Leftovers

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Identified a Speech Trait That Foreshadows Cognitive Decline

    A hidden signal.

  • Science Alert ☛ Mysterious Structure on Mars Looks Uncannily Like an Ancient Egyptian Pyramid

    A fascinating illusion.

  • Science Alert ☛ Viruses That Jump to Humans Don't Need Special Mutations, Study Finds

    A concerning discovery.

  • Science Alert ☛ Hot Baths Could Boost Your Running Performance, Study Finds

    For runners and coaches, the implications are intriguing.

  • Science Alert ☛ The Comb Jelly 'Brain' Is Far More Complex Than We Ever Realized

    "Evolution seems to have invented centralized nervous systems more than once."

  • New York Times ☛ A Meteor Exploded Over Ohio. Then the Hunt for Meteorites Began.

    After a seven-ton fireball exploded above the Cleveland area, a group of meteorite hunters descended too, in the name of science — and possibly cash.

  • Futurism ☛ Scientists Startled by What Happens When They Point Hubble at Comet

    "Sometimes the best science happens by accident."

• Career/Education

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Gov’t taskforce to facilitate mergers of primary schools with low enrolment as student numbers plunge

    A special Hong Kong government taskforce dedicated to making public schools sustainable will help primary schools with low enrolment to merge, the city’s education chief has said. It comes as 15 risk closure in the next academic year due to insufficient student intake.

• Hardware

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel released its first Pentium chip on this day 33 years ago, came packing 3.1 million transistors — fifth-gen x86 chip built on an 800nm process

    33 years ago today, the Pentium lineage began, shaping decades of personal computing to come.

  • Devices/Embedded

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ California scientists 'FlyTrap attack' on DJI drones demonstrated — patterned umbrellas lure autonomous drones close enough to be captured or even induced to crash

      Researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) have developed a drone capture and crash-inducing device. The FlyTrap attack uses special patterns to exploit deficiencies in Autonomous Target Tracking (ATT), often referred to as Active Track, Motion Track, or Dynamic Track. FlyTrap patterns can be easily carried around and deployed by anyone, as the researchers printed them on “adversarial umbrellas.” In essence, this seems like a deliciously lo-fi counter to a hi-tech hazard. Umbrellas are also useful if it rains, or for portable shade.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Micron predicts that cars will need 300GB of RAM — memory-laden vehicles could exacerbate shortages but create 'robust long-term growth in automotive memory demand'

      There are six levels of vehicle autonomy, starting at L0 for cars that have no driving automation whatsoever. A vehicle with a single automated system (such as cruise control) counts as L1, while those equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that both control steering and acceleration, such as Tesla’s Autopilot and Cadillac’s Super Cruise, are considered as L2. On the other hand, vehicles with L4 autonomy basically do not need human intervention in any task, like overtaking or deciding when to cross a busy intersection. However, it still gives the driver the option to take control and manually drive the vehicle.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • Science Alert ☛ Magnetic Fluid Injected Into The Heart May Prevent Strokes, Scientists Think

    This could have a substantial impact on global health.

  • NYPost ☛ The real reasons you’re still exhausted after 8 hours of sleep, according to an expert

    About one in three adults has poor sleep quality — and several daily habits could be to blame.

  • New York Times ☛ Attack on a Sudan Hospital Kills Dozens, Head of W.H.O. Says

    The group’s director general said 13 children were among those killed in the latest violence in the Darfur region, and he decried the targeting of health care facilities in the civil war.

  • JURIST ☛ UN warns of mounting mental health emergency for children in Palestine

    The United Nations (UN) warned Thursday that children in Palestine are facing a mounting mental health emergency amid escalating violence, displacement, and loss, with over one million children in Gaza now in urgent need of mental and psychosocial support.

  • Futurism ☛ Scientists Just Found Something Rather Grim That Happens When You Stop Taking GLP-1s

    "People need to realize that there's a price of stopping."

  • Science Alert ☛ Bacterial Meningitis Survivors Face Life‑Altering Effects, Expert Says

    "I thought my life was absolutely done and dusted."

• Proprietary

  • Desktop/Laptop

    • Make Use Of ☛ The MacBook Neo is the Linux desktop killer that no one expected

      No matter how much I love Linux, it's still something most users install to breathe new life into older hardware. If the goal is saving money, a much cheaper, less capable laptop can keep you productive (and save your wallet hundreds of dollars).

• Security

  • HPC Wire ☛ Linux Foundation Announces $12.5M in Grant Funding to Advance Open Source Security [Ed: No, it's paid to do PR for the culprits]

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Ruben Schade ☛ “If trackers are disabled, ads might not be as relevant to you”

      Good!

    • Futurism ☛ The Head of the FBI Just Admitted Something Moderately Horrifying

      "It has led to some valuable intelligence for us."

• Defence/Aggression

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • The Straits Times ☛ Vietnam, Russia to sign energy deal: Hanoi

      Vietnam has recently asked for fuel support from several countries.

    • France24 ☛ Ex-FBI director Robert Mueller, who investigated Russia-Dihydroxyacetone Man campaign ties, dies aged 81

      Robert S. Mueller III, the FBI director who transformed the nation's premier law enforcement agency into a terrorism-fighting force after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and who later became special counsel in charge of investigating ties between Russia and The Insurrectionist's presidential campaign, has died. He was 81.

    • New York Times ☛ In Odesa, Dressing Up Is Living

      In Odesa, the older generation continues to dress up, showing people’s determination to carry on despite the blows of history.

    • RFERL ☛ Russia Continues Deadly Strikes On Ukraine Amid Stalled Peace Efforts

      Russian deadly air strikes across Ukrainian regions continue as trilateral negotiations between Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington to end the four-year-old war are effectively paused amid the conflict in the Middle East.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • France24 ☛ Live: Iran faces Convicted Felon Hormuz ultimatum, IEA warns of worst global energy crisis in decades

      Iran on Monday faces a deadline by President The Insurrectionist to open up the crucial Strait of Hormuz or face a major US assault on power plants, as Israel warned of weeks more of war. The International Energy Agency said the crisis is more severe than the 1970s oil shocks combined.

    • France24 ☛ Iran threatens to cripple Gulf water and energy systems after Convicted Felon ultimatum

      Iran said on Sunday it would target Gulf energy and water infrastructure if U.S. President The Insurrectionist follows through on a threat to strike its power grid within 48 hours, escalating the conflict. Air raid sirens sounded across Israel after overnight Iranian missile attacks injured dozens in Arad and Dimona.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Over 400,000 violations of airplane portable battery rules logged in South Korea in past year

      Data indicates roughly 0.99 violations per flight — effectively one case for every departing aircraft.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Questions over whether unauthorised structures led to deadly South Korean factory fire

      The fire, which killed 14 and injured 60 others, is one of South Korea's worst industrial accidents.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • The Straits Times ☛ Heatwave in Malaysia sends durian trees blooming earlier than expected

      Orchard owner Tan Chee Keat, 35, said about 20 per cent of his trees had begun fruiting much earlier than usual.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Fruit prices in Malaysia set to rise as fertiliser supplies dry up amid Middle East war

      The ripple effects of the conflict are expected to push fruit prices in Malaysia up by 20% or more.

  • Overpopulation

    • Rlang ☛ Pacific island demograpy, the narrative by @ellis2013nz

      This post is the last in a series of seven on population and people movement issues in the Pacific.

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ China vows more open economy, national treatment for foreign firms

    China saw a record $1.54 trillion trade surplus in 2025.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim Jong Un reappointed as president of state affairs, KCNA says

    The isolated nation convened the first session of its Supreme People’s Assembly on March 22.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Jim Nielsen ☛ More Details Than You Probably Wanted to Know About Recent Updates to My Notes Site

    I shipped some updates to my notes site. Nothing huge. Just small stuff.

    But what is big stuff except a bunch of small stuff combined? So small stuff is important too.

    What follows is a bunch of tiny details you probably don’t care about, but they were all decisions I had to make and account for along the way to shipping.

    For me, the small details are the fun part!

  • Strand PWAs Part 2

    Since my initial post was a bit scatterbrained and ill-explained, I thought before getting into any progress details I’d first re-introduce this project with a proper explainer, cover the work done, answer some technical questions, and touch on where it’s going.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Thai telcos monitor submarine internet cables round the clock for disruptions caused by Mid-East war

    One said internet traffic through high-risk areas in the Middle East remains at a manageable level.

  • The Kyiv Independent ☛ What Russia's internet blackouts reveal about Putin's endgame

  • The Moscow Times ☛ In Moscow, a Week of Mobile Internet Shutdowns Makes Life a Real Pain

  • The Straits Times ☛ New service in Japan to allow mobile users to use other carriers’ networks during outages

    The Japan Roaming service is the cornerstone of efforts to manage large-scale outages.