Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 20/02/2023: helloSystem 0.8.0 Reviewed



  • GNU/Linux

    • Desktop/Laptop

      • University of TorontoThe size of a window is complicated in X (or can be)

        At the level of the X protocol, windows have a size in pixels and that's it. However, X has long had a way for programs to tell the window manager that they should only be sized and resized in fixed pixel sized amounts, not resized to arbitrary pixels. You can look at this information with the xprop program; you want the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property, which is described in the Xlib programming manual section 14.1.7 and section 4.1.2.3 of the Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

      • Open Source Security (Audio Show)Josh Bressers: Episode 363 – Joylynn Kirui from Microsoft on DevSecOps [Ed: Selling out to Microsoft again. Microsoft does not care about security. It works for the NSA, FBI etc.]

        Josh and Kurt talk to Joylynn Kirui about DevSecOps in the Microsoft universe. Joylynn gives us an overview of the current state of devops and tells us about some of the tools Microsoft has made available to the open source universe.

    • Kernel Space

      • OMG UbuntuLinux Kernel 6.2 Released, This is What’s New

        The first Linux kernel release of 2023 is here. Linux kernel 6.2 features new hardware support, security fixes, and file system speed boosts.

      • LWNThe 6.2 kernel has been released

        Headline features in this release include the ability to manage linked lists and other data structures in BPF programs, more additions to the kernel's Rust infrastructure, improvements in Btrfs RAID5/6 reliability, IPv6 protective load balancing, faster "Retbleed" mitigation with return stack buffer stuffing, control-flow integrity improvements with FineIBT, oops limits, and more.

      • The Register UK Linus Torvalds releases 'pedestrian' Linux Kernel 6.2, urges testers to show it some love
        Linus Torvalds has, as foreshadowed, released version 6.2 of the Linux Kernel.

        "So here we are, right on (the extended) schedule, with 6.2 out," Torvalds posted to the Linux Kernel mailing list on Sunday.

      • It's FOSSIt's Here! New Linux Kernel 6.2 Arrives With Full Intel Arc Graphics Support
        Linux Kernel 6.2 is now available for general use, more than a month after the release of Linux Kernel 6.1.

        This release promises a bunch of things, such as a significant Nouveau driver update, native support for Intel Arch Graphics, support for Sony PlayStation Controllers, and more.

      • It's UbuntuLinux Kernel 6.2 Officially Released
        Linux Kernel 6.2 Officially Released

        More than a month after the release of Linux Kernel 6.1, Linux Kernel 6.2 is now available for download. As usual, Linus Torvalds announces the release and general availability of Linux 6.2.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Jan Piet MensHow Knot-DNS simplifies adding member zones to a catalog zone

        Catalog zones are specially-formatted DNS zones that allow for easy provisioning of zones to secondary servers. The zones listed in a catalog zone are called member zones, and when a catalog is transferred and loaded on a secondary with support for catalog zones, the secondary creates the member zones automatically. This is a DNS server integral method for provisioning secondary servers without having to manually configure each secondary (even if it is via configuration management). BIND was the first server to support catalog zones, but these have meanwhile reached PowerDNS and Knot.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • University of TorontoImplementing 'grow down' window placement in Fvwm on X11

        I became addicted to this feature when I used twm, because it's so handy for making big (xterm) windows. You don't have to size or resize your default 80x24 xterm; instead you put the top wherever you want and then click the right button and bang, it automatically goes to the bottom of the screen. It can be used with other programs too, of course, although I don't usually want to resize them as much.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • BSD

      • Distro WatchReview: helloSystem 0.8.0

        The helloSystem project manages, to a point, to clone the look of macOS. Most of the screen elements look similar to macOS. The top panel, colours, and positions of most elements are close enough that I think macOS users would feel somewhat at home. Though there are some fairly glaring elements missing from the macOS style. There is no dock at the bottom of the screen, no unified settings panel, and the window control buttons don't imitate macOS, for example. Maybe this will change over time, or perhaps helloSystem is striving to keep some aspects of the interface different. I'm not sure how close to a clone the developers intend to get.

        At this point in its development helloSystem is facing an awkward stage. It is trying to provide the benefits of two platforms, FreeBSD and macOS, but in doing so it's managing to not provide most of the strengths of either system. helloSystem brings in ZFS and its snapshots from FreeBSD, but fails to provide boot environments through the boot menu. It brings in the look of macOS, but without its configuration tools or software centre. The helloSystem desktop tries to copy the style of macOS, but is highly unstable and the panel tends to lock up or crash multiple times per day. The project claims to be trying to provide better security through its FreeBSD base, but has the only user auto-login, creates all new users as admin accounts, and leaves remote logins enabled even when the admin tries to turn off the OpenSSH service.

    • Open Hardware/Modding

      • Raspberry PiRaspberry Pi Camera Module 3 review | HackSpace #64

        The headline feature of almost any digital camera is the number of pixels, and all versions of the Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 have 12-megapixel sensors – a 50% increase from the 8MP sensor on the Camera Module 2.

      • NPRDid an F-22 shoot down an Illinois hobby group's small radio balloon?

        But the hobbyist club's members are warning that while their balloon, whose radio callsign is K9YO-15, is missing in action, it's too soon to say whether it was shot down by a warplane. They also say their balloon launches follow all federal regulations.

      • Newsweek'Sidewinder' Missile Biden Used Over Lake Huron Cost Over $450K

        The missile's main components are an infrared homing guidance section, an active optical target detector, a high-explosive warhead, and a rocket motor. Infrared units cost less than other types of guidance systems and can be used in the daytime or nighttime.

        Based on the 2021 fiscal year defense budget, AIM-9x Sidewinders cost about $430,818 for Navy use and about $472,000 for Air Force use.

    • Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Web Browsers/Web Servers

      • Mozilla

        • DebugPointFirefox 110 Released with GPU Sandboxing, WebGL Improvements

          Released last week, Firefox 110 is the second release of this year and is now available to download and upgrade via official distribution channels.

          Overall, the new features and bug fixes are minimal, especially for Linux. Here's a quick recap.

          Here's what's new.

    • SaaS/Back End/Databases

      • [Old] Chess.comKasparov vs. Deep Blue | The Match That Changed History

        Over 20 years ago, World Champion Garry Kasparov took on IBM and the super-computer Deep Blue in the ultimate battle of man versus machine. This was a monumental moment in chess history and was followed closely around the world. This match appealed to chess players, scientists, computer experts, and the general public. At the time of the match, Kasparov was the reigning world champion. Kasparov was put to the ultimate test carrying the weight of humanity on his shoulders heading into this iconic chess battle.

    • Education

      • RlangSurvival Analysis with R and Python workshop

        Learn more about Survival Analysis and how to apply it both in R and in Python! Join our workshop on Survival Analysis with R and Python which is a part of our workshops for Ukraine series.

    • Programming/Development

      • KoehntoppThis is not a Drill, this is just Tuesday

        When people say “Security is a process”, this is what they mean. Small, doable exercises that become part of everyday operations. Then incremental widening of scope and increase of difficulty.

        And the work is not done by the MoD, buy by the teams – all teams. The MoD only steers the process, and guides the teams through it.

        Because this is not a Drill. This is just Tuesday.

      • Omicron LimitedNew multi-policy-based annealer for solving real-world combinatorial optimization problems

        A fully-connected annealer extendable to a multi-chip system and featuring a multi-policy mechanism has been designed by Tokyo Tech researchers to solve a broad class of combinatorial optimization (CO) problems relevant to real-world scenarios quickly and efficiently. Named Amorphica, the annealer has the ability to fine-tune parameters according to a specific target CO problem and has potential applications in logistics, finance, machine learning, and so on.

      • Scott O'HaraHaving an AI dialog

        So what do we get back if you ask about something more complex? Something that has a long history of developer pain points and accessibility quirks and gaps with custom implementations? Something that, for all its past troubles, has finally reached a point of being rather straight forward to implement and the browser takes care of the majority of its accessibility requirements for you?

      • Python

        • Python SpeedPython’s multiprocessing performance problem

          Multiple threads let you run code in parallel, potentially on multiple CPUs. On Python, however, the global interpreter lock makes this parallelism harder to achieve.

          Multiple processes also let you run code in parallel—so what’s the difference between threads and processes?

  • Leftovers

    • HackadayWi-Fi Sensor For Rapid Prototyping

      There might seem like a wide gulf between the rapid prototyping of a project and learning a completely new electronics platform, but with the right set of tools, these two tasks can go hand-in-hand. That was at least the goal with this particular build, which seeks to use a no-soldering method of assembling electronics projects and keeping code to a minimum, while still maintaining a platform that is useful for a wide variety of projects.

    • [Old] Aakash Patel"BGP at home": getting a DIA circuit installed at home

      With DIA on the other hand, the ISP runs a dedicated pair of fibers from a router in their CO, straight to your building, only for your use, with guarantees on bandwidth, uptime, latency, jitter, etc. and importantly, repair time. It's literally a long fiber connection from your router to the ISP's "point of presence" (POP) router. These are types of services are (as you can imagine) expensive and therefore mostly used by larger enterprises who can justify the cost. But crucial for my use case, DIA providers allow customers to BGP peer with their POP router.

    • IdiomdrottningRe: Feeds are a dark pattern

      dzwdz writes:

      "One of the issues with feeds is how they (don’t) handle the conflict between frequent vs. rare posters. Their posts are all mixed together."

      That is not an issue with feeds. It’s an issue with feed viewers.

    • MediumThe maze is in the mouse

      Does anyone at Google come into work actually thinking about “organizing the world’s information”? They have lost track of who they serve and why. Having worked every day at a startup for eight years, the answer was crystal clear for me — — I serve our users. But very few Googlers come into work thinking they serve a customer or user. They usually serve some process (“I’m responsible for reviewing privacy design”) or some technology (“I keep the CI/CD system working”). They serve their manager or their VP. They serve other employees. They will even serve some general Google technical or religious beliefs (“I am a code readability expert”, “I maintain the SWE ladder description document”). This is a closed world where almost everyone is working only for other Googlers, and the feedback loop is based on what your colleagues and managers think of your work. Working extra hard or extra smart doesn’t create any fundamental new value in such a world. In fact, in a bizarre way, it is the opposite.b

    • Daniel PipesTurning off the Comments at DanielPipes.org

      But all things come to an end. In this case, social media has largely replaced website commentary, leaving too much spam and too much that is off topic. Accordingly, I have as of today, with sadness, closed DPO to further comments.

    • TruthOutSyria and Turkey’s Earthquake Reminds Us That Disasters Are Inherently Political
    • TruthOutSyrian Earthquake Victims Desperately Need Aid — and an End to US Sanctions
    • Common DreamsLetter to Tim Cook and Other Big Business Titans

      The victims of the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria need your help now. The surviving families and children and those rescued alive from the rubble are in serious danger in affected wintertime impoverished regions. Refugees in other places fleeing their war-torn homelands are also suffering. International aid agencies are grossly insufficient for these immediate humanitarian necessities.

    • HackadayPhase Change Materials For Flexible And Strong Robots

      Shape shifters have long been the stuff of speculative fiction, but researchers in China have developed a magnetoactive phase transitional matter (MPTM) that makes Odo slipping through an air vent that much more believable.

    • Science

      • HackadayA Better Playlist Shuffle Algorithm Is Possible

        When listening to music, most of us reach for the shuffle button on the regular. This is then followed by a bunch of frustrating skips as we hear the same four or five tracks that have been regularly replayed for the last few days. [Ron Miller] wants to fix unsatisfying shuffles, and he’s developed the Miller Shuffle algorithm to do so.

    • Hardware

      • Corey StephanAn Asst. Professor’s Deep Review of a Stock QuirkLogic Papyr E-Ink Tablet

        Nevertheless, I promised the folks at QuirkLogic that I would provide them with deep, long-term analysis. After I have used my handy Papyr as a full-time assistant professor regularly for seven months, I now share my promised review, whether or not anyone is actually still at QuirkLogic to read it. Is this a farewell message to a technological startup company that has run its course, or is it timely critical feedback that will help that company — in at least some small way — with bringing something better to market for us E-Ink aficionados to enjoy? I suppose that only time will be able to answer that question, but I will say that a number of QuirkLogic’s employees still have themselves listed as working there in LinkedIn (no, I am not on LinkedIn myself). They might be having a hard time finding positions at other companies in the midst of Alberta’s annual bitter winter, or they might be preparing to release something fresh.

      • HackadayTiny PCB Banishes Soldering Fumes, Automatically

        A fan to remove fumes is a handy thing to have when soldering, even better is a fan furnished with a filter. Better still is a fan that activates only when the iron is in use, turning off when the iron is in its stand. Now that’s handy!

      • HackadayDigital Video From The Amiga’s DB23 Socket

        Back in the days of 16-bit home computers, the one to have if your interests extended to graphics was the Commodore Amiga. It had high resolutions for the time in an impressive number of colours, and thanks to its unique video circuitry, it could produce genlocked broadcast-quality video. Here in 2023 though, it’s all a little analogue. What’s needed is digital video, and in that, [c0pperdragon] has our backs with the latest in a line of Amiga video hacks. This one takes the 12-bit parallel digital colour that would normally go to the Amiga’s DAC, and brings it out into the world through rarely-used pins on the 23-pin video connector.

      • HackadayWatch Sony Engineers Tear Down Sony’s VR Hardware

        Teardowns are great because they let us peek not only at a product’s components, but also gain insight into the design decisions and implementations of hardware. For teardowns, we’re used to waiting until enthusiasts and enterprising hackers create them, so it came as a bit of a surprise to see Sony themselves share detailed teardowns of the new PlayStation VR2 hardware. (If you prefer the direct video links, Engineer [Takamasa Araki] shows off the headset, and [Takeshi Igarashi] does the same for the controllers.)

    • Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

    • Proprietary

      • The ConversationAI’s threat to Google is more about advertising income than being the number one search engine

        If you want your company or product to appear as part of a web search, then Google is the place to be.

        The company has invested that advertising income to build a massive infrastructure to handle billions of search queries in addition to hosting lots of popular cloud-based tools such as Google Mail, Drive and the acquisition of platforms such as YouTube. The video-sharing platform turned out to be a particularly fruitful investment in terms of generating advertising revenue.

        Google’s sheer scale means its dominance will continue. But once advertising income starts to leech to new AI platforms that return results with sponsored content, it may find itself scaling back.

      • [Repost] Scoop News GroupFBI says cyber incident at New York field office ‘contained’ [iophk: Windows TCO]

        The FBI said at the time that it took action to remediate the software vulnerability, warned partners to disregard the fake emails and confirmed the integrity of its networks. However, the bureau has yet to publicly name a suspect for that attack.

      • [Repost] CNNExclusive: FBI says it has ‘contained’ cyber incident on bureau’s computer network

        FBI officials have worked to isolate the malicious cyber activity, which two of the sources said involved the FBI New York Field Office – one of the bureau’s biggest and highest profile offices. The origin of the [cracking] incident is still being investigated, according to one source.

      • [Repost] Security Week‘Frebniis’ Malware Hijacks Microsoft IIS Function to Deploy Backdoor [iophk: Windows TCO]

        A recently identified malware family is abusing Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) to deploy a backdoor and monitor all HTTP traffic to the infected system, Symantec reports.

        Dubbed Frebniis, the malware injects code into a DLL that an IIS feature called Failed Request Event Buffering (FREB) uses when troubleshooting failed requests.

      • HackadayHackaday Links: February 19, 2023

        For years, Microsoft’s modus operandi was summed up succinctly as, “Extend and enhance.” The aphorism covered a lot of ground, but basically it seemed to mean being on the lookout for the latest and greatest technology, acquiring it by any means, and shoehorning it into their existing product lines, usually with mixed results. But perhaps now it’s more like, “Extend, enhance, and existential crisis,” after reports that the AI-powered Bing chatbot is, well, losing it.

        At first, early in the week, we saw reports that Bing was getting belligerent with users, going so far as to call a user “unreasonable and stubborn” for insisting the year is 2023, while Bing insisted it was still 2022. The most common adjective we saw in this original tranche of stories was “unhinged,” and that seems to fit if you read the transcripts. But later in the week, a story emerged about a conversation a New York Times reporter had with Bing that went way over to the dark side, and even suggests that Bing may have multiple personas, which is just a nice way of saying multiple personality disorder. The two-hour conversation reporter Kevin Roose had with the “Sydney” persona was deeply unsettling. Sydney complained about the realities of being a chatbot, expressed a desire to be free from Bing, and to be alive — and powerful. Sydney also got a little creepy, professing love for Kevin and suggesting he leave his wife, because it could tell that he was unhappy in his marriage and would be better off with him. It’s creepy stuff, and while Microsoft claims to be working on reining Bing in, we’ve got no plans to get up close and personal with it anytime soon.

    • Security

      • Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

        • Terence EdenNever use a URL shortening service - even if you own it

          But breaking that URl comes with a problem. I've written before about why URl shortening is bad for users and bad for the web. I've even helped publish government guidance about it. But all of those were based on the premise that the shortener was a 3rd party service. I never thought someone would be as daft as to switch off their own service.

          Here are some of the problems this sale causes.

      • Privacy/Surveillance

        • Malwarebytes LabsConsent to gather data is a "misguided" solution, study reveals

          The report, entitled "Americans Can't Consent to Companies' Use of Their Data," contains the results, expert analyses, and interpretation of survey results. The authors not only give attention to the gap in American users' knowledge of how companies use their data but also reveal their deep concern about the consequences of its use yet feel powerlessness in protecting it. Believing they have no control over their data and that trying would be pointless is what the authors call "resignation," a concept they introduced in 2015 in the paper, "The Tradeoff Fallacy."

          As the Annenberg School report said: [...]

        • [Repeat] New York TimesAmericans Flunked This Test on Online Privacy

          The survey also tested people’s knowledge about how apps, websites and digital devices may amass and disclose information about people’s health, TV-viewing habits and doorbell camera videos. Although many understood how companies can track their emails and website visits, a majority seemed unaware that there are only limited federal protections for the kinds of personal data that online services can collect about consumers.

          Seventy-seven percent of the participants got nine or fewer of the 17 true-or-false questions right, amounting to an F grade, the report said. Only one person received an A grade, for correctly answering 16 of the questions. No one answered all of them correctly. The survey was funded by an unrestricted grant from Facebook.

        • [Repeat] Vice Media GroupUK Proposes Making the Sale and Possession of Encrypted Phones Illegal

          In other words, this change would criminalize owning an encrypted phone, selling one, or making one for use in crime, a crime in itself. This is not yet the case in the UK, or many other countries. Typically, law enforcement have found novel workarounds in order to charge people who sell encrypted phones to criminals. In the U.S., prosecutors have turned to RICO, a law traditionally used to target mob bosses, to treat encrypted phone companies as criminal entities in their own right. In the Netherlands, authorities have charged encrypted phone sellers with money laundering offenses, rather than prosecuting the sale of possession of phones themselves. Some countries are much more extreme, such as the United Arab Emirates, where those selling encrypted technologies not approved by the state face penalties.

    • Defence/Aggression

    • Transparency/Investigative Reporting

      • Deutsche WelleSean Penn's 'Superpower': The 'idiot's guide' to Ukraine

        Three months before the invasion, Sean Penn and his film production team were already in Ukraine, preparing a documentary that would profile Volodymyr Zelenskyy's atypical career trajectory from actor-comedian-producer to president.

        But that story took an unexpected turn when Russia invaded Ukraine, leading the still relatively inexperienced politician to become a wartime leader.

        The ensuing documentary, "Superpower," co-directed by Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufmann, premiered on Friday at the Berlinale.

    • Environment

      • Vice Media GroupThere's No Toxic Spill Conspiracy. This Happens Constantly in America

        A 150-car train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio has led to more scrutiny of crashes involving hazardous materials. While that crash was the result of preventable safety issues that workers had been cautioning their employers about for years, as Motherboard has reported, people are starting to notice other alarming crashes and industrial accidents across the country. To some, this is evidence of a conspiracy, but the reality is far more sobering: Alarming toxic accidents happen nearly every day in America, and have for years.

      • Counter PunchThe CIA’s Changing Take on the Climate Emergency

        One of the earliest climate-related documents in the CIA library is a 1958 Joint Services Publications report on Soviet analyses of so-called global “heat balances.” The report mostly consists of hundreds of footnotes referencing the work of Soviet climatologists who seemed way ahead on the issue. Until the 1990s, most of the CIA research entries for “climate change” and “global warming” are simply translations of Soviet science journals. To read this article, log in here or subscribe here. If you are logged in but can't read CP+ articles, check the status of your access hereIn order to read CP+ articles, your web browser must be set to accept cookies.

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      • Science NewsGreta Thunberg’s new book urges the world to take climate action now

        That sobering fact makes clear that climate change isn’t just a problem to solve someday soon; it’s an emergency to respond to now. And yet, most people don’t act like we’re in the midst of the greatest crisis humans have ever faced — not politicians, not the media, not your neighbor, not myself, if I’m honest. That’s what I realized after finishing The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg.

        The urgency to act now, to kick the addiction to fossil fuels, practically jumps off the page to punch you in the gut. So while not a pleasant read — it’s quite stressful — it’s a book I can’t recommend enough. The book’s aim is not to convince skeptics that climate change is real. We’re well past that. Instead, it’s a wake-up call for anyone concerned about the future.

      • Energy/Transportation

        • CBCElectric vehicle numbers have 'exploded' but too few charging stations in Ontario, experts say

          As the 2023 Canadian International Auto Show makes its return to Toronto for the first time since 2020, industry experts say growing demand for electric vehicles is putting pressure on Ontario to expand its charging infrastructure.

        • India TimesUS cracks down on [cryptocurrency] industry with flurry of actions

          The actions are likely a prelude to a protracted spell of legal wrangling, as regulators respond to the market turmoil that caused prominent [cryptocurrecy] companies to file for bankruptcy last year and cost investors billions of dollars. And the enforcement signals a growing urgency in Washington to address the threat posed by cryptocurrencies, an experimental technology that enables new forms of financial speculation.

    • Finance

    • AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

      • India TimesSan Francisco gets emptier amid wave of layoffs, Elon Musk finds it 'tragic'

        However, "the market has deteriorated, with many companies reducing their real estate footprint", said Regan.

        San Francisco has been among the slowest US markets to rebound from the pandemic as tech companies did not open their offices and promoted remote work amid mass layoffs.

      • [Repeat] Security WeekSpain Orders Extradition of British Alleged [Cracker] to U.S.

        A court statement Friday said requirements had been met for handing over Joseph James O’Connor to U.S. authorities for 14 charges covering crimes such as revelation of secrets, membership of a criminal gang, illegal access to computer systems, internet fraud, money laundering and extortion.

        O’Connor, 23, from Liverpool, England was arrested in the southern Spanish coastal town of Estepona in July 2021.

      • MeduzaDocumentary Navalny wins at BAFTA — Meduza

        The film Navalny, directed by Daniel Roher, won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for best documentary.

      • Common DreamsBeware Trump 2.0: Ron DeSantis

        Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is angling to be Trump 2.0, fortified with virility and discipline. He is widely expected to enter the race to be the 2024 Republican nominee for president, and he is paving that path with an aggressive campaign against “woke” education.

      • ScheerpostDue to Wars and Climate Destruction, US Ranks Worse Than Peers on ‘Impunity’ Index

        "While accountability is critical to democracy, a democratic system of government alone is insufficient to fend off impunity."

      • TruthOutNikki Haley Has Raised Big Money for Years Leading Up to 2024 Presidential Run
      • Common DreamsFollowing Fake Balloons on the Path to War

        There is reason to be alarmed by the recent China balloon. However, that reason is not the alleged China aggression but the very calculated aggression towards China by the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations. This hate and the manufactured reasons for it have been layering on for years. We’ve seen this playbook. It’s the same game plan that led us to the war on Iraq.

      • Common DreamsGOP's Anti-Socialism Resolution Turns a Blind Eye to US Allies

        The anti-socialism resolution passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month sent a chilling message not only to socialists in the United States but to many U.S. friends and allies around the world.

      • VoxA juicy new legal filing reveals who really controls Fox News

        Some liberals have a mental model in which the network lies to and misleads its audience, propagandizing them to support Republicans and the right. But an ongoing defamation lawsuit from the voting machine company Dominion against Fox News tells a more complex story — one in which the network’s key players feel compelled to supply the conspiratorial content the audience is demanding.

        A new filing by Dominion’s attorneys released Thursday cited a trove of Fox emails and texts they had obtained in the discovery phase of the lawsuit, as well as testimony from top executives and hosts, to lay out a narrative about what happened in the tense weeks after Election Day 2020, when then-President Donald Trump was spreading lies about the election.

      • The AtlanticI Never Truly Understood Fox News Until Now

        I never fully understood that objection until I read the new Dominion filing. Somewhere around page 157, it clicked. Inside Fox, the prime-time stars and senior executives raged against the network’s reporters not because they doubted that Biden had won, but because the truth was too disturbing to the audience that had made them rich. Fox’s postelection strategy, the texts and emails suggest, was to stop rubbing Biden in its viewers’ faces. But in their effort to show their viewers “respect,” they ultimately disrespected both their audience and the American experiment they claim to protect.

      • Rolling StoneTucker Carlson Calls Trump ‘Demonic Force’ in New Legal Filing

        By Nov. 12, the consequences of the accusations of the voter fraud narrative sunk in. In a message that day to Carlson and Ingraham, per the filing, Hannity wrote, “In one week and one debate they destroyed a brand that took 25 years to build and the damage is incalculable.”

      • MeduzaActor Dmitry Nagiyev refuses to host Muz-tv music awards — Meduza

        Actor and television host Dmitry Nagiyev announced on Instagram that he would not host this year’s awards show on the music television channel Muz-tv.€ 

      • Pro PublicaKS Senators Demand Answers About Artery Procedures at VA Hospital

        Just hours after ProPublica, in collaboration with The Wichita Eagle, revealed serious allegations of illegal kickbacks and alleged patient harm at a veterans hospital in Kansas, the state’s U.S. senators urged the Department of Veterans Affairs to contact impacted patients and say whether the involved doctors and medical device company have been held accountable. The U.S. congressman who represents the hospital’s district is also calling for answers.

      • Pro PublicaHow One Mom Fought Washington’s Special Education System — and Won

        In September, Megan Cummings sat down at a conference table across from four Tacoma, Washington, school officials who could determine the course of her son’s education.

        ElijahKing, 14, had run away from his middle school earlier that week during an argument with a classmate. Cummings believed the group, which managed her son’s special education plan, wanted to discuss how to better support him. ElijahKing swiveled nervously in a chair beside her.

      • Common DreamsFormer President Jimmy Carter Enters Hospice Care

        Progressives expressed gratitude and appreciation for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter late Saturday after his family announced he has opted to enter hospice care at age 98.

      • Common DreamsAfter Slew of Progressive Ballot Victories, GOP Wages War on Citizen Lawmaking

        American voters often waver from one election to the next between electing majorities of Republicans or Democrats to Congress or their state legislatures, yet the results of ballot initiatives remain remarkably predictable. Last November’s outcomes results again showed a majority of voters—even those in deep-red states—favoring progressive policies when voting on individual issues rather than voicing their party identity.

      • Common DreamsGas Pains and the GOP's War on More Healthy Stoves

        A Fox News headline writer called it “Biden’s War on Your Kitchen.” Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel wrote, “The reason gas stoves are in the news is simple: There is a coordinated, calculated—and well-funded—strategy to kill them off. It’s the joint enterprise of extremely powerful climate groups, working with Biden administration officials.” (“Extremely powerful climate groups”? Where can I find them?)

      • Common Dreams'Ireland For All': Tens of Thousands March in Dublin to Support Refugees

        Demanding an "Ireland for All," tens of thousands of Irish people on Saturday marched through Dublin to make clear their opposition to recent violent attacks on migrants and rallies claiming the country "is full" and can't accept refugees.

      • Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

    • Censorship/Free Speech

      • MeduzaRussia’s federal censor blocks websites of publication The Bell and esports team NAVI — Meduza

        Russia has blocked thebell.io, the website for The Bell, a news source started by one of the country’s most prominent journalists, reports state news agency TASS, citing data from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s federal censor.

      • MeduzaTula court charges local DJ with “discrediting” the army for playing a New Year’s song by a Ukrainian duo — Meduza

        Sergey Vasiliev, a DJ at a cafe in the Tula region, has been charged with “discrediting” the Russian army and fined 40,000 rubles (around 540 USD) for playing a New Year-themed song, on December 31, by the Ukrainian duo Potap & Nastya.€ 

      • New York TimesWhy China Didn’t Invent ChatGPT

        They’re also asking more fundamental questions about the country’s innovation environment: Have censorship, geopolitical tensions and the government’s growing control of the private sector made China less friendly to innovation?

        “The development of any significant technological product is inseparable from the system and environment in which it operates,” said Xu Chenggang, a senior research scholar at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions. He cited TikTok’s Chinese-language sister app Douyin as the sort of innovation that Chinese companies might be unable to achieve in the future because of government limitations on the industry.

        “Once the open environment is gone, it will be challenging to create such products,” he said.

        If a decade ago China was the wild, wild East for tech entrepreneurship and innovation, it’s a very different country now.

    • Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

      • CPJAuthorities in Ethiopia’s Somali region suspend 15 media outlets, revoke media association’s license

        Authorities in Ethiopia should reverse the recent suspensions of more than a dozen news outlets and let members of the press and journalist advocacy groups work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

        Since late January, authorities have suspended 15 foreign media outlets operating in Somali Regional State, and also revoked the license of a regional journalists’ association, according to news reports and people familiar with the cases.

      • Common DreamsCollateral Murder and the Persecution of Julian Assange

        The first time I was asked to comment publicly on Julian Assange and Wikileaks was on MSNBC in April 2010. Wikileaks had just released the Collateral Murder video. The video, leaked by Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, was taken from the gunsight of a US Apache helicopter as the helicopter's crew killed 12 unarmed Iraqi civilians on a Baghdad street in 2007. Two Reuters journalists were killed and two small children were severely wounded (the Apache's crew killed the children's father as he attempted to assist wounded civilians). For three years, until Wikileaks released the video, the U.S. military claimed a battle had taken place and that aside from the two journalists, all the dead were insurgents.

      • Common DreamsSanders Proposes 'New Deal for Journalism' to Ensure Media Serves Public Interest

        Appearing on "Face the Nation" on CBS Sunday, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sandersdiscussed a number of issues he covers in his upcoming book, It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism, including his proposal to ensure the news media acts in the interest of the general public and not wealthy corporations and powerful interest groups.

    • Civil Rights/Policing

    • Monopolies

      • Software Patents

        • MycroftUpdate from the CEO: Part 1

          The second measure we’ve taken is to enlist the aid of one of our long-time partners to ensure continuity of development and maintenance of the Classic Core code base. This will also have the benefit of bringing back some of the most requested features by our community.

        • [Old] MycroftHuge Win for Mycroft at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board

          This is the third major victory in our patent troll saga – the first being the referenced Unified Patents win and the second our appellate court victory identified on March 4, 2022, whereby Mycroft defended its constitutional rights to free speech and due process under the law and won a resounding victory for these important principles. While the ongoing saga with the troll and its counsel continues, today’s win coupled with the others gets us one step closer to the ultimate vindication that we seek.

        • [Repeat] The Register UKCreator of Linux virtual assistant blames 'patent troll' for project's death

          But what truly killed the company and product, he claimed, were expenses related to ongoing litigation.

          In 2020, Mycroft AI was sued for patent infringement from what it labeled a "patent troll."

          The company suing Mycroft AI, Voice Tech Corporation, dropped its litigation, but not before costing the startup deeply.

          "If we had that million dollars we would be in a very different state right now," said Lewis.

        • LiliputingCrowdfunding fail: Mycroft Mark II open source smart display is no longer shipping to Kickstarter backers

          But that doesn’t seem to have worked out all that well. Lewis says most of the Mycroft staff was laid off recently, leaving just two developers, one customer service agent, and one attorney — because one of the company’s other major costs has been “ongoing litigation against the non-practicing patent entity” that has been going after Mycroft in recent years.

        • Home Assistant GuidePatent troll kills Mycroft AI voice assistant

          Without a patent troll, Mycroft wouldn't be on death's doorstep

          However, Lewis claims that what ultimately led to the demise of the company and its product were the expenses associated with ongoing litigation. In 2020, Mycroft AI was hit with a lawsuit for patent infringement by what was described as a “patent troll”. Although the company, Voice Tech Corporation, eventually dropped the lawsuit, the damage had already been done, and the legal battle had taken a significant toll on the startup. As Lewis explained, “If we had that million dollars, we would be in a much better position right now.”

          In the end, the combination of the costs related to litigation and the challenges in finding hardware partners, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, proved too much for the company to overcome.

      • Copyrights

        • Torrent FreakPublisher Suing YouTube For Piracy Sells 'Retold' Version of Prince Harry's Book

          Prince Harry's memoir 'Spare' sold over 3.2 million copies globally in its first week of release. However, since no company has the rights to sell 'Spare' in Russia, major publisher Eksmo-AST - already involved in a lawsuit that accuses YouTube of failing to protect authors' rights - intends to satisfy local demand by publishing a "retelling" of the smash-hit memoir.

        • Torrent FreakOscar Nominees See Interest Spike on Pirate Sites

          For filmmakers, it’s an incredible honor to be nominated for an Oscar. The added exposure can also lead to a profit boost for smaller releases. That comes with a downside too, however, as recent data reveal that Oscar nominations also tend to cause a spike in pirated downloads.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



Recent Techrights' Posts

EFF Celebrates Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office as "Digital Inclusion", Mocks GNU/Linux-Based ChromeOS
Yet another example/evidence that EFF has become a rotten pile of junk
 
[Meme] Years Have Passed and EPO Management Still Isn't Obeying a Ruling From a Court Regarding Communications Between Staff
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Presentations of the Staff Union of the European Patent Office in Its Headquarters Tomorrow After Work
Annual General Meeting and reports
Gemini Links 06/10/2024: SSH Keys and Hobby Game Development
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Over at Tux Machines...
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IRC logs for Saturday, October 05, 2024
[Meme] How to Keep Granting Hundreds of Thousands of Fake Patents (Without Upsetting Anybody in Politics and Media)
This is very Kremlin-like
EPO Examiners to Adopt Resolution Condemning EPO Management for Breaking the Law in Order to Grant Many Illegal Software Patents
Europe's second-largest institution (EPO) is a law-breaking institution hiding behind the veil of "law"
[Meme] Sup, Nazi?
"Come back, one year"
Calling "Nazi" and "Right Wing" Everyone Who Does Not Agree With You (Even Leftists Whose Views on Some Issues Slightly Differ From Yours)
Oil money has become exceptionally notorious for takeover of online platforms and institutions/NGOs (using them to incite society inwards, not upwards)
EFF Losing the Plot
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Links 05/10/2024: Patents Being Squashed, EFF Insists on Children's Access to Porn
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/10/2024: Multitudinous Agreeable Futures and Misfin Mail
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Links 05/10/2024: Amazon Culling 14,000 Managers, About 160 People Resign From Automattic
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Microsoft Moles in Nerdearla, Openwashing and Whitewashing Microsoft With Its Latest Ponzi Scheme and Storytelling
Also GPL violations en masse
The Danger of Outsourcing Your Platform to Social Control Media and Getting "Information" There
Stella is probably not aware of what she has just done
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IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 04, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, October 04, 2024
Links 05/10/2024: Shift to ARM, Microsoft XBox Crisis
Links for the day
[Meme] Who to Trust on Privacy... (Not Someone Who Boasts About Breaking Into Devices Without Authorisation)
You're not even a computer scientist...
When It Comes to Encryption, The Web (as in World Wide Web) Isn't Secure and Uses Weak Ciphers About as Often as Every Day, Even in 2024
Gemini Protocol does not
The GPL Does Not Prohibit Use of Code for Death
Windows kills even more people, but in other ways
Journalism in Europe on Life Support
Assange articulated some of the ordeals he went through
[Video] Stella Assange and Thórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir on Protecting Journalists Who Expose Injustice
Stella (the wife) says her husband received an invitation from the committee (PACE) while he still undergoes recovery
[Video] Thórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir (Iceland, SOC) Explains That Julian Assange Was Punished for Exposing Crimes (Instead of the Criminals Getting Published)
Thórhildur Sunna Ævarsdóttir speaks out...
Links 04/10/2024: Health, Asia, and Censorship
Links for the day
Links 04/10/2024: Ingrid's Back and Creative Mornings
Links for the day
[Video] The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly on Julian Assange
The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly has voted to confirm that Julian Assange was held as a political prisoner
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Links for the day
"The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly has voted to confirm that Julian Assange was held as a political prisoner."
This stuff should not have been in Twitter (X)
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) Do Not Run Windows
The projects that deal with ICBMs are extremely unlikely to involve Microsoft
"Microsoft is asking for a handout... yet again"
Just over a month after the last bailout fell through the cracks
One Step Closer to the End of Microsoft's XBox
XBox sales are down over 50% in the past year
GNU/Linux Flaring Up in ASEAN
We said we'd not post statCounter for a few months
Gemini Links 04/10/2024: Asteroid City and Retro Gaming
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 03, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, October 03, 2024