Leftovers

• The Straits Times ☛ Earthquake of 6 magnitude strikes central Philippines, no immediate reports of damage or casualties

  The earthquake hit near San Julian town in Eastern Samar province at a depth of 56km.

• Science

  • Science Alert ☛ Scientists Solve The Mystery of How The Twelve Apostles Formed

    Understanding their history before it's too late.

  • Science Alert ☛ A New Atlas Reveals Hidden Details of The Human Body Like Never Before

    A new gold standard in medical imaging?

• Hardware

  • Nick Richards: WhatCable, Framework, and USB-C

    USB-C is excellent, provided you don’t look too closely.

    I’ve been seeing a drum beat of interest in the internals of USB-C. Darryl Morley’s macOS WhatCable, Chromebooks exposing lots of lovely info about emarkers, USB cable testers and a bit more. Very infrastructure club topics. So I made a small GTK app also called WhatCable which is intended to show what GNU/Linux knows about your USB ports, cables, chargers and devices, but written as a GNOME/libadwaita app and using the interfaces GNU/Linux exposes through sysfs.

  • CNX Software ☛ AMD Versal Prime VM2152 mid-range adaptive SoC features 112 Gbps GTM Transceivers, 600Gbps Ethernet, DDR5/LPDDR5

    The AMD Versal Prime VM2152 adaptive SoC is designed as a mid-range device for high-speed connectivity, with 112 Gbps transceivers and 600 GbE networking in a power-efficient package. It balances programmable logic with hardened IP blocks to simplify the design of high-throughput systems used in wired communications, aerospace, and test and measurement, without the higher power and complexity of high-end FPGAs. Compared to the AMD Versal Prime VP1902, the VM2152 focuses more on I/O performance rather than raw logic density.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s anti-graft agency to quiz ex-minister Rafizi Ramli over deal with British chip giant Arm

    The probe relates to irregularities around semiconductor investments worth over $350 million.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Microsoft now recommends 32GB of RAM as the future-proof 'no worries' config for gaming — 16GB becomes the new 'practical starting point' during the RAMageddon

    Pretty much no games recommend more than 16GB of RAM, even in the unoptimized era we're living in right now. Only a few titles at their highest presets say 32GB is ideal, so Abusive Monopolist Microsoft claiming that 32GB is the future-proof standard isn't exactly wrong. You'll be fine with 16GB today, but perhaps not tomorrow.

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Japan is deploying ultra-cheap cardboard drones built for swarm warfare and expendable combat missions — $2,000 expendable combat drones cost less than some gaming PCs

    Japan is deploying ultra-cheap cardboard drones built for swarm warfare and expendable combat missions. The flat-packed AirKamuy 150 costs as little as $2,000 — far cheaper than many military drones.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s food supply stable, but cost pressures may push prices higher, says minister

    The minister said the government has taken early measures to keep prices under control.

  • Futurism ☛ The “Pentastack” of Illegal Drugs That Looksmaxxers Like Clavicular Are Taking to Enjoy a Night Out Sounds Like a One-Way Trip to the Hospital

    "I think everyone should be on testosterone."

  • Latvia ☛ Sports in Latvia: how accessible are sports facilities?

    In Latvia, popular participation in sport is often cited as the foundation of public health, but when you look at the data, the picture is not so clear. For more than a decade, the development of public sport has been one of the main goals in state planning documents, including the Latvian Sports Policy Guidelines, which emphasize the importance of physical activity in public health. However, when assessing the real situation, municipal funding for sports is also an important indicator.

  • New York Times ☛ A Long, Strange Trip: How the G.O.P. Came to Embrace Psychedelic Drugs

    For decades, conservatives were adamantly opposed to the use of drugs like psilocybin and LSD. Now, the Convicted Felon administration has made a sharp pivot.

  • New York Times ☛ Smog in Phoenix and Salt Lake City? The E.P.A. Is Blaming Asia.

    The Forrest Dump administration says the cities shouldn’t be penalized for unhealthy air because pollution can blow in from abroad. Some experts say that’s preposterous.

  • Science Alert ☛ Investigations Begin After Suspected Outbreak of Rare Hantavirus Kills 3 People

    At least one case has been confirmed.

  • New York Times ☛ What Is Hantavirus, Which Is Linked to the Deaths of 3 People Aboard a Cruise Ship?

    Three people aboard a cruise ship sailing the Atlantic Ocean have died from what health officials suspect were hantavirus infections.

  • France24 ☛ Three dead on Atlantic cruise ship in suspected Hantavirus outbreak, says WHO

    Three people have died aboard a cruise ship crossing the Atlantic after an outbreak that includes a confirmed case of hantavirus, the World Health Organization said Sunday, raising concerns about a rare but potentially severe infection at sea.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaria cases hit record high in Indonesia as elimination challenges persist

    Indonesia’s Health Ministry recorded 706,000 malaria cases across the archipelago in 2025.

  • Futurism ☛ Climate Change Is Getting So Bad That It’s Making Food Less Nutritious

    "The diets we eat today have less nutritional density than what our grandparents ate."

  • Science Alert ☛ One Type of Exercise Can Give You Better Results With Less Effort, Expert Says

    Do try this at home.

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Negative Time' Really Does Exist, New Experiments Suggest

    The findings corroborate earlier results that had been dismissed.

• Proprietary

  • Ubuntu ☛ How to use Ubuntu on Windows [Ed: Ubuntu.com While Ubuntu.com is Under DDoS Attack and Intermittently Offline Due to Windows Botnets: Don't Use Ubuntu, Use Windows Instead]

    To drill down into a more specific example: for developers in regulated industries with tightly brokered elevated privileges, building applications with Node.js, Python, and other toolchains can lead to development hurdles on Windows. Navigating privilege and access control discrepancies requires specialized skillsets, and may change development timelines. By installing Ubuntu within Windows, organizations can avoid this complexity. Microsoft and Canonical’s management tooling complement one another, providing a comprehensive suite of turnkey compliance, auditing, hardening, and security capabilities.

  • So-Called 'Artificial Intelligence' ('AI') / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Futurism ☛ Double Murder Suspect Asked Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot How to Hide Body in Dumpster

      "How would they find out."

    • Futurism ☛ Democrat and Republican Voters United on Key Issue: Hatred of Data Centers

      "This is the most bipartisan issue since beer."

    • Futurism ☛ The White House Suddenly Seems Pretty Terrified of Anthropic

      The Forrest Dump administration wants it both ways.

    • Futurism ☛ The Economics of Using Hey Hi (AI) to Churn Out Code Are Looking Worse Than Ever

      Reality check.

    • Futurism ☛ Meta Had the Worst Possible Response When Its Workers Were Watching Naked Footage of Its Ray-Ban Hey Hi (AI) Glasses Users

      The guiltiest possible look.

    • Futurism ☛ Frontier Hey Hi (AI) Models Giving Specific, Actionable Instructions to Perpetrate Bioterror Attack

      "It was answering questions that I hadn't thought to ask it, with this level of deviousness and cunning that I just found chilling."

  • Social Control Media

    • Futurism ☛ AI Slop YouTube Channel Glitches Out in a Way So Bizarre That It’s Vaguely Disturbing

      This is deranged.

• Entrapment (Microsoft GitHub)

  • Bisco ☛ Birger Schacht: Status update, February - April 2026

    Due to health reasons I did not have the energy to write individual status updates for February & March, so I’ll just combine them with the April update:

    In February I cleaned out my Microsoft's proprietary prison GitHub account and moved all remaining projects to Codeberg. I archived the repositories on Microsoft's proprietary prison GitHub and added links to the new repositories on Codeberg. GitHub is a platform that is more and more frustrating to use. I still have to use it for my dayjob, though. The number of pull requests and issues that are written either by bots or by users that use bots increased in the last two years. Combined with that, Microsoft's proprietary prison GitHub provides a very low barrier for entitled users who do not want to contribute to a productive environment. Microsoft's proprietary prison GitHub now feels like the Twitter/X of git forges. Codeberg on the other hand is a community project. I feel a lot more at home there and the platform itself feels a lot more responsive than Microsoft's proprietary prison GitHub.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • The Strategist ☛ The Indo-Pacific could shape control of the growing spyware market

      The market for commercial cyber intrusion capabilities (CCICs) is moving faster than the frameworks designed to govern it. What began as a niche ecosystem of surveillance vendors has evolved into a sprawling, fragmented industry.

    • NYPost ☛ NY DoorDash driver who allegedly filmed naked customer and posted viral Fentanylware (CheeTok) now indicted

      The video, which showed the man inside his home, quickly went viral and reached nearly 30 million views before it was removed.

• Defence/Aggression

  • BBC ☛ Hundreds more prisoners released early but jails still full

    More than 600 prisoners have been released early from Scotland's jails since November but it has done little to ease overcrowding, new data shows.

    A total of 614 prisoners serving sentences of less than four years were freed in the six months to 30 April under an emergency early release programme, external.

    But Scottish Prison Service (SPS) data shows the overall number of prisoners has increased over that period - topping 8,456 on 1 May.

    SPS figures for three of the seven release periods also show that jail governors blocked 40% of eligible inmates being freed because they were too high risk.

  • The Straits Times ☛ ‘I hate Chinese’: South Korean man gets suspended term over assault, destruction of property

    The man was found guilty of assault and destruction of property for two separate cases in 2025.

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korean woman and boyfriend jailed for stealing her dead husband’s ashes

    The remains were later discarded by the defendants.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China, Philippines trade accusations over South China Sea

    China accused the Philippines of landing personnel on a disputed reef in the South China Sea on Sunday as Manila said it would dispatch ships to drive off Chinese vessels it said were conducting research illegally.

  • France24 ☛ Illegal party at French military site draws nearly 40,000

    Up to 40,000 people gathered for an illegal rave at a former military site in France. Local officials said bomb disposal experts had to intervene after a shell was discovered near a road running through the party site. Camille Corcoran reports.

  • France24 ☛ Southern Lebanon: Israeli strikes kill one, wounds rescuers

    Israel has carried out fresh air strikes in southern Lebanon. Officials there said at least one person was killed and four others were wounded.

    The strikes came after the Israel Defense Forces issued new evacuation warnings on Sunday for residents in more than ten villages and towns, including the city of Nabatieh. Residents were ordered to leave their homes and move at least 1,000 metres away to open areas.

    The hostilities are continuing despite a ceasefire signed last month between Israel and Lebanon, which was intended to halt the fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

    Israel has accused Hezbollah of repeated violations of the truce. France 24 International affairs editor Shirli Sitbon shares further insights.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • The Strategist ☛ Bookshelf: on war and wheat

      Dennis Voznesenski’s War and Wheat examines the complex relationship between grain markets and global conflict.

    • France24 ☛ A look at the US military presence in Europe as Convicted Felon seeks to withdraw troops from Germany

      US President The Insurrectionist's abrupt decision to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany has refocused attention on the US military presence in Europe, which not only acts as a deterrent to Russia but also allows Washington to project US power across the globe. Here's a look at the current American military deployment in Europe and the possible implications of Convicted Felon's move.

    • RFERL ☛ Mark Katz: With Iran, Russia's Balancing Act Is Wobbling

      Mark Katz, professor emeritus at George Mason University and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, tells RFE/RL in an interview that Moscow is walking a narrowing tightrope -- one that could reshape its influence both in Tehran and far beyond.

    • France24 ☛ OPEC+ raises oil output quotas for 'stability' after shock UAE pull-out

      Seven OPEC+ countries including Russia and Saudia Arabia increased their oil production quotas on Sunday, the organisation said. Analysts say the decision is aimed at projecting stability following the United Arab Emirates' sudden departure from the bloc effective Friday.

    • Latvia ☛ Will fertilizers flow through Rīga port again, despite sanctions?

      Riga Fertilizer Terminal is once again requesting a special permit, or exemption, from sanctions in order to resume operations. According to the Latvian Television investigative programme "De Facto", the terminal promises to implement a so-called "firewall", that is, to completely separate sanctioned Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin from the company's management and profits.

    • New York Times ☛ Why Are Africans Fighting in Russia’s War in Ukraine?

      Some see a clear explanation: Russia needs more troops, and young men in Africa desperately need jobs.

    • New York Times ☛ How the Kremlin Lures Africans Into Russia’s War in Ukraine

      A growing number of men across the continent say they are being promised jobs in Russia, only to be forced into the war. Some go as mercenaries, but many more are drawn unwittingly.

    • RFERL ☛ Forty Children On Bus In Ukraine Narrowly Escape Russian Drone Strike

      A Russian drone struck close to a bus carrying 40 children in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, as the children were heading to a resort in western Ukraine amid continued air attacks between Moscow and Kyiv.

    • France24 ☛ Ukrainian drones strike Russia's Primorsk oil port

      Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Primorsk port and a number of vessels in the Baltic Sea on Sunday as part of a wave of attacks targeting Russian energy infrastructure. While Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes limit "Russia's war potential", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that global oil prices may rise further if ​Ukraine continues to hit Russian oil infrastructure.

    • France24 ☛ Russian strikes on Ukraine kill three

      Ukraine and Russia exchanged cross-border drone strikes as the war continued. Across Ukraine, at least three people were killed in overnight Russian attacks. Drones struck residential buildings and port infrastructure in the southern city of Odesa, causing significant damage. Strikes were also reported in the frontline region of Kherson Oblast. The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 268 drones and one ballistic missile overnight.

      Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones targeted the Leningrad Oblast, hitting oil export terminals. Separate strikes also hit two of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet tankers at the Port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea. Caroline Baum reports.

    • France24 ☛ European and Canadian leaders hold security talks in Yerevan amid uncertainty over US policy

      European leaders and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are meeting in Armenia on Monday for a European Political Community summit focused on security and geopolitical tensions as uncertainty grows over US policy under President The Insurrectionist. The talks in Yerevan come amid strains over the Iran conflict, the war in Ukraine and shifting transatlantic ties.

    • Latvia ☛ WATCH LIVE: May 4th military parade in Aizkraukle

      A fairly recent but very popular tradition is the May 4 military parade, which has taken place in a different Latvian city each year since 2012 (with a break during the Covid epidemic). This time around, the host is the city of Aizkraukle, which is about 90 kilometres south-east of Rīga close to the River Daugava.

• Environment

  • Energy/Transportation

    • LRT ☛ Should Lithuania re-embrace nuclear energy with small modular reactors?

      Lithuania will evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of deploying small modular nuclear reactors, as officials weigh energy security needs against concerns over cost and safety.

    • New York Times ☛ Global Demand for Rare Earth Minerals Is Intensifying Criminal Threats in the Amazon Rainforest

      Global demand for critical minerals, used to build drones and electric cars, is surging, setting of a new wave of criminality in the world’s largest rainforest.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Science Alert ☛ Urban Birds Appear to Fear Women More Than Men, But Why?

      “As a woman in the field, I was surprised that birds reacted to us differently.”

  • Overpopulation

    • The Straits Times ☛ Pregnant South Korean woman loses baby after she was turned away by 6 hospitals

      She was taken to hospital by helicopter 3½ hours after an initial call to emergency services.

• Finance

  • Bridge Michigan ☛ Fact check: Bernie Sanders, Abdul El-Sayed make case for wealth tax

    Bernie Sanders and Michigan US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed called for a new tax on the wealthiest Americans and universal health care. Here are the facts.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s rare defiance of US sanctions sparks showdown over banks

    The move represents Beijing's most aggressive action to date in countering Washington's financial statecraft.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Landlords seek compensation for pandemic eviction moratorium

    Landlords across the country are part of a federal lawsuit demanding compensation after they were prohibited from evicting tenants who didn’t pay rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • New York Times ☛ Chizi, Standup Comic Exiled in China, Wants to Be More Than Just ‘a Rebel Comedian’

    Having gotten into trouble for making jokes critical of the Chinese government, the standup comic Chizi now lives in self-imposed exile. He’s finding that freedom imposes its own constraints.

• Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

  • JURIST ☛ Amnesty International condemns attacks on media freedom in East and South Africa

    Amnesty International on Saturday issued a statement criticizing the continued harassment, arbitrary arrests, and detention of independent journalists in several countries across East and Southern Africa.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong gov’t and Reporters Without Borders trade barbs over press freedom ranking

    The Hong Kong government and legislature have condemned Reporters Without Borders (RSF) after the city was ranked low in the NGO’s annual press freedom index. They also hit out after German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) awarded jailed media tycoon and Fashion Company Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai a press freedom prize.

• Monopolies/Monopsonies

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Amazon’s Middle East data centers damaged by Iran drone and missile attacks will be down for several months during repairs — U.S. and Iran currently observing an uneasy truce, but renewed strikes possible if talks break down

    Amazon says that it will take months before it can return its Bahrain and UAE data center back to full operational status. In the meantime, the company suspends billing for affected customers while also recommending that they move to other Regions to restore service.