Leftovers

• CubicleNate ☛ Deskflow | Seamless Multi-Computer Control

  The content describes the author's experience using Synergy for productivity by seamlessly sharing a keyboard and mouse across multiple computers. It highlights the benefits of the software, including clipboard sharing and ease of setup, while noting some limitations, particularly with complex layouts and clipboard functionality. Overall, it's a promising tool for multi-computer setups.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Are 'Sniffing' Ancient Egyptian Mummies. Here's Why.

    Old secrets revealed.

  • Science Alert ☛ Black Hole May Be '100 Trillion Times' More Powerful Than The Death Star

    One of the most energetic events ever witnessed.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ A Love Letter to the Beating Heart

    The heart is not romance; it’s the organ that guards the line between life and death.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea designates general anaesthetic etomidate as narcotic following abuse cases

    All products containing etomidate will be subject to mandatory tracking.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s TB outbreak: 503 new cases recorded

    The latest detections brought the cumulative number of TB cases to 2,571 across the country.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China top court says drivers responsible despite autonomous technology

    The court referred to the case of a man relying on assisted driving while drunk.

  • Science Alert ☛ This Week in Science: Mars Molecules, a Cholesterol-Cutting Compound, And More!

    Our weekly science news roundup.

  • Science Alert ☛ Valentine's Day: Exchanging Saliva May Help You Fall in Love

    The sweet (but kinda gross) science of kissing.

  • Science Alert ☛ There's One Simple Method to Lower Alcohol Intake, And It Works

    "Many people don't know that alcohol is a carcinogen."

  • Science Alert ☛ Spaceflight Can Alter The Position of The Human Brain, Study Finds

    It can take months to return to normal.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Another Proprietary Chaffbot Company Researcher Just Quit in Disgust

  • Social Control Media

    • Futurism ☛ X Is In Such Dire Straits That Its Head of Product Says It Can’t Afford to Display the Color Blue

      An "Everything App" — with just two colors.

  • Windows TCO / Windows Bot Nets

    • Futurism ☛ Microsoft Added Hey Hi (AI) to Notepad and It Created a Security Failure Because the Hey Hi (AI) Was Stupidly Easy for Hackers to Trick

      "Microsoft is turning Notepad into a slow, feature-heavy mess we don't need."

• Security

  • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s Bersatu files police reports over official Facebook (Farcebook) page hijacking

      Several administrators were removed from the page following the hijacking.

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s frontline cops now equipped with body-worn cameras

      The usage of these body cameras will limit the opportunity for misconduct, said the police.

    • Futurism ☛ Meta Adding Facial Recognition to Its Smart Glasses That Identifies People in Real Time, Hoping the Public Is Too Distracted by Political Turmoil to Care

      "This technology is ripe for abuse."

• Defence/Aggression

  • The Straits Times ☛ Why Lee Sang-min and Han Duck-soo received such different sentences in S. Korea insurrection cases

    South Korea's former interior minister and its former prime minister were convicted of the same charge.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Plagiarised videos reposted with false subtitles aimed at stoking anti-Japan sentiment in China

    This comes amid deteriorating Japan-China relations.

  • New York Times ☛ Japan Releases Chinese Boat Captain After Detaining Him for 30 Hours

    The captain’s arrest had raised fears of a broader diplomatic confrontation between Japan and China, which have been at odds for months.

  • New York Times ☛ Thousands Rally for Iran Regime Change in Cities Around the World

    People protesting the Iranian government gathered near the security conference in Munich, as well as in other cities. More U.S.-Iran talks are expected Tuesday.

  • France24 ☛ Budget standoff over immigration shuts down US Department of Homeland Security

    A prolonged impasse between US lawmakers over immigration enforcement ensnared the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a partial government shutdown on Saturday, with Democrats in Congress vowing to withhold funding until major changes are enacted in the wake of two fatal shootings by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

  • France24 ☛ Paris police shoot knife attacker

    France’s counterterrorism authorities have launched a new investigation after a knife-wielding assailant was shot dead by police Friday evening near the Arc de Triomphe. The attacker reportedly attempted to assault gendarmes who were preparing for the relighting of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. President Emmanuel Macron condemned the incident and lauded the rapid response of security forces. Yinka Oyetade reports.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China is the real threat, Taiwan says in rebuff to Wang Yi’s Munich speech

    China foreign minister Wang Yi in a Munich speech blamed Japan for tensions over the island .

  • New York Times ☛ Life in Beirut Beneath the Drones

    More than a year into a cease-fire, the mechanical whir of Israeli drones above the Lebanese capital is a reminder that, in many ways, the war never really ended.

  • New York Times ☛ New U.S. Boat Strike Kills 3 in the Caribbean

    The attacks since early November had specifically targeted suspected drug smuggling boats in the Pacific Ocean.

  • New York Times ☛ In Munich, Europe Says It Is ‘De-risking’ From the U.S. Amid Convicted Felon’s Unpredictability

    In Munich, European leaders were also talking about “de-risking” from the United States, citing Hell Toupée’s unpredictability.

  • New Yorker ☛ What Happens When a Megalomaniac Begins to Fail

    The historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat on The Insurrectionist and “autocratic backfire.”

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • France24 ☛ "NATO has been woken up by Hell Toupée, and it’s stronger because of it" says Mark Rutte

      In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed the evolving role of Europe in global security, emphasising that the alliance is stronger today than it was a year ago. Reflecting on NATO's transformation, Rutte highlighted how the leadership of U.S. President The Insurrectionist, particularly his push for higher defence spending, played a crucial role in reshaping the alliance's priorities.

    • France24 ☛ Secret documents reveal Russia’s cross-continental disinformation campaign

      A major investigation into an unprecedented data leak by Forbidden Stories exposes Russia's foreign influence strategy across three continents. The leak shows that journalists and publications were being paid to spread disinformation on behalf of the Kremlin through a network of experts known as The Company. FRANCE 24's Jean-Emile Jammine speaks with Forbidden Stories journalist Lea Peruchon about the revelations so far.

    • RFERL ☛ Rubio Reassures Zelenskyy Of US Commitment, But Warns Of 'Hard' Concessions

      On his second day at the Munich Security Conference, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio set out to calm nerves and sharpen focus: Ukraine and security, he signaled, very much remain the center of gravity of Washington’s transatlantic policy.

    • New York Times ☛ Navalny Was Poisoned With Frog Toxin, European Governments Say

      The toxin was found in the body of the Russian dissident Aleksei A. Navalny, who died in prison two years ago, five governments said, challenging Russia’s official account.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Poisoned Navalny With Exotic Frog Toxin, European Countries Say

      The governments of five European countries on February 14 released a statement saying that they are confident that the Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny was poisoned with a lethal toxin not found naturally in Russia -- a poisoning that led to his death in a Russian prison two years ago.

    • France24 ☛ Russia fatally 'poisoned' Putin critic Navalny with rare toxin, European states say

      Five European countries accused Russia of "poisoning" opposition leader Alexei Navalny using a rare toxin found in South American dart frogs, according to a joint statement issued Saturday. A leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony in February 2024.

    • France24 ☛ European states accuse Russia of Navanlny poisoning

      Five European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, accused Russia on Saturday of having poisoned jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny with a rare and lethal toxin in 2024, speaking on the margins of the Munich Security Conference, as the United Kingdom, Sweden, France, Germany and Netherlands said in a joint statement that analyses of samples from Navalny’s body left them confident he had been poisoned, following the death of the outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin in an Arctic prison in February 2024 while he was serving a 19-year sentence. France24 correspondent Nick Holdsworth reports from Munich.

    • France24 ☛ Russia fatally 'poisoned' Putin critic Navalny with rare toxin, UK says

      Five European countries accused Russia of "poisoning" opposition leader Alexei Navalny using a rare toxin found in South American dart frogs, according to a joint statement issued Saturday. A leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony in February 2024. France24 correspondent Benedicte Paviot reports the latest from London.

    • RFERL ☛ Zelenskyy Calls For Strong Security Guarantees Against 'Slave To War' Putin

      Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered an impassioned plea for more Western weapons and for "real security guarantees," calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "slave to war" who will threaten Europe if he is not stopped in Ukraine.

    • New York Times ☛ Zelensky rules out holding elections until there is a cease-fire with Russia.

    • New York Times ☛ Roy Medvedev, Soviet Era Historian and Dissident, Is Dead at 100

      His score of books and hundreds of essays documented Stalinist executions, Communist repressions and censorship, and the transition to post-Soviet Russia.

• Environment

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Straits Times ☛ How one Sarawak farm became Singapore’s sole live pig supplier after 18-year trade ban

      Disease control, modern farming methods and distance from dense urban centres give Sarawak an edge.

  • Overpopulation

    • Futurism ☛ Earth on Track to Become Uninhabitable, Scientists Say

      "Policymakers and the public remain largely unaware of the risks posed by what would effectively be a point-of-no-return transition."

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• Finance

  • JURIST ☛ Rights group finds 50 Morocco companies remain unpaid for Saudi renovation job since 2024

    At least 50 Moroccan companies lack roughly $5 million in compensation for labor, materials, and services tied to renovation and maintenance work on the Saudi prince’s palace in Tangier, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ Rise of YouTube politicians tests South Korea’s democratic resilience

    A YouTube “silver play button” has become an unlikely new status symbol in South Korean politics.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Explainer: How national security judges sentenced Jimmy Lai, from health records to foreign collusion

    The sentencing hearing for Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai on Monday lasted less than 10 minutes.

• Civil Rights / Policing / Accessibility

  • JURIST ☛ Canada high court affirms constitutional right to travel within the country

    The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Friday that interprovincial mobility is a constitutional right under Section 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court held that Section 6 of the Charter protects the right to move freely within Canada.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel fined $3 million by India’s antitrust regulator over discriminatory CPU warranty policy — says defective chip maker Intel abused its dominant position in the boxed processor market.

  Following a complaint filed in 2016, the Competition Commission of India concluded that Intel’s India-only warranty rules were discriminatory compared to policies in other countries.

• Patents

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Acer and Asus halt PC and laptop sales in Germany amid H.264 codec patent monopoly dispute — Nokia wins patent monopoly ruling, forcing tech giants to license HEVC codec

    Acer's and Asus's use of HEVC on their laptops and desktop PCs is allegedly infringing on Nokia's patent. Because of this, a German court ruled that they cannot sell their products in Germany until the matter is settled.