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● 03.26.23

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● Links 26/03/2023: MidnightBSD 3.0 and FreeBSD 13.2 RC4

Posted in News Roundup at 9:27 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

=> ↺ Linux Around The World: Nigeria

• We cover user groups that are running in Nigeria. This article forms part of our Linux Around The World series.

Desktop/Laptop

=> ↺ Framework Unveils a New Laptop With Game-Changing Open Source Module System

• Framework is a company that specializes in providing modular laptops that feature open-source hardware modules.

• At their Next Level Event 2023, the company showcased something new and a few updates to its previous laptop lineup, but it was the 16-inch laptop that caught our attention.

• If you are a gamer, creator, developer, and a power user looking for customizability on a laptop, you are about to get excited!

Applications

=> ↺ Ventoy 1.0.90 Adds Support for LibreELEC 11.0 and Chimera Linux

• In Ventoy 1.0.90, the devs added support for new GNU/Linux distributions, including Chimera Linux and the recently released LibreELEC 11.0 and later versions. With this, Ventoy now supports more than 1,100 ISO images!

• Fans of the Fedora Linux distribution will be happy to learn that this new Ventoy release optimizes Fedora Linux ISOs’ boot process and improves the detection of the Fedora Rawhide install media.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ Apache 2.4′s event MPM can require more workers than you’d expect

• For our web server’s current usage, these settings are okay. But they’re unfortunately dangerous, because we allow people to run CGIs on this server, and the machine is unlikely to do well if we have even 1,000 CGIs running at the same time. In practice not many CGIs get run these days, so we’re likely going to get away with it. Still, it makes me nervous and I wish we had a better solution.

=> ↺ Implementing VisiCalc

• I’m writing this in preparation for the Computer History Museum’s The Origins and Impact of VisiCalc panel on April 8th 2003. This is basically a draft and I hope to do some more editing as time permits and you should expect many typos until then. I’m also going to continue to edit and change this as I remember details.

• This is my long-delayed attempt at writing about my experience in writing VisiCalc and the many design decisions that we made along the way. But even after nearly a quarter century I remember many of the details though maybe my memories have evolved. The process of writing down this experience is already evoking many memories and, unless proven otherwise, I’ll assume that they are memories of real events but others may view it differently and I will try to correct the more creative aspects of my memory.

• Even simple decisions were only simple in context. They were all intertwined and I will try to reduce the confusion by separating aspects of implementation, design and business.

• For more details on the history of VisiCalc and even a version that still runs on the IBM PC, see Dan Bricklin’s VisiCalc History pages.

=> ↺ LibreOffice Czech User Guides are now in the Bookshelf

• The Czech Community is happy to announce the immediate availability of the Czech LibreOffice User Guides in the LibreOffice Bookshelf. Thanks to the efforts of Zdeněk Crhonek and Stanislav Horáček, the bookshelf has now all recent user guides in Czech, available in PDF, OpenDocument (LibreOffice’s native file format) and HTML for online reading…

=> ↺ How to Install and Use Neovim on Ubuntu and other Linux Distributions

• Want to use Neovim? Here, we show you how to install it and get the ball rolling.

=> ↺ How to Install Budgie Desktop 10.7.1 in Ubuntu Budgie 22.04

• This simple tutorial shows how to install the latest Budgie Desktop 10.7.1 in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Ubuntu Budgie is one of the official Ubuntu flavors features the Budgie desktop. While Ubuntu Budgie 22.04 ships with Budgie Desktop 10.6.1, the latest version has reached v10.7.1.

=> ↺ Streamlining your workflow with Tmux: Tips for developers

• In this guide, we will provide tips and tricks for developers on how to streamline their workflow using Tmux. We will cover the creation and management of Tmux sessions, window and pane manipulation, and customization options. We will also explore some popular Tmux plugins for further customization.

=> ↺ How To Create Your Own AI Chatbot Server With Raspberry Pi 4

• Harness the power of the latest AI models using your Raspberry Pi 4.

=> ↺ How to Install Tor Browser on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

• The Tor Browser is a powerful tool for those who value privacy, anonymity, and the ability to access restricted content online. It offers a unique browsing experience by encrypting your internet traffic and routing it through a network of volunteer-operated servers, known as the Tor network.

=> ↺ How to Install Cinnamon Desktop Environment on Debian 12, 11 or 10

• The Cinnamon desktop environment is a modern, sleek, and highly customizable alternative to the default GNOME desktop environment found on Debian. Created as a fork of the GNOME Shell, Cinnamon focuses on offering users a more traditional desktop experience.

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

• NGINX is a powerful, open-source web server, reverse proxy server, and load balancer that has gained significant popularity in recent years for its flexibility, performance, and scalability.

=> ↺ How to Install Modsecurity with Apache on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

• ModSecurity is a popular and powerful open-source web application firewall (WAF) designed to protect your server from various web-based attacks. As a module for the Apache HTTP Server, it provides real-time monitoring, logging, and access control capabilities to secure your web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities.

=> ↺ Quick Fix – How to solve AppImage not running on Ubuntu

• When Ubuntu version 22.04 came out, users ran into strange issues that didn’t play a role before.

=> ↺ Upgrading a server from Karoshi V13 to V14

• Introduction Karoshi V13 server and LinuxSchools V14 server are built using Ubuntu LTS releases and when they reach the end of update support will either have to be re-installed with the newest version or updated to the newest version.

=> ↺ Delimited Files: Understanding and Utilizing Various Delimiters

• Delimited files are a common format for data storage and exchange. These files store data in a tabular structure, where each data value is separated by a specific character, known as a delimiter.

=> ↺ How To Install Mixxx on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Mixxx on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

=> ↺ Simplify Your Process Management With pkill Command on Linux

• Have you ever wanted to kill a process running on your Linux system but didn’t know how to do it efficiently?

=> ↺ How To Install Draw.io Desktop App on Rocky Linux 9

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Draw.io Desktop App on Rocky Linux 9.

=> ↺ How To Install SMPlayer on Fedora 37

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install SMPlayer on Fedora 37. For those of you who didn’t know, SMPlayer is a free, open-source media player that supports a wide range of audio and video formats.

Games

=> ↺ Game Jam Winner Spotlight: The Pigeon Wager

• So far in our series of posts showcasing the winners in all six categories of the fifth annual public domain game jam, Gaming Like It’s 1927, we’ve featured Best Remix winner Lucia, Best Visuals winner Urbanity, and Best Adaptation winner To And Again. Today, we’re taking a closer look at the winner of the Best Deep Cut category: The Pigeon Wager by Jason Morningstar of Bully Pulpit Games.

Distributions and Operating Systems

=> ↺ SOME CHANGES TO THE DISCORD CHANNELS.

• We have had to do some repairs to our Discord channels, everything should now be up and running. We had a childish team member exit and tried to sabotage the discord channels

New Releases

=> ↺ MidnightBSD 3.0

• 3.0 i386 packages haven’t been built for the release yet. There are some older ones available but without the full desktop environment. We’ll be building those this weekend. We’re uploading some ISOs but still need to do final testing on them…

=> ↺ FreeBSD 13.2-RC4 Now Available

SUSE/OpenSUSE

=> ↺ SUSE S.A. appoints Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen as new CEO

• A veteran of the enterprise software industry, Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen has spent nearly two decades at Red Hat, a global leader in open source solutions. Since joining Red Hat in 2004, he has held various senior management positions overseeing sales, marketing and operations, most recently as Senior Vice President and General Manager of North America, and before that of APAC.

• Melissa Di Donato, the current CEO, has decided to step down as she embarks on the next chapter of her career. Under her leadership SUSE listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2021 and became one of Europe’s most valuable public software companies. During her tenure, SUSE has also completed the strategic acquisitions of Rancher and NeuVector, which position the Company strongly in the high growth markets of container management and security. SUSE has increased its revenues by over 60% and its adjusted EBITDA by over 70% under Melissa Di Donato’s leadership.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ SparkFun Thing Plus module supports Bluetooth 5 Low Energy

• The SparkFun Thing Plus NINA-B306 is a compact embedded device optimized for portable and wireless applications. This product is enabled with BLE 5.0 connectivity and it features a MicroSD card slot, 6-DoF IMU, an Environmental sensor and LiPo battery management.

=> ↺ Arduino UNO gets Renesas hardware update

• The upcoming Open Source board will be equipped with a 32-bit Renesas RA4M1 processor instead of the 8-bit ATmega328P chip. Moreover, there will be a UNO R4 version featuring an ESP32 module for wireless connectivity.

=> ↺ Arduino UNO R4 is a giant leap forward for an open source community of millions

• The history of making is now ready for the future: a 32-bit UNO will soon be available thanks to a powerful Renesas processor Here at Arduino we are thrilled to announce a new, revolutionary revision of the iconic UNO board, which will expand the concept of the open-source brand’s most iconic and popular product…

=> ↺ Is Your USB-C Dock Out To Hack You?

• In today’s installment of Betteridge’s law enforcement, here’s an evil USB-C dock proof-of-concept by [Lachlan Davidson] from [Aura Division]. We’ve seen malicious USB devices aplenty, from cables and chargers to flash drives and even suspicious USB fans. But a dock, however, is new. The gist is simple — you take a stock dock, find a Pi Zero W and wire it up to a USB 2.0 port tapped somewhere inside the dock. Finding a Pi Zero is unquestionably the hardest part in this endeavor — on the software side, everything is ready for you, just flash an SD card with a pre-cooked malicious image and go!

=> ↺ Single Flex PCB Folds Into A Four-Wheel Rover, Complete With Motors

• You’ve got to hand it to [Carl Bugeja] — he comes up with some of the most interesting electromechanical designs we’ve seen. His latest project is right up there, too: a single PCB that folds up into a four-wheel motorized rover.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Attention, Travelers: Now Is the Best Time to Switch to eSIM

• Last year, Apple eliminated the SIM card tray from the iPhone 14 to free up space. That means the SIM card, which acts as a key that connects your phone with cellular networks, is being phased out for Apple phones.

• Where Apple leads, others typically follow, so you can expect handset makers like Samsung and Google to also go all-in on eSIM — a digitized SIM card embedded into the phone’s computer chip that you can activate with any cellular network’s service plan.

=> ↺ Google Drive gets new look on Android tablet – The Hindu BusinessLine

=> ↺ How to recover deleted photos on Android – India Today

=> ↺ New Google Wallpapers are available for all Android phones

=> ↺ Google Drive’s getting a new look and bringing added functionality to Android tablets

=> ↺ All Realme smartphones confirmed to get the Android 13 update

=> ↺ OnePlus 11 camera – you no longer need Samsung Galaxy or Pixel to take amazing photos on Android! – PhoneArena

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

Volker Krause ☛ FOSSGIS 2023Last week I attended the FOSSGIS-Konferent 2023 in Berlin and spoke about KDE Itinerary’s use of OSM data there.ConferenceWith three days of three parallel conference tracks with tightly packed 20 minute slots I only got to see a small subset of the talks, focusing on the topics most relevant for KDE Itinerary. Some takeaways for me:OSM core data model evolution: The initial steps discussed here aren’t directly impacting KDE’s uses of OSM data yet, the possible improvements for more efficient and accurate tile expiry are something potentially interesting for our raw data tile server though (although we currently don’t implement any form of tile expire yet).Indoor positioning (with GPS usually not available inside buildings there is no similarly prevalent solution yet, let alone one that works without needing extra infrastructure in the building and without requiring non-standard/not-yet-standard hardware in phones): Two possible approaches for this were presented, one using common inertial sensors and map matching to compensate the drift, the other using a camera and aSLAM-like algorithm. Nothing published yet unfortunately, so we have to see how well those actually perform in practice.Indoor map data: I found it particularly interesting to see for which very different usecases people need the same kind of data, from navigating through a train station to city-scale earthquake risk assessments with a scary level of detail and accuracy.I also did my first major conference talk in German there, which I hopefully managed to do without using an English term for every other word.

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Explaining my fast 6502 code generator

• I reckon my compiler isn’t doing more when it comes to high-level optimizations, so the gains must be from the code generation side. This makes sense, as most compilers are multi-target, with backends designed for modern RISC-like systems, not the ancient 6502. It doesn’t matter how good GCC or LLVM’s high-level optimizations are if they falter at the last leg of the race.

• Still, my compiler also beats those designed for retro and embedded systems, like VBCC, SDCC, and KickC. For this reason, it seemed like a good idea to write about my technique.

=> ↺ How fast do the files read in?

• I will demonstrate how to generate a 1,000 row and column matrix with random numbers in R, and then save it in different file formats. I will also show how to get the file size of each saved object and benchmark how long it takes to read in each file using different functions.

=> ↺ Greg Casamento: Swift->ObjC interop

• Some interesting notes. I will update this posting as i find more: * https://dart.dev/guides/libraries/objective-c-interop

=> ↺ Greg Casamento: Compatibility project almost complete

• As the much villified theme for star trek enterprise says “its been a long road getting from there to here” i am almost done with all of the work that needed to be done to get us to Catalina compatibility in GNUstep. The reason this is still significant is because Apple hasn’t made many changes to either the Foundation or AppKit APIs since then. I have been workinf hard over the last three years. All of the new classes are fully tested. Once this effort is completed I am going to focus on printing, which has always been a problem in GS. And possibly a “reference” distribution.

Standards/Consortia

=> ↺ Ryan Barrett on HTTP content negotiation

• I’ve been bitten by this before, and agree with Ryan’s thoughts:

• Content negotiation is a feature of HTTP that lets clients ask for, and servers return, different content types based on the request’s Accept header.

• Sounds great, right? Well, no. Content negotiation is the classic example of an idea that sounds good in theory, but for the vast majority of web developers, turns out to be net harmful in practice.

Leftovers

=> ↺ Ten secrets you can’t keep in Sweden

• Swedes have a reputation for being private people, so it might seem paradoxical that details from age to salary to your home address are easily available to anyone who knows where to look.

=> ↺ Here’s How to Rewire Your Brain So You Actually Look Forward to Mondays

• Yes, it’s possible.

=> ↺ A Side of Gloss

• Tedium continues on its long journey to fill its glossary with hundreds of entries, and today’s list takes a long, hard look at all things food-related.

=> ↺ Tolkien Reading Day

• Tolkien Reading Day is an annual event held on the 25 March to celebrate and promote the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was founded by The Tolkien Society.[1]

=> ↺ docker

• There’s been a lot of discussion lately about Docker, mostly about their boneheaded reversal following their boneheaded apology for their boneheaded decision to eliminate free teams. I don’t really care much about this event in terms of how it impacts my professional work. I long ago wrote off Docker, Inc. as a positive part of the DevOps ecosystem. But what’s very interesting to me is how we got here: The story of Docker, Docker Inc., Docker Hub, and their relation to the broader world of containerization is endlessly fascinating to me.

• How is it that Docker Inc., creator of one of the most important and ubiquitous tools in the modern software industry, has become such a backwater of rent-seeking and foot-shooting? Silicon Valley continually produces some astounding failures, but Docker stands out to me. Docker as a software product is an incredible success; Docker as a company is a joke; and the work of computing professionals is complicated by the oddly distant and yet oddly close connection between the two.

=> ↺ Getting Started with GL-S200 Thread Border Router kit

• Last week we checked out the hardware for the GL.iNet GL-S200 Thread Border Router kit with three nRF52840 Thread Dev Boards, and I’ve now had time to work with the kit, so I’ll report my getting started experience in the second part of the review. GL-S200 Initial Set Up I connected the WAN port to my Ethernet Switch itself connected to my modem router and the LAN port to my laptop, so I could access the web interface using the default IP address (192.168.8.1). The GL-S200 uses the same Admin Panel as other GL.iNet routers such as the Beryl AX router we reviewed at the beginning of the year.

=> ↺ Banning Eagle Song, Dragons Love Tacos, A Thai Lullaby and Pink! To Protect the Children

• The zealots are out in force these days, feverishly banning pernicious texts like Sneezy the Snowman, Grandmama’s Pride, A Storm Called Katrina and Dim Sun For Everyone because they’re “putting children at risk” while they quietly sit through live-shooter drills. Happily, some are calling out concerns “their kids’ minds may be opened by a book.” Among them is Grace Linn, 100, whose husband died long ago fighting her era’s brownshirts. “Fear is not freedom,” she says. “Fear is control.”

Science

=> ↺ Other people’s body odor could help reduce your social anxiety: study

• “The results of our preliminary study show that combining these chemo-signals with mindfulness therapy seem to produce better results,” lead researcher Elisa Vigna said.

=> ↺ Official shell counting day: Counting seashells on Dutch beaches for science

• To get a better idea of how many seashells are on Dutch beaches and in the sea, interested people could count shells on beaches in the Netherlands on Saturday. Several organizations have declared Saturday as shell counting day for this purpose.

Education

=> ↺ ‘When We Fight, We Win!’: LA School Workers Secure Deal After 3-Day Strike

• Union negotiators for about 30,000 school support staffers in California’s Los Angeles County struck a historic deal with the second-largest district in the United States on Friday after a three-day strike.

=> ↺ LA School Workers Win Historic Deal After 3-Day Strike

=> ↺ Open Universiteit: Software Quality Management

• I just finished the Software Quality Management course. It was a fun course that focused on the maintainability of code and measuring objective quality metrics. As is usual in a Master you read a lot of papers on the topic, from McCabe’s complexity measure to Fuggetta et al. on the evolution of the software development process. All these papers were very interesting and have given me insights into the evolution of software development. It was enlightening to offset those papers with my own experience.

• Most of the papers are from the late 1990’s up to the early 2010’s. During that time I worked in Silicon Valley and within the Dutch startup environment. All these companies were on the frontline of new technologies and methodologies. The papers hit home most of the time. Several papers on the implementation of Scrum and how software evolves felt a bit one-sided from an academic point of view, but that did not bother me too much.

=> ↺ Engineers Should Write

• Being a software engineer and a writer, my opinion is likely biased in favour of this opinion. However, I have noticed that as I have progressed in my job, I have found writing to also be much more important. Whether it’s writing documentation, reviewing code, planning features, analysing future architecture, or even just helping other engineers. There’s a huge benefit to being able to write clearly, and to be able to explain your thoughts to your future self, and others.

=> ↺ Public Education Is Vital for Democracy. But It’s Not the Solution to Poverty or Inequality.

• By the 1930s, education was one plank in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s proposed Economic Bill of Rights, his ambitious social contract that included the right to a “useful and remunerative job” that paid enough to provide adequate food, clothing, and fun, alongside the rights to a decent home, to adequate medical care, and to live free of economic want or worry. Education made the list as part of Roosevelt’s broader vision for expanding social democracy, Shelton argues, rather than as a means of helping Americans achieve economic success.

• But within a matter of decades, that vision would begin to shrink as the “education myth” took hold. Shelton’s real — and infuriating — contribution here is to document the extraordinary coalescing of political elites around the idea that education is the best, even the only way, for Americans to realize economic security. By the 1960s, this view would all but choke off more radical plans for political and economic equality. The “Freedom Budget” — the massive spending plan proposed by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin in 1966 to provide all Americans with access to a job, living wage, housing, and health care — was never taken up by Congress or President Lyndon Baines Johnson. An effort by Senator Hubert Humphrey and Representative Augustus Hawkins to enshrine guaranteed employment into law a few years later wouldn’t fare much better.

Hardware

=> ↺ How Arm aims to squeeze device makers for cash rather than pocket pennies for cores

• The Softbank-owned British processor designer has reportedly approached several of its largest customers about increasing fees for its blueprints, and charging device makers directly rather than licensing designs to chipmakers.

• Citing multiple industry executives and former employees, the Financial Times reports that Arm’s revised license model would see the company charge based on the value of the end device — a smartphone or tablet, for example — rather than the value of the chips based on its designs.

=> ↺ Inside Digital Image Chips

• Have you ever thought how amazing it is that every bit of DRAM in your computer requires a teeny tiny capacitor? A 16 GB DRAM has 128 billion little capacitors, one for each bit. However, that’s not the only densely-packed IC you probably use daily. The other one is the image sensor in your camera, which is probably in your phone. The ICs have a tremendous number of tiny silicon photosensors, and [Asianometry] explains how they work in the video you can see below.

=> ↺ Gordon E. Moore, Intel Co-Founder Behind Moore’s Law, Dies at 94

• His prediction in the 1960s about rapid advances in computer chip technology charted a course for the age of high tech.

=> ↺ Gordon Moore, 1929 — 2023

• The news emerged yesterday that Gordon Moore, semiconductor pioneer, one of the founders of both Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, and the originator of the famous Moore’s Law, has died. His continuing influence over all aspects of the technology which makes our hardware world can not be underestimated, and his legacy will remain with us for many decades to come.

=> ↺ Classic 1960s Flip Clock Gets NTP Makeover

• Many of the clocks we feature here on Hackaday are entirely built from scratch, or perhaps reuse an unusual display type. But sometimes, an old clock is just perfect as it is, and only needs a bit of an upgrade to help it fit into the modern world. One such example is the lovely 1960s Copal flip clock (in German, Google Translate link) that [Wolfgang Jung] has been working with — he managed to bring it squarely into the 21st century without changing its appearance one bit.

=> ↺ Intel Disconnects 5G Modem Business, Sells to MediaTek

• Intel set to exit PC modem business as part of IDM 2.0 strategy.

=> ↺ I fixed my 1991 386SX-16/20CN motherboard!

• This is a post about a beloved old motherboard, and my journey to get it working. I love seeing the process of people on YouTube doing this, so I thought I’d try something similar by “live blogging” the experience. It was a lot of fun :).

• [...]

• Aside from some dust, it was in remarkable physical condition. As you can see in the lower-right corner near the AT keyboard connector, the Ni-Cd battery was long since removed, which thankfully saved the board from any leaking acid. All the manufacturer date codes I can see show 1991, and the AMI BIOS sticker is from 1989.

• In the lower-centre we have the AMD Am386SX/SXL-25 CPU. If I remember correctly, the SXs were “binned” versions of the DX that didn’t include a floating point unit. A math coprocessor could be added retroactively on boards that supported them, such as this one with the empty brown socket between the CPU and rectangular timing crystals. While being a 32-bit part, the external bus also only ran at 16-bit.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ TikTok ban had ‘side benefit’ of getting his kids off platform: Canada PM Justin Trudeau

• The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, said, “TikTok collects nearly every data point imaginable – from people’s location to what they type and copy, who they talk to, to biometric data and more.”

=> ↺ Utah outlaws kids’ social media addiction, sets digital curfew

• “SB152 requires social media companies to verify that users in the state are 18 or older to open an account,” said Cox via Twitter. “Minors will need parental consent to create an account.”

• “HB311 prohibits social media companies from using a design or feature that causes addiction for a minor to the company’s social media platform. This bill also makes it easier for people to sue social media companies for damages.”

=> ↺ Utah Law Could Curb Use of TikTok and Instagram by Children and Teens

• Governor Cox also signed a second bill on Thursday that will prohibit social media companies from employing features or design techniques that could cause a minor to form an “addiction” to their online platforms.

• The Utah measures come at a moment of heightened public concern and political action over powerful social media algorithms that may entice young people to spend hours online.

=> ↺ How Cigna Saves Millions by Having Its Doctors Reject Claims Without Reading Them

• When a stubborn pain in Nick van Terheyden’s bones would not subside, his doctor had a hunch what was wrong.

• Without enough vitamin D in the blood, the body will pull that vital nutrient from the bones. Left untreated, a vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteoporosis.

=> ↺ Fears of outbreak after measles diagnosis in South Australia

• There are fears of a measles outbreak in South Australia after a three-year-old boy was diagnosed with the disease.

=> ↺ Mosquito-borne diseases expected to rise after pandemic across Queensland

• There has been a significant spike in dengue and malaria cases across the state, according to Queensland Health.

=> ↺ The Search for the Origins of SARS-CoV-2: “The Results on My Screen Were: Raccoon Dog, Raccoon Dog, Raccoon Dog!”

• Evolutionary biologist Florence Débarre has long been searching for gene sequences from the market in Wuhan. Recently, she made an astounding discovery. What does it tell us about the origins of the coronavirus and the resulting pandemic?

=> ↺ UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief To Visit Ukraine’s Russian-Held Zaporizhzhya Plant

• The United Nations nuclear watchdog has said Director-General Rafael Grossi will travel next week to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which was seized by Russian forces shortly after they invaded Ukraine.

=> ↺ Autism rates rising fastest among minority children, CDC says

• Autism is on the rise, especially for minorities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Security

=> ↺ Microsoft scrambles to fix Windows 11 ‘aCropalypse’ privacy-battering bug

• Users can remove sensitive information or some other parts of photos, screenshots, and other images by cropping them using the Snipping Tool app. The problem is that for the Windows 11 app – as well as Microsoft’s Snip & Sketch cropping tool in Windows 10 – the file of the cropped image still includes the cropped out portions, which can be recovered and viewed.

=> ↺ Microsoft Released an Update for Windows Snipping Tool Vulnerability, (Sat, Mar 25th)

• To exploit this vulnerability, the image must be created under very specific condition listed…

=> ↺ US Charges 20-Year-Old Head of Hacker Site BreachForums

• The US Justice Department charged Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, founder of BreachForums, a major underground website for computer hackers.

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ Critics claim Paris using 2024 Games to introduce Big Brother video surveillance

• France’s National Assembly is due to adopt a law on Tuesday ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Article 7 is the most controversial aspect of this law, as it will allow AI video surveillance to be used to detect abnormal behaviour. Human rights organisations and the French left have condemned the measure.

=> ↺ Recreating One Of History’s Best Known Spy Gadgets

• [Machining and Microwaves] got an interesting request. The BBC asked him to duplicate the Great Seal Bug — the device the Russians used to listen covertly to the US ambassador for seven years in 1945. Turns out they’re filming a documentary on the legendary surveillance device and wanted to demonstrate how it worked.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ 20 Years On, What Did the Iraq War Truly Cost?

• The war claimed more than lives and treasure — it claimed a future’s worth of lost opportunities. Now, younger generations are demanding them back.

=> ↺ Police Use “Less Lethal” Weapons to Crush Social Movements Across the World

• A new report finds that more than 121,000 people globally were injured or killed by crowd-control weapons since 2015.

=> ↺ ‘Armed to the teeth’: Who runs — and who funds — a new private military company in annexed Crimea? — Meduza

• Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed governor of annexed Crimea, has created his own private military company called Convoy and headed by Konstantin Pikalov (call sign: Mazai), a former Wagner Group leader whom publication Vazhniye Istorii (Important Stories) called Evgeny Prigozhin’s right hand man. Meduza summarizes Vazhniye Istorii’s reporting on the group, its origins, and its links to both Wagner Group and official Russian military structures.

=> ↺ Investigative Committee opens a criminal case against economist Konstantin Sonin — Meduza

• The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case, under the statute on “fakes” about the Russian Army, against Konstantin Sonin, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, and a former professor at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics. 

=> ↺ Russia accuses Azerbaijan of violating ceasefire agreement with Armenia

• Russia on Saturday accused Azerbaijan of violating the Moscow-brokered ceasefire that ended the 2020 war with Armenia, by letting its troops cross over the demarcation line.

=> ↺ Biden: U.S. Does Not Seek Conflict With Iran But Will ‘Forcefully’ Protect Americans In Syria

• U.S. President Joe Biden has said the United States does not seek conflict with Iran but will respond to protect its personnel in Syria and elsewhere.

=> ↺ Iran-Backed Fighters On Alert In East Syria After U.S. Strikes, Activists Say

• Iran-backed fighters were on alert in eastern Syria on March 25, a day after U.S. forces launched retaliatory air strikes on sites in the war-torn country, opposition activists said.

=> ↺ Recent Airstrikes Are Our Periodic Reminder That We’re Fighting a War in Syria

• Four years after IS was officially defeated, the U.S. continues to keep hundreds of troops in Syria to fight the vanquished terrorist group.

=> ↺ Nordic Countries Combine Air Defenses To Counter Russian Threat

• Military officials in four Nordic countries have announced the creation of a unified air-defense force to counter the perceived threat from Russia.

=> ↺ Russian Lawmaker Calls For Ban On ICC Activity In Russia

• The pro-Kremlin speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament has called for his country to ban the activities of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it issued an arrest warrant on possible war crimes for President Vladimir Putin.

=> ↺ ICC Charges Putin With War Crimes While US and Israeli Leaders Enjoy Impunity

=> ↺ Chechnya’s Kadyrov Decorated For Defending Human Rights

• The controversial head of Russia’s Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been decorated as an “honored human rights defender of the Chechen Republic.”

=> ↺ Recruiting Convicts For Ukraine War Has ‘Reduced Crime In Russia’

• Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin-connected businessman who controls the Wagner mercenary group, has defended the firm’s practice of recruiting convicts to fight in Ukraine.

=> ↺ Putin Says Russia Will Station Tactical Nuclear Weapons In Belarus

• Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow has reached agreement to station tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of close ally Belarus, which borders both Russia and Ukraine.

=> ↺ Putin announces that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus — Meduza

• Russian president Vladimir Putin said on air on state-run television network Russia 24 that Russia intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus.

=> ↺ ‘Extremely Dangerous Escalation’: Putin to Station Russian Nukes in Belarus

• Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on state television Saturday plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus—an escalation anti-war campaigners had been warning about and that alarmed disarmament advocates and experts.

=> ↺ AUKUS Nuclear Submarines: Accelerating the Sleepwalking to War With China

• The March 13 Biden-Albanese-Sunak summit in San Diego to demonstrate alliance solidarity and to sign the multi-billion AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, US) nuclear submarine deal accelerated the pace of the U.S. and China sleepwalking toward catastrophic war. Compounding the dangers that came with the creation of the alliance in 2021 as part of the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific military buildup, the new deal also adds to the mountain of obstacles blocking the way to the U.S.-Chinese cooperation that is essential if the climate emergency is to be reversed, the world’s nuclear arms races stanched, and if the planet’s two most technologically advanced nations collaborating to prevent pandemics and discover cancer cures.

=> ↺ Hungary: Criticism Makes It Hard To Cooperate With West

• The West’s steady criticism of Hungary on democratic and cultural issues makes the country’s right-wing government reluctant to offer support on practical matters, specifically NATO’s buildup against Russia.

=> ↺ Asia Fact Check Lab: Did Putin kneel before Xi Jinping?

• Verdict: False

=> ↺ Hungary: Criticism makes it hard to cooperate with West

• Hungary’s foreign minister says the West’s steady criticism of his country on democratic and cultural issues makes the right-wing government reluctant to offer support on practical matters, specifically NATO’s buildup against Russia. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also said that Hungary has not voted on whether to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO because its lawmakers are sick of those countries’ critiques of Hungarian domestic affairs. Szijjártó spoke to the The Associated Press at the United Nations on Friday. The European Union, which includes 21 NATO countries, has frozen billions in funds to Budapest and accused populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban of cracking down on media freedom and LGBTQ rights.

=> ↺ 6 Army bases named after Confederate leaders get dates for new names

• Several U.S. Army bases will officially get their new names in the coming months as the military seeks to redesignate bases that currently honor Confederate leaders.

• Driving the news: Fort Hood, the major Army base in central Texas, will be redesignated as Fort Cavazos on May 9, the base announced Friday.

=> ↺ Hungary would not arrest Putin despite ICC warrant, official says

• A Hungarian official has said that the country would not arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he entered Hungary, despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for alleged war crimes.

=> ↺ White powder sent to Manhattan DA investigating Trump deemed non-hazardous

• A letter containing white powder sent Friday to the office of the Manhattan district attorney weighing charges against former President Trump contained no “dangerous substance” inside, according to multiple reports.

=> ↺ When Donald Paid Stormy: A History of Hush Money

• Buying silence is as old as Genesis. Among the hushers: Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Bette Davis, and a U.S. President with a special friend called Jerry the Penis.

=> ↺ House GOP blasts Bragg for refusing to cooperate with their probe into DA’s case against Trump

• Members of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees rebuked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a letter Saturday for refusing to cooperate with their probe into the Stormy Daniels “hush money” case he’s pursuing against former President Donald Trump.

=> ↺ GOP Reps. mull legislation to protect presidents from “politically motivated” probes

• Top House Republicans said in a letter Saturday that they’re considering legislation to “protect” current and former presidents from “politically motivated prosecutions” in response to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into former President Trump.

=> ↺ At Texas rally, Trump blasts investigators as “maniacs”

• Former President Trump on Saturday blasted the wide-ranging investigations against him, telling thousands of supporters at a rally in Texas that his personal life “has been turned upside down” because of “prosecutorial misconduct by radical left maniacs.”

• Why it matters: In a rambling speech at the Waco airport, Trump made his most extensive comments yet on the legal jeopardy he faces, starting with the New York probe into alleged hush money he paid to a porn star over an affair she says they had.

=> ↺ Bakhmut Battle ‘Could Be Stabilized,’ Ukrainian General Says

• The battle for the city has been the most violent of recent months, creating an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis for the few remaining civilians.

=> ↺ Ukraine Says No Letup On Bakhmut Front Despite Claims Russian Offensive Stalling

• Fierce fighting continues near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, with Russia launching dozens of attacks over the last 24 hours, Ukraine’s military said in a March 25 briefing.

=> ↺ Idaho governor signs firing squad execution bill into law

• Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law a bill allowing firing squads to execute death row inmates when lethal injection drugs are unavailable. The move makes Idaho the fifth U.S. state to authorize the execution method. The new law will give the Department of Correction up to five days after a death warrant is issued to determine if lethal injection is available. If not, the execution must be done by firing squad. The Death Penalty Information Center says Idaho joins Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and South Carolina as the states allowing firing squads. South Carolina’s law is on hold because of a legal challenge.

=> ↺ Russia ‘largely stalled’ in Bakhmut, shifting focus, UK says

• The top commander of Ukraine’s military says his forces are pushing back against Russian troops in the long and grinding battle for the town of Bakhmut. British military intelligence published on Saturday said Russia appeared to be moving to a defensive strategy in eastern Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian military cautioned that Bakhmut remained Russia’s main point of attack for now. The town is the focus of the longest battle of the 13-month war in Ukraine. Russia has deployed both regular soldiers and fighters of the mercenary Wagner Group in the campaign to seize Bakhmut. Russian forces must go through the town to push deeper into other parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

=> ↺ In Blow to Taiwan, Honduras Switches Relations to China

• The Central American country changed diplomatic recognition to Beijing, leaving 12 nations and the Vatican still recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign state.

=> ↺ Zelensky: Ukraine lacks weapons and ammunition to launch counteroffensive — Meduza

• President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky says that Ukraine cannot begin a counteroffensive campaign due to a lack of weapons and ammunition, reports Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

=> ↺ U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission: Both Russia and Ukraine have killed, abused POWs — Meduza

• The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) published a report on the treatment of war prisoners, which says that both sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have participated in extrajudicial executions of military personnel.

=> ↺ Honduras ends decades-long diplomatic ties with Taiwan

• Honduras has announced that it is ending its decades-long diplomatic relations with Taiwan, bringing it closer to China as it expands its footprint in Central America.

=> ↺ UN Rights Official Concerned Over Summary Executions Of POWs By Both Russia, Ukraine

• The United Nations has expressed deep concerned over what it says were summary executions of prisoners of war (POWs) by both Russian and Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

=> ↺ A Helsinki resident’s first encounter with a mass shooting

=> ↺ Emil Bocek, Last Czech RAF Pilot During WWII, Dies at 100

• The last living Czech pilot who fought the Nazis while serving with Britain’s Royal Air Force during World War II has died at age 100

=> ↺ Ukraine Says Bakhmut Situation Is Stabilising, Putin Plays Down Tank Shortage

=> ↺ Russia Pardons 5,000 Former Criminals After Fighting in Ukraine, Prigozhin Says

• More than 5,000 former criminals have been pardoned after finishing their contracts to fight in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group…

=> ↺ Russia pardons over 5,000 convicts after fighting in Ukraine with Wagner Group

• More than 5,000 former criminals have been pardoned after finishing their contracts to fight in Russia’s Wagner mercenary group against Ukraine, the founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Saturday.

=> ↺ Israel dispatch: defense minister calls for halt to judicial reform package and protests in extraordinary national TV address

• Sharon Basch is an Israeli American who spent the last two years living in Israel before starting her JD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

=> ↺ Israel’s Defense Minister Says Government Should Halt Contentious Judicial Plan

• Yoav Gallant, who oversees Israel’s military, is the first minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to criticize a plan to weaken the judiciary. His comments follow fears that weeks of unrest have undermined military capacity.

=> ↺ Israeli defense minister urges government to stop judicial reforms

• Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday called on the government to halt legislation on changes to the judiciary, saying the bitter dispute over the measures poses a danger to the country.

=> ↺ The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker

• People who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a U.S.-led war are active on the Ukrainian front, with ready access to American weapons.

=> ↺ Finland’s longest-serving MP, Ben Zyskowicz, attacked while campaigning

• National Coalition Party politician Ben Zyskowicz was assaulted by a man who he said insulted him over his Judaism and support for Nato membership.

=> ↺ An anxious Asia arms for a war it hopes to prevent

• Rattled by China’s military buildup, nations across the region are bolstering defence budgets, joint training, weapons manufacturing and combat-ready infrastructure.

=> ↺ ‘Things will be bad in Russia for a very long time’ – interview with persecuted Russian student who fled to Lithuania

• Olesya Krivtsova, a 20-year-old university student, faced up to a decade in prison for “justifying terrorism” and “discrediting the Russian armed forces”. She has now fled to Lithuania. Many Russian officers “got kicked in the teeth” for her escape and started threatening her family, Kritsova says in an interview with LRT.lt.

Environment

=> ↺ Extinction Rebellion protesters enter grounds of Eindhoven Airport, blocking private jet area

• “The rebels block the private jet area at Eindhoven Airport. The entrance to the VIP lounge is occupied and the Luchtfietsers are also present at the airport. The activists do not enter the runway in order not to disturb other flights to and from the airport,” said XR.

=> ↺ Finland’s carbon neutrality goal at risk due to slow forest growth, warns WMO Chief Taalas

• The 2035 goal is challenging – and achieving it has become more difficult as Finland’s forests will not be as big a carbon sink in the future as had been assumed, said Petteri Taalas, head of the World Meteorological Organisation.

=> ↺ Himalayas: The climate time bomb threatening India

• In the world’s highest mountain range, global warming threatens thousands of glaciers, resulting in increasingly frequent natural disasters: landslides, avalanches and glacier collapses. Our reporters Alban Alvarez and Navodita Kumari travelled to the small northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, where these disasters are compounded by a rush to develop infrastructure such as hydroelectric dams.

=> ↺ Pension reform: French government will not ‘yield to violence’, says Macron

• French President Emmanuel Macron strongly condemned violence that erupted in Thursday’s demonstrations against raising the French retirement age and said he would not give in to it.

=> ↺ Germany reaches deal with EU on phaseout of combustion engines

• The European Union and Germany have reached a deal on the future use of combustion engines, officials said on Saturday, an issue that has been closely followed by the auto industry.

=> ↺ Council of Europe commissioner accuses France of excessive force against protestors over pension reform bill

• The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic Friday accused the French police of using violence and excessive force against protestors demonstrating opposition against French President Emmanual Macron’s circumventing an outvoted pension reform bill increasing the retirement age from 62 to 64, without a parliamentary vote.

=> ↺ ‘Some officers think everything is allowed’: CNRS researcher deplores French police brutality

• Tensions are rising in France after President Emmanuel Macron in a televised interview Wednesday refused to compromise on the government’s controversial pension reform bill. As peaceful demonstrations turn to social unrest, police forces are picking up their batons and using them on protesters.

=> ↺ Biden Chooses Fossil Fuels Over Us

• The sun was beating down and my ears were ringing. My hands gripped the megaphone as we chanted, “No more drilling, no more drilling, no more drilling on federal lands!” The words we chanted were President Joe Biden’s verbatim, a broken promise made on the campaign trail in 2020. Just over a week after approving a massive oil drilling plan in the Arctic called the Willow project, President Biden hosted a conservation summit at the Department of the Interior. Youth climate justice organizers from Zero Hour protested alongside allied organizations outside the summit for hours, determined not to let Biden forget his broken promise. Administration officials and the president himself entered and left the building, pretending to ignore us and our demands, but we didn’t quiet down. We don’t plan to stop protesting the outrageous decision any time soon.

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ From the African Coast to Towers of Wall Street, the Climate Bombs Are Ticking

• “Your people can’t take it anymore, Lord In exchange for oil and gas they sell our country.”

=> ↺ The Call for a Livable, Fossil-Free Future Grows Louder

• The IPCC’s 6th Assessment Synthesis Report released this week summarizes what we already knew: that the climate crisis, whose visibility has grown more pronounced over every season, is unequivocally happening.

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ I Am Haunted by What I Have Seen at Great Salt Lake

• The Latter-day Saints church has the moral authority and political sway to save Great Salt Lake.

=> ↺ Illegal Mining Fuels Crisis for Indigenous Tribe in Brazil’s Amazon

• Illegal mines have fueled a humanitarian crisis for the Yanomami Indigenous group. Brazil’s new president is trying to fight back.

=> ↺ A Photographic Mission to Make an Amazonian Tribe Known

• The activist and artist Claudia Andujar says, “I spent my life trying to understand the Yanomami, and to try and transmit what I understood.”

=> ↺ At Least 26 Killed as Powerful Tornado Tears Through Mississippi

• Dozens more were injured after a deadly tornado ripped through a rural area. The death toll is expected to rise.

=> ↺ Mississippi tornadoes kill 23, injure dozens overnight

• Emergency officials in Mississippi say 23 people have been killed by tornadoes that tore through the state on Friday night, destroying buildings and knocking out power as severe weather that produced hail the size of golf balls moved through several southern states. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency confirmed the death total early Saturday with dozens of injuries and four people missing throughout the state. The agency says in a Twitter post that search and rescue teams from numerous local and state agencies were deployed along with personnel to assist those impacted by the tornadoes. The rural towns of Silver City and Rolling Fork have reported severe destruction as the tornado swept northeast at 70 mph without weakening.

=> ↺ Deadly tornado and thunderstorms rip through Mississippi

• Rescuers combed through rubble on Saturday after a powerful storm tore across Mississippi overnight, killing at least 25 people there and another in Alabama, leveling dozens of buildings and spawning at least one devastating tornado.

Overpopulation

=> ↺ UN water conference ends with hundreds of non-binding commitments

• But conservation groups slam agenda for lacking accountability

=> ↺ Violent clashes erupt over agro industry water megabasins project in western France

• French police again clashed with protesters Saturday as campaigners sought to stop the construction of reservoirs in the southwest, the latest in a series of violent standoffs as social tensions erupt nationwide.

Finance

=> ↺ Corporate Real Estate Investors Are Accelerating the Affordable Housing Crisis

=> ↺ Which tech firms are most exposed to the banking crisis?

=> ↺ The Deadly Results of Economic Inequality

• If you grew up in America, then you almost definitely have heard some variation of the refrain: “America is the greatest country in the world.”

=> ↺ Vietnam’s crackdown on corruption chokes affordable home supply

• Average apartment prices in Ho Chi Minh City grew 43 per cent in 2022.

=> ↺ Unrest In France Postpones King Charles’ State Visit

• “The King and Queen consort’s state visit to France has been postponed,” Buckingham Palace said.

=> ↺ Final data coming to inform next RBA rates decision

• The Reserve Bank will soon get the final two pieces of the economic puzzle that will inform its key April cash rate decision. Both a pause and another hike are still in play, with analysts undecided on which way the central bank will go.

=> ↺ Big Tech, weapons, tax havens, even Rupert Murdoch – secrets from the Future Fund investment vault

• The secretive Future Fund’s chairman Peter Costello might not like it, but Freedom of Information requests are peeling back the lid on the Fund’s weighty overseas investments. Philip Dorling and Rex Patrick report the more controversial ones.

• Big Tech, Big Pharma and Big Oil are the top of the pops in a newly released list of Future Fund Investments across the United States, United Kingdom and a range of tax havens, notably among the Cayman Islands.

=> ↺ 200,000-Dollar Fine Aims to Expose Money Laundering in Canada

• In a new bid to end the use of shell companies to hide crimes and avoid taxes, the federal government will require clear records of corporate ownership. Will provincial governments follow?

=> ↺ Welcome to Muskville, Texas

• Companies shouldn’t need to build worker housing. Workers shouldn’t have to live in company towns.

=> ↺ The Lure of the ‘Made in America’ Sales Pitch

• Geopolitics forced an entrepreneur, Taylor Shupe, to bring jobs back from China. It’s helping sell his meme-inspired socks too.

=> ↺ Wall Street, ASX look for support to stem banking crisis as Deutsche Bank wobbles

• Concerns that US authorities haven’t completely stemmed the contagion from the banking crisis will drive sharemarkets again this week.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ Kash’s Castles of Scatter and Evan Corcoran’s BCC

• John Solomon seems very concerned about sharing the correspondence he and Kash Patel had with NARA General Counsel Gary Stern last summer.

=> ↺ Matt Taibbi: People Can Win

• We’ve been trained to think that endless rule by tiny minorities of really horrible people is the natural order of things, but that turns out to be just another lie.

=> ↺ Defiant Belarusian Opposition Marks Freedom Day As Western Leaders Vow Continued Support

• European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has reasserted the bloc’s “commitment to support the Belarusian people” on the occasion of Belarus Freedom Day on March 25.

=> ↺ Russia to station nuclear arms in Belarus, says Putin

• Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbour and ally Belarus.

=> ↺ ‘When we are together, we drive these changes.’ What Xi and Putin’s deepening alliance means for the world order.

• At the three-day meeting this week in Moscow, the Russian president’s desperation met the Chinese leader’s opportunism. The visit marks an inflection point for global order.

=> ↺ Craig Murray: Why Would China Be an Enemy?

• To react to Beijing’s growing economic power by increasing Western military power is hopeless. It is harder to think of a more stupid example of lashing out in blind anger.

=> ↺ Brazil’s Lula cancels trip to China because of pneumonia

• Brazil’s presidential palace says that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has canceled his trip to China after contracting pneumonia. The 77-year-old Lula was admitted to a hospital in the capital of Brasilia with flu-like symptoms and was diagnosed with “bacterial and viral bronchopneumonia due to influenza A,” the palace said in a statement. The leftist leader’s health was reassessed on Saturday and, despite improvement, he was advised to “postpone the trip to China until the cycle of viral transmission ends,” the note said. is press office later confirmed that the trip had been canceled. Chinese authorities have been informed.

=> ↺ Push to expand voting rights in US for those held in jails

• Criminal justice and election officials, along with voting rights advocates, are working across the United States to expand voting among jail detainees. The effort is an acknowledgement that tens of thousands of people being held pretrial haven’t lost that fundamental right to vote. In Chicago, hundreds of people in the Cook County Jail have been voting in this year’s mayor’s race. Other places where voting rights advocates have worked with local election and jail officials to offer voting for detainees include Denver, Harris County, Texas, Los Angeles County and the District of Columbia. In Illinois, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says voting brings a sense of empowerment and is a way to inspire change.

=> ↺ Fans rush to snap up ‘last’ Hong Kong football jerseys before ‘China’ added to official name

• Hundreds of supporters of the Hong Kong men’s football team have queued up in the hope of snatching up what may be the last jersey of its kind before the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) adds “China” to its name.

=> ↺ Hong Kong asylum seekers face bureaucratic maze and deportation under tightened policy

• After more than five years navigating the bureaucratic maze of Hong Kong’s asylum system, John faces a new fear: deportation under a recently amended “removal policy”. “When you’re running for your safety, you never know where you go.

=> ↺ Who Do You Believe, and Why?

• Todd Hayen There is an awful lot of “I know I’m right” chatter going around on both sides. I am just curious, what makes you so sure you are right? And what makes them so sure they are right?

=> ↺ ‘Lies’, lawmakers and leaks: the week at the mañaneras

• President López Obrador covered Mexico’s human rights record, economic growth, “political tourism” and more at the weekday morning pressers.

=> ↺ Can Movements Stop Politicians From Inevitably Selling Out?

• It is a pattern we see again and again: New political hopefuls are elected to office espousing progressive values and vowing to challenge the status quo in Washington, D.C. They are sent off with high hopes. But then, over time, the change they promise never materializes.

=> ↺ Why People Hate Tech: A Response to Tech Entrepreneurship and Shifting Sentiment

• The article I’m responding to directly, and then expanding out from, is titled Tech Entrepreneurship and Shifting Sentiment. Go read it, and if you can make it to the end without at least one giggle, snort, or eyeroll, you’re doing better than I did. The author correctly identifies that the sentiment has shifted against the tech industry, but then proceeds to hypothesize about some reasons, and… well, I think it’s safe to say that they’ve not made it outside their little social bubble of “tech startup” workers in a long, long while.

=> ↺ Accenture puts 19,000 staffers’ heads on the chopping block

• The monster redundancy process involves some 2.5 percent of the existing 738,000-strong workforce that are spread across offices and operations in more than 200 cities in 49 countries.

=> ↺ TikTok says half of Americans use site as ban threat looms

• Chew also asked the app’s devoted users to “let me know in the comments what you want your elected representatives to know about what you love about TikTok.”

=> ↺ “Creed III” Reflects Immense Class Divide in Black America But Fails to Heal It

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ Zoom Workshopping Large Libel Models? Liability for AI Output

• I have a very rough draft of this article; I’d love to hear comments on it, of course, but I’d also like to workshop it by Zoom, in case some people are interested.

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ The Scammer Tricking Instagram Into Banning Influencer Accounts

• Just after midnight on Sept. 13, Kristian “Murda” Murphy was watching TV at home in Boca Raton, Florida, when his phone began buzzing.

• “Murda u always outside we gon see you,” read a message from an account he didn’t recognize.

=> ↺ Burning Books and Destroying Education on the Path to Fascist Dictatorship

• Targeting educators was a priority with strict penalties imposed on what could be taught, leading to the firing of thousands of university professors and teachers, while others

=> ↺ Man gets death sentence for blasphemy in Peshawar

• An anti-terrorism court here on Friday convicted a man on the charges of committing blasphemy and other religion-related offences on social media and sentenced him to death and imprisonment on multiple counts.

• A total Rs1.2 million fine was also imposed on the convict.

=> ↺ Pak Man Sends Blasphemous Message On WhatsApp Group, Sentenced To Death

• Although many cases involve Muslims accusing fellow Muslims, rights activists have warned that religious minorities — particularly Christians — are often caught in the crossfire, with blasphemy charges used to settle personal scores.

Freedom of Information / Speech

=> ↺ ECHR rules European Convention protects the freedom of expression of an eyewitness to a road accident

• The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Thursday delivered its judgement, wherein it held that the freedom of expression of an eyewitness to a road accident is protected by Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention).

=> ↺ Indian Journalist In US Alleges Attack By Khalistani Supporters Near Embassy

• Indian journalist Lalit Jha said he was hit on his left ear with two sticks by the Khalistani supporters.

=> ↺ TUNE IN: Stella Assange, Stefania Maurizi, and Kevin Gosztola In Berlin

=> ↺ ‘Our newsroom turned into a cult’: How a ‘liberal’ Telegram channel began peddling Kremlin disinformation to 1.6 million people — Meduza

=> ↺ ‘Of course there are threats’: Putin: Russia has three times as many tanks as Ukraine, ten times the aircraft, and will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus — Meduza

• Russian president Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation, which ran the interview on state-run television network Russia 24. During the interview, Putin Western countries’ plans to supply Ukraine with weapons and ammunition, as well as the current state of Russia’s military-industrial complex. The Russian president also announced his plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of neighboring Belarus. Meduza shares the most important parts of Putin’s remarks.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ Pope Increases Lay Leaders’ Responsibility in Sexual Abuse Law

• The most significant part of the law, a permanent version of a 2019 measure, may be its impact on the “lay faithful,” who will be more accountable for abuse.

=> ↺ Paul Rusesabagina, ‘Hotel Rwanda’ Hero, Freed From Prison

• Paul Rusesabagina, a critic of Rwanda’s president, was tricked into entering the country, then sentenced to 25 years after what his supporters called a show trial.

=> ↺ Characters from “Succession” as Members of an Improv Team

• The staff of Waystar Royco go off script.

• The Myth of the Alpha Wolf ☞ https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/the-myth-of-the-alpha-wolf

=> ↺ The Myth of the Alpha Wolf

• The model of aggression and dominance has infected human society. But new research shows how wrong we got it.

=> ↺ Steven Rattner’s Not Afraid Of Work From Home, He’s Afraid Of Worker Power

• The United States is in the middle of a long-overdue resurgence in labor organizing, antipathy to corporate power, and class analysis. This is terrifying to business executives and the ultra-rich, especially those affiliated with the Democratic Party. What was once the party of Bill Clinton sounds more and more like the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt again, as ever-greater numbers of Democratic voters bring back good-old American “us vs. the bosses” economic populism.

=> ↺ The Graduate Worker Unionization Movement Is Spreading Like Wildfire

=> ↺ Ron DeSantis Delivers Corporate America’s Anti-Union Wish List in Florida

• Florida’s 2023 legislative session has kicked off with a pair of bills chock full of new labor regulations long sought after by anti-union activists.

=> ↺ India Supreme Court says affinity test is not essential to determine caste/tribe claim

• The Supreme Court of India Friday delivered its ruling wherein it held that the affinity test is not a litmus test to decide a caste name and is not an essential part of the process of the determination of the correctness of a caste/tribe name in every case.

=> ↺ Vague Visa Rules Leave Laid-Off Twitter Worker Unable To Return to U.S.

• Foreign-born tech workers in the U.S. have been especially vulnerable as tech giants lay off large shares of their work forces.

=> ↺ Afroman put home footage of a police raid in music videos. Now the cops are suing him

• Law enforcement had searched his home on suspicion of drug trafficking and kidnapping, but found no evidence and filed no charges against him. He says they kicked down his door, broke his video surveillance system, stole money from him and frightened his family.

• Afroman, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, told NPR in a phone interview that what he did next was his “smartest, most peaceful solution.”

• “I asked myself, as a powerless Black man in America, what can I do to the cops that kicked my door in, tried to kill me in front of my kids, stole my money and disconnected my cameras?” he says. “And the only thing I could come up with was make a funny rap song about them and make some money, use the money to pay for the damages they did and move on.”

=> ↺ US and Canada Announce Joint Plan to Turn Away Asylum-Seekers

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

=> ↺ Politicians Should Be Held Equally Accountable to the FCC’s New Rules and Stop Spamming Voters

• Do you have a friend, maybe an ex-girlfriend or an ex-boyfriend, who won’t stop texting you? Then you know how annoying it is, and difficult it is, once they have your number, to block them.

Monopolies

=> ↺ A Dane Abroad: The potential pitfalls of an unregulated tech race

• In a recent New York Times article, tech writer Kevin Roose reported a bizarre encounter he’d had with a Bing chatbot in which it had told him, among other things, that it dreamt of being human…

Patents

=> ↺ Moderna stands its ground at Sanders hearing

• Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel would not commit during a Senate hearing Wednesday to reconsidering the decision to roughly quadruple the price of his company’s COVID-19 vaccine once government purchases end.

=> ↺ PREPARED REMARKS: HELP Committee Hearing on Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Pricing, CEO to Testify

• Do we not need to change the current culture of greed into a culture which understands that science and medical breakthroughs should work for ordinary people, and not just enrich large corporations and CEOs? And, in that respect, it is important to remember the contributions of great scientists like Dr. Jonas Salk who, in the 1950s, invented the vaccine for polio. Salk’s work saved millions of lives and prevented millions more from being paralyzed.

• It has been estimated that if Dr. Salk had chosen to patent the polio vaccine he would have made billions of dollars. But he did not.

• When asked who owns the patent to this vaccine Dr. Salk said: “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”

=> ↺ At Senate hearing, Bernie Sanders grills Moderna CEO for quadrupling COVID vaccine price

• Last month, Moderna told investors that it had settled on a $400 million “catch-up payment” to the NIH for using the agency’s patented technology in its vaccine. At the Senate hearing, Bancel said that the company has decided to “abandon” its patent in the dispute. “We are moving on because we cannot agree on what happened,” he said.

• Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana acknowledged that “Americans pay too much for prescriptions drugs” but took issue with the title of the hearing — ‘Taxpayers Paid Billions For It: So Why Would Moderna Consider Quadrupling the Price of the COVID Vaccine?’ — which he thought inappropriately “presumed guilt.”

Copyrights

=> ↺ Major Publishers Mull Legal Action Against Pirate Ebook Platform

• With Sci-Hub and Z-Library making headlines over the past few months and the Internet Archive’s legal battle still ongoing, publishers seem prepared to defend every last inch of their rights. That includes Cengage, Macmillan, McGraw-Hill and Pearson, as they investigate what appears to be a blatant pirate ebook platform. A closer look reveals even more dubious activity.

=> ↺ Internet Archive to Appeal ‘Chilling’ Federal Ruling Against Digital Books

• Internet Archive vowed to appeal after a U.S. district court judge on Friday sided with four major publishers who sued the nonprofit for copyright infringement.

=> ↺ Internet Archive is Liable for Copyright Infringement, Court Rules

• The Internet Archive’s online book lending library is not protected by the fair use exception to copyright. Major book publishers successfully argued that the Archive’s lending of scanned books amounts to copyright infringement. In a decision published Friday, a New York federal judge found that the Archive’s fair use defenses weighed strongly against the digital book lending operation.

=> ↺ Judge Rules Online Archive’s Book Service Violated Copyright

• A federal judge has sided with four publishers who sued an online archive over its scanning of millions of copyrighted works and offering them for free to the public

=> ↺ Public Knowledge Disappointed in Decision Restricting Ability of Libraries To Lend Books

• New ruling jeopardizes the rights of all readers to acquire knowledge and further risks your rights to lend, repair, and resell what you own.

Gemini* and Gopher

Personal

=> ↺ Slot diegetics

• The spell slot system as implemented in 5e was first seen in a video game called Wizardry; they called it “spell points” in that game but you had separate pools of “level 1 spell points”, “level 2 spell points” and so on, just like 5e’s slots.

• So for a more JRPG-like vibe, you could lean into that. Call slots spell points or mana points or magic points or whatever game you’re more familiar with—not only video games, there are other table top games that uses MP. The hack, compared the cockamamie spell point system option in the DMG, is to just keep “the separate pools per level”, just like slots work non—i.e. don’t change anything, it’s just a new name for them.

=> ↺ 🔤SpellBinding: ACEINTY Wordo: PAILS

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