills 31 at Mosque in Pakistan’s Capital

    The bombing, during Friday prayers, was the second major attack in recent months in Islamabad, raising concerns that extremist violence is spreading far from Pakistan’s border areas.

  • Site36 ☛ Cape Verde now in Eurosur: Frontex gives details for surveillance aircraft in West Africa

    Since November, Frontex is for the first time conducting flights to counter migration from an African state. However, the mission began without an agreement on data sharing. In November, the EU border agency Frontex expanded its aerial surveillance to the waters off West Africa.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • RFERL ☛ Ukraine's Parliament Speaker Makes Sanctions Case On Capitol Hill, Warns Against Prolonged Talks

      Ukraine’s parliamentary speaker spent February 6 on Capitol Hill making the case to US lawmakers that tougher sanctions enforcement remains central to Kyiv’s effort to blunt Russia’s war as it grinds toward a fifth year.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian municipalities allocate €50,000 for generators and heaters for Ukraine

      Lithuania’s Association of Local Authorities has allocated €50,000 on behalf of the country’s municipalities to provide generators and heaters for Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ US wants Ukraine and Russia to end war by June, Zelensky says

      The United States wants Kyiv and Moscow to end the nearly four-year war by June, and has offered to host talks between the two sides next week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. If the June deadline is not met, the Convicted Felon administration will likely put pressure on both sides to meet it, he added. Read our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded.

    • France24 ☛ Russian strike knocks out power in Kyiv

      Ukraine’s power grid operator says a massive Russian attack has knocked out electricity across the country, with President Volodymyr Zelensky stating that more than 400 drones and 40 missiles were involved. Officials say that in recent weeks hundreds of thousands of people have been left without heating or lighting in temperatures well below zero, as Russia has continued its strikes despite US-brokered talks that have so far failed to deliver any tangible results. France24 correspondent Emmanuelle Chaze reports the latest from Kharkiv, Ukraine.

    • France24 ☛ Energy infrastructure severely damaged in Ukraine

      In the early hours of Saturday, Russia carried out another series of crippling aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the assault involved more than 400 drones and around 40 missiles. The strikes hit two thermal power stations as well as crucial parts of the country’s electricity distribution system, as Ukrainians continue to endure a particularly bitter winter. Charlotte Lam reports.

    • France24 ☛ US sets deadline for peace deal between Ukraine and Russia

      The United States wants Kyiv and Moscow to end the nearly four-year war by June, and has offered to host talks between the two sides next week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. If the June deadline is not met, the Convicted Felon administration will likely put pressure on both sides to meet it, he added. France24 International Affairs editor Andrew Hilliars explains.

    • France24 ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man pushes for peace in Ukraine ‘by June’, Zelensky says

      Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday said Washington has proposed that Russian and Ukrainian negotiators meet in the United States next week to discuss a possible peace deal. “They say they want to do everything by June,” Zelensky said of the US mediators.

    • ADF ☛ Russian Recruiters Target Africans as Fodder for War

      Before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Polina Alexandrovna Azarnykh ran a Facebook (Farcebook) group helping Arab students go to Moscow to study.

    • RFERL ☛ Suspects Reportedly Detained Over Shooting Of Top Russian Intelligence General

      Russian law enforcement agencies have detained a suspect and his alleged accomplice in an apparent assassination attempt on the deputy chief of the GRU military intelligence agency, Vladimir Alekseyev, Russian media reported on February 7.

    • New York Times ☛ Russian General Is Shot in Latest Attack on a Top Military Leader in Moscow

      Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev provided intelligence to the Kremlin for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and had been penalized by the U.S. twice, including for meddling in elections.

    • RFERL ☛ Officials: Top Russian Intelligence General Shot, Wounded In Attempted Assassination

      The No. 2 officer at the Russian military intelligence agency known as GRU was shot and wounded in Moscow, in what investigators called an assassination attempt.

    • New York Times ☛ Olympics Officials Signal Sanctions on Russia in Sports May End

      In Milan this week, Olympics officials signaled a willingness to ease years of restrictions imposed on the country over its state-backed doping program and invasion of Ukraine.

    • JURIST ☛ UN experts denounce Russia conviction of ICC prosecutor

      UN human rights experts on Wednesday decried Russia’s conviction of nine International Criminal Court (ICC) officials, calling the ruling a “flagrant violation of international law.”

    • LRT ☛ German wargaming ignores Baltic forces, sees Russia seize Suwalki Gap

      A military simulation published this week by the German newspaper Die Welt depicts a scenario in which Russia manages to seize the Lithuanian city of Marijampolė and take control of the Suwałki Corridor with just a few brigades. As with several earlier high-profile simulations conducted abroad, Lithuania’s armed forces and society are largely ignored.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuanian FM meets Moldovan president to discuss EU integration, Russian threats

      Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys met Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Chisinau on Friday to discuss bilateral relations, European integration, and ways to strengthen resistance to Russian hybrid attacks.

    • LRT ☛ Volkov case assessed in broader context, says Lithuania’s intelligence chief

      Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) assessed Russian opposition figure Leonid Volkov’s case in a broader context when deciding whether he could remain in the country, its director Remigijus Bridikis, has said.

    • LRT ☛ Lithuania urges ‘finally ambitious’ EU sanctions package against Russia

      Lithuania’s foreign minister has said he hopes the European Union’s forthcoming 20th sanctions package against Russia will be “ambitious”, as the bloc prepares to adopt new measures later this month.

    • RFERL ☛ Washington Seeks New Path On Nuclear Arms As Treaty With Russia Expires

      The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the final remaining bilateral agreement limiting US and Russian nuclear arsenals, expired on February 5, closing a chapter that began in the Cold War and survived its end.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Japan PM Takaichi to push Russia to restart visits to graves on disputed islands

      She said visits to the graves by ageing former islanders is a “humanitarian issue”.

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Strikes Pummel Ukraine’s Power Grid

      The drone and missile bombardments were the latest attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure during a winter freeze, as peace talks have made little progress.

    • New York Times ☛ At Ukraine’s Request, Starlink Denies Internet Access to Russian Troops

      It’s unclear what effect the change will have on Russia’s ability to wage war, but Russian military bloggers said troops were experiencing internet outages that hampered frontline communications.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Azerbaijan issues strong protest to Russia over lawmaker's comments on Karabakh trial

      BAKU, Feb 6 - Azerbaijan issued a strong protest to Russia on Friday after a Russian lawmaker condemned the sentencing of 13 ethnic Armenians who had held senior positions in the former breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

    • LRT ☛ Despite debate on warmer ties, Lithuania's stance on Belarus among EU’s toughest, says FM

      Lithuania’s position on Belarus remains among the toughest in the European Union and its support for extending and tightening sanctions on Minsk is unchanged, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said.

    • New Yorker ☛ The Assault on Ukraine’s Power Grid

      How Russia has weaponized the most frigid winter in more than a decade.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Says US Wants War Ended By Summer As Russia Hits Ukraine's Power Grid

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States wants to push Kyiv and Moscow toward ending the war before the start of summer, comments that came as Russia launched another overnight barrage of missiles and drones against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean crypto exchange to reimburse some users after $51b error

      The mistake, which was caused by an employee, was identified within 20 minutes.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • New York Times ☛ At a Bonobo’s ‘Tea Party,’ Scientists Find Hints of Imagination

      In a playtime experiment, researchers found that our closest living relatives have the capacity for make-believe, too.

    • Science Alert ☛ When Termites Became Monogamous, A Surprising Thing Happened to Their Sperm

      Life choices.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ A record 3.6 million young people in South Korea do not own homes

    Just 1.29 million Koreans under 40 owned homes in 2024, the lowest on record.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Fewer women in Japan plan to give Valentine’s chocolate as inflation bites

    Women in the country traditionally give a box of chocolates to men.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Macau hotel rips up its trademark gold bricks from lobby, sells for US$13 million

    The Grand Emperor Hotel in Macau said it had ripped up the real gold bricks from its distinctive lobby floor and sold them for around US$13 million, cashing in on the metal’s market surge.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘I was turned away’: High gold prices cause cash crunch at Malaysia pawnshops ahead of CNY, Ramadan

    Families are struggling to access emergency funds as gold lenders run short on cash before festivals.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • New York Times ☛ Chaos in Minneapolis Exposes an Internet at War With Truth

      Technological advances and an erosion of trust have transformed the way news unfolds online, distorting shared reality.

    • New York Times ☛ An Indian Film Embraces a Taj Majal Conspiracy Theory

      The internet and a new film have breathed life into old conspiracy theories about one of the world’s most famous landmarks.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong university student arrested for alleged doxxing after whistleblowing on academic integrity scandal

    A Hong Kong university student who triggered a high-profile academic integrity scandal after casting doubt on the origins of a secondary student’s award-winning app has been arrested on suspicion of doxxing.

  • New Yorker ☛ Jenin Younes on Threats to Free Speech from the Left and the Right

    A First Amendment lawyer once attacked Democrats for suppressing unpopular opinions; she now sees a vastly greater threat from the Convicted Felon Administration.

  • Open Access/Content

    • The Atlantic ☛ America Is Losing the Facts That Hold It Together

      The CIA World Factbook occupies a special place in the memories of elder Millennials like me. It was an enormous compendium of essential facts about every country around the world, carefully collected from across the federal government. This felt especially precious when the World Factbook went online in 1997 (it had previously been a classified internal publication printed on paper, then a declassified print resource), a time when the internet still felt new and unsettled. Unlike many other pages on the World Wide Web, it was reliable enough that you could even get away with citing it in schoolwork. And there was a special thrill in the idea that the CIA, a famously secretive organization, was the one providing it to you.

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • JURIST ☛ UN experts condemn denial of medical treatment to human rights defender in China

    UN human rights experts expressed concern Thursday over the repeated denial of adequate medical treatment for Yang Li, a Chinese human rights defender.

  • Licensing / Legal

    • Techdirt ☛ DOJ’s Frivolous Boasberg Complaint Dismissed—While Nobody Can Explain How DOJ Got The ‘Evidence’ It Never Provided

      Concerns that, as we noted at the time, turned out to be entirely justified.

      Let’s back up and explain what happened. The DOJ’s complaint centered on comments Boasberg allegedly made at a private Judicial Conference meeting on March 11, 2025, where he supposedly “push[ed] a wholly unsolicited discussion about ‘concerns that the Administration would disregard rulings of federal courts, leading to a constitutional crisis.'” The complaint cited “Attachment A” as evidence of what Boasberg said.

      There was just one small problem: the DOJ never actually provided Attachment A with the complaint. Actually, there were many, many problems, but we’ll get to those.

      The complaint has now been fully resolved, and it went about as well for the DOJ as you might expect. Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton, to whom Chief Justice Roberts transferred the complaint, dismissed it in a brusque seven-page ruling that reads like a judge who is deeply unimpressed with having his time wasted.

    • Rolling Stone ☛ Is Luigi Mangione Facing ‘Double Jeopardy’? Here’s What Experts Say

      As he was being led, cuffed and shackled, out of the courtroom, Mangione turned to the gallery and spoke. “It’s the same trial twice,” he said firmly, surprising the audience since he has barely ever spoken in court before. “One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • MJ Fransen ☛ A collection of internet evergreens

    A collection of internet evergreens

    I started a new web page, to publish a collection of awesome and inspiring web pages that are worth reading.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ An Old Trick in the Patent Book: Targeted Drafting from 1876 to 2026

    Bell titled his 1876 patent monopoly "Improvement in Telegraphy" to avoid scrutiny. Today's patent monopoly attorneys call it targeted drafting. The tools are better — the ethical problem is the same.

  • JUVE ☛ Veolia and Heuking land win against Supratec [Ed: So many European Patents are nowadays fake though]

    Veolia brought the suit against competitor Supratec over wastewater treatment technology. Düsseldorf Regional Court’s Chamber 4b under presiding judge Carsten Haase, found in favour of the French company (case ID: 4b O 53/24). The judges ruled that Supratec’s products infringe EP 2 473 258.

  • Unified Patents ☛ Stratacor digital content patent monopoly campaign - invalidity charts coming soon

    The team at Unified IP Services is using Pearl to identify and chart prior art against U.S. Patent 11,257,115, owned by Stratacor LLC, an NPE and entity of Ambient Analytics LLC. The ‘115 patent monopoly is generally related to enhancing targeted advertising or directing users to similar content.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Who Are You? YMTC’s Refusal to Identify Its Real Parties in Interest

    YMTC's IPR petitions against Micron denied on RPI grounds after the Entity List company refused to explain its corporate identity and control.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ When Obviousness Rejections Pile On: Rethinking Multi-Reference Combinations

    A new working paper proposes capping prior art combinations. I argue existing doctrine already has the tools, if applied with more discipline.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ The ‘Narrow’ Question That Appears in Half of PTAB Obviousness Decisions

    Samsung and the SG want cert denied in Lynk Labs. Their 'limited impact' argument ignores how IPR actually works in high-tech patent monopoly disputes.

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Patent Suit Over NASA’s Mars Helicopter Blocked by Government Contractor Immunity

    Federal Circuit holds § 1498 shields AeroVironment from patent monopoly suit over NASA's Mars helicopter, rejecting SBIR inventors' infringement claims.

  • Kangaroo Courts

    • JUVE ☛ Bérénice Thom takes over second panel at local division Düsseldorf [Ed: UPC is illegal, but JUVE is in the pockets of Team UPC, so it keeps trying to legitimise this atrocity]

      According to documents published on the UPC website, the Düsseldorf local division will get a second panel from 1 March, on the same day Düsseldorf patent monopoly judge Ingo Rinken will join the UPC on full time basis.

  • Software Patents

    • High Court Backs Aristocrat on Software Patentability – It’s Time for IP Australia to Follow Suit [Ed: IBM lobbied for software patents]

      The High Court of Australia has denied an application by the Commissioner of Patents for special leave to appeal a decision of the Full Federal Court in which claims to a computer-implemented invention (CII), in the form of an electronic gaming machine (EGM), were found to be patent-eligible in Australia.  This brings to an end the long-running dispute over patentability of Aristocrat’s claims, and marks the first time since 1991 (IBM v Commissioner of Patents [1991] FCA 625) that any such dispute with the Commissioner over claims to a CII has concluded with a victory to the applicant/patentee. 

      The significance of this outcome cannot be overstated. 

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Universal Music and ABKCO Score Summary Judgment Win in Marathon Copyright Battle Over Rolling Stones, ABBA Documentaries

    Universal Music Group (UMG) and ABKCO have scored a summary judgment win in a copyright monopoly battle centering on “purported documentaries” about the Rolling Stones, ABBA, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John, and Nirvana.