● 04.22.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 22/04/2023: Manjaro 22.1 Talos and OpenShot 3.1.1

Posted in News Roundup at 1:31 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Desktop/Laptop

=> ↺ System76 brings Intel Raptor Lake chips to more Linux laptops

• Linux PC company is now offering four laptops with 13th-gen Intel “Raptor Lake” processor options. The company refreshed its Gazelle laptop in March, equipping new models with an Intel Core i9-13900H processor and NVIDIA RTX 3050 graphics.

• Now System76 has also launched new versions of its Adder WS, Serval WS, and Bonobo WS mobile workstation-class laptops with new models featuring Intel Core i9-13900HX processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series graphics.

Server

=> ↺ 10,000 engineers attend Kubernetes conference, definitely know what it is wink wink

• They gave me a backpack that says “Kubernetes” on it and everything. So, it must be a real thing.

Audiocasts/Shows

=> ↺ Sustainable Computing with Kepler (Podcast #17 w/ Huamin Chen)

• The Red Hat podcast series continues with our sixth guest, Huamin Chen, senior principal software engineer, office of the CTO at Red Hat.

=> ↺ Re:Role | Tech Support, Deconstructed

• To some, working in technical support can seem equal parts stressful and mundane. But through building relationships, sharing knowledge, and practicing empathy for users, one can stretch beyond the help desk to become a trusted partner for customers as they navigate critical issues and business challenges.

Graphics Stack

=> ↺ Mike Blumenkrantz: Embarrassments

• I escaped my RADV pen once again. I know, it’s been a while, but every so often my handler gets distracted and I sprint for the fence with all my might.

• This time I decided to try out a shiny new Intel Arc A770 that was left by my food trough.

• The Dota2 performance? Surprisingly good. I was getting 100+ FPS in all the places I expected to have good perf and 4-5 FPS in all the places I expected to have bad perf.

Benchmarks

=> ↺ Ubuntu vs Arch Linux for Performance, Gaming & Programming (2023)

• A completely different desktop experience is offered by Arch Linux and Ubuntu, it becomes quite a tough choice on what to select as our daily driver especially when we cannot ignore the benefits of both. We go over various important points comparing speed, gaming and if it is good for programmers and developers.

Applications

=> ↺ OpenShot 3.1.1 Released | Improved Tracker & Object Detection, Bug Fixes & Quality-of-Life Improvements

• Download OpenShot Video Editor 3.1.1 – now with improved stability and quality-of-life improvements!

=> ↺ Linux Mastodon App Tokodon Updated with New Features

• A new version of the Tokodon Mastodon client for Linux is available from Flathub and there are some really nice improvements included.

=> ↺ Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Apple Automator

• Automator is a utility which lets you create custom workflows to perform both simple and complex tasks. We recommend the best free and open source alternatives.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ 10 Things To Do After Installing Pop!_OS Linux

• The Pop!_OS is one of the most lightweight and user-friendly distributions of Linux that you can use if you are a newbie to Linux. The Pop!_OS comes as the distribution of the Debian family.

=> ↺ How to Install Discord on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

• Discord is a powerful and widely popular communication platform designed to cater to the needs of various communities, including gamers, businesses, and educational institutions. Developed with the core values of simplicity, efficiency, and reliability, Discord has gained a reputation for being the go-to platform for millions of users worldwide.

=> ↺ How to Install GNU Radio on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

• GNU Radio is an open-source software development toolkit that enables the implementation of software-defined radios (SDRs) and radio frequency (RF) systems. With its powerful and flexible design, GNU Radio has become an essential tool for hobbyists, researchers, and industry professionals. In this introduction, we will explore the key features and benefits of GNU Radio.

=> ↺ How to Install FreetuxTV on Ubuntu Linux 22.04 | 20.04

• FreetuxTV is a versatile and powerful open-source software that allows you to stream and watch live television channels and radio stations worldwide on your Linux desktop.

=> ↺ How to install Cinnamon Desktop in Debian 11 or 12 Linux

• Whether you have a CLI Debian server or Gnome-based Desktop, if you are a fan of Linux Mint’s Cinnamon Desktop then you can install it on Debian 11 Bullseye or 12 Bookworm using the terminal commands given here.

=> ↺ How to Install Deluge on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

• Deluge is a versatile and powerful BitTorrent client, offering many features and capabilities to enhance your torrenting experience. It is an open-source, cross-platform solution compatible with various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux.

=> ↺ How to Set Proxy Settings for APT Command

• In this guide, you will learn how to set proxy settings for the APT command in Ubuntu/Debian Linux distributions. A proxy server is an intermediary server that sits between a client system or end user requesting the resource and the resource itself.

=> ↺ Steve Kemp: Managing header-spacing in markdown/org-mode files

• It seems I’m having a theme recently on this blog, of making emacs-related posts. Here’s another.

=> ↺ Before You Sudo Rm -rf /, Take Some Precautions

• Maintaining or administering a computer system remotely is a common enough task these days, but it’s also something that can go sideways on you quickly if you aren’t careful. How many of us are guilty of executing a command, having it fail, and only then realizing that we weren’t connected to the correct computer at all? [Callan] occasionally has this issue as well, but in at least one instance, he deleted all of the contents of the wrong server by mistake. To avoid that mistake again, he uses color codes in the command line in a fairly unique way.

=> ↺ Adding Empty Directories in Your Git Repository

• Empty directories can serve as a useful organizational tool in software projects, especially when adhering to specific folder structures. However, Git, by design, does not track empty directories.

=> ↺ Removing Single Quotes from Filenames in Bash

• Managing file names with special characters like single quotes (‘) can be tricky in Bash. This article will guide you through the process of removing single quotes from file names in a comprehensive and efficient manner, using Bash scripting.

=> ↺ Reversing ‘git add’ Before Commit: A Step-by-Step Guide

• As developers, we’ve all experienced the moment when we accidentally add a file to the staging area using “git add” and realize that we need to undo this action. Fortunately, Git provides an easy way to reverse this operation.

=> ↺ How To Install MusicBrainz Picard on Fedora 38

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install MusicBrainz Picard on Fedora 38. Are you tired of your music library being a complete mess? Do you have trouble finding the right songs or artists in your digital collection? MusicBrainz Picard might be the solution you need!

=> ↺ How To Fix ‘Umount Target Is Busy’ Error in Linux

=> ↺ How to Use ZIP and UNZIP Command to Create, Extract ZIP File in Linux

• Learn some common way to create and extract a zip file in Linux Definitely, you have used 7zip or Winrar to create a zip file in Windows, but here in Linux, you can use the zip command to create a compressed archive of files and directories.

=> ↺ How to empty large files in Linux

• Hello, friends. In this post, you will learn How to empty large files on Linux. Of course, we will use the easiest and fastest method, which is with the terminal.

=> ↺ How to install Chromium web browser on Linux

• Learn how to install the Chromium Web Browser on Linux, a popular open-source alternative to Google Chrome. This guide provides detailed instructions for installing Chromium on different Linux distributions, ensuring a smooth browsing experience.

=> ↺ Fixing repo issues by resetting your Linux sources.list file

• Learn how to reset your sources.list file in Linux with our step-by-step guide. Discover why it’s important, what can cause corruption, and how to restore your repository configuration.

=> ↺ What Is .bashrc and How You Can Customize It

• There are a number of hidden files tucked away in your home directory.

=> ↺ How to add online accounts to Ubuntu 23.04 (and why you should)

• Canonical unleashed Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar Lobster), another fantastic release for both desktops and servers. The release date was April 20, 2023. I’ve been testing the daily build of Lunar and have found it to be one of the finest versions of Ubuntu yet.

• One of the things I’ve always appreciated about Ubuntu (and the GNOME desktop) is how easy it is to connect your cloud-based data with the desktop. Thanks to GNOME, the process of connecting Google, Nextcloud, Microsoft, MS Exchange, Last.fm, IMAP/SMTP, and even Enterprise Login (Kerberos) are all made quite easy.

=> ↺ Linux Server, Wakey, Wakey | Hackaday

• We all know we should save energy and not leave computers on all the time. It is probably better for the computer, too. But when you operate a home server, it isn’t feasible to just turn it on when you want to use it and then turn it off again. Or is it? [Daniel] decided that was exactly what he wanted to do, and it was quite an adventure to get there.

• The trick is to use a Raspberry Pi — they don’t draw nearly the power a big computer does — to stay awake to facilitate the process. The Pi watches for ARP requests for the sleeping machine and replies on its behalf so that other network nodes can find the machine even when it isn’t on.

• The server itself detects if it is idle in a cron job. When it finds that there are no SSH or other service connections for a set period of time, it suspends the machine to RAM, putting it in a low-power mode. Waking a sleeping computer up over the network is a solved problem, and [Daniel] investigated several wake-on-lan solutions.

=> ↺ How to Merge Multiple PDFs Into One Single File on Linux

• PDF files are the ultimate in reliable document formatting and maintain their appearance across different devices and operating systems. But combining multiple PDFs into one larger document can be difficult and fiddly without a dedicated app.

• Here are the best ways to merge PDFs on Linux using the command line and through a graphical utility.

=> ↺ 10 Things to Do After Installing Ubuntu 23.04 [With Bonus Tip]

• Ubuntu 23.04 brings exciting new features such as GNOME 44, the latest Kernel 6.2, the latest outstanding features in Files and more.

• Before you head over to enjoy a new installation of Ubuntu, here’s an assorted list of customization tips which you can’t miss.

Games

=> ↺ Dev snapshot: Godot 4.1 dev 1

• Here be dragons! First development snapshot for the upcoming Godot Engine 4.1 is available to early adopters and adventurous types.

=> ↺ Air Hockey Solitaire

• While air hockey is a fine amusement, it isn’t much fun if you can’t find someone to play against. Unless that is, you build a mini table with a robotic defender. [Vaib], [Nathan], and [Navish] can show you how. There is a video you can see below that shows two players using the table without the robot.

Distributions and Operating Systems

New Releases

=> ↺ Manjaro 22.1 Talos released – Releases – Manjaro Linux Forum

• The GNOME edition has received several updates to Gnome 43 series. This includes a lot of fixes and polish when Gnome 43 originally was released in September 2022. You can find the changes made to each point-release here: 43.1, 43.2, 43.3, 43.4, 43.5.

• Highlights of 43 release series is:

• It comes with a redesigned system status menu, which allows quickly changing commonly used settings. Settings which previously required digging into menus can now be changed with the click of button. The new design also makes it easy to see the status of your settings at a glance.

=> ↺ Manjaro 22.1 ‘Talos’ Brings Latest KDE Plasma 5.27.4 to Users

• Among the plethora of Linux distributions available, Manjaro has been gaining popularity for its user-friendly interface, robust performance, and cutting-edge features. Based on Arch, the distro aims to provide a simple, sleek, and easy-to-use desktop environment.

• The just released, Manjaro 22.1, codenamed ‘Talos,’ brings many updates and improvements that focus on enhancing the desktop experience for users rather than introducing mere novelties. So, let’s see what’s new.

BSD

=> ↺ Celebrating Earth Day: Tips for Running a Greener FreeBSD

• Every year since 1970, Earth Day has focused the world’s attention on the need to act to protect our home.

=> ↺ FreeBSD Status Report First Quarter 2023

• We also provide some information about 13.2-RELEASE, which was postponed to the beginning of 2023Q2; but since this report is being published after the new version release, it is already available for installation. Users of RELEASE versions can now take advantage of many improvements such as better support for iwlwifi(4) driver or the new rtw88(4) driver, topics that have been covered in past status reports.

SUSE/OpenSUSE

Dominique Leuenberger ☛ openSUSE Tumbleweed – Review of the week 2023/16Dear Tumbleweed users and hackers,It seems the holidays are over and people are submitting more things to Factory again. There were even days were I was almost running out of free staging projects (almost – I still had some spare). In total, we have published another round of 7 snapshots this week (0414…0420)The main changes released this week were:Ruby 3.1 plus all ruby3.1-rubygem-* packages have been removed from Tumbleweedzypper 1.14.60 / libzypp 17.31.10: support for x86-64-vX architecture packagesMesa 23.0.2OpenLDAP 2.6.4python-setuptools 67.6.1libyui 4.5.1: changes in the way icons are loaded. In some cases, we’d seen the icon missing (boo#1210712)

=> ↺ Meeting Today’s Hybrid Infrastructure Challenge

• In today’s world of hybrid cloud IT, IT leaders need to deliver an on-premises development and application environment that takes advantage of cloud-native development technologies and styles. To address these challenges, Dell Technologies and SUSE are combining their hardware and software expertise to offer a set of tested and capable solutions.

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ IBM starts renting cloudy bare metal Linux almost-mainframes

• IBM has taken a longer-than-usual stride towards making its proprietary hardware platforms cloudier, by offering bare metal LinuxONE boxes in the big blue cloud.

• The LinuxONE servers use the same Telum processor IBM packs into its z16 mainframe but are designed solely to run Linux – Big Blue’s own z/OS is not allowed.

• But IBM promotes LinuxONE as offering just about the same level of hardware resilience as mainframes. The former typewriter champion also asserts that the LinuxOne architecture teamed with Telum trounces x86 for compute density and energy consumption.

=> ↺ No wizardry needed to use Ansible’s magic variable ‘hostvars’

• Get past the illusion of hostvars being difficult and begin using them in your playbooks, tasks, and roles.

=> ↺ Remote work: 3 pros and 3 cons

• As a remote worker since 2014, I learned how to work remotely before most of the rest of the world did. Through trial and error and a lot of time, I improved my ability to set asynchronous expectations, form lasting bonds with colleagues I saw in person only once a year, and make internal decisions about distributed team structures and meeting formats.

• I’ve experienced firsthand the benefits and challenges of operating remotely, such as hiring top talent from a global talent pool, leveraging the creative tensions that come with diverse perspectives, and boosting employee retention (which was likely due to the joy of designing work around your life rather than vice versa).

• Being aware of remote work’s promises and pitfalls will help you, as a business IT leader, create new strategies and processes to optimize your team’s own remote experience.

=> ↺ Red Hat Survey Surfaces Cloud-Native Cybersecurity Challenges

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ Ubuntu 23.04 Official Flavors Released

=> ↺ Ubuntu 23.04 Lunar Lobster released

• The programmers and team at Canonical responsible for creating the Ubuntu operating system have announced the release of the new Ubuntu 23.04 OS code-named Lunar Lobster.

=> ↺ Ubuntu Desktop 23.04 Arrives with Azure AD Authentication – Thurrott.com

• Canonical today announced the release of its latest flagship Linux distribution, Ubuntu Desktop 23.04, which features a new installer, Azure AD authentication, improved gaming performance, and more.

• “This Ubuntu milestone release demonstrates our progress in raising the bar for the enterprise developer desktops, thanks to our best-in-class Linux integration with Active Directory Domain Services and now Azure Active Directory”, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth said. “Our expanded investment in Ubuntu gaming means your downtime is just as satisfying”.

=> ↺ Ubuntu Budgie 23.04 Release Brings in a Refreshed User Experience

• Ubuntu Budgie 23.04 brings in all the goodness of the latest Budgie desktop with several refinements.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Offline voice recognition module supports Arduino programming, custom voice commands

• We’ve already covered inexpensive offline voice recognition modules based on US516P6 or TW-ASR ONE microcontrollers that allow people to add smarts to their projects without a network connection for improved privacy and lower latency. Those are great in theory, but at the time (April 2022) documentation was lacking or only in Chinese, and they were fairly hard to use based on some of the comments in my earlier posts.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ 11 Android tricks you really need to know about

• We show you how you use your Android phone to help you get more done, including limiting how often you use it per day, personalising your home screen with widgets and multitasking using split screen mode

=> ↺ Google issues warning to billions of Android users over money-saver setting – there’s catch that makes it controversial | The US Sun

=> ↺ Android 14 is coming to the best Samsung phones this year. Is yours one of them? | T3

=> ↺ Nokia 5.4 – Nokia 3.4 receive (Android 12 Build) March Security update 2023 now (Markets) – Nokiapoweruser

=> ↺ OnePlus 7T Android 12 Update Woes and Rollback Guide – Dignited

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ The Cyber Resilience Act Threatens Open Source

• Society and governments are struggling to adapt to a world full of cybersecurity threats. Case in point: the EU CRA — Cyber Resilience Act — is a proposal by the European Commission to enact legislation with a noble goal: protect consumers from cybercrime by having security baked in during design. Even if you don’t live in the EU, today’s global market ensures that if the European Parliament adopts this legislation, it will affect the products you buy and, possibly, the products you create. In a recent podcast, our own [Jonathan Bennett] and [Doc Searles] interview [Mike Milinkovich] from the Eclipse Foundation about the proposal and what they fear would be almost a death blow to open source software development. You can watch the podcast below.

=> ↺ Linux Foundation Europe chief warns EU bill could fragment open source – and load risk onto devs

Web Browsers/Web Servers

Mozilla

=> ↺ Cameron Kaiser: April patch set for TenFourFox

• As promised, there are new changesets to pick up in the TenFourFox tree. (If you’re new to rolling your own TenFourFox build, these instructions still generally apply.) I’ve tried to limit their scope so that people with a partial build can just pull the changes (git pull) and gmake -f client.mk build without having to “clobber” the tree (completely erase and start over). You’ll have to do that for the new ESR when that comes out in a couple months, but I’ll spare you that today. Most of these patches are security-related, including one that prevents naughty cookies which would affect us as well, though the rest are mostly crash-preventers and would require PowerPC-specific attacks to be exploitable. There is also an update to the ATSUI font blacklist. As always, if you find problematic fonts that need to be suppressed, post them to issue 566 or in the comments, but read this first.

Programming/Development

=> ↺ 10 Best Apps To Learn Code for Beginners

• Even though there are plenty of books available, the best way to learn code is to practice. Hence, those pursuing a career in programming often prefer self-studying rather than only going after academic degrees. And as it’s the digital era, people love learning with digital resources such as mobile apps to learn code.

=> ↺ Powering Your Pi: 20 Best Raspberry Pi OS

• Raspberry Pi is the most popular SBC – Single-Board Computer around the world. It can do pretty much everything a desktop computer can do and is suitable for all ages keen to explore computing. Raspberry comes with all the software; you require for basic computing.

=> ↺ In Defense of No-code(‘s potential)

• No-code/low-code is the new hypename for tools that help you Do Computer Stuff without needing (much) programming skills. There are lots of tools in this space, most targeted at businesses, many selling themselves with “you won’t need a software developer”. I think the first use of low-code was in 2011 but this kind of “rapid application development” goes at least as far back as Visual Basic 6.1 Many no-code tools are visual builders, which looks “easier” to nontechnical people.2

=> ↺ A Short Guide to Qt Quick Effects

• With the Qt 6.5 LTS out in the wild, it is a good time to write more about the Qt 6 and effects. Laszlo already wrote a blog post about post-processing effects in Qt 6.5, focusing mostly on Qt Quick 3D, ExtendedSceneEnvironment and the general Qt effects story. This blog post gives a bit more details about the latest Qt Quick (2D) effects offerings.

=> ↺ WebAssembly removes redundancies in developing browser-based apps

• Making its public debut in 2017, the WebAssembly open standard is designed to facilitate the execution of binary code on the web. For developers, Wasm brings benefits such as streamlining their workflow to remove areas of labor and material resource wastage.

Leftovers

Science

=> ↺ Dogs Who Will Never Be the Same After a DNA Test Shatters Their Identity

• Oscar discovered that he is Kevin Bacon’s fourth cousin twice removed.

=> ↺ The Simple Reason We Make The Same Mistakes Over And Over, Even if We Know Better

• Oopsy.

=> ↺ Stress Biologically Ages Us, But New Research Says It Could Be Reversible

• There’s still hope.

=> ↺ Scientists Think They’ve Finally Figured Out How a Maya Calendar Works

• A really long game.

=> ↺ Keeping Hay Fever in Check May Be as Easy as Maintaining These Two Microbiomes

• This advice is nothing to sneeze at.

=> ↺ Scientists Discover Gene to Base a Male Contraceptive on – And Have Already Patented It

• It’s only expressed in the testes.

=> ↺ The Current Mass Extinction Is Already Far More Dire Than We Realized

• There’s been a slight calculation error.

=> ↺ Woman Spent 500 Days Isolated in a Cave And It Completely Messed With Her Sense of Time

• It’s ‘me’ time.

=> ↺ A Single Gene Determines Sex in Most Animals, According to A New Analysis

• But there are some interesting exceptions.

Education

=> ↺ Senate Probes Top Institutions for NAGPRA Failures

• More than a dozen senators are pressing for the museums and universities that hold the most Native American remains to explain why they’ve failed for decades to return thousands of them to tribes as required by federal law.

• Members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and other senators singled out for scrutiny the five institutions identified in a recent ProPublica and NBC News investigation as having the largest collections of Indigenous remains — including powerful and prestigious universities with long legacies of delaying repatriation requests.

=> ↺ Secret Recording of Alaska Library Official Judy Eledge

• Alaska governors and mayors have at various times appointed Judy Eledge to the state Board of Education, the Anchorage Health and Human Services Commission and the Alaska Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee. She stood at the side of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a personal friend, on the night of his 2018 Republican primary victory.

• When it was time for the state to cast its Electoral College votes in the 2020 presidential election, Eledge was one of the three people representing Alaska. And in his annual State of the State speech earlier that year, Dunleavy asked her to stand for an ovation because she exemplified “the heart of Alaska.”

=> ↺ Police respond to armed man having mental health crisis near Mall of America

• Authorities were able to contact the man’s family and learned he was in crisis and had access to firearms. He was not arrested and is not currently in custody.

=> ↺ Baltic, Polish politicians to meet in Latvia next week

• On Monday, April 23, the Latvian Saeima will host a meeting of the chairs of the European affairs commissions of the Baltic states and Polish parliaments.

=> ↺ Teachers’ union ready to ask for Latvian PM’s resignation

• At a meeting of the Latvian Education and Science Workers’ Union (LIZDA) Council on Thursday, April 20, it was decided to request the resignation of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (New Unity), if the government adopts the current amendments to the rules related to the remuneration schedule of the new teachers, LIZDA said.

=> ↺ Government adopts teacher wage raise schedule

• As of September 1, teachers’ pay grade will increase, according to amendments to Cabinet regulations adopted at an extraordinary government meeting on April 21. The quality of these amendments is doubted by the Latvian Education and Science Workers’ Union (LIZDA), which has decided to launch a three-day strike on 24 April.

Hardware

=> ↺ Seagate Ships First 30TB+ HAMR Hard Drives

• Seagate to recognize revenue shipments of 30TB+ HDD-based Exos Corvault systems this quarter.

=> ↺ Seagate reports quarterly revenue drop and cost cuts amid storage market slowdown

=> ↺ AMD Ryzen Embedded 5000 processors launched for networking applications

• We first spotted the AMD Ryzen Embedded 5000 processors in a micro-ATX motherboard last August, but AMD has now only announced the availability the of Ryzen Embedded 5000 Series “Zen 3” processors designed for  “always on” networking firewalls, network-attached storage systems, and other security applications.

=> ↺ Maxtang ALN-10 – An Alder Lake-N mini-ITX motherboard for industrial applications

• Maxtang ALN-10 is an upcoming mini-ITX motherboard based on Alder Lake-N processors from the Processor N50 up to the Core i3-N305 SoC and specifically targetting industrial applications with a -20 to +60°C temperature range, six RS232/RS485 serial ports, and 12V to 19V DC input among other features.

=> ↺ A High Precision ADC That You Can Understand!

=> ↺ HARDWARIO CHESTER – A configurable Zephyr OS LPWAN IoT gateway with LoRaWAN, LTE IoT, GNSS connectivity

• HARDWARIO CHESTER platform is a configurable LPWAN IoT gateway whose main function is to connect as many devices and environments as possible to the Internet using connectivity such as LoRaWAN, LTE Cat M1, or NB-IoT, as well as GNSS for geolocation.

=> ↺ A High Precision ADC That You Can Understand!

• In a world where an analogue to digital converter is all too often an integrated peripheral buried inside a microcontroller, it’s easy to forget how simple these devices can be when built from first principles. An entry in our Op-Amp Challenge from [NNNI] demonstrates this perfectly, it’s a high resolution multi-slope ADC for instrumentation purposes, constructed using a mixture of op-amps, logic chips, and a Raspberry Pi Pico. Best of all, it’s easy to understand, so there’s little of that analogue mystique to worry about.

=> ↺ Miniature Concrete Hoover Dam Is Tiny Engineering Done Right

• Growing up, we got to play with all kinds of things in miniature. Cars, horses, little LEGO houses, the lot. What we didn’t get is a serious education with miniature-sized dams. This recreation of the glorious Hoover Dam from the [Creative Construction Channel] could change all that for the next generation.

=> ↺ Solar Protocol Envisions A Solar-Powered Web

• The transition to low carbon energy is an important part of mitigating climate change, and the faster we can manage, the better. One project looking at how we could reduce the energy requirements of the web to more quickly adopt renewable energy is Solar Protocol.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ ‘Wildly problematic’: Standing, the Supreme Court, and mifepristone

• What does it mean to have endured clear and concrete harms? In recent decades, the Supreme Court had narrowed the definition of who had “standing” to bring a case. Then came this term.

=> ↺ Supreme Court rules access to abortion pill to continue – for now

• The Supreme Court on Friday preserved access to mifepristone, rejecting lower-court restrictions while the appeals process continues.

=> ↺ We’re Still Getting Our Pandemic Preparation Horribly Wrong

• When a single flame fell to the floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on March 25, 1911, it found the ideal conditions to spread: crowded rows of garment workers feverishly stitching flammable fabric in poorly ventilated rooms locked by managers to prevent theft. The fire worked with devastating efficiency; in just 18 minutes, 146 workers lay dead—some so badly burned that they could not be identified.

=> ↺ ‘Not Out of the Woods Yet’: Supreme Court Maintains Abortion Pill Access—For Now

• In its first major abortion decision since reversing Roe v. Wade last year, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday granted the Biden administration’s request to continue allowing widespread access to the medication mifepristone while a legal battle plays out.

=> ↺ Feed the World…

=> ↺ Do Republicans Love Trump More Than They Hate Abortion? We’re Going to Find Out.

• I hate to say anything flattering about a lying, racist, misogynist authoritarian credibly accused of multiple sexual assaults. But Donald Trump occasionally has decent political instincts (as apart from moral ones). From the start of his first campaign, for instance, he promised not to cut Social Security and Medicare, seeing it as crucial to much of his elderly white base. And though during that campaign he recanted his earlier pro-choice stance, and even went so far as to say women should face “punishment” for having abortions, in this election cycle he’s warning Republicans that their growing extremism on the topic is a political loser.

=> ↺ An Extreme Risk of Taking Ozempic: Malnutrition

• The diabetes medication has gained attention for its dramatic weight loss effects — but doctors worry that it can go too far.

=> ↺ Pre-recorded Opening Remarks by Commissioner Stella Kyriakides to the high-level event on loneliness and strengthening mental health in the EU organised by the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU

• European Commission Speech Stockholm, 21 Apr 2023 Minister, Esteemed Guests, Colleagues, Friends, Over two thousand years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle observed that people are, by nature, social animals…

=> ↺ 71% Indians can’t afford nutritious food

• Member of Parliament (MP) Syed Nasir Hussain has raised a few questions to Smriti Irani, Union minister for women and child development, based on a recent report by the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth.

Proprietary

=> ↺ Two-Thirds of Rural Mail Carriers Are Being Hit With A Massive Pay Cut Calculated By An Algorithm

• The newly-implemented Rural Route Evaluated Compensation System (RRECS) slashed rural carrier pay despite a worker shortage.

=> ↺ CYBER: Thieves are Stealing Cars Using Old Nokia Phones

• A bluetooth speaker or old phone hides simple electronics that can break into almost any car in the world.

=> ↺ US attorneys general are calling for a recall of Kia and Hyundai cars because they’re too easy to steal

• The push to recall South Korean car brands Kia and Hyundai from the US market is gaining ground.

=> ↺ Pro-Russian hackers launched an attack against Europe’s air-traffic agency

• A cyber attack launched by pro-Russian hackers on Europe’s air-traffic control agency has paralyzed air traffic employee operations.

=> ↺ Microsoft 365 outage blocks access to web apps and services

• Microsoft is investigating an ongoing outage blocking customers worldwide from accessing and using web apps like Excel Online and online services.

Linux Foundation

=> ↺ Linux Foundation Announces Launch of TLA+ Foundation

=> ↺ Linux Foundation launches new organization to maintain TLA+

=> ↺ Linux Foundation Announces Launch of TLA+ Foundation

=> ↺ DENT Network Operating System Collaborates with OCP to Integrate Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI)

Security

=> ↺ Reproducible Builds (diffoscope): diffoscope 241 released

• The diffoscope maintainers are pleased to announce the release of diffoscope version 241. This version includes the following changes: [...]

=> ↺ Modified X_Trader software led to compromise of two critical infrastructure targets, Symantec says

• Two targets in the energy sector are among the victims of a supply chain attack that is linked to North Korea and with a growing list of victims.

=> ↺ MIT and Stanford researchers develop operating system with one major promise: Resisting ransomware

• Computer science researchers at MIT and Stanford are developing an operating system with built-in cybersecurity defenses.

=> ↺ Symantec: North Korean 3CX Hackers Also Hit Critical Infrastructure Orgs

• The North Korean hacking group behind the supply chain attack that hit 3CX also broke into two critical infrastructure organizations in the energy sector.

=> ↺ Abandoned WordPress Plugin Abused for Backdoor Deployment

• Attackers are installing the abandoned Eval PHP plugin on compromised WordPress sites to inject PHP code into web pages.

=> ↺ Capita Confirms Data Breach After Ransomware Group Offers to Sell Stolen Information

• Capita finally confirmed that hackers stole data after the Black Basta ransomware group offered to sell information allegedly stolen from the company.

=> ↺ House Committee Hears Testimony on DC Health Data Breach

• A top administrator with Washington’s health insurance exchange apologized to House members on Wednesday for the data breach that resulted in the disclosure of personal information for thousands of users.

=> ↺ Google Cloud Platform Vulnerability Led to Stealthy Account Backdoors

• A vulnerability in Google Cloud Platform allowed attackers to modify and hide OAuth applications to create a stealthy backdoor to any Google account.

=> ↺ Using the iPhone Recovery Key to Lock Owners Out of Their iPhones

• This a good example of a security feature that can sometimes harm security: [...]

=> ↺ 3CX breach linked to software supply chain attack on third party

=> ↺ Optus lawsuit a ‘wake-up call’ to corporate Australia

• A class action against Optus over a massive data breach will ask the courts to put a price on Australians’ privacy and is expected to serve as a wake-up call to the corporate world.

=> ↺ Hacking Pickleball

• My latest book, A Hacker’s Mind, has a lot of sports stories. Sports are filled with hacks, as players look for every possible advantage that doesn’t explicitly break the rules. Here’s an example from pickleball, which nicely explains the dilemma between hacking as a subversion and hacking as innovation: [...]

=> ↺ Remotely Exploitable Chromium DoS, Info Disclosure Vulns Fixed

• Several high-impact remotely exploitable vulnerabilities were recently discovered in the popular Chromium free and open-source web browser. These issues could lead to the execution of arbitrary code, denial of service (DoS) attacks resulting in potentially exploitable crashes, or the disclosure of sensitive information.

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ Five Eyes Agencies Issue Cybersecurity Guidance for Smart Cities

• Five Eyes agencies have issued joint cybersecurity guidance and best practices for smart cities.

=> ↺ Here’s How You Can Get In On Facebook’s $725 Million Class Action Settlement

• A new website allows anyone who had a Facebook account between May 2007 and December 2022 to file a claim against the company—and potentially get paid.

=> ↺ Why Your Next Video Game Will Look Like a Body Cam Video of a Police Shooting

• ‘Unrecord’ seems real not because it has better graphics than other games, but because it looks like the news.

=> ↺ Israeli Phone Malware Maker QuaDream Apparently Ready To Call It Quits After Suffering A Little Negative Press

• QuaDream, an NSO-alike with links to Israeli intelligence services, first made international headlines last year. And for the worst reasons. An investigation found QuaDream (much like NSO Group) sold iPhone-targeting malware to human rights violators. These sales were given a layer of plausible deniability, handled by a Cyprus-based company on behalf of QuaDream as it collected paychecks from garbage governments around the world.

=> ↺ Former Moscow police major arrested in connection with Daria Dugina’s murder — Meduza

• A Moscow court has arrested former police major Ivan Rybin on charges of violating privacy and abusing his authority. According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Russian law enforcement have linked his case to the murder of Daria Dugina, the daughter of Eurasianist philosopher Alexander Dugin.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ China’s foreign minister warns of ‘dangerous consequences’ of criticising Beijing over Taiwan

• Criticising China over Taiwan will have dangerous consequences, Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned Friday, as he insisted Beijing is a “growing force for peace and justice”.

=> ↺ Lithuanian medics set to leave for Ukraine’s Kharkiv region

• Three Lithuanian medics are leaving for Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Friday and will work there for a month, the Vilnius-based NGO Blue/Yellow has told BNS.

=> ↺ Finland seeks other trade routes due to threats in Baltics

• Finnish industries are urging the government that is currently in the process of being formed to look into new trade routes besides the traditional Baltic Sea due to possible interference, disruptions and even conflicts linked to the security situation.

=> ↺ Brazil security advisor resigns after leaked footage shows participation in Brazilian capital riots

• Brazilian Institutional Security Bureau executive Marcos Goncalves Dias Wednesday resigned following leaked footage of his participation in Brazil’s capital riots.

=> ↺ Fewer cruise ships visit Lithuania due to war in Ukraine, port rep says

• Cruise ship companies are bypassing the Baltic Sea this year due to the war in Ukraine, according to a representative of the Klaipėda Port.

=> ↺ US lawmakers block DC police reform act

• The US House of Representatives Wednesday voted 229-189 to pass a resolution disapproving the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022.

=> ↺ Reliability of police testimony called into question as Hong Kong busker denies organising prohibited public gathering

• The legal team representing a Hong Kong pro-democracy busker charged with organising a prohibited public gathering has cast doubt over the reliability of a police officer’s testimony. Oliver Ma, 24, appeared at Eastern Magistrates’ Court on Friday for the final day of his two-day trial over a street performance in Central two years ago.

=> ↺ GEO rallies to condemn U-M support for police and militarization on and off campus

• Around 50 people gathered on the University of Michigan Diag Thursday afternoon for a rally against police militarization on and off-campus organized by the Graduate Employees’ Organization. Before the rally, GEO protested at the Michigan Medicine Pavilion construction site.

=> ↺ 2 GEO protesters detained and released in police encounter outside Ann Arbor restaurant

• This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. University of Michigan Police detained and released two protesters from the Graduate Employees’ Organization on a sidewalk in downtown Ann Arbor Thursday evening. GEO was picketing outside the restaurant where University President Santa Ono was dining.

=> ↺ Russian War Report: Russia cancels Victory Day parades and moves “Immortal Regiment” marches online

• Russia continues ramping up its attacks in eastern Ukraine while canceling its Victory Day parade in areas bordering Russian-annexed Ukrainian territory.

=> ↺ NATO chief is ‘confident’ about Ukraine’s fresh offensive

• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday he is “confident” that Ukraine is ready to make territorial gains against Russia, as Ukrainian armed forces prepare for a new offensive. Stoltenberg spoke from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where 50 countries attended a meeting hosted by the United States on Friday to discuss coordinating further support for Ukraine. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

=> ↺ Trump says he scratched ‘made in South Korea’ sticker off Elton John CD he gave to Kim Jong-un

• Donald Trump handed the gag gift to the dictator — who he mockingly dubbed “Little Rocket Man” — during his presidency.

=> ↺ Mariupol women’s soccer team kicks back against Russian occupation

• A new women’s soccer team was formed in Kyiv, Ukraine, after Mariupol was destroyed and captured by Russian forces. Despite funding shortages and other challenges, the team aimed to remain in the top league and represent Mariupol as a proud Ukrainian city.

=> ↺ What Russia’s war in Ukraine shows the US about hybrid conflict with China

• As China weighs whether to adjust its tactics to avoid Russia’s failures, the US can look to Ukraine’s and the West’s successes for lessons on how to counter Chinese aggression.

=> ↺ The role of intelligence in Australian statecraft

• As Melissa Conley-Tyler and Benjamin Day have noted, ‘statecraft’ is increasingly the term of art when it comes to Australian policymaking—and, as Will Leben has observed, a welcome one.

=> ↺ Frequent shootings put US mass killings on a record pace

• The U.S. is setting a record pace for mass killings this year. In the last week, four people were fatally shot at a Sweet 16 party in Alabama, and a man shot and killed another four people in Maine. The carnage has taken 88 lives in 17 mass killings over 111 days. Only 2009 was marked by as many such tragedies in the same period of time. That’s according to a database maintained by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. On average the data shows at least four people have died in mass killings once every six and 1/2 days this year. The numbers exclude perpetrator deaths.

=> ↺ Berlin Rejects Possibility Of Sending German Fighter Jets To Ukraine

• German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius rejected the possibility of delivering German fighter jets to Ukraine at a meeting of Kyiv’s allies in Germany.

=> ↺ Chinese defense minister’s Russian trip signals closer cooperation with Moscow

• Li Shangfu’s visit coincided with surprise drills by Russia’s Pacific Fleet.

=> ↺ Junta offensive in Myanmar’s Kachin state kills 10, razes 1,000 homes

• Fighting became so intense that the junta launched three airstrikes a day for six days.

=> ↺ ‘I am Taiwanese’: The threat of war from Beijing strengthens island’s identity

• By Amber Wang At a barbed-wire museum where political prisoners were once held, visitors lauded Taiwan’s modern-day democracy shaped by its own national identity on the island across from authoritarian China.

=> ↺ Pentagon leaks? Ukrainians more focused on must-win battle.

• Ukrainian troops preparing for an important spring offensive are choosing to shrug off the Pentagon leaks story. In war, as in life, it’s perhaps best to focus on what you hope to control.

=> ↺ Homeland Security chief Mayorkas announces 90-day China sprint and AI task force

• The secretary of homeland security warned that China, AI, and cyber pose some of the biggest threats to the United States.

=> ↺ Satellite Images of Sudan Show a Large Food Market Burned in Darfur

• A Times analysis of satellite imagery shows how a displaced persons camp lost a key source of food and supplies amid a fight for control of the country.

=> ↺ Pentagon Speeds Up Tank Timeline for Ukraine but Resists Calls for Jets

• The U.S. will begin training Ukrainian troops on M1 Abrams tanks in the next few weeks, officials said, and combat-ready tanks could reach the battlefields by the fall.

=> ↺ Sudan’s Paramilitary Declares 72-Hour Truce

• Since Saturday, at least 413 Sudanese have been killed and 3,200 people injured.

=> ↺ Germany Names Panel to Investigate 1972 Munich Olympics Attack

• The commission’s creation stems in part from an agreement made last year to reassess German failures in handling the attack by Palestinian militants, which killed 11 Israeli athletes.

=> ↺ Gun Capitalism: How Lobbyists & GOP Fight Regulation & Push Gun Ownership Despite Deadly Shootings

=> ↺ Alec Baldwin Returns to ‘Rust’ Set as Charges He Faced Are Dropped

• The actor is finishing the film in Montana, more than a year after a gun he was rehearsing with on set went off, killing its cinematographer.

We discuss the U.S. gun violence epidemic with historian Andrew McKevitt, who says, “We ought to conceive of our gun problem as a problem of gun capitalism.” He covers the history of the proliferation of individual gun ownership since World War II in his forthcoming book, Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture & Control in Cold War America. McKevitt also discusses how the NRA and pro-gun lobby impedes progress on gun control through the implicit threat of “political violence.”

=> ↺ Zumbrota police say retired officer’s suicide will be attributed to PTSD suffered in line of duty

• “Gary fought a hard and courageous battle against PTSD attained in the line of duty,” the department wrote in a statement.

=> ↺ Yemen: Deadly Stampede at Charity Event Illustrates Desperation in Nation Devastated by Years of War

• In Yemen, at least 79 people were killed and over 300 injured in a stampede on Wednesday in the capital city of Sana’a. The crowd crush began after armed Houthis fired into the air to control the crowd, striking electrical equipment and causing it to explode. The tragic deaths come as Yemen continues to face one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises following years of fighting between U.S.-backed Saudi forces and the Houthi rebels. While a ceasefire began a year ago, no agreement has been reached yet on making it permanent. We speak to Ali Jameel, the accountability and redress director of Mwatana for Human Rights, a group based in Yemen.

=> ↺ Orbán in 2008: Ukraine should be admitted to NATO as soon as possible

=> ↺ Netanyahu Picks Self-Described ‘Racist’ May Golan as Top Israeli Diplomat in NY

• Progressive and moderate Jews in the United States and Israel this week denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nomination of far-right lawmaker May Golan—who once said she was “proud to be a racist”—as the country’s consul general in New York.

=> ↺ After ‘surprise inspection,’ Russia appoints new Pacific Fleet commander — Meduza

• Admiral Viktor Liina, previously the commander of the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet, has been appointed commander of the Pacific Fleet, TASS and RIA Novosti report.

=> ↺ Russian Warplane ‘Accidentally Releases’ Bomb Over Belgorod, Injuring Two People

• A Russian warplane “accidentally released” a bomb over the city of Belgorod near the Ukraine border late on April 20, causing an explosion and injuring two people, the Defense Ministry said.

=> ↺ Russia Suspends Dairy Products From Kyrgyzstan After Calls In Bishkek To Drop Cyrillic Script

• Russia has suspended the import of dairy products from Kyrgyzstan after the chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s National Commission for the State Language and Language Policies said his country is ready to start working on switching the Kyrgyz language from Cyrillic to a Latin-based alphabet.

=> ↺ Russian Activist Released From Prison After Serving Five Years In High-Profile ‘Network’ Case

• A Russian activist has ben released from prison after serving more than five years in prison in the high-profile Set (Network) case that rights defenders and opposition activities have called “fabricated.”

=> ↺ U.K. Sanctions Five Russian Nationals Over Jailing Of Kremlin Critic Vladimir Kara-Murza

• The United Kingdom has sanctioned five Russians after the sentencing to 25 years in prison earlier this week of opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, a British-Russian dual national.

=> ↺ Kremlin Says It Is Monitoring Reports Of Possible Western Export Ban On Russia

• The Kremlin said on April 21 that it was monitoring reports of a possible ban on exports to Russia by Western countries and that any new sanctions would hit the global economy.

=> ↺ U.S. Military Chiefs Say Increasing Ukraine’s Air Defense Capability Most Urgent Critical Task

• Fortifying Ukraine’s air defense capability was the major theme of a meeting on April 21 of dozens of countries that have supported Kyiv in its fight against invading Russian forces and as it prepares to launch a spring counteroffensive.

=> ↺ Ukrainian Government Estimates Damages Caused By Russian Invasion At $143.8 Billion

• Damages caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are estimated at $143.8 billion, deputy chief of Ukraine’s Committee of National Security, Defense, and Intelligence, Yuriy Aristov, said on April 21.

=> ↺ Romania To Hold Off On Ukrainian Grain Ban For Now

• Romania says it will hold off on a ban on Ukrainian grain imports as it awaits a decision from the European Union on enforcing proposed measures aimed at easing a glut that has flooded Eastern Europe from Ukraine.

=> ↺ Russian Court Extends Pretrial Detention Of Noted Lawyer Held For Ukraine War Criticism

• A court in Russia on April 20 prolonged until late July the pretrial detention of lawyer Dmitry Talantov, who was arrested in June 2022 on a charge of discrediting Russia’s armed forces.

=> ↺ Junta air strike in Myanmar’s Magway kills 3, injures 12

• The bombing is the second this month on a National Unity Government village office.

Transparency/Investigative Reporting

=> ↺ Secrecy Versus Truth

• The arrest last week of 21-year-old air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira on charges of espionage has sparked a debate in the intelligence community and elsewhere about whether his behavior is criminal or heroic.

=> ↺ Texas School Serves Up Magnificent Redaction Failure To Vice Journalist

• Redaction isn’t terribly difficult to do correctly. And yet, it often seems to be beyond the grasp of government officials who really, really want to withhold information, but just can’t seem to do it.

=> ↺ Unauthorized Disclosure: Eugene Puryear

Environment

=> ↺ Chilean President Unveils Plan to Slowly Nationalize Lithium Industry

• Leftist Chilean President Gabriel Boric on Thursday announced plans to slowly nationalize the country’s lithium industry, aiming to take advantage of massive reserves of the metal, key to electric vehicle batteries and other technology, while protecting the environment.

=> ↺ With Climate Indicators ‘Off the Charts,’ UN Chief Calls Policies of Rich Nations a ‘Death Sentence’

• The World Meteorological Organization warned Friday that climate change indicators are “off the charts,” one day after United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told officials from wealthy countries that their refusal to halt fossil fuel expansion amounts to a civilizational “death sentence” and pleaded with them to urgently decarbonize the global economy.

=> ↺ The American West Is Running Out of Water

=> ↺ New York Governor Hochul Appoints a Chevron Lawyer to the State’s Highest Court

• New York Governor Kathy Hochul has portrayed her appointee to the state’s high court, corporate attorney Caitlin Halligan, as some kind of progressive. In a brief statement after the state Senate approved Halligan for the Court of Appeals on April 19, Hochul said her pick “has advocated for tenants, for gun violence prevention, and for equal pay for the soccer players of the US Women’s National Team.”

=> ↺ UN Chief Calls for Accelerated Climate Action

• “…our world has a major climate challenge before us…”

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ Tapping Into Warehouse Roof Solar Potential Could Power Entire US Cities

• Installing solar panels on the roofs of warehouses and distribution centers around the United States could generate enough clean electricity to power every household in every state’s most populous city, according to a report published Thursday by Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group.

=> ↺ Climate Group Vows to Make Sure Biden Environmental Justice Office Isn’t ‘Just Performative’

• Climate advocates who have centered environmental justice for decades on Friday said they will continue to fight “false solutions” to the climate crisis—and expressed hope that the newly announced White House Office of Environmental Justice will usher in a new era in which President Joe Biden ends his support for fossil fuel projects.

=> ↺ RDM investing R251 million in renewable energy in South Africa

• During the recent fifth South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC), Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) committed to investing R251 million in the renewable energy sector in South Africa.

=> ↺ ‘Softened’ mining regulation reform advances to Senate

• The bill would still shorten the duration of mining concessions granted and be contingent on consults with local communities.

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ Reefs and rangelands of renewal

• Superblooms and deep-water discoveries promote new bonds of appreciation as humanity confronts climate change.

=> ↺ African Countries Urged to Fight Against Rhino Poaching

• The appeal comes in reaction to the recent shooting of four rhinos at the Khama Sanctuary in Botswana.

=> ↺ US case against alleged monkey smuggler is ‘attack on Cambodia,’ his lawyers claim

• Former Cambodian wildlife official makes his first court appearance since his November arrest in New York.

=> ↺ New Law Aims to Save Oysters on the Mississippi Coast

• Mississippi has pumped millions of dollars into its declining oyster industry, hoping to revive what was once a dominant trade. But in a nod to reality, the state is about to move in a decidedly different direction: scaling back government efforts and leasing to private industry water bottoms where oysters grow.

=> ↺ ‘Ecocide’ of 300,000 bees in Campeche prompts federal investigation

• The Senate called on federal and state ministries of agriculture and the environment to investigate those responsible for the mass bee death.

Overpopulation

=> ↺ China state media slams Western hype of its population decline

• Western media is using the topic to advocate decoupling, state broadcaster CCTV said.

=> ↺ Could Peer Influence Be a Cause of the Global Baby Bust?

• The decision to have or not have children isn’t made in isolation.

=> ↺ Finland’s baby bust drops to new low

• A brief Covid baby boom appears to have subsided.

=> ↺ Ex Kela boss floats income limits for child benefit recipients

• Elli Aaltonen suggests Finland could save half a billion euros by preventing high-income families from receiving the monthly child allowances.

=> ↺ Finland: Record Low Birth Rate In 2022

• The country’s birth rate has not stopped falling for nearly a decade.

=> ↺ Capitol Territory becomes first Australia state to provide free abortion care

• The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Thursday became the first Australian state to guarantee free abortion care. The new policy allows women living in the ACT to obtain abortion up to 16 weeks gestation. The ACT government noted that cost was a significant barrier to safe and legal abortions in the state.

Finance

=> ↺ India’s anti-graft Aam Aadmi Party may be laid low by corruption allegations: Analysts

• But the party is going ahead with plans to fight the May 10 elections in the state of Karnataka.

=> ↺ The Oakland A’s Are Moving to Vegas. Could the Yankees Be Next?

• Now that the Oakland Athletics, under the stewardship of Gap clothing heir John J. Fisher, have announced their intention to move to Las Vegas, it is time to ask Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, as well as state and city officials in Nevada and Las Vegas, a question: “Congrats, you have the A’s. Now how much to do want for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago Cubs? Sold as a bundle. What will it take? Ten billion dollars? What about $20 billion? Who wants to crack open some state pension funds and make a deal?”

=> ↺ ‘This economic policy has not led to Hungary catching up, but rather to falling behind its neighbors’ – former Central Bank governor

=> ↺ Another home builder goes bust as industry struggles

• Another Victorian building company has gone bust, weeks after the collapse of one of Australia’s largest home builders, Porter Davis, and construction firm Lloyd Group. Award-winning builder Mahercorp announced it went into voluntary administration on Friday, affecting more than 700 homes, as the industry continues to struggle amid the cost of living crisis.

=> ↺ The Right Embraces Shareholder Activism in War on ‘Woke’ Capitalism

• After years of criticizing progressives for shareholder activism focused on social justice and environmental concerns, right-wing groups and ideologues are embracing the same strategy themselves.

=> ↺ Access to Housing is the Civil Rights Issue of our Time (Again)

• In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King left their single-family home in Atlanta’s Vine City neighborhood and moved into an apartment on Chicago’s west side. Their goal? To draw attention to the fight for equitable housing.

=> ↺ ‘Macron resign!’: French president struggles to move on from pension controversy

• French President Emmanuel Macron only just dodged another day of heckles and boos from opponents of the controversial pension reform. But a war of attrition aimed at the president and his government looks to have no sign of letting up, with pots and pans the weapons of choice.

=> ↺ More Americans are falling behind on paying down debt

• Thanks to a still-healthy job market, the finances of US households remain in good shape on the whole. But bank executives warn that more Americans are starting to fall behind on payments for debt from credit cards and auto loans.

=> ↺ Recession fears set Asian stocks on course for drop

• Asian stocks have slid toward their worst week in more than a month and oil has nursed losses while bonds bounce back as US data and earnings show signs of weakness. Overnight figures showed more Americans filing claims for jobless benefits and manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region slumping to its lowest level…

=> ↺ UMich planning to withhold pay from striking GSIs

• The University of Michigan administration is planning to withhold pay from non-working Graduate Student Instructors and Graduate Student Staff Assistants as the Graduate Employees’ Organization’s ongoing strike continues into its third week.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ Clarence Thomas’s Friend of the Court

• Thomas claims that Harlan Crow’s extravagant gifts were tokens of friendship. Why do the Justices so often emphasize personal relationships?

=> ↺ Twitter Removes ‘Government-Funded’ Labels From NPR and Other Media Accounts

• NPR and public broadcasters in Canada, Australia and New Zealand had criticized the label as misleading. The CBC and NPR have suspended the use of their Twitter accounts in protest.

=> ↺ Argentine President Fernandez Not to Seek Re-Election

• He suggested that primary elections be the mechanism through which “society selects the best men and women to represent us in the next general elections.”

=> ↺ Pope loses Twitter blue check mark, US basketball star LeBron James keeps it

• Twitter on Thursday began removing legacy blue check marks from user profiles, with famous people including pop icon Beyonce and Pope Francis losing their verified statuses.

=> ↺ The purge of Twitter’s blue checkmarks has begun

=> ↺ Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to China, says FM Qin

• China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Friday that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to China, and that it is right and proper for China to uphold its sovereignty.

=> ↺ BuzzFeed to shut down Pulitzer-winning news division

• Pulitzer Prize winning digital media company BuzzFeed will shut down its news division and cut another 15% of its staff across the company, adding to layoffs made earlier this year.

=> ↺ UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab resigns after bullying investigation

• UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab announced his resignation on Friday after bullying claims against him were upheld in a report, a fresh political shock for Britain’s Conservatives.

=> ↺ Peru’s ex-president Toledo surrenders to US authorities for extradition

• Peruvian ex-president Alejandro Toledo surrendered to US authorities Friday, ahead of his expected extradition to Lima where he is accused of corruption and money laundering.

=> ↺ Organizing Our Way Out of Tennessee’s Democracy Crisis

• On Monday, March 27, a shooter opened fire at Nashville’s Covenant School, killing six, including three 9-year-olds. Most people have by now seen the heartbreaking coverage. As the country’s 15th mass school shooting, the horrific massacre at Covenant felt all too familiar to Tennesseans, if closer to home than before.

=> ↺ Why Irish Joe Makes British Tories Cry Uncle Sam

• One of the easiest ways for an American president to bask in the warmth of a loving audience is to hop on a plane to Dublin. This is especially true if the commander in chief can claim, in however attenuated a form, some Irish ancestry. In June 1963, John F. Kennedy became the first sitting president to visit Ireland, where ecstatic crowds gathered as he toured Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, and the Kennedy auld sod in County Wexford. Kennedy called this Hibernian jaunt, which took place just a scant five months before his assassination, “the best four days of my life.” Following in the JFK’s footsteps, other presidents, notably Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Barack Obama in 2011, made Irish excursions that were rich in the rhetoric of homecoming. Reagan visited his ancestral home in Ballyporeen, Obama made a similar filiopietistic pilgrimage to Moneygall.1

=> ↺ Having Soros

=> ↺ St. Petersburg theater cancels ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ production after audience member reports 19th-century French play for ‘discrediting’ Russian army — Meduza

• St. Petersburg’s Alexandrinsky Theater has canceled the April and May shows of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” a production of Edmond Rostand’s 19th-century play.

=> ↺ Lying Liar George Santos Just As Wrong About Section 230 As He Is About His Own Biography

• Rep. George Santos remains a fascinating study in how far you can get if you have zero shame about just making shit up constantly. By now you must know his backstory (er… stories) and how basically nothing he seems to say checks out.

=> ↺ Russian authorities open felony ‘justifying terrorism’ case against Doxa news editor Maria Menshikova — Meduza

• The Russian authorities have opened a felony case against Maria Menshikova, the head of the news department of the independent student media outlet Doxa, on charges that she publicly called for terrorism, the Telegram channel Baza reported on Friday.

=> ↺ Giving Away the Game, Gaetz Says McCarthy ‘Picked Up’ Far-Right’s Debt Ceiling Plan

• Far-right House Republicans are reportedly “thrilled” with the debt ceiling legislation that Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled earlier this week.

=> ↺ Australia unveils direct pathway to citizenship for New Zealanders

• NZ citizens, living in Australia for more than four years, could apply for citizenship without becoming permanent residents first.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ News Roundup: Paying Up for Election Lies

=> ↺ Ukrainians urge greater action on Russia propaganda

• Ukrainian Australians have called on the federal government to step up efforts to counter Russian disinformation and propaganda on social media platforms. Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations co-chair Kateryna Argyrou told a parliamentary inquiry into foreign interference that Russian propaganda and violent threats online against Ukrainians had intensified since last year’s invasion of Ukraine.

=> ↺ Twitter removes labels for all news outlets, including Chinese state media

• Twitter appeared to have removed all labels from the accounts of news outlets and government organisations, including those for Chinese state media.

=> ↺ Records Highlight Corporations’ Renewed Embrace of Republican AG Group

=> ↺ Ben Smith Still Doesn’t Understand He Peddled Likely Russian Disinformation

• In a piece reflecting on whether he it was right to publish the Christoper Steele dossier, Ben Smith seems blissfully ignorant of the likelihood that he was an unwitting mule for Russian disinformation.

=> ↺ Glenn Greenwald Keeps Bitching about a Law Requiring Notice If You’re Funded by Russian Spies

• Glenn Greenwald teamed up with Tucker Carlson to falsely claim some socialists arrested earlier this week were arrested for their dissident activities rather than their hidden ties to Russian spies.

=> ↺ Dalai Lama stresses Buddhism basics and the power of compassion at religious summit

• The gathering was the Tibetan spiritual leader’s first public appearance since a controversial video.

=> ↺ How WhatsApp upended Middle East diplomacy—and what the US can learn from it

• In WhatsApp’s encrypted channels, diplomats feel freer to form and participate in groups where they privately share resources, coordinate meetings, strategize with colleagues, create informal alliances, lobby for their country’s positions, and coordinate policy decisions.

=> ↺ Taiwanese students singing mainland Chinese ‘propaganda song’ sparks backlash

• ‘We have always been one family,’ go the lyrics, echoing Beijing’s claim on the democratic island

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ Dems’ police-state tactics won’t stop reporters like Matt Taibbi

• Now it appears these efforts to shield government censorship has come down to spelling. Indeed, if Delegate Plaskett has her way, that added “A” may prove the difference between a free press and authoritarianism.

=> ↺ A Counter-Proposal: RESTRICT the RESTRICTors

• The RESTRICT Act – currently winding its way through Congress – would empower the US Commerce Department to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate and mitigate transactions” that “pose an undue or unacceptable risk to U.S. national security or the safety of US persons.”

=> ↺ Claudia Johnson shares thoughts on the right to read

• Claudia Johnson is a nationally recognized advocate for free speech and social justice, winner of the inaugural PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award, for her “extraordinary efforts to restore banned literary classics to Florida classrooms”—and author of Stifled Laughter: One Woman’s Story About Fighting Censorship, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize when it was first published in 1994. [...]

=> ↺ Performance Of Cyrano De Bergerac Canceled After Complaint About Discrediting Of Russian Military

• The Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg has canceled its April and May performances of Cyrano de Bergerac, according to an announcement on April 21 at the theater’s website.

=> ↺ Iranian Cinema Manager Fired After Actress Attends Screening Without Hijab

• The manager of an Iranian movie theater has been dismissed after a female actress, Pantea Bahram, attended a public screening of a production without observing the mandatory hijab law.

=> ↺ Jailed Russian Opposition Politician Yashin Issues ‘Insurance Statement’ Ahead Of Transfer To Penal Colony

• Jailed Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison in December over his condemnation of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, has issued “an insurance statement” before his transfer to a penal colony to serve the sentence.

=> ↺ Russia Adds Japanese NGO To Its List Of Undesirable Organizations

• Russia on April 21 added the Japanese NGO Union of Residents of Chishima and Habomai Islands to its registry of undesirable organizations, saying the group’s activities compromise Russia’s territorial integrity.

=> ↺ Father Of Russian Girl Who Drew Antiwar Picture Keeps Parental Rights

• Aleksei Moskalyov’s lawyer said authorities in the city of Yefremov have withdrawn their request to deprive him of his parental rights, saying Moskalyov’s daughter, who was briefly held in a Russian orphanage, is currently safe and lives with her mother, who had long been separated from Moskalyov.

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

=> ↺ North Carolina Judge Convicts Journalists Of ‘Trespassing’ While Covering Eviction Of Homeless Encampment

• A judge in North Carolina found two journalists with the Asheville Blade guilty of “trespassing” on Christmas in 2021 when they stayed in a public park to cover Asheville police as officers evicted a homeless encampment.

=> ↺ Junta arrests reporter, celebrities who criticized deadly Myanmar military airstrike

• The four opposed the bombing in posts to social media and were charged with incitement.

=> ↺ Prosecutor In Belarus Seeks 10 Years In Prison For Pratasevich, Whose Plane Was Diverted To Minsk

• The prosecution has asked Minsk court to convict and sentence Raman Pratasevich, a journalist who was detained in Belarus in 2021 after the commercial flight he was on was forced to land in Minsk, to 10 years in prison — less than half the maximum possible — on charges linked to his reporting.

=> ↺ Russian Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Investigative Group Bellingcat Researcher Grozev

• A court in Moscow on April 21 issued an arrest warrant for Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian investigative journalist with the Bellingcat group. The warrant was issued on a charge of allegedly crossing Russia’s border illegally In December.

=> ↺ Colombian journalist Rafael Moreno: Paying the ultimate price for the truth

• Rafael Moreno was a Colombian journalist who regularly exposed corruption and crime in his northern home region of Cordoba. On his Facebook page, Moreno tirelessly denounced embezzlement in public contracts and illegal resource extraction. But he paid the ultimate price for his reporting. Our Bogota correspondent Pascale Mariani travelled to the Cordoba region to pay tribute to him.

=> ↺ Thai police, Vietnamese activists gather clues on blogger’s disappearance

• Authorities in Thailand have contacted friends of dissident who may have been abducted.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ China blasts potential US investment curbs as ‘economic coercion’

• ‘This is naked economic coercion and technological bullying,’ said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman.

=> ↺ British Deputy PM Raab Resigns After Bullying Allegations

• An investigation began in November 2022 after formal complaints about his bullying behavior when dealing with public officials.

=> ↺ North Korean escapees learn about family deaths months later

• Pandemic and crackdown on Chinese cell phone brokers has created long periods of silence

=> ↺ Reports Say Confrontations Between Iranian Students, Security Forces Growing Over Hijab Rules

• Confrontations between university students and authorities over mandatory hijab regulations are reportedly on the rise following a monthslong crackdown over protests sparked by the September death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for an alleged head scarf offense.

=> ↺ How Reading The Economist Helped Me to Stop Worrying About White Supremacy

• Donald Trump’s election kicked off a cottage industry explaining his popularity among the wrong sort of white people: you know, blue-collar racists. But when the data showed that, on average, Trump supporters were actually quite wealthy, much of the pundit class acted shocked. And when it became clear that half of college-educated white people voted for Trump in 2016—and nearly half in 2020—it barely made the news.

=> ↺ North Carolina Judge Convicts Journalists Of ‘Trespassing’ While Covering Eviction Of Homeless Encampment

• “In today’s bench trial of Blade journalists Veronica Coit and Matilda Bliss, judge Calvin Hill declared them guilty of trespassing, ignored freedom of press, openly sided with [Asheville Police Department’s] claim [that it] can order reporters off public land,” the Asheville Blade stated.Hill, according to the media organization, apparently contended that no evidence had been presented to show that Coit and Bliss were journalists. The prosecutor did not even take this position.

=> ↺ The Supreme Court Has Preserved Access to the Abortion Pill—Over Alito’s Salty Objection

• Two weeks after Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a nationwide ban on the abortion pill mifepristone—revoking the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug from 2000—the Supreme Court stayed the order, pending a full appeal on the merits of the case. The decision delays not only Kacsmaryk’s ruling, but also the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which reinstated the 2000 FDA approval of the drug but banned a 2016 FDA update which extended usage of mifepristone from seven to 10 weeks. What that means is that abortion pills are legal, up to 10 weeks again, for now.

=> ↺ Kaepernick to Fund Independent Autopsy for Man ‘Eaten Alive’ by Insects in Atlanta Jail

• Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump on Thursday said that former NFL quarterback and racial justice activist Colin Kaepernick will pay for an independent autopsy for Lashawn Thompson, a mentally ill man who died last September in a filthy, insect-infested cell in an overcrowded Atlanta jail.

=> ↺ Want to Manufacture Explosives? Soon You Can Hire Teenagers to Do It.

• This week, Iowa added to its bulging dossier of legislative infamy with a new bill to loosen restrictions on child labor in the state. The Iowa state Senate ratified SB 542, a wide-ranging measure that lowered age minimums and increased permissible hours for teen workers in most of the state’s labor-intensive enterprises, from meatpacking and manufacturing plants to restaurants and hotels to agriculture. The House is expected to endorse a modified version of the legislation soon, and Republican Governor Kim Reynolds is expected to sign it into law.

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

=> ↺ Your Gmail Inbox Is Almost Full

• We noticed that marketing e-mails account for 85.4% of your Inbox. Click here to enroll in our expanded storage plan.

=> ↺ Biden administration wants to avoid 5G mistakes in race to beat China on 6G

• The White House seeks to shape next-generation telecommunications standards and technology before falling behind to Beijing.

=> ↺ IT Amendment Rules, 2023 are a nightmare, dressed like a fact checking daydream

• The notified IT Amendment Rules, 2023 regulate online gaming and misinformation. They provide for the establishment of a fact check unit (“FCU”), by the Union government, to fact check online information related to the Union government. In this Public Brief, we analyse the hits and misses.

Digital Restrictions (DRM)

=> ↺ Goodbye to Netflix DVDs, The Last Good Tech Company

• In a time before content and engagement metrics, there was the humble red envelope.

=> ↺ Netflix To End DVD Rentals As Streaming Fails To Live Up To Its Full Potential

• Netflix executives this week announced that they would finally be putting their traditional DVD rental service out to pasture starting on September 25 after 25 years of little, red envelopes. From a blog post by Netflix co-CEO Ted Serandos’ intern: [...]

=> https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies

  /2023/0421/Streaming-services-find-unlikely-outlet-Big-screen-movie-theaters	↺ Streaming services find unlikely outlet: Big-screen movie theaters

• As streaming services grew and the pandemic kept people at home, the future of the movie theater industry was unclear. But Amazon and Apple are increasingly leaning into big-screen releases, and moviegoing is approaching pre-pandemic levels.

=> ↺ Apple to allow “sideloading” in iOS 17?

• Is Apple being forced into it by new EU legislation? Will they allow sideloading outside of the EU?

Monopolies

=> ↺ Lyft Will Lay Off About 1,200 People as It Looks to Cut Costs

• The cuts come as the company tries to lower prices and remain competitive with Uber, its larger rival.

=> ↺ Lyft reportedly preparing to let go 30% of workforce

Patents

=> ↺ Optis Wireless 4G/LTE patent reexam granted

• On April 13, 2023, six weeks after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the USPTO granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 9,137,830, owned and asserted by Optis Wireless Technology, LLC, an NPE and Brevet Capital entity.

Software Patents

=> ↺ Netflix and Quinn Emanuel invalidate important DivX patent at EPO

• The EPO Opposition Division has revoked EP 34 67 666 for having been subject to impermissible extension, which contravenes European Patent Convention Articles 123 (2) and (3). The patent protects streaming technology that allows computers to interpret data and display data visually as a video.

Copyrights

=> ↺ Mandolin Abruptly Shuts Down After Burning Through $17 Million in 3 Years

• Livestreaming concert platform Mandolin shuts down after burning through $17 million in just under three years. After nearly three years, livestreaming concert platform Mandolin announced on April 17 that the company is shutting down its product and business operations. The company launched in 2020 after COVID-19 restrictions made physical touring impossible. 

=> ↺ GloRilla Faces Massive Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over ‘Tomorrow’

• 23-year-old rising star GloRilla faces a copyright infringement lawsuit over ‘Tomorrow’ and the hit remix ‘Tomorrow 2.’ A lawsuit filed Wednesday in Louisiana Federal Court alleges that GloRilla’s hit songs “Tomorrow” and “Tomorrow 2” use unlicensed samples from a ’90s hip-hop track by the group Dog House Posse, “Street of Westbank.”

=> ↺ Web3 Funding Is Cratering, Data Shows — Potentially Spelling Trouble for Numerous Music Startups

• Following 2022’s “crypto winter” and the collapse of FTX, Web3 funding reportedly cratered by 82 percent year over year during the opening quarter of 2023, and the downturn could potentially be impacting all manner of music plays.  

=> ↺ Nintendo Goes To War With YouTubers Right Before New ‘Zelda’ Release

• It’s no secret that Nintendo is extremely draconian when it comes to all things intellectual property concerning its assets. You can simply follow that backlink for a list of tons and tons of posts on Nintendo doing Nintendo things, which mostly amount to shutting down any use of its property, no matter how small, no matter whether fair use applies.

=> ↺ Legit Torrents Shuts Down After 17 Years

• After serving legal torrents for roughly 17 years, Legit Torrents is shutting down. The site hosted more than 5,000 legal torrents but, due to a combination of technical issues and a flourishing family, founder Dustin Montgomery decided that it was time to say goodbye.

Gemini* and Gopher

Technical

=> ↺ Excellent Hardware: FingerWorks TouchStream

• Mostly of historical interest today, the FingerWorks TouchStream keyboard was revolutionary, with multitouch gestures, chording and zero force typing.

=> ↺ Ryzen Swap, Motivation Hacking, and Generative Assistance

• I don’t often get to go spelunking in the innards of my PC. Yesterday, however, I got the opportunity to do so. This is quite a Special Occasion nowadays with all the ongoing time pressures of work and family life.

Science

=> ↺ An Earth Day rant against class warfare environmentalism

• Today is Earth Day, the 53rd one ever. It’s possibly the first one that I am actually consciously observing. Not that I’m really doing anything special (except, shortly, ranting into the smol void), but I didn’t just happen to hear by surprise about today being Earth Day, I knew it was coming in advance and was mentally ready for it to happen.

Programming

=> ↺ Fish Shell

• If like me you spend a lot of time using a Linux terminal, give fish a try!

• Fish is to sh/bash/zsh as Gemini is to the web of the 90s; it adds modern touches without getting in the way.

• My favourite single feature is that it suggests from history as you type, not requiring a manual trigger like other shells. “Suggest as you type” is widely used in modern software because it’s unintrusive and helpful.

• Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It’s like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter. Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. Permalink  Send this to a friend

=> Techrights

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