Linux kernel maintainers have backported a workaround to Linux 6.1.19 and Linux 6.2.6 from Linux 6.3-rc2 to fix system stuttering on some AMD machines. According to Phoronix, the updates were backported to older Linux 6 releases on Monday morning following the release of workaround on Linux 6.3-rc2 on Sunday.

The stuttering issue was noted by users with AMD Ryzen systems that were using outdated fTPM firmware. It only became an issue for Linux users after AMD’s fTPM hardware random number generator started being used by default. If you run a distro such as Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, you probably won’t be suffering from the issue because it uses the older Linux 5.19 kernel out-of-the-box.

Graphics Stack

=> ↺ Dave Airlie: vulkan video vp9 decode – radv update

While going over the AV1 a few people commented on the lack of VP9 and a few people said it would be an easier place to start etc.

Daniel Almeida at Collabora took a first pass at writing the spec up, and I decided to go ahead and take it to a working demo level.

Applications

=> ↺ Machine Learning in Linux: scikit-learn – machine learning library for Python

Scikit-learn is a machine learning library built on top of SciPy that supports supervised and unsupervised learning. It also provides various tools for model fitting, data preprocessing, model selection, model evaluation, and many other utilities. It’s accessible to everyone, and reusable in various contexts.

This is free and open source software.

=> ↺ Albert: The Smart and Efficient Linux Launcher for Your Desktop

App launchers can be helpful for users who frequently use multiple applications or execute commands on their Linux system. They can save time and increase productivity by reducing the need for users to navigate through menus or type out long commands.

Typically, app launchers provide a simple, searchable graphical user interface (GUI) where users can type the name of an application, and the launcher will present them with a list of matching apps. Once the user selects the desired application from the list, the launcher will launch the app.

When it comes to Linux, one of the most well-known names is Ulauncher. Along with it, however, one other piece of software that we have been using daily for years also deserves to be mentioned. Please, meet Albert.

=> ↺ Need a Simple Reminder App? Try Reminders for Linux

Need help staying on top of your to-do items? The Reminders app for Linux might be able to help.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ How to extract embedded images from a PDF

Hello, friends. In this simple post, you will learn how to extract embedded images from a PDF. Occasionally, it is necessary to extract the images that are inside a PDF file. This may seem difficult, but it is easier than you think.

=> ↺ How to Install and Run Node.js on All Linux Distributions (Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch)

Here you will find four different ways to install Node.js and the npm package manager. Which one will you choose? Node.js is not a programming language but a JavaScript runtime for backend development, and that was made in the Chrome v8 JavaScript engine.

=> ↺ How to set up Wireguard on Ubuntu 22.04

WireGuard is a communication protocol and free and open-source software that implements encrypted virtual private networks, and was designed with the goals of ease of use, high speed performance, and low attack surface. It is a lightweight Virtual Private Network (VPN) that supports IPv4 and IPv6 connections.

=> ↺ How To Install Passbolt Password Manager on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Passbolt Password Manager on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

=> ↺ How To Install PlayOnLinux on Rocky Linux 9

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install PlayOnLinux on Rocky Linux 9.

=> ↺ How to install Brave Browser on Debian 12 | 11 Linux

Looking for a Mozilla firefox alternative then try installing the free Brave Brwoser on Debian 12 Bookworm or Debian 11 Bullsye using the command terminal. Steps are given in this tutorial.

=> ↺ 2023-03-12 How to install ONLYOFFICE on Linux Lite 6.2

=> ↺ 2023-03-12 How to install WPS Office on a Chromebook – February update

=> ↺ Enable Fast Open in Nginx on Linux Server

This article will provide a step-by-step guide on enabling Fast Open in Nginx on a Linux server. Fast Open is a TCP feature that allows a client and a server to exchange data during the initial handshake, reducing the latency and improving the overall performance of the connection.

=> ↺ How to Install Kodi on Linux Mint 21 or 20

Kodi is a free, open-source media player software that allows users to organize and play their media files on various devices, including movies, TV shows, music, photos, and more. Originally called XBMC (Xbox Media Center), Kodi was created in 2002 as a media center software for the original Xbox game console.

=> ↺ How to Install Golang (Go) on Debian 12, 11 or 10

Go, also known as Golang, is a programming language developed by Google in 2007. It is an open-source language designed to build efficient, reliable, scalable software. Go is known for its simplicity, speed, and robustness.

=> ↺ How to Install Glances on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

Glances is a powerful system monitoring tool that provides real-time information about system resources, including CPU, memory, disk, network usage, and more.

=> ↺ 2023-03-07 Peter Czanik: Syslog-ng 101, part 10: Parsing

=> ↺ How to Create a Random Quote / Fact WordPress Plugin

To create a WordPress plugin which shows a random value from an array, such as quote or fact, follow these steps. Open your editor and create a file called fun_facts.php (the name does not really matter). Then paste the following code: The above code creates a plugin for displaying Java fun facts.

Games

=> ↺ Best Steam Deck Games Released in the Past Week, with Castlevania Advance Collection and Plan B Terraform – 2023-03-12 Edition

Between 2023-03-05 and 2023-03-12 there were 111 new games validated for the Steam Deck.

Distributions and Operating Systems

New Releases

=> ↺ Kali Linux Celebrates 10th Anniversary with First 2023 Release

Kali Linux 2023.1 introduces a new Kali Linux flavor called Kali Purple, with a focus on defensive security and a reference architecture for the ultimate SOC In-A-Box designed for learning, practicing SOC analysis and threat hunting, security control design/testing, Kali spy vs. spy competitions, as well as the protection of small and medium-size environments.

Kali Purple comes with more than 100 defensive tools like the Arkime full packet capture and analysis, CyberChef cyber swiss army knife, Elastic Security information and event management, GVM vulnerability scanner, TheHive incident response platform, Malcolm network traffic analysis tool suite, as well as Zeek and Suricata intrusion detection systems.

BSD

=> ↺ FreeBSD 13.2-RC2 Now Available

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ Jonathan Dieter: Duct tape in the datacenter

When I was growing up, on Thursday nights we would watch the Red Green Show, a comedy show set in very rural Canada. One of the regular segments on the show was the Handyman Corner, where Red Green would build something impressive out of the spare parts and garbage he had sitting around the shop, along with copious amounts of “the Handyman’s secret weapon,” duct tape, to hold everything together. To this day, whenever I see duct tape I think about the Red Green Show.

Lately I’ve had cause to think about duct tape when looking into IT infrastructure issues, some that I’ve had to handle at work, and some that we’ve all gotten to see from the outside. I don’t think I’ve ever actually used physical duct tape on the job, but there’s more than one kind of duct tape.

The thing about duct tape is that it is an incredibly useful tool for holding things together that perhaps were never intended to be connected (the Apollo 13 duct tape and cardboard scene comes to mind here). The problem is when duct tape is used as a core part of the design (as per most of Red Green’s builds).

When working with infrastructure, we may not normally be using physical duct tape, but there are plenty of things we do that correspond with duct tape. At my day job, our infrastructure is built using a GitOps model where server deployments are managed using Ansible playbooks and, more recently, Terraform configuration, all stored in git repositories. We also have development environments where we can test infrastructure and code changes before pushing to production.

The primary advantages of using the GitOps model are documentation and repeatability. Documentation in git comes pretty easily because when changes are made, it’s easy to see what was changed, and (assuming we’ve been disciplined when writing commit messages) why it was changed. Repeatability is there because, If we deploy one server with a specific configuration and need to re-deploy it at a later point, the second deployment will be identical to the first. We don’t need to worry about missing steps because it’s all automatically done when deploying the playbooks.

Debian Family

The Anarcat ☛ Antoine Beaupré: Framework 12th gen laptop reviewThe Framework is a 13.5″ laptop body with swappable parts, which makes it somewhat future-proof and certainly easily repairable, scoring an “exceedingly rare” 10/10 score from ifixit.com.There are two generations of the laptop’s main board (both compatible with the same body): the Intel 11th and 12th gen chipsets.I have received my Framework, 12th generation “DIY”, device in late September 2022 and will update this page as I go along in the process of ordering, burning-in, setting up and using the device over the years.[...]Conclusions:USB-C cards take no extra power on suspend, possibly less than empty slots, more testing requiredUSB-A cards take a lot more power on suspend (300-500mW) than on regular idle (~10mW, almost negligible)1TB SSD and MicroSD cards seem to take a reasonable amount of power (260-290mW), compared to their runtime equivalents (1-6W!)DisplayPort takes a surprising lot of power (620mW), almostdouble its average runtime usage (390mW)HDMI cards take, surprisingly, less power (250mW) in standby than the DP card (620mW)and oddly, a second card adds less power usage (70mW?!) than the first, maybe a circuit is used by both?

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Pi-Powered Microcontroller is a Lego Astronaut with an RGB Suit

FigPi runs on an RP2040 chip and has multiple Stemma connectors.

=> ↺ Aspinity AB2 AML100 Arduino Shield supports ultra-low-power analog machine learning

Aspinity AB2 AML100 is an Arduino Shield based on the company’s AML100 analog machine learning processor that reduces power consumption by 95 percent compared to equivalent digital ML processors, and the shield works with Renesas Quick-Connect IoT platform or other development platforms with Arduino Uno Rev3 headers. The AML100 analog machine learning processor is said to consume just 15µA for sensor interfacing, signal processing, and decision-making and operates completely within the analog domain offloading most of the work from the microcontroller side that can stay its lowest power state until an event/anomaly is detected.

=> ↺ 2023-03-09 How to Build an ML-powered Doorbell Notifier

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Billions of Android owners must switch on free ‘FM’ setting today – it’s a life-saver with long list of perks | The US Sun

=> ↺ Google’s latest Android update brings lots of new features to older Pixel devices

=> ↺ Google’s Pixel 7a will be the Android phone to beat in 2023 | BGR

=> ↺ How to fix stubborn GPS issues in Android Auto with Google Maps

=> ↺ How to turn off Safe Mode on your Android device

=> ↺ How to change time zone on your Android phone

=> ↺ This Android phone sounds brilliant – but you may not be able to get one | T3

=> ↺ Your Google Pixel Phone’s March Update Arrived

=> ↺ Samsung’s March Android Update is Hitting All These Major Devices

=> ↺ Android TV profiles show up for some users

=> ↺ Best Ways To Install Fonts On an Android Smartphone

=> ↺ 10 Ways to Fix Nearby Share Not Working on Android [2023] – TechPP

=> ↺ OnePlus 11 will get 4 major Android updates, 5 years of security support

=> ↺ Pixel 7 gets over 40 fixes with Android 13 QPR2 update

=> ↺ OPPO Find X6 Pro With 16GB RAM, Android 13 Spotted On Geekbench

=> ↺ iQOO Z7i android smartphone unveiled – Geeky Gadgets

=> ↺ How to Download Android Apps Not Available in Your Country – Guiding Tech

=> ↺ How to sideload Android apps on Chromebooks | Android Central

=> ↺ Samsung Galaxy S23+ review: Best Android phone to buy in 2023 – India Today

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ LibreArts Weekly recap — 12 March 2023

Week highlights: new features in GIMP and HDRview, new releases of Armory 3D, Blender BIM, VCV Rack, and plugdata.

Web Browsers/Web Servers

=> ↺ Kushal Das: Everything Curl from Daniel

Everything Curl is a book about everything related to Curl. I read the book before online. But, now I am proud to have a physical copy signed by the author

Mozilla

=> ↺ Firefox 111 Web Browser Is Now Available for Download, This Is What’s New

Firefox 111 doesn’t look like a big release and it only introduces the ability for Firefox Relay users to opt-in to create Relay email masks directly from the Firefox credential manager. Mozilla notes the fact that Firefox Relay users must be signed in with their Firefox Account for this new feature to work.

This release also adds two new locales, namely Friulian (fur) and Sardinian (sc), adds support for the rel attribute on form elements to specify the relationship between the form target and the current document in a much simpler and cross-browser way, and enables origin private file system (OPFS) access to allow Web Apps to store and retrieve data from and to the file system in a sandbox.

SaaS/Back End/Databases

=> ↺ Databricks faces critical strategic decisions. Here’s why.

=> ↺ 14 Open-source Web-based SQL Database Managers

SQL stands for Structured Query Language, and it is a standardized language used to manage relational databases. It is used to create, modify, and query databases, and is commonly used in web development and data analysis. SQL allows users to manage large amounts of data, and to interact with that

GNU Projects

=> ↺ a2ps @ Savannah: a2ps 4.15.1 released [stable]

Programming/Development

Perl / Raku

=> ↺ 2023-03-10 This week in PSC (100)

=> ↺ 2023-03-08 Call for Papers. TPRC 2023

Shell/Bash/Zsh/Ksh

=> ↺ Enable Syntax Highlighting in Zsh

Improve your Zsh experience by enabling syntax highlighting. Here’s how to do that.

=> ↺ How to write efficient Bash scripts with control structures

Bash is a command-line shell and programming language widely used on Unix-based operating systems. It is an essential tool for system administrators and developers who need to automate tasks or perform complex operations.

Java

=> ↺ How to Install and Configure Open JDK and Oracle JDK on Rocky Linux

Java is an object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s and later owned by Oracle Corporation. It is commonly used for creating various applications, including web and mobile applications, desktop applications, games, and scientific applications.

Rust

=> ↺ Niko Matsakis: To async trait or just to trait

One interesting question about async fn in traits is whether or not we should label the trait itself as async. Until recently, I didn’t see any need for that. But as we discussed the question of how to enable “maybe async” code, we realized that there would be some advantages to distinguishing “async traits” (which could contain async functions) from sync traits (which could not). However, as I’ve thought about the idea more, I’m more and more of the mind that we should not take this step — at least not now. I wanted to write a blog post diving into the considerations as I see them now.

The specific proposal I am discussing is to require that traits which include async functions are declared as async traits…

Standards/Consortia

=> ↺ Tiger Oakes: Tricks for easier right-to-left CSS styling

Using CSS custom properties for elements without logical properties.

Leftovers

=> ↺ St Patrick’s Day 2023: Life of Brian

Now he’s been at the helm of The Globe Irish Pub near Nørreport for over quarter of a century, it’s probably fair craic we can finally use the Monty Python reference

=> ↺ 2023-03-13 Who Was Inside The ‘Cocaine Bear’ Suit at The Oscars? Twitter Has Lots of Celebrity Guesses

Education

=> ↺ Readers write: Education reform, war in Somalia, and texting

Letters to the editor published in the March 13 magazine. Readers reflect on war and famine in Somalia, and the pitfalls of modern communication.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Behavior Technician Who Allegedly Defrauded Florida Medicaid of More Than $119,000 Arrested

Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit today announced the arrest of a registered behavior technician. According to an investigation by the MFCU and the Hialeah Police Department, Greter Brito Acosta defrauded the Florida Medicaid program out of more than $119,000 for falsifying documentation and receiving money for services not rendered.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “This defendant falsified service records and billed for services not provided to steal more than $100,000 from taxpayers. My Medicaid Fraud Control Unit put an end to this scheme, and now the defendant will have to answer for her crimes.”

The investigation shows that Acosta claimed to provide care for two minors who received Medicaid. Instead of providing the registered behavior technician services though, Acosta would visit the homes of the recipients, log in via a cellphone application to verify the visit, turn off the GPS function of the cellphone and leave. Hours later, Acosta returned to the residence, turned the GPS function of the cellphone back on and logged out of the application, making it appear as though the defendant stayed at the residency for hours.

=> ↺ Meat, milk and egg production dropped in Finland last year as inflation forced farm closures

Some of price pressures on farmers were related to the Ukraine war, but others began well before last year’s Russian attack, says the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

=> ↺ Minnesota Legislature considers allowing terminally ill adults to choose medically assisted dying

The House version of the bill has 19 authors, including Rep. Andy Smith, DFL-Rochester. Sen. Liz Boldon, DFL-Rochester, is one of five Senate authors.

=> ↺ Masks can now come off in Japan as government eases Covid-19 guidelines

A rapid behavioral change is unlikely, given a long history of mask usage in Japan.

=> ↺ Exploring the Potential Medical Applications of Brain-Computer Interface Technology

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology is a rapidly growing field that has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with technology and the world around us. From controlling prosthetic limbs to restoring movement and communication to patients with severe disabilities, BCI technology holds great promise for improving human health and quality of life.

Security

=> ↺ Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles discloses a “complex cyber-attack.” We call it a ransomware attack.

As many of us were waking up to a brand new year, DataBreaches reported that LockBit 3.0 had claimed an attack on the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA). Screencaps of directories and some files were provided by LockBit as proof of claims. Numerous news outlets picked up the news of the attack, and HACLA quickly confirmed that they were investigating what they called a “cyber event” that was causing disruptions.

=> ↺ Shopee, Carousell most popular platforms used by phishing scammers – Focus Taiwan

Shopee and Carousell, two online marketplaces based in Singapore, have been the two C2C platforms on which customers were most likely to fall victim to phishing scams in Taiwan over the past five weeks, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said Sunday.

After analyzing information reported by the public on the 165 anti-fraud hotline, it was found that hackers have recently carried out phishing attacks on C2C (“consumer to consumer” or “customer to customer”) online auction platforms such as Shopee and Carousell.

=> ↺ A joke gone too far: “thekilob” falsely accused of being responsible for DC Links breach

On March 6, a forum post appeared on BreachForums that listed data for sale from the Health Benefit Exchange Authority, DC.gov

The seller, a respected forum user known as IntelBroker, claimed that the data had been hacked within the past hour and contained information on 170,000 users.

=> ↺ AsynRAT Trojan – Bill Payment (Pago de la factura), (Sun, Mar 12th)

This week the mail server quarantined this file FautraPago392023.gz. I did find it a bit strange after I extracted (gunzip) the file, there was no .exe extension associated with this file. The source and destination addresses are both blank without an actual email address.

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ 2023-03-10 TikTok whistleblower claims US data privacy efforts are seriously flawed

=> ↺ 2023-03-10 Elon Musk reportedly wants to be his employees’ landlord

Confidentiality

=> ↺ Company accuses former exec of data theft | Gurgaon News – Times of India

A company engaged in providing holistic care to children with special needs has accused one of its former executives of stealing confidential data and using the same to start a similar business with a rival firm.

In its complaint, the company officials alleged that they hired Pankaj Kumar as deputy general manager (DGM) in April 2019. By the virtue of his job profile, the accused was privy to confidential data and strategies of the company.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ US B-52 bomber flies over Gulf of Finland, turns near Russian island

The bomber’s flight over the Gulf of Finland was a “clear message” to Russia, said the head of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

=> ↺ Taiwan soldier suspected of deserting post found in China

A Taiwan minister said the defence ministry has relevant mechanisms for identifying deserters.

=> ↺ US, South Korea kick off largest military drills in 5 years

The exercises, called Freedom Shield, are scheduled to run for at least 10 days from March 13.

=> ↺ North Korea launches missiles from submarine as US-South Korean drills begin

The move came hours before US and South Korea were to stage major joint military exercises.

=> ↺ Rights experts ‘deeply disturbed’ by Russian Wagner Group recruitment of prisoners

UN-appointed independent human rights experts on Friday said they were “deeply disturbed” by reports of the systematic recruitment of prisoners across Russia by the private military contractor known as the Wagner Group, which is playing a major role in the fighting in Ukraine.

=> ↺ Georgia in a New World: Between Russia and the West

When Russia’s special military operation commenced in Ukraine a year ago, not too many countries have surprised Moscow to the upside by their attitudes to the global changes. However, this was the case with Georgia.

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 Young Baluchi men at risk of execution

=> ↺ Ukraine readies counteroffensive as Russia advances in Bakhmut

The Ukrainian military was preparing Sunday for a counterattack in Bakhmut after more than seven months of fighting in the region, a top commander has said. Ukraine’s foreign minister has urged Germany to speed up supplies of ammunition and to start training Ukrainian pilots on Western fighter jets. Read our live blog to see how all the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).

=> ↺ North Korea launches missiles from submarine, state media reports

Nuclear-armed North Korea test-fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine on Sunday, state news agency KCNA said on Monday just as US-South Korea military drills were due to begin.

=> ↺ Micronesia president accuses China of bribery, ‘political warfare’

Micronesia’s president has accused China of bribery, harassment and “political warfare”, in an explosive letter to his country’s legislature obtained by AFP on Friday. “Simply put, we are witnessing political warfare in our country,” outgoing leader David Panuelo warned lawmakers, detailing allegations of Chinese espionage, coercion of government officials and “direct threats” against his personal […]

=> ↺ Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group: Russia’s ‘sham trials’ should be considered ‘null and void’ for international law violations

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group announced Saturday that Russia has again used its “proxy ‘Donbas republics’” to violate international law by staging the trials and sentences of three Ukrainian prisoners of war.

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 Anonymous tipoff failed to stop shooting in Hamburg

=> ↺ Russia’s Global Arms Exports Suffer As War Takes Toll; Ukraine’s Imports Surge, Says New Report

Russia’s share of global arms exports declined sharply in the most recent five-year period, as Western sanctions against Moscow and the Kremlin’s own need to conserve weaponry for its ongoing war effort in Ukraine limited sales abroad, new data from an influential research group showed.

=> ↺ Ukrainian Investigators Confirm Identity Of POW Slain By Russians After Declaring ‘Glory To Ukraine’

Investigators for Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) have confirmed the identity of a Ukrainian soldier who was captured by Russian forces and shot dead after declaring, “Glory to Ukraine” — action seen in a video that has circulated on social media.

=> ↺ Lukashenka Travels To Iran For Meeting With Raisi — Belarus State Media

Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the authoritarian ruler of Belarus, is traveling to Tehran for meetings with Iranian leaders, state news agency BelTA reported on March 12.

Environment

=> ↺ Calls to extend climate reporting to private companies

A public policy think tank wants large private companies to report on climate risk alongside their public counterparts to stop climate-exposed businesses going private to dodge oversight.

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ Russia’s War In Ukraine Helps Oil Giant Saudi Aramco Post Historic $161 Billion Profit In 2022

Oil giant Saudi Aramco has reported that profits surged to $161 billion last year off higher crude prices, a record result for an energy firm crucial to the country’s economy.

=> ↺ $668m a day: Oil giant posts biggest profit by a company in history

Saudi Aramco reported earning $244 billion last year, claiming the highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company and drawing immediate criticism from activists.

=> ↺ India’s oil deals with Russia dent decades-old dollar dominance

US-led international sanctions on Russia have begun to erode the dollar’s decades-old dominance of international oil trade as most deals with India – Russia’s top outlet for seaborne crude – have been settled in other currencies, informs Reuters.

=> ↺ Attorney General James Continues Crackdown on Unregistered Cryptocurrency Platforms

New York Attorney General Letitia James today continued her efforts to crack down on unregistered cryptocurrency platforms by filing a lawsuit against KuCoin for failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer and falsely representing itself as an exchange. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) was able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on KuCoin in New York even though the company is not registered in the state. Through this enforcement action, Attorney General James seeks to stop KuCoin from operating in New York and to block access to its website until it complies with the law. Today’s action is the latest in Attorney General James’ efforts to rein in cryptocurrency platforms.

=> ↺ Industry touts renewable gas to rival electrification

Turning off gas and rewiring Australia is a mistake because renewable gases are in the pipeline, industry advocates say. After pushing liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as a lower-carbon alternative to natural gas and less-polluting than diesel, the industry is ramping up the case for renewable LPG.

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ 2023-03-07 WWF worried about optics of Last Generation protests

Overpopulation

=> ↺ Greens push for abortions in all NSW public hospitals

The NSW Greens will push to make abortions available in all public hospitals under a reproductive health reform package.

Finance

=> ↺ China will have to redouble efforts to hit its 2023 GDP target, says new Premier Li Qiang

China will continue to prioritise stability and focus on improving residents’ well-being in more practical aspects.

=> ↺ Tamping down crisis, feds guarantee Silicon Valley Bank depositor funds, which customers can access Monday

=> ↺ Rich Chinese clients worry about their money in Swiss banks

Swiss banks lose the image of reliable financial institutions. Executives at Switzerland’s biggest banks say rich Chinese clients have become much more worried about parking money in the country because of its tough approach to applying sanctions since Russian special military operation in Ukraine, notes “The Financial Times”.

=> ↺ 2023-03-10 Businesses “on their knees” due to energy prices, inflation and wage crisis

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 There’s a Good Chance You’ll Regret Quitting Your Job

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 Roku Had $487 Million in Silicon Valley Bank

=> ↺ U.S. government moves to stop potential banking crisis

The announcement came amid fears that the factors that caused a California-based bank to fail could spread, and only hours before trading began in Asia.

=> ↺ Second bank fails as US government moves to protect Silicon Valley Bank clients

The announcement came amid fears that the factors that caused the Santa Clara, California-based bank to fail could spread.

=> ↺ ASX down 0.6 per cent as banks, tech stocks sink

Shares in the nation’s most valuable companies have fallen as investors try to work out the effects of the second-largest bank collapse in US history.

=> ↺ US government takes steps to prevent potential banking crisis

The US government took extraordinary steps Sunday to stop a potential banking crisis after the historic failure of Silicon Valley Bank, assuring all depositors at the failed institution that they could access all their money quickly, even as another major bank was shut down.

=> ↺ Customers to access deposits as US stems SVB fallout

Silicon Valley Bank customers will have access to their deposits, US officials say, as the federal government announces actions to shore up deposits and stem any broader financial fallout from the sudden collapse of the tech startup-focused lender.

=> ↺ Silicon Valley Bank collapse left ASX firms scrambling

The failure of Silicon Valley Bank led to a difficult weekend for a number of Australian tech companies, with several scrambling for operational funds until it became clear that US regulators were stepping in with a bailout.

=> ↺ France senate approves contentious pension reform bill raising retirement age

The French Senate Saturday voted in favour of President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform. The reform bill, which will raise the legal age of retirement to 64, was passed by the French Parliament’s upper house with 195 votes for the reform and 112 against.

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 The Financial Times, Two Weeks Ago: ‘Silicon Valley Bank Profit Squeeze in Tech Downturn Attracts Short Sellers’

=> ↺ 26-Year-Old Fraudster Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison Following Boasts About Criminal Conduct

A young man who turned to fraud to fund the lavish lifestyle he craved was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

J. Nicholas Bryant, 26, of Slaton, Texas, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in November 2022. He was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, who handed down a sentence five years longer than the guideline range based on the defendant’s cavalier attitude and the egregious nature of the scheme.

Mr. Bryant engaged in various wire fraud schemes to defraud at least 56 unsuspecting individuals and small businesses during an 18-month crime spree that spanned multiple states.

=> ↺ French Senate advances Macron’s pension reform plan as strikes continue

France’s Senate voted late Saturday to approve a deeply unpopular reform to the country’s pension system, hours after demonstrators took to the streets to oppose the cornerstone policy of President Emmanuel Macron’s second term in office.

=> ↺ Garbage piles up in France’s ‘City of Lights’ as pension strikes continue

Thousands of tonnes of garbage has piled up on streets across the French capital after a week of strike action by dustbin collectors against government pension reforms, city hall said Sunday.

=> ↺ Yellen rules out SVB bailout but US said to weigh safeguarding deposits

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday the government wants to avoid financial “contagion” from Silicon Valley Bank’s implosion, but while the US rules out a bailout it reportedly is considering safeguarding all of the fallen institution’s deposits.

=> ↺ French protesters take to the streets to rally against Macron’s pension plan

Demonstrators in France took to the streets Saturday for a seventh day of protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform plans, with police expecting up to a million people at rallies nationwide.

=> ↺ 2023-03-07 1 in 4 children at risk of poverty in Europe, report says

=> ↺ Signature Bank shut by regulators, noting systemic risk

New York-based Signature Bank, a key bank to the cryptocurrency industry, was shut down by regulators on Sunday, according to a joint statement from U.S. regulators. The statement also detailed actions aimed at stemming broader fallout from the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.

State of play: All depositors at Signature, the third bank to shutter in a matter of days, will be made whole under the same systemic risk exception that allowed that outcome for Silicon Valley Bank customers.

=> ↺ U.S. regulators will protect all Silicon Valley Bank depositors to stem fallout

Federal banking regulators took aggressive new actions aimed at preventing depositors in failed Silicon Valley Bank from losing money — and at trying to prevent its downfall from unleashing a nationwide run across the banking system.

Why it matters: The extraordinary actions, using tools last deployed in the early days of the pandemic and in the 2008 global financial crisis, are an attempt to avert a broad banking crisis triggered by a run on the bank.

=> ↺ J.P. Morgan, PNC among suitors for SVB holding company

J.P. Morgan and PNC are among the potential suitors in talks about acquiring SVB Financial Group in a deal that would exclude the commercial bank currently under U.S. government control, according to sources familiar with the matter.

=> ↺ Australia-based Hillsong Church to conduct independent financial review following Parliament criticism

Australia-based Hillsong Church Sunday announced that it will conduct an independent investigation into its financial structure following allegations of fraud and financial misappropriation. Global Senior Pastor Phil Dooley said that the church is making “significant operational changes” following criticism from Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie.

=> ↺ Thousands protest coalition government in Czech Republic against inflation rates and assistance to Ukraine

Thousands of civilians Saturday took part in anti-government protests in Prague, Czech Republic. A new political party, PRO, organised the rallies, as people protested against high inflation rates and the government’s assistance to Ukraine.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ COMMENTARY: What’s next as the dust settles after Vietnam’s leadership turmoil?

Vo Van Thuong’s career has been within the Communist Party of Vietnam’s inner echelons, as a top ideologue.

=> ↺ 2023-03-07 Phony Stark Stiffed Amazon on Twitter’s AWS Bill, So Amazon Threatened to Pull Its Ads

=> ↺ Why is the EU soft on Lukashenko?

Belarus is clearly a co-belligerent country in Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine. But why is the EU so soft on Aleksander Lukashenko, often labelled Europe’s “last dictator”? Georgi Gotev argues for EurActiv, partners of LRT English.

=> ↺ Decolonising Russian culture? Lithuanian writer in Brussels looks for way forward

Isolated, marginalised, and turned into a propaganda tool. This is how Lithuanian writer Kristina Sabaliauskaitė described Russian culture at the European Parliament’s discussion. However, such comments were not welcomed by everyone.

=> ↺ What a new report tells us about far-right extremism in Sweden

Sweden’s ‘racial ideology’ movement carried out more activities last year than in 2021, and viewed the Sweden Democrats as a party representing its interests to a greater degree, according to a new report from the Expo Foundation.

=> ↺ LISTEN: How the Sweden Democrats are flirting with the extreme right

In this week’s episode: lay judges resign in ‘snippa’ case, tips for tax season, how to save money as food prices hit new highs, interview with Taiwan’s representative, how the Sweden Democrats have grown more radical.

=> ↺ Lessons from Blue Parks in the Mediterranean for Red Lines in the South China Sea

Climate change is creating a marine conservation emergency, and the first signs of this happening can be seen in intricately linked oceans. Take for example the South China Sea, which is a third larger than the Mediterranean.

=> ↺ G-20 schedule in Jammu Kashmir and India’s bluff game

After India’s diplomatic failure to bring out a joint declaration at the G20 meeting in Delhi, Kashmir is all set to host a G20 meeting in May 2023, at the summer capital Srinagar.

=> ↺ WATCH: Building Community – #SolutionsWatch

The powers-that-shouldn’t-be are trying to keep us apart. Divided. Alone in the urban jungle. And so, building community is a way to fight back by constructing something new…But no one said building a community is easy. Join James Corbett for this episode of #SolutionsWatch, as he looks at The Conscious Agora and other examples of …

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 Green Party vote to extend family reunification rights for all migrants

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 Greens back plans to end HIV transmissions by 2030: A prize within our grasp

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 Greens call for end to all shareholder payouts until water companies sort their sewage out

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 Greens call for trade deal suspension to protect whales and dolphins

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 Greens repeat call to re-join EU as soon as political situation favourable

=> ↺ 2023-03-11 Issue of desperate refugees should not be used as a political football, say Greens

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ Why is Rupert Murdoch associated with Stanford? An open letter to leadership

In an open letter to the the Director of the Hoover Institute, the President, the Provost and the Board of Trustees, 90 Stanford faculty members call for a public accounting of Rupert Murdoch’s appointment to the Hoover’s Board of Overseers. They write, “we wonder what kind of signal his presence sends to our students, who we are training to seek the truth, and to our colleagues on the faculty, who are constantly held to the highest standards of honesty, truth and responsible scholarship.”

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ 2023-03-12 Gary Lineker: BBC’s ‘MOTD’ pundits, commentators refuse to work in support of suspended presenter

=> ↺ BBC crisis escalates as presenters, players support football host Lineker

The BBC was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming as the network scrambled to stem an escalating crisis over its suspension of soccer host Gary Lineker for comments criticizing the British government’s new asylum policy.

=> ↺ Spiraling Dispute With Star Host Puts BBC’s Reputation on the Line

The British public broadcaster’s suspension of one of its highest-profile sports anchors has grown into a wider controversy that poses risks to its reputation for neutrality and independence.

=> ↺ He sold ‘cute’ cartoon duck calendars. Now he’s fighting for his freedom

A young lawyer was found guilty last week of breaching Thailand’s notoriously harsh lèse-majesté law. In an exclusive interview, he denies the content is offensive.

=> ↺ President, law school dean apologize to Judge Kyle Duncan for ‘disruption’ to his speech

In a letter co-signed by President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and SLS Dean Jenny Martinez, the University apologized to Duncan for the “disruption” to his Thursday speech at the Law School, calling the incident “inconsistent with [the University’s] policies on free speech.”

=> ↺ FRANCE 24 reaffirms the commitment of all its channels to fight against all forms of discrimination

After the publication of an article on the CAMERA website (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), and taken up by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, implicating a journalist and three Arabic-language correspondents of France 24 regarding certain comments they allegedly posted on their personal pages on social networks, the channel’s management has immediately opened an audit on these alleged posts, as it communicated internally on March 10.

=> ↺ 2 arrested after allegedly removing evidence from home of Hong Kong activist accused under security law

Two people have been arrested after allegedly removing evidence from the home of Elizabeth Tang, a Hong Kong labour rights’ activist who was arrested on Thursday under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

=> ↺ 2023-03-10 Belarusian court upholds journalist Ivan Muravyou’s 2.5-year prison term

=> ↺ 2023-03-09 Chinese journalist held for reporting on Wuhan COVID outbreak wishes he’d done more

=> ↺ 2023-03-08 How You Helped Journalists in 2022

=> ↺ 2023-03-10 Senegalese journalist Pape Ndiaye jailed on false news charges

=> ↺ 2023-03-09 Two South African journalists assaulted in separate incidents

=> ↺ 2023-03-10 Ugandan journalist Andrew Arinaitwe detained on criminal trespass charges

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ 2023-03-13 Egypt: Dissidents Abroad Denied Identity Documents

=> ↺ 2023-03-13 Myanmar: Concrete UN Security Council Action Needed

=> ↺ Lifting Barriers to Women Employment Will Benefit Everyone in Azerbaijan

Authors: Sarah Michael and Peter Michalko* Until recently, women in Azerbaijan were not permitted to work in as many as 674 jobs, across many sectors of the economy – from transport to energy to agriculture.

Monopolies

Patents

=> ↺ Publicly Traded International Patent Firms

In October 2022, Canada’s largest intellectual property firm became a publicly traded entity. Smart & Biggar, a firm that includes 100+ Canadian patent attorneys and agents (most of whom are also registered with the USPTO) was purchased by the Australian company IPH Limited. The holding company trades on the Australian stock exchange with a market valuation of $1.8 billion Australian dollars ($1.2 billion USD).

Gemini* and Gopher

Personal

=> ↺ “We couldn’t pause TV and we couldn’t just fast forward through the commercials! Gather around kids, and I shall tell more horror tales of the past …”

Over a week ago, I had to order some checks from my bank due to a new recurring expense. My last check I wrote from my checkbook was for some time in 2015. Then one check from 2014, and one from 2013.

Needless to say, I haven’t had a need for a checkbook in years.

So the new checkbook arrived (two of them, actually). I recall in the past, they would arrive in the mail in a box sized large enough to hold the checks. But today, they arrived in an unusual format—a flat package about 6½ × 10 × ½ inches (16.5 × 25.5 × 10 mm). Upon opening it, it looked like a book, and stuck to the inside cover were two checkbooks. I pulled them off, and beneath one of them was instructions on how to write a check (with a link to an instructional video [1])!

=> ↺ Title: Launching on Patreon

Let me share some breaking news, if you enjoy this blog and my open source work, now you can sponsor me through the service Patreon.

=> ↺ Launching on Patreon

Why would you do that in the first place? Well, this would allow me to take time off my job, and spend it either writing on the blog, or by contributing to open source projects, mainly OpenBSD or a bit of nixpkgs.

I’ve been publishing on the blog for almost 7 years now, for the most recent years, I’ve been writing a lot here, and I still enjoy doing so! However, I have a less free time now, and I’d prefer to continue writing here instead of working at my job full time. I’ve been ocasionaly receiving donation for my blog work, but one-shot gifts (I appreciate! ) won’t help me much against regular monthly incomes that I can expect, and help me to organize myself with my job.

=> ↺ Dream Morality

I had a very bizarre dream a few months back. I was in a room with Donald Trump and his daughter. They were asking me to promise something: either to take some action or not to take some action. I don’t remember the details, and I don’t really care to remember them. Suffice it to say, I promised whatever it was. At that point, a voice in my head told me to remember that “A promise made to a servant of darkness is null and void.”

=> ↺ Doin’ Laundry

Our washing machine broke several months ago. I tore it apart to check some of the most common mechanical issues the model had, but I suspect it’s some sensor or other electronic component. It’s twelve years old, sadly about as long as one could ask a modern appliance to last, so I don’t think it’s worth spending the roughly $500 USD it would cost to repair.

I went to a few local appliance stores to see what they had, and the answer was nothing. I was told, upfront, that eighty percent of what was shown on the floor was simply unavailable due to supply chain issues. Very low end and very high end machines were available in small quantities.

=> ↺ but what about my feelings?

People are emotional and very irrational creatures that would take any chance they could get to ensure they have taken care of their emotions, but does that mean we should embrace it?

=> ↺ notes on Hoshi No Umi No Amuri

Hoshi No Umi No Amuri (hereafter shortened to HosiAmu) English title “Amuri in Star Ocean”, is a 2008 3 episode OVA from studio Hibari. Hibari have brought us some strange things in the past, like the batshit “Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-chan!!”, so it’s not that surprising to find out they were involved here. It’s directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani, who we’ll be coming back to a little later.

The synopsis reads: “The 3D modeled anime is set in Year 019 of the Insonity Progressive Revolution – a future era in which mankind has evolved into a new species called Adapters. Three very young Adapter girls from Japan, China and France set out on a space adventure that will affect the rest of their species.”

Politics

=> ↺ Reactionaries

I agree. Similarly, there are sometimes things being said and done in the name of intersectional feminism and in the social justice community that are counter-productive, contradictory, or otherwise not completely thought-through. (Sometimes by me.)

I still think that intersectional feminism has a bigger kernel of truth than its enemies: anti-PC, gamergaters, anti-SJW, anti-woke… an old movement with many names that’s founded on misrepresentations and second-hand accounts.

I’ve said before that the right wing don’t even see the problems (“whaddayamean racist? You had Obama, didn’t you?”), while we on the left has great analyses of how messed up everything is but we don’t always know the best way to make it better.

Technical

=> ↺ My New Tech Stack

My new computer is a Dell Latitude 5320. I decided on the Latitude because my previous computer, which was a Dell Latitude from 2011, had such a long life, worked well with Linux, and was a “hardy” laptop. My new computer has 16gb RAM with an intel i5. It’s lightning quick compared to my previous machine and I’m loving it so far.

I installed Debian Stable with KDE Plasma. I chose Debian Stable because I’m familiar with it, and with this being my primary machine, it didn’t want to have to “re-learn” too much right off the bat. However, I did switch from xfce to KDE Plasma. This is my first time using Plasma and I have to say it’s slick as hell. Super customizable, looks great, and is super accessible. KRunner is soooo good and so far I’ve had no issues with Konsole.

Programming

=> ↺ ＡＳＣＩＩ

The observant may notice symbols not part of ASCII (ß, Ω, etc). A young human once asked me what the “S” was. They were not very advanced in their study of German at the time.

If you call them on this usage, some will switch to defending “extended ASCII” by which they invariably mean the IBM PC character set. (Brogue uses Unicode.) One problem here is the many incompatible uses of the 8th bit, especially over in Eastern Europe, and regardless all of those extensions are not ASCII, just as rogue movement keys (hjklyubn) are not vi movement keys (hjkl). This gets into the complicated realm of identity; their logic may run along the lines of “(some flavor of) extended ASCII inherits from ASCII therefore (some flavor of) extended ASCII is-a-type-of ASCII just as white horse is-a-type-of horse”. By this logic, neovim can be called ed, because neovim extends vim extends vi extends ex extends ed. A strict view of ASCII limits the term to include only the following.

=> ↺ Notes on optimizing an O(n)+C algorithm where the C matters quite a bit

I was doing a bit of retro computing over the weekend, writing 6809 code and running it on a Color Computer emulator [1] (because the Color Computer was my first computer and the 6809 is a criminially underrated 8-bit CPU (Central Processing Unit) in my opinion). Part of the coding was enabling all 64K of RAM (Random Access Memory) in the machine. Normally, the Color Computer only sees the lower 32K of RAM, with the upper 32K being ROM (Read-Only Memory) (the BASIC (Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) interpreter). To enable all 64K of RAM, all that’s needed is to stuff any value into memory location $FFDF, which can be done with “POKE &HFFDF,0”. The problem with that is once the ROM goes away, so does BASIC, and the CPU starts executing Lord knows what since the RAM isn’t initialized. So the actual procedure is to copy the ROM contents into RAM, which is simple enough:

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