● 05.01.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 01/05/2023: Mayday Mayday

Posted in News Roundup at 8:39 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

=> ↺ 5 Best Linux Laptops (2023): Repairable, Budget, Powerful | WIRED

• Linux will work on just about any PC. I mean that literally. Remember the Intel Pentium 4 processor? It’s still supported by Debian Linux. That said, Linux runs better on some laptops than others. These days quite a few big-name PC makers even offer official support for Linux, meaning you have somewhere to turn if things go awry.

• To help you figure out the best Linux laptop for your perfect rig, I’ve been installing (or trying to install) Linux on every laptop I’ve tested for the past three years. Almost all of them worked great, but some were easier to get running than others. More than a few of my favorites come with Linux right out of the box.

• Be sure to check out our other buying guides, like Best Laptops, Best Cheap Laptops, Best MacBooks, and How to Choose the Right Laptop.

=> ↺ System76 Plans Its Own Open Hardware Laptop, and a New Desktop Environment Written in Rust – Slashdot

• Linux Magazine argues that System76′s Pop!_OS offers “something rare: a commercial distribution that was integrated into the hardware, with utilities designed specifically for System76 computers and keyboards.”

=> ↺ Linux Around The World: USA – Connecticut

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

Desktop/Laptop

=> ↺ Kubuntu Focus Ir14 Launches as an Affordable, Enterprise-Ready Linux Laptop

• Meet Kubuntu Focus Ir14, a 14-inch and 3-pound laptop that features a narrow-bezel WUXGA (Wide Ultra XGA) IPS display with a 1920×1200 pixels resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, 450 nit brightness, and 100% sRGB color reproduction, as well as an all-aluminum chassis.

• Under the hood, the Linux laptop is powered by a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12450H processor with 8 cores, 4 threads, 12MB cache, up to 4.4 GHz clock speed, and Intel UHD graphics, up to 64 GB DDR4 3200 MHz RAM, and up to 4TB NVMe M.2 SSD storage in a dual-disk setup with optional full-disk encryption.

Audiocasts/Shows

=> ↺ The Lunduke Big Tech Show – Apr 30, 2023

• Listen now (79 min) | Special Edition: Fixing all the problems in computing in a single show (or at least trying)

Kernel Space

=> ↺ Linux 6.3.1

=> ↺ Linux 6.2.14

=> ↺ Linux 6.1.27

=> ↺ Linux 5.15.110

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ How To Install MariaDB on Fedora 38

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install MariaDB on Fedora 38. If you’re looking to install MariaDB on your Fedora 38 system, you’re in the right place. MariaDB is a popular fork of MySQL that offers additional features and enhancements, and the installation process is straightforward

=> ↺ Jakub Steiner: Udev Rules for Dirtywave M8

• This post is very unlikely for you. It’s for future me.

• The little magic box that is the Dirtywave M8 tracker is pretty well supported in Linux. It works great as an audio device (input and output), it does usb midi and you can also use its remote display using laamaa’s m8c which now also does audio monitoring.

=> ↺ Add a Dedicated Audio Panel to Quick Settings in Ubuntu 23.04

• Quick Settings Audio Panel is a new GNOME extension designed for GNOME 44. Its task is simple: create a dedicated audio section in the Quick Settings menu and move audio-related controls there.

• The master volume slider (and microphone slider, though doesn’t stay permanently visible) are moved into a separate section that at the bottom of the Quick Settings ajar from the rest. The MPRIS control applet also moves from the Notification/Calendar shade and into this bespoke panel.

=> ↺ Docker 101: An Introduction to Containerization Technology

• Over the past few years, containerization technology has become a game-changer in the software development industry. Docker, a popular containerization platform, has revolutionized how developers build, package, and deploy applications. This article will provide an introduction to Docker and its underlying technology.

=> ↺ Difference between ENTRYPOINT and CMD in Dockerfile

• Docker has revolutionized the world of containerization, making it simpler for developers to manage and deploy applications. Dockerfiles are a crucial component in building container images, and understanding the different instructions available in Dockerfiles is essential.

=> ↺ Mebibytes (MiB): Understanding the Basics and Benefits

• In today’s digital world, file sizes and storage capacities have become an integral part of our daily lives. Whether we are downloading files, uploading data, or simply managing our devices, understanding the units used to measure digital storage is crucial.

=> ↺ Digital Units Explained: MB, Mb & MiB Differences

• In today’s digital world, the need to understand and differentiate between various digital units has become increasingly important. Units such as MB, Mb, and MiB are frequently used to express file sizes, storage capacities, and data transmission rates.

=> ↺ How to Optimize MySQL Parameters for a 32 GB RAM System

• Tuning MySQL parameters is essential for achieving optimal performance and resource utilization on a server. In this article, we will discuss the key parameters to optimize for a system with 32GB of RAM.

=> ↺ Fix: SSH Connection Problem With Host Key Verification Failed Error

• The “Host Key Verification Failed” error occurs when a known host has changed its authentication key or when a man-in-the-middle attack occurs in your network. If you are having this SSH Connection problem, then worry not, as this guide has got you covered.

=> ↺ How to Resolve the Apt-Key Deprecation Warning When Updating a System

• When you updated your system repository, did you get an apt-key deprecation warning? If yes, then read this guide to resolve the apt-key deprecation warning message.

=> ↺ How to install MariaDB on Fedora 38 / 37

• Hello, friends. Fedora 38 is home to many novices and not so many developers who see it as the ideal system to do their jobs. Today, in this post for newbies, you’ll learn how to install MariaDB on Fedora 38 / 37.

=> ↺ How to Extend/Increase VxFS Filesystem in Linux

• This is a routine task for Linux/Unix administrator to increase the VxFS filesystem when you are running out of space. It can be done in online safely without any issues.

=> ↺ A step-by-step guide to installing Linux on VirtualBox

• VirtualBox is a powerful and versatile virtualization tool that allows you to run multiple operating systems simultaneously. One popular use case is installing Linux on a virtual machine, enabling users to explore and experiment with various Linux distributions without affecting their primary operating system.

=> ↺ Installing NVIDIA Tesla T4 in the Amazon EC2 G4 Instances

• This post explains the process of installing NVIDIA Tesla T4 drivers on openSUSE images specifically designed for Amazon EC2 G4 Instances.

Games

=> ↺ Best Steam Deck Games Released in the Past Week With Mega Man Battle Network, Sifu and Kujlevka – 2023-04-30 Edition

• Between 2023-04-23 and 2023-04-30 there were 101 new games validated for the Steam Deck. We use numerous criteria to establish this Best Steam Deck Games list, such as popularity, reviews, and more.

Desktop Environments/WMs

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ Month three as KDE Software Platform Engineer

• A month has passed since my last monthly post about my work as KDE Software Platform Engineer. What have I been up to since then?

• As usual not everything I did ended up as committed code. A lot of my work is reviewing other people’s code, discussing ideas, and generally being useful to the community.

• One area I’ve been focussing on is our infrastructure for global shortcuts. These are currently handled by the KGlobalAccel framework. This frameworks contains the runtime component that manages global shortcuts as well as an application-facing library to interact with the runtime. The runtime and interface library being in the same project has caused us some issues in the past. To address these the runtime part is now split out into a separate project and part of the Plasma group. You can read up more details on this here. This change also allowed for some further changes that made launching applications from global shortcuts both simpler code-wise and more robust. I have also worked on another set of changes that will address some of the pain points that are currently present in our global shortcuts system. While doing that I also addressed some issues I found in the underlying KDE Frameworks libraries.

Distributions and Operating Systems

=> ↺ Forget Windows 12, Nitrux is your next OS

• Microsoft is slowly beginning to kill off Windows 10, stopping major feature updates for the operating system and hoping to persuade more users to move to Windows 11. While that’s the obvious upgrade path, some users will want to hang on for Windows 12, which is reported to be under development at the moment.

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ AlmaLinux vs. Rocky Linux: The Best CentOS Alternative

• CentOS used to be the distro choice for many developers and servers. However, as Red Hat chose to sunset CentOS and focus on CentOS Stream, both AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux have stepped up to fill the void left by CentOS.

• This guide highlights the differences between AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux and shows what makes each distribution tick and why you might consider using one over the other.

=> ↺ OpenShift Can Be The New PASE For IBM i Shops

• If you can’t beat ‘em, encapsulate ‘em. That is not the official rallying cry of the IBM i platform, but that certainly has been the philosophy of the Private Address Space Environment that was cooked up by the techies in IBM’s labs in Austin, Texas, home of the RS/6000, and Rochester, Minnesota, home of the AS/400. The marketing people eventually changed its name to the Portable Application Solution Environment, which we know as PASE either way. We have a great PASE, but it is time to make a new one that is more relevant for the time.

=> ↺ Agile: 4 key business boosts

• As innovation continues to help organizations enhance their operations and improve efficiency, consumers’ expectations of the experience and value they receive will evolve. Speed of service remains a top priority, and consumers no longer need to waste time with businesses that can’t meet their needs.

• This poses a significant problem for businesses that have clung to legacy platforms or failed to digitally transform their internal processes. The decentralization of technology, the rise of intelligent automation, and the increasing importance of the customer have enabled businesses on the bleeding edge to quickly adapt and deliver value at the speed of thought.

=> ↺ Fedora Onyx with Budgie Desktop Can Join the Immutable Fedora OSs

• Fedora Onyx running the Budgie desktop has been proposed with the next Fedora 39 to join the family of Fedora’s immutable OSs.

Debian Family

=> ↺ Paul Wise: FLOSS Activities April 2023

• This month I didn’t have any particular focus. I just worked on issues in my info bubble.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ Ubuntu 18.04 Standard Support Ends This Month

• Well, kind of.

• Ubuntu 18.04 hits end-of-life on May 31, 2023 — but, importantly, it only affects standard support.

• Ubuntu Pro Subscribers get Extended Support Maintenance (ESM) on Ubuntu 18.04 for a further 5 years, pushing the Beaver’s true EOL date out to 2028.

=> ↺ Lubuntu Blog: Lubuntu 20.04 LTS End of Life and Current Support Statuses

• Lubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa) was released April 23, 2020 and will reach End of Life on Friday, April 28, 2021. This means that after that date there will be no further security updates or bugfixes released for your Lubuntu packages.

=> ↺ Accelerating the adoption of AI in banking with MLOps

• There is rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the finance sector. AI in banking is reshaping client experiences, including communication with financial service providers (for example, chat bots). Banks are exploring ways to use AI/ML to handle the high volume of loan applications and to improve their underwriting process.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ How to Keep Your Android Phone Safe Using Private Lock

=> ↺ May 2023 Android security update now available, rolling out to Pixel phones

=> ↺ Android’s May security update is rolling out now to Google Pixel phones

=> ↺ Android 13 May security patch live, download Pixel OTA

=> ↺ 4 Ways to Get New Emojis on Android – Guiding Tech

=> ↺ OnePlus Pad Review: Just another Android tablet

=> ↺ Billions of Android users warned to delete 7 types of apps right now – dangerous criminals could be lurking on phones | The US Sun

=> ↺ New Android games released April 2023 — from Honkai Star Rail to Pocket City 2

=> ↺ Nothing Phone (1) Android 14 Update: Here’s the Latest Status

=> ↺ Android 14 might make Samsung’s One UI 6.0 more colorful and vibrant – SamMobile

=> ↺ android: Google may offer separate controls for notification and ringtone audio on Android

=> ↺ Android notification issues? Try these simple 16 fixes

=> ↺ Google’s Pixel 7a could be a game-changer for affordable Android phones | T3

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ LibreArts Weekly recap — 30 April 2023

• Week highlights: new releases of Kdenlive, Ardour, Audacity, Brickworks, Dragonfly Reverb, new features in GIMP, Krita, FreeCAD, Mayo.

• GIMP is still getting small improvements despite the shift of the focus towards stabilizing for v3.0. Two new features this week: [...]

=> ↺ Best Free and Open Source Software – April 2023

• April 2023 updates to the largest compilation of recommended free and open source software available for Linux.

=> ↺ OpenAI Threatens Popular GitHub Project With Lawsuit Over API Use

• GPT4Free reverse engineers other sites’ connection to OpenAI so anyone can access the GPT4 or GPT3.5 models for free.

FSF

=> ↺ HDR hackfest wrap-up

• Last week I’ve been attending the HDR hackfest organized by Red Hat. The trip to Prague was rather chaotic: the morning right after the SourceHut DoS incident, I got a notification that my plane was cancelled, so had to re-book a new flight and hotel. Then a few hours before leaving for the airport, I realized that the train line to get there was cut off, so I had to take a longer route via bus (and of course, everybody taking a plane had the same idea). Thankfully Saturday evening I arrived in Prague as planned, and even had some time before the train the next day to visit the old city center with the Jewish cemetery and synagogues, and enjoy a traditional guláš. I arrived at Brno — the venue of the hackfest — on Sunday evening.

• I met with some hackfest participants Monday morning in the hotel lobby, then we joined everybody else at the Red Hat office. People from various organizations were on-site: Red Hat, KDE, System76, AMD, Igalia, Collabora, Canonical, etc. Some more people from NVIDIA, Intel and Google joined us remotely (some of them waking up at 2 AM due to their timezone!). It was super nice meeting all these folks I’ve been working with remotely for years!

=> ↺ FSF Events: LibrePlanet talk – June 5 – WorldVistA EHR version of the Department of Veterans Affairs Electronic Health Record

=> ↺ FSF Events: Free Software Directory meeting on IRC: Friday, May 26, starting at 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC)

• Join the FSF and friends on Friday, May 26, from 12:00 to 15:00 EDT (16:00 to 19:00 UTC) to help improve the Free Software Directory.

=> ↺ FSF Events: Free Software Directory meeting on IRC: Friday, May 19, starting at 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC)

• Join the FSF and friends on Friday, May 19, from 12:00

=> ↺ FSF Events: Free Software Directory meeting on IRC: Friday, May 12, starting at 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC)

• Join the FSF and friends on Friday, May 12, from 12:00

=> ↺ FSF Events: Free Software Directory meeting on IRC: Friday, May 05, starting at 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC)

• Join the FSF and friends on Friday, May 05, from 12:00

Content Management Systems (CMS)

=> ↺ People of WordPress: Monika Rao

• People of WordPress features Monika Rao, a product and quality assurance manager in India.

GNU Projects

=> ↺ mailutils @ Savannah: GNU mailutils version 3.16

Leftovers

=> ↺ Pronouncing “composite” video

• Composite video isn’t as clear as S-Video, or other connectors that separate the luma and chroma signals. Because it’s purely a video format, it also can’t output any audible instructions on how to pronounce it, which only exacerbates the issue.

• I’ve been saying com-posit my whole life, with emphasis on the first syllable. But I hear more people saying com-pos-it, with emphasis on the second syllable. Which one is it? I don’t know.

Science

=> ↺ Eerie Flash Reveals a Black Hole Eating a Star: The Closest Ever Seen

• A scream of light.

=> ↺ Gigantic Superflare From Distant Star Is One of The Most Massive Ever Seen

• Devastating!

=> ↺ Spiders Can Get So Hungry They Start Losing Their Eyesight

• Proper nutrition is very important.

=> ↺ Future Heat Waves Are Coming, And These Countries Are Most at Risk

• “Governments around the world need to be prepared.”

=> ↺ Experts Fear Full-Face Snorkel Masks Pose a Deadly Risk. Here’s Why.

• Linked to several deaths worldwide.

=> ↺ Physicists Set New Quantum Record With Heaviest ‘Schrödinger Cat’ Yet

• Superposition at an unprecedented scale.

=> ↺ An Ancient Chili Pepper May Rewrite The History of The Tomato Plant

• It’s not what we thought.

=> ↺ Researchers Figure Out The Bizarre Math Behind ‘Ultrafast’ Worm Blobs

• They’re a solid and a fluid.

=> ↺ Long-Banned Pollutants Are Even in The Deepest Place on Earth, Study Reveals

• No escape.

Hardware

=> ↺ Arm files paperwork for what will likely be the biggest public offering this year

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Connection, support emphasized for Mental Health Awareness Month

• During Mental Health Awareness Month this May, experts in health and well-being at U-M invite colleagues to come together and find moments to support one another.

Proprietary

=> ↺ Twitter outage logs you out and won’t let you back in

=> ↺ 2023-04-28 [Older] Big Brother Awards: Microsoft for ‘Lebenswerk’ ausgezeichnet

=> ↺ 2023-04-28 [Older] Microsoft Edge is sending your browsing history to Bing, how to turn it off

=> ↺ 2023-04-27 [Older] It’s almost game over for Microsoft’s big video game merger

=> ↺ 2023-04-26 [Older] UK Blocks $68.7 Billion Microsoft Activision Blizzard Deal

=> ↺ 2023-04-26 [Older] British regulators nix Microsoft’s $69B takeover of video game maker Activision

=> ↺ 2023-04-28 [Older] #UnblockABK: How Microsoft can/will acquire Activision Blizzard despite the UK Competition & Market Authority’s abusive and arbitrary ruling

=> ↺ Florian is again on Microsoft’s payroll

=> ↺ 2023-04-25 [Older] Microsoft to Unbundle Teams From Office

Security

=> ↺ Deobfuscating Scripts: When Encodings Help, (Sun, Apr 30th)

• I found this sample on MalwareBazaar, tagged as unknown.

=> ↺ Security updates for Monday [LWN.net]

• Security updates have been issued by Debian (distro-info-data, ffmpeg, jackson-databind, jruby, libapache2-mod-auth-openidc, libxml2, openvswitch, sniproxy, and wireshark), Fedora (git, libsignal-protocol-c, php-nyholm-psr7, python-setuptools, rust-askama, rust-askama_shared, rust-comrak, thunderbird, and webkitgtk), SUSE (git, glib2, shadow, thunderbird, and webkit2gtk3), and Ubuntu (Apache Commons Net, git, linux-azure-5.15, linux-azure-fde, linux-kvm, linux-ibm-5.4, linux-snapdragon, netty, and ZenLib).

=> ↺ Saville Row attacked by BlackCat

• Saville Row, a Chilean clothing store, was added to BlackCat’s leak site on April 21. Sample files provided by the threat actors included internal Saville Row documents such as invoices and purchase orders.

• DataBreaches found no notice of any incident on the store’s website or social networks. They did not respond to DataBreaches’ email on April 21 asking them to confirm or deny BlackCat’s claimed attack.

=> ↺ Key U.S. Marshals computers still down 10 weeks after breach

• A key law enforcement computer network has been down for 10 weeks, the victim of a ransomware attack that has frustrated efforts by senior officials to get the system back up and running — raising concerns about how to secure critical crime-fighting operations.

• While the initial breach of a computer system within the U.S. Marshals was previously known, the precise details of what that system did and how long it has remained down have not been previously reported.

=> ↺ Nashua School District hit by ‘sophisticated’ cyberattack; classes to go on as scheduled Monday

• The Nashua School District said classes will go on as scheduled Monday after it was hit by a “sophisticated” cyberattack Sunday.

• The district said it is working with a third-party investigator to determine the nature and scope of the attack.

• “We are working diligently to investigate the incident, confirm its impact on our systems, and securely restore functionality to our environment as soon as possible,” the district said in a statement.

=> ↺ New Data Breaches from Cl0p and Lockbit Ransomware Groups

=> ↺ Court records online include private information for thousands of Missouri residents

• Documents containing Social Security numbers and other private information for thousands of Missourians are accessible to anyone using the Casenet website, the state’s judicial records system, the Post-Dispatch recently discovered.

• Missouri Supreme Court officials have acknowledged the issue after being alerted by the Post-Dispatch, and they fixed one vulnerability on Casenet. But thousands more documents with sensitive information remain online because they are considered open records. Those documents were filed by one state agency over several years, but it’s unclear if other records may also expose private information.

=> ↺ GM terminates hundreds of contract workers as it tries to shave $2 billion from its budget

=> ↺ Western Digital discloses network breach, My Cloud service down

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ The status of CCTV policing in India: 2023

• Read our analysis of Chapter 5 of Common Cause & CDSD’s Status of Policing in India Report 2023 which focuses specifically on CCTV cameras.

Confidentiality

=> ↺ U. of Iowa Health Care denies sharing patient data with Facebook, but are they right?

• The University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics is denying that it shares any confidential patient information with Facebook.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ Might the politics of the South China Sea weaken the high seas treaty?

• On March 4, after more than a decade of negotiations, states at the United Nations in New York agreed on a wide-ranging treaty focusing on high seas conservation.

=> ↺ Ex Serbian policeman faces retrial in Croatia for alleged war crimes

• Former Serbian policeman Milenko Maric will be re-tried in Osijek, Croatia for alleged war crimes against the civilian population after his extradition from the UK in accordance with the Extradition Act 2003. 

=> ↺ ‘National defence’ and the Navy

• The 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR) identifies itself as ‘the most substantial and ambitious approach to Defence reform recommended to any Australian government since the Second World War’.

=> ↺ The five-domains update

• Sea state HMAS Anzac has deployed to Southeast Asia supporting the international effort to enforce UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea.

=> ↺ Zelenskiy Praises Ukrainian Border Guards As More Signs Point To Start Of Counteroffensive

• Russia has replaced its highest-ranking general in charge of logistics ahead of a widely expected upcoming counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces.

=> ↺ Lawyer Says Russian Man Who Gave Critical Opinion Of Ukraine War In News Video Faces Stiffer Charges

• A Russian man who participated in a man-on-the-street interview last year, offering a critical opinion on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now faces more serious charges.

=> ↺ Closed Doors ‘Sad And Painful,’ Pope Tells Hungarians As He Wraps Up Weekend Visit

• Pope Francis urged Hungarians to open their doors to migrants and poor people as he wrapped up a weekend visit to Hungary dominated by his concern for the plight of migrants and the war in Ukraine.

=> ↺ Pope in final Mass in Budapest urges Hungary to open doors

• Pope Francis has urged Hungarians to open their doors to others as he wrapped up a weekend visit with a plea for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Hungarians filled Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos Square, on the banks of the Danube, Sunday. The Mass provided the visual highlight of Francis’ three-day visit that has been dominated by the Vatican’s concern for the plight of neighboring Ukraine. At the end of the Mass Francis prayed for peace in Ukraine and for “a future of hope, not war, a future full of cradles, not tombs, a world of brothers and sisters, not walls.”

=> ↺ 🔴 Live: Ukrainian air defence systems repel Russian missile attacks

• Ukrainian air defence crews destroyed 15 out of 18 missiles launched by Russian forces in the early hours of Monday morning, the military said, as air raid sirens blared across the country for more than three hours. .

=> ↺ Putin signs decree authorising deportation of Ukrainians in annexed territories who refuse Russian citizenship

• Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday signed a decree which authorises the deportation of residents of illegally annexed Ukranian territories who refuse Russian citizenship. Under the decree, bordering Ukrainian citizens are given a choice to accept or refuse Russian citizenship.

Environment

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ Power outage cancels 40 domestic flights at Manila’s international airport

• It hit Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s T3, and flight delays are expected.

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ Communicator adds charm to mailboxes, birdhouses

• Tamara Havermahl has designed and created dozens of mailboxes and birdhouses, a pursuit that has invigorated a longtime love of art and pulled her from the depths of depression.

Finance

=> ↺ Malaysia’s businesses unlikely to stop using US dollar in trade deals: Analysts

• Businesses in key export industries such as palm oil, petroleum and electrical and electronics are hesitant to support the de-dollarisation push.

=> ↺ German Economy Stagnates in Q1

• The number of unemployed fell slightly to 2.586 million month-on-month in April, but that still meant 276,000 more people compared to last year’s figure.

=> ↺ The US Economy is Headed for a Recession, Experts Say

• “It is very likely that the economy will be tipped into recession by mid-year,” said Desmond Lachman, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

=> ↺ Bank of Finland’s board member calls for cap on debt servicing costs

• MARJA NYKÄNEN, a board member at the Bank of Finland, has called for measures to rein in the debt burden of households, reports YLE.

• Nykänen on Thursday stated that such measures are required to protect the solvency of households in an environment where interest rates are continuing to rise, putting pressure particularly on indebted households.

=> ↺ Long-term investment for industry flagged for budget

• The federal government will prioritise long-term investment in the upcoming budget, with hints the bottom line will come in better than expected.

=> ↺ Major retailers fined over button battery products

• Two prominent Australian retailers have been hit with fines over the supply of Halloween novelty products containing potentially lethal button batteries. In the first action by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission based on new battery standards, The Reject Shop has been ordered to pay $133,200 and homewares company Dusk $106,560.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ Santiago Pena scores big victory in Paraguay’s presidential election

• Quick to smile and described as affable, Paraguay’s new President Santiago Pena, 44, is the fresh face of an old institution — the conservative Colorado Party that has ruled the South American country for nearly eight decades.

=> ↺ Paraguayans vote in presidential poll with Taiwan ties at stake

• Paraguayans are readying to head to the polls on Sunday in what could be the biggest electoral challenge to the ruling conservative Colorado Party in over a decade and with the country’s near 70-year ties with Taiwan potentially at stake.

=> ↺ Merkel Again Defends Her Policies Toward Russia

• Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel again defended her policies toward Russia. amid lingering criticism that her approach paved the way for Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

=> ↺ How Scalia Law School Became a Key Friend of the Supreme Court

• George Mason University’s law school cultivated ties to justices, with generous pay and unusual perks. In turn, it gained prestige, donations and influence.

=> ↺ Alireza Akbari, the Iranian Insider and British Spy Executed in Iran

• In January, Iran executed a former senior official who provided Britain with valuable intelligence on Iranian nuclear and military programs over a decade, according to Western intelligence officials.

=> ↺ Where the Trump Investigations Stand: Georgia

• In the investigation into Trump’s efforts overturn the 2020 Georgia election, Fani Willis has signalled she’ll ask the grand jury to consider charges between July 11 and September 1.

=> ↺ Uzbeks Vote On Constitutional Changes Aimed At Keeping President In Power Until 2040

• Uzbeks have been voting in a constitutional referendum that could pave the way for President Shavkat Mirziyoev to remain in power until 2040.

=> ↺ Tunisia’s President Turns Back the Clock to Authoritarianism: A Wave of Repression

• Over a decade ago, the Arab Spring got its start in Tunisia. Now, the country’s president is tightening his authoritarian grip. The Europeans, though, have been largely silent: They need the Tunisian autocrat in the fight against illegal migration.

=> ↺ Pope Francis Calls Hungarians Not To Close Doors To Migrants

• This petition highly opposes the policies of Prime Minister Orban, who alleged that immigration would make his country “unrecognizable” for its native people.

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ Human Rights Watch urges Thai authorities to release teenager detained for defaming monarchy

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) Friday called on Thai authorities to release a 15-year-old student activist who was detained after allegedly defaming the nation’s monarchy. Thanalop “Yok” Phalanchai was arrested in Bangkok on 28 March after police accused her of criticising the monarchy during a protest rally in October 2022.

=> ↺ Russian Woman Handed Crushing Fine For Anti-War Post

• A Russian court has fined a 65-year-old grandmother from Siberia 1 million rubles ($12,400), the equivalent of about four years of pension payments, for posting on social media the eyewitness accounts of her Ukrainian friends in the days following Russia’s invasion.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ GEO continues strike, grading plans remain in flux

• As the University of Michigan Graduate Employees’ Organization’s strike continues into its fifth week, the grading of student work remains a central issue with classes and finals having concluded for the winter term.

=> ↺ Event explores factory wage theft, notes Stanford contract with Nike

• Panelists expressed a need for student activism. Stanford sources some of its apparel from factories that failed to pay their workers during the pandemic, according to the event speakers and data from the Workers Rights Consortium.

=> ↺ Explainer: Hong Kong’s national security crackdown – month 34

• In April, a planned Labour Day march was cancelled after one of its organisers was said to have gone missing for four hours. Several government-registered media outlets were barred from covering a National Security Education Day event attended by Xia Baolong, Beijing’s point man for Hong Kong affairs.

=> ↺ 2023-04-26 [Older] Federal workers strike highlights desire for work-from-home flexibility

=> ↺ 2023-04-25 [Older] B.C. woman found guilty of assault after coughing at grocery store employee in early days of pandemic

=> ↺ YouTube Music Contractors Win Major Union Battle Against Alphabet

• YouTube Music contractors have unionized with the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced the YouTube Music Content Operations Team overwhelmingly won their election for a union—with 83% of the unit of 49 workers participating.

Monopolies

Trademarks

=> ↺ ‘Katie Perry’ Beats ‘Katy Perry’ in a David & Goliath Trademark Battle — ‘This is a Win For Small Business’

• Singer Katy Perry has lost a trademark lawsuit by Australian fashion designer Katie Perry. Katie Perry sued the pop star for allegedly infringing the designer’s trademark with her merchandise. On Friday, April 28, Justice Brigitte Markovic ruled that clothing sold during Katy Perry’s 2014 Australian tour breached designer and small business owner Katie Perry’s trademark.

=> ↺ Adidas Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Failure to Disclose Kanye’s Extreme Racism

• Adidas is facing a class-action lawsuit from investors who claim the company didn’t disclose Kanye’s racism—despite knowing about his anti-Semitic comments. The German sportswear company cut ties with the rapper in October 2022 after a tirade of hateful comments. Now investors claim that senior executives at Adidas knew of anti-Semitic comments made by Kanye [...]

Copyrights

=> ↺ New Jersey’s Bamboozle Festival Abruptly Shut Down

• The return of New Jersey’s Bamboozle music festival has left many fans feeling short-changed.  The Bamboozle festival was scheduled to take place at Atlantic City’s Bader Field on May 5 to May 7. But the city issued a statement saying it will not issue the final permit for the Bamboozle Festival to operate.

Gemini* and Gopher

Personal

=> ↺ A Brace Of Quotes

• The Greeks here are doubtless “Plato, Aristotle, Socrates” (Vizzini, “Princess Bride”) or around about 400 BCE, which Confucius predates while pining for an even older Golden Age, one no less hypothetical than the one Ovid would write about some time later.

• All pretty much instantaneous in geologic time.

=> ↺ Sunrise and Bird Song 2023-05-01 (Fairbanks, AK, USA)

• I tried out a new vantage point for sunrise viewing — a spot on the east side of the UAF hill. This spot has the advantage of some height above the trees and other structures, though ultimately the LOS hits Birch Hill and other hills to the east and north-east. This morning this clouds were not perhaps the best they could have been for sunrise effects, but it was still nice colors and a pleasant experience.

=> ↺ Things Moving Forward

• I found that sometimes listing what is bothering me[1] lets me concentrate on easing those roadblocks. As such, my obligations post helped a lot with getting things done or at least letting me get a better handle on it.

=> ↺ Attainable food crafts

• We were thinking today about food-crafts that seem simple enough to do as “hobbies” or passion projects to supplement and enrich the foods that we eat, given the — for now hypothetical — situation of having a home with a garden and ideally some land.

• Note that by “simple” we’re not refering to insta-success, labour-free hacks (those don’t exist) but to crafts that have a relatively compact list of skills and tools required.

• Those skills will still have to be learned, and mistakes will surely be made. I don’t believe there is such a thing in gardening as instant gratification.

=> ↺ Opportunistic critiques

• Here’s a dynamic that I’ve seen play out dozens of times in my life.

• There’s a “project” (an organization, political campaign, piece of software, or just a group of people — it could be anything) that I find “very promising”. Because I’m me, anything that I consider very promising is going to be a threat to the status quo, and the powerful people who benefit from it.

• The project, in every case, is not perfect: because the people who power it aren’t themselves perfect (nobody is!), their personal blind spots and biases will leave their marks. The project will almost always have problems with one or more of race/ethnicity, disability, misogyny, queerphobia, or class, because this society is particularly terrible about all of these things — and existing in such a society has made its mark on all of us.

• Eventually, well-meaning people will call out these issues in good faith. These people are being brave and kind, doing the project a favor by sharing their concerns. They are giving it a chance to be something better: a greater threat to the status quo!

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