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● 05.08.23

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● Links 08/05/2023: Linux 6.4 RC1 Out the Gate, Yocto Project Reaches 4.2

Posted in News Roundup at 2:34 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Kernel Space

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ Linus Torvalds Announces First Linux Kernel 6.4 Release Candidate

• The two-week merge window for Linux kernel 6.4 is now closed and the first Release Candidate is available to download from the kernel.org website or from Linus Torvalds’ git tree for early adopters, system integrators, and bleeding-edge users who want to get a glimpse of what’s about to be included in the final release.

• Linus Torvalds writes in his announcement post that the Linux 6.4-rc1 patch consists of about 55 percent updated and new drivers, about 20 percent architecture updates, and the rest is the usual random mix of documentation, tooling, networking, filesystem, and core kernel stuff.

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Kernel prepatch 6.4-rc1

• This is just one more back in the long-running shadow-stack story; see this article for some background.

• In the end, 13,044 non-merge changesets were pulled during this merge window.

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Linux 6.4-rc1

Applications

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ 6 Best Free and Open Source Subtitle Downloaders

• Asubtitle is a text representation of the dialogue, narration, music, or sound effects in a video file. Subtitles are available in multiple formats.

• Subtitles can literally make the difference between being immersed in a movie or only watching the screen, trying to keep up with developments. Good subtitling does not distract but actually enhances viewing pleasure, and even native speakers can find subtitles useful, not only where the individual is hearing-impaired.

• There is a good range of open source software that lets you download subtitles. This article showcases dedicated subtitle downloaders, but some media players (including VLC and SMPlayer) also let you download subtitles.

• Here are our recommendations summarised in one of our legendary ratings charts.

=> ↺ Neowin ☛ 7-Zip 23.00 Beta

• 7-Zip is a open source file archiver with a high compression ratio. The program supports 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR, ZIP, WIM, ARJ, CAB, CHM, CPIO, CramFS, DEB, DMG, FAT, HFS, ISO, LZH, LZMA, MBR, MSI, NSIS, NTFS, RAR, RPM, SquashFS, UDF, VHD, WIM, XAR, Z. Most of the source code is under the GNU LGPL license. The unRAR code is under a mixed license: GNU LGPL + unRAR restrictions. Check license information here: 7-Zip license.

• You can use 7-Zip on any computer, including a computer in a commercial organization. You don’t need to register or pay for 7-Zip.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ Kushal Das: Fixing missing yubikey trouble on fedora 38

• From the time I updated to Fedora 38, I am having trouble with my Yubikey. If I remove the key, just plugging it back does not help. gpg can not detect it.

=> ↺ University of Toronto ☛ Advisory file locks and mandatory file locks are two quite different things

• Advisory file locks are in effect a form of broadcast interprocess communication (IPC) between vaguely cooperating processes. Processes use ‘file locking’ to broadcast information about what they’re doing (such as reading or modifying a file) and what other processes shouldn’t do (such as modify or sometimes read the file). Generally there’s a simple system to regulate who can broadcast what sort of messages; for example, in Unix you may need to be able to open a file for writing before you can obtain an exclusive lock on it (ie, to broadcast your desire that no one else access the file).

=> ↺ LinuxTechi ☛ How to Setup High Availability Apache Cluster on RHEL 9/8

Games

=> ↺ Boiling Steam ☛ Best Steam Deck Games Released in the Past Week with Cynthia Hidden in the Moonshadow, HavenDock and Portal Dungeon – 2023-05-07 Edition

• Between 2023-04-30 and 2023-05-07 there were 116 new games validated for the Steam Deck, making the total amount of games cross the 9000 games threshold & we talked about it a few days ago.

Desktop Environments/WMs

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ Plasma Sprint 2023 in Augsburg

• After what felt like an eternity we were finally able to come together in Augsburg, Germany for the Plasma Sprint that was originally planned for April of 2020, kindly hosted by TUXEDO Computers in their offices. There were sixteen attendees from six countries and it was great to have three newcomers on board, too.

Distributions and Operating Systems

=> ↺ [Yocto] Release notes for 4.2 (mickledore)

=> ↺ LWN ☛ Yocto Project 4.2 released

• Version 4.2 of the Yocto Project distribution builder has been released. It features improved Rust support, a number of BitBake enhancements, lots of updated software, and numerous security fixes.

=> ↺ Fernando Borretti ☛ NixOS for the Impatient

• NixOS is a Linux distribution configured using Nix. It is declarative, meaning that the entire system state can be defined in a single .nix file; and reproducible, meaning you can have multiple computers set up identically.

Reviews

=> ↺ Distro Watch ☛ Review: Fedora 38 Workstation

• Fedora 38 is not perfect, but I am sure the last few issues with be dealt with quickly. Minor issues aside, Fedora 38 is an okay, if somewhat boring, release. The new features are nice, but not anything so crucial that a Fedora 37 user needs to upgrade right away. That said, anyone who does upgrade will probably like the refinements.

• Overall, I would recommend Fedora 38 Workstation to anyone who wants a Red Hat style distribution that is more up to date than CentOS Stream, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or one of the various RHEL clones. If you are not tied to the Red Hat ecosystem, Fedora 38 is still a good choice, but it does not stand out enough to recommended it above Ubuntu 23.04, openSUSE Tumbleweed, or any other distribution with recent packages.

New Releases

=> ↺ Dragora 3.0-beta2 released

• I am pleased to announce the release of dragora 3.0-beta2.

• Dragora is an independent GNU/Linux distribution project which was created from scratch with the intention of providing a reliable operating system with maximum respect for the user by including entirely free software. Dragora is based on the concepts of simplicity and elegance, it offers a user-friendly Unix-like environment with emphasis on stability and security for long-term durability.

BSD

=> ↺ Undeadly ☛ cron(8) now supports random ranges with steps

• Thanks to the following commit by Todd Miller (millert@), cron(8) now supports random values in a range with a step value (i.e. “~/” in crontab(5) entries): [...]

PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandriva/OpenMandriva Family

=> ↺ Artificial intelligence, education, and the forgotten 13th anniversary of this blog

• Maybe it’s just me… Who knows.  The thing is that I feel that my workload this year is going through the roof in a nice tower that reminds me of those gigantic toothpicks piercing the landscape, all in the name of cellular signal and communication.

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ Red Hat Official ☛ 2023-05-01 [Older] Elevate your Red Hat Summit experience with Power Training

=> ↺ Red Hat Official ☛ 2023-05-04 [Older] Red Hat Customer Portal launches redesigned product pages

=> ↺ Red Hat Official ☛ 2023-05-04 [Older] Attestation in confidential computing [Ed: Compromised, outsourced computing disguised as privacy]

Debian Family

=> ↺ Norbert Preining ☛ Debian TeX Repo Stats

• After having worked about 18 years on getting Debian users a great TeX experience, things have turned sour between Debian and me. So I think it is time to look a bit at my contributions over these years, for this I have prepared repo stats of the most important TeX related repositories.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ Real-time Analytics News for Week Ending May 6

• Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, announced Ubuntu Pro is now available in a subscription-included model on AWS. Through collaboration with AWS, users can now launch Ubuntu Pro on-demand instances and purchase Ubuntu Pro Compute Savings Plans from the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) console.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Terence Eden ☛ Replacing the keyboard on the Clevo N151CU / Lafité IV / System76 Darter Pro / Entroware Proteus

• So new toy time! One of the problems of buying non-mainstream tech is that there is a dearth of components and 3rd party accessories. I found a few Ali-Baba sellers which were selling similar keyboards, but nothing which looked identical. So I contacted the retailer and, after a few weeks, they were able to ship me a replacement. In cherry red!

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ An RPi-Powered Multi-DX7/TX816 Style Synth

• [Kevin] over at Simple DIY ElectroMusic Projects has released a complete DIY modular design for simulating the classic 80s Yamaha TX816 DX/FM modular digital synthesizer. This beast of a synth was used by the cool bands of the 80s as well as TV studios, and ownership of the original machine is an expensive investment. But with the power of modern hackable electronics, and the MiniDexed firmware running bare-metal on a Raspberry Pi getting access to a compatible synth doesn’t have to break the bank.

=> ↺ Linux Gizmos ☛ Dev kit integrates Xilinx XC7Z010/20 SoC

• MYIR launched this month an industrial development platform based on the Xilinx XC7Z010/20 System-on-Chip. The base board supports up to 3x Gigabit ports, CAN interfaces and other flexible peripherals.

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ The world’s smallest Bluetooth SoC: InPlay NanoBeacon SoC IN100 in 2.0×1.1mm WLCSP package

• InPlay has just announced a Wafer Level Chip Scale Package (WLCSP) for its NanoBeacon SoC IN100, making it the world’s smallest Bluetooth System-on-a-Chip (SoC) at just 2.0 x 1.1 x 0.35mm. The NanoBeacon IN100 is not new per se, and we covered the still tiny Bluetooth SoC when writing about Sparkfun NanoBeacon Bluetooth 5.3 module based on the DFN8 package measuring 2.5-2.5mm. The highlights include its low-code/no-code interface and an ultra-low power consumption of below 1 uW.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Phone Arena ☛ Hottest Android wearable Pixel Watch has never been this affordable – PhoneArena

=> ↺ 9to5Google ☛ Google Weather for Android finally getting Material You redesign

=> ↺ Liliputing ☛ VAIO TL10 Android tablet has a 10.4 inch FHD+ display and Unisoc T616 processor – Liliputing

=> ↺ SlashGear ☛ The Best Wellness Apps On Android To Help You Get Better Sleep

=> ↺ SlashGear ☛ 8 Android Phones With The Best Battery Life, According To The Manufacturers

=> ↺ Mirror UK ☛ Nothing will rival Samsung this summer with a blockbuster Android upgrade – Mirror Online

=> ↺ Android Police ☛ How to set up Android’s Data Saver mode

=> ↺ India Today ☛ On an Android smartphone, how can you convert your Telegram profile image to an animated emoji? – India Today

=> ↺ Indian Express ☛ Android 14 based OneUI 6 to fix RAM management issue on Samsung smartphones | Technology News,The Indian Express

=> ↺ Android Central ☛ Google’s Bard AI could be headed to your Android phone’s home screen | Android Central

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ Michał Woźniak ☛ Mastodon monoculture problem

• Mastodon-the-software is used by far by the most people on fedi. The biggest instance, mastodon.social, is home to over 200.000 active accounts as of this writing. This is roughly 1/10th of the whole Fediverse, on a single instance. Worse, Mastodon-the-software is often identified as the whole social network, obscuring the fact that Fediverse is a much broader system comprised of a much more diverse software.

• This has poor consequences now, and it might have worse consequences later. What also really bothers me is that I have seen some of this before.

=> ↺ Libre Arts ☛ LibreArts Weekly recap — 7 May 2023

• Week highlights: Google Summer of Code 2023 project announced, new releases of DreamWorks MoonRay, BlenderBIM, dav1d, new features in FreeCAD and Ardour.

Education

=> ↺ Rlang ☛ 5 new books added to Big Book of R

• Thanks to Niels Ohlsen for for helping me add the books, and to Adejumo Ridwan Suleiman and Mokandil for their submissions.

=> ↺ The Register UK ☛ DEF CON to set thousands of hackers loose on LLMs

• This year’s DEF CON AI Village has invited hackers to show up, dive in, and find bugs and biases in large language models (LLMs) built by OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and others.

• The collaborative event, which AI Village organizers describe as “the largest red teaming exercise ever for any group of AI models,” will host “thousands” of people, including “hundreds of students from overlooked institutions and communities,” all of whom will be tasked with finding flaws in LLMs that power today’s chat bots and generative AI.

Licensing / Legal

=> ↺ India ☛ Explained: What is Open Source Software and its relation to the AI race?

• That said, historically some of the most sophisticated and advanced technologies have been open sourced and that has been a way to develop at a rapid phase. While this is a great collaborative way to develop tech, little has been done to regulate the OSS models, making it equally dangerous if fallen into the wrong hands.

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Chris ☛ Who Was On The Winning Team?

• However, there’s an easier way to do it by thinking combinatorically33 And this is the reason I wrote this up in the first place: I didn’t expect to be able to use the enumerative combinatorics I learned a few months ago, but thanks to spaced repetition it was still fairly accessible in my brain!: There are ({19 \choose 5}) ways to select the members of the winning team from all 19 colleagues. There are ({15 \choose 5}) ways to select the winning team without picking any Peter44 If we restrict the valid candidate pool to only those whose names are not Peter, there are 15 colleagues to choose from.. Thus, the probability that Peter is in the winning team is [1 - {15 \choose 5} \bigg/ {19 \choose 5} = 74 %.]

• It was a fairly good guess!

=> ↺ 37signals LLC ☛ Programming types and mindsets

• One of the longest running schisms in programming is that of static vs dynamic typing. I’ve heard a million arguments from both sides throughout my entire career, but seen very few of them ever convinced anyone of anything. As rationalizations masquerading as reason rarely do in matters of faith. The rider will always justify the way of the elephant.

=> ↺ Dr Werner Vogels ☛ Monoliths are not dinosaurs

• A great example can be found in two insightful blog posts written by Prime Video’s engineering teams. The first describes how Thursday Night Football live streaming is built around a distributed workflow architecture. The second is a recent post that dives into the architecture of their stream monitoring tool, and how their experience and analysis drove them to implement it as a monolithic architecture. There is no one-size-fits-all. We always urge our engineers to find the best solution, and no particular architectural style is mandated. If you hire the best engineers, you should trust them to make the best decisions.

=> ↺ Matt Might ☛ Hello, Perceptron: An introduction to artificial neural networks

• The purpose of this article is to give programmers without much exposure to machine learning an understanding of the key building block powering generative AI: the artificial neuron.

=> ↺ 37signals LLC ☛ Escaping creative downturns

• If I’m stuck in a creative downturn, there’s usually only one remedy: keep going. That is, accept the downturn, but continue to stare at the computer, waiting for it to pass. While staring at the computer, there’s room for menial and managerial tasks put aside during more inspired times. Checking up on things, getting back to people, and reading copious amount of [Internet]. But it’s still a creative deadzone.

Rust

=> ↺ It’s FOSS ☛ Rust Basics Series #7: Using Loops in Rust

• Loops are another way of handling control flow of your programs. Learn about for, while and ‘loop’ loops in Rust.

Leftovers

=> ↺ [Old] Eric S Raymond ☛ The Unix Koans of Master Foo

=> ↺ The Kent Stater ☛ Putt Around Downtown turns Kent into a miniature golf course

• Main Street Kent hosted their annual “Putt Around Downtown” event Saturday, drawing visitors from near and far to local businesses. The event had 25 participating businesses that set up themed miniature-golf courses on sidewalks, inside businesses or in public parks.

Science

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Scorching Record-Breaker in Vietnam Confirms Extreme Predictions, Expert Warns

• “This record will be repeated many times.”

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Violent Outbursts by a Baby Sun May Have Triggered Life on Earth

• A tantrum that changed everything.

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ Goodbye Jim Kloss ♡ 1956–2023

• I’m incredibly awkward and nervous in photos, which was a real shame given how photogenic Jim and Esther were when we met in 2016!

• Where do you being talking about one of the most important people in your life, and one of your dearest friends?

• I met Jim online when he ran his independent radio station Whole Wheat Radio. He fascinated me from the start: here’s this geologist and IT gentleman who retired to a tiny log cabin with his talented partner Esther in rural Alaska. I’d load his breakfast shows onto my iPod for listening on my morning commute, and with my sister as my witness, would burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter on the crowded Singapore train.

Education

=> ↺ Common Dreams ☛ An LGBTQ Teacher Could Save Your Child’s Life

• On June 4, likely more than half of the students of the 1964-66 elementary school class of Charles Silverstein will attend his memorial in New York City. This man was a truly innovative, original, and life-changing public school teacher. Our class day, in a New York suburb, began with Mr. S reading the New York Times and discussing the many important issues of the day.

Hardware

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Soviet-Era Computer Is Both A Mystery And A Disaster

• There are plenty of bizarre computers around from the 70s through the 90s before the world somewhat standardized around various duopolies of hardware vendors and operating systems. Commodore, Atari, and even Apple had some bizarre machines from this era but for our money, the most unusual systems come out of the Eastern Bloc. We’ve featured plenty of these before, and the latest is a Robotron CM1910 which comes to us from [Chernobyl Family] via YouTube.

=> ↺ Computers Are Bad ☛ electrical characteristics of telephone lines

• The conventional “copper pair” analog telephone line is fading away. The FCC has begun to authorize abandonment of copper outside plant in major markets, and telcos are applying to perform such abandonment in more and more areas. The replacement is IP, part of the overall trend of “over the top” delivery, meaning that all communications utilities can be delivered by the use of IP as a common denominator.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ El País ☛ David Pastor Vico: ‘Philosophy can help you avoid a trip to the psychologist. Plus, it’s free’

• The Spanish philosopher — born in Belgium to immigrant parents — lives and works in Mexico, where he has published ‘Ethics for the distrustful,’ a book for teenagers. He recently returned to Spain for cancer treatment

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Twitter Criticized for Allowing Texas Shooting Images to Spread

• Unlike newspaper and magazine publishers, however, tech companies like Twitter must enforce their decisions on a huge scale, policing millions of users with a combination of automated systems and human content moderators.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it’s no longer emergency

• The World Health Organization says that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency. The announcement on Friday marks a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide. WHO said that the pandemic hasn’t come to an end despite the emergency phase being over. The U.N. health agency noted recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. WHO says that thousands of people are still dying from the virus every week.

=> ↺ New Yorker ☛ Ending the Covid Public Health Emergency Isn’t All Good News

• Pandemic-era policy contained flashes of what is possible: real achievements in making life easier for millions of Americans.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ A Chance Event 1 Million Years Ago Changed Human Brains Forever

• It set us apart from all other species.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ The World’s First RSV Vaccine Just Got Approved in The US

• Decades in the making.

Proprietary

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ Cyberattacks increase exploitation of trust in Microsoft, Adobe: report

• “Scammers are sending out Microsoft OneNote files as email attachments to victims. When someone opens the attachment, it triggers the download of malware onto a device. Avast has spotted malware such as Qbot and Raccoon using this distribution technique to steal information, and has also observed IcedID, a banking Trojan, using OneNote attachments to steal money. During Q1 of 2023, Avast protected more than 47,000 global customers, including 940 in Australia from these types of attacks,” thew security firm further warns.

• “In some cases, Avast researchers also observed cybercriminals exploit Adobe Acrobat Sign by adding malicious links into documents that are sent from legitimate Adobe email addresses. These links prompt victims to download .ZIP files, which contain a variant of the Redline Trojan that can steal passwords, crypto wallets, and more.”

=> ↺ Vice Media Group ☛ Senators Call on USPS to Delay Controversial Pay Cut for Rural Carriers Determined By Mystery Algorithm

• As a result, 66 percent of rural carriers are slated for pay cuts, with 44 percent of carriers losing more than three paid hours per week, despite nothing having changed about their actual routes. The USPS has not disclosed either publicly or to the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, the union representing rural carriers, how the RRECS algorithms actually work. This pay cut is likely to exacerbate an already short-handed workforce of rural carriers which has left many rural communities struggling to reliably get mail and packages.

=> ↺ TechRadar ☛ TikTok has some worrying security flaws that could leave your activity open to anyone

• Cybersecurity researchers from Imperva have uncovered a flaw in the popular social media app TikTok which could have allowed threat actors to exfiltrate sensitive data from victim devices to be used in identity theft attacks, phishing, or for blackmail.

Pseudo-Open Source

Openwashing

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ 2023-05-05 [Older] AMD Open System Firmware to Replace AGESA On Server, Client CPUs by 2026

Security

=> ↺ Data Breaches ☛ Kabarak University ICT Manager suspended after uni’s Facebook account was hijacked

• Kabarak University has announced the way forward after its Facebook account was seized by a group of cyber criminals that has been using the same to spread malicious and misleading images and content that contravenes the institution’s Christian values.

• A statement released by the university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Henry Kiplangat assured all stakeholders that all necessary measures have been taken to regain control of the page and prevent any further unauthorized access.

=> ↺ Data Breaches ☛ Murfreesboro Medical Clinic reopens some, but not all, services. Attack appears to be work of BianLian.

• On April 22, the Murfreesboro Medical Clinic in Tennessee suffered a ransomware attack that resulted in them having to shut down all operations on May 1-3 to limit the spread of the attack. The clinic’s statement was previously reported on DataBreaches.net.

=> ↺ Data Breaches ☛ Avos Locker starts leaking student data from Bluefield College; claims to still have access

• The situation with the ransomware attack on Bluefield University continues to escalate. The attack by Avos Locker occurred on April 30. On May 1, the attackers used the college’s RAMAlert emergency system to blast messages to all students informing them of the breach and threatening to leak their data if the college didn’t pay them. Avos added to the pressure by posting a sample of student files with personal information on their leak site. The sample appeared to contain more than two dozen student records from 2018 and 2019. DataBreaches verified a sample of the records and confirmed by a Google search that people with those names lived in the West Virginia and Virginia areas. DataBreaches did not attempt to contact the former students directly at this time.

=> ↺ Roskomnadzor’s structure was fined for improperly divulging employee information

• The Main Radio Frequency Center under Roskomnadzor was fined for leaking employee data, according to the records in the Justice of the Peace file cabinet No. 456. A notice regarding the judgment “on the imposition of a administrative penalty” appeared in the file cabinet on May 2, but the substance of the decision has not been released.

• The Belarusian hacker group “Cyberpartisans” accessed the GRFC network in the autumn of last year, according to a Telegram message. They claimed to be able to access employees’ work computers and damage the GRFC infrastructure.

=> ↺ Open Source Security (Audio Show) ☛ Episode 374 – The event we called left-pad, Episode 77 remaster part 1

• Josh and Kurt revisit Episode 77, which was named “npm and the supply chain” but was a discussion about the incident we all know now as “leftpad”. We didn’t understand what was happening at the time, but this would become an event we talk about for years to come. It’s shocking how many of the things we discuss are still completely valid five years later.

=> ↺ Thorsten Alteholz ☛ Thorsten Alteholz: My Debian Activities in April 2023

• This month I accepted 103 and rejected 11 packages. The overall number of packages that got accepted was 103.

• This was my hundred-sixth month that I did some work for the Debian LTS initiative, started by Raphael Hertzog at Freexian. 

• This month my all in all workload has been 14h.

• During that time I uploaded: [...]

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ Twitter says a ‘security incident’ led to private Circle tweets becoming public

• Back in April, users found a bug with Twitter’s Circle feature that saw the platform expose private tweets to strangers. Now, nearly a month later, the company has finally commented on the issue. In an email seen by The Guardian, Twitter told affected users the exposure was the result of “a security incident that occured earlier this year.”

• The company claims the issue was “immediately fixed.” It also shared an apology. “Twitter is committed to protecting the privacy of the people who use our service, and we understand the risks that an incident like this can introduce and we deeply regret this happened,” the company said. When news of the exposure first started circulating online, some, including creator Theo Brown, speculated the issue was the result of Twitter failing to filter Circle tweets out of its recommendation algorithm. Twitter has not operated a communications department since Elon Musk’s first round of layoffs, and the company did not initially acknowledge the issue.

=> ↺ Rolling Stone ☛ When You Try to Watch Pornhub in Utah, You See Me Instead. Here’s Why

• There’s an easy solution to this problem: we need smartphones and computers specifically created for minors which block all forms of adult content, not just porn. If parents gave their children these devices, they would know that their kids weren’t looking at porn, even when they’re busy at work.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ Defence Web ☛ Sudan: the longer the conflict lasts, the higher the risk of a regional war

• The 2019 Sudan uprisings that ousted long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir and installed a military-civilian transitional government gave hope that the northern African country could finally transition to democratic rule.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russian Jet Intercepts Polish Plane Over The Black Sea

• A Russian combat jet intercepted and came dangerously close to a Polish plane conducting a patrol for the European Union’s Frontex border protection agency, Polish border protection officials reported.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Prigozhin: Defense Ministry will send Wagner Group ammunition to continue fighting in Bakhmut — Meduza

• Russia’s Defense Ministry has promised to provide Wagner Group as much ammunition and weaponry “as necessary to continue combat,” says Wagner head Evgeny Prigozhin. The catering tycoon’s press service published his response:

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Two gunpowder depots burn down in Sverdlovsk wildfires. The city of Asbest has lost water and power. — Meduza

• A number of areas across Russia’s Sverdlovsk region have declared states of emergency due to wildfires. Publication Ekaterinburg Online writes that, as of May 7, 55 fires, covering a total area of 35,000 hectares (around 86,500 acres), have been recorded in the region.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Gunpowder Depot On Fire In Russia’s Urals, Village Evacuated, Say Officials

• A wildfire has spread to a gunpowder depot in Russia’s Ural Mountains, setting it ablaze and forcing the evacuation of a small village in the Sverdlovsk region, local officials said late on May 6.

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Three Die as Raging Fires Consume Swaths of Russia’s Urals – Officials

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Internal Affairs Ministry posts video of officers who caught suspect in Prilepin car bomb attack; Ukraine equivocates about responsibility for the blast — Meduza

• Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry published a video featuring the Nizhny Novgorod police officers who caught a man suspected of blowing up writer Zakhar Prilepin’s car yesterday. In the clip, officers Ekaterina Sirotina, Dmitry Voyevodin, and Alexander Sokolov detail the arrest of 29-year-old Alexander Permyakov near the village of Kozlovo.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Russian drone attack kills nine in Kherson. Russia reports multiple foiled drone attacks from Ukrainian side. — Meduza

• A Russian drone attack killed nine people in the village of Chornobaivka, in Ukraine’s Kherson region, reports Strana.ua, citing local law enforcement.

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Prilepin, awake in hospital, describes assassination attempt — Meduza

• Writer and politician Zakhar Prilepin published his first social media post following a May 6 assassination attempt against him. He says that he was driving when his car exploded in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Worries grow over safety of Ukraine nuclear plant amid Russian evacuations

• The ongoing evacuation of a town close to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine has prompted the UN nuclear watchdog to warn of an increasingly unpredictable situation. Meanwhile, Russia’s Wagner mercenary group appeared to ditch plans to withdraw from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, saying they had been promised more arms by Moscow.

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ More Than 1,600 Evacuated From Areas Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant – Russia-Installed Official

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russians Return At Judo Worlds, Ukraine Boycotts Competition

• Russians returned to international judo competition on May 7 for the first time in nearly a year at the world championships as Ukraine boycotted the key Olympic qualifier.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ World’s Expectations For Kyiv Counteroffensive ‘Overestimated,’ Says Ukrainian Defense Minister

• Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told The Washington Post that the world’s expectations for the country’s anticipated counteroffensive are “overestimated” and that it could lead to “emotional disappointment.”

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Moscow-Installed Sevastopol Head Claims Drone Attacks On Annexed Crimea

• The Moscow-installed head of the Russian authorities in annexed Crimea’s biggest city, Sevastopol, claimed on May 7 that more than 10 drone attacks overnight targeted the peninsula but nothing in the city itself was damaged.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Nuclear Concerns And Mass Evacuations In South Ukraine As Russia Keeps Up Pressure In The East

• Air-raid alerts sounded overnight on May 6-7 in many regions of Ukraine amid unpredictable Russian bombardments and ongoing fighting for the eastern city of Bakhmut ahead of a patriotic anniversary in Russia.

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Russia Launches Mass Strikes on Ukraine Ahead of May 9 Victory Day Holiday

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Ukraine General: Russia Hopes to Capture Bakhmut by Tuesday, Steps up Fighting

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Ukrainian Media Report Explosion in Odesa, Widespread Air Raid Alerts

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Russia’s FSB Says It Foiled Ukrainian Plan to Attack Airfield

• (Reuters) – Russian security forces have foiled an attempt by Ukrainian intelligence to attack a military airfield in central Russia with drones…

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Russia’s Wagner Group Signals It Will Stay in Bakhmut After Threat to Quit

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Wagner Chief Appears to Backtrack on Threat to Pull Fighters From Bakhmut

• Yevgeny V. Prigozhin said his mercenaries had been promised the ammunition and equipment they needed and would not have to withdraw from Russia’s fight for the eastern Ukrainian city.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Ukrainians Return Home, Renewed and Resigned

• More than 5.5 million people who left after the war began in February 2022 have gone back home — and not just to large cities like Kyiv or Dnipro, but to small places near the front line, as well.

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Russia’s Wagner Group Appears to Do U-Turn on Bakhmut Withdrawal

• (Reuters) -Russia’s Wagner mercenary group appeared on Sunday to ditch plans to withdraw from Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, saying they had been…

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Worries Grow About Ukraine Nuke Plant Amid Evacuations

• Anxiety about the safety of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is growing after the Moscow-installed governor of the Ukrainian region where it is located ordered civilian evacuations

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Ukraine Farmers Surrounded by Risks, From Mines to Logistics

• Russia’s war has forced Ukraine’s grain farmers into a vicious dilemma

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Security Worries Overshadow Russia’s Victory Day Preparations

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Russian Forces Evacuating Town Near Occupied Nuclear Plant, Kyiv Says

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Polish Plane on EU Border Patrol Narrowly Avoids Collision With Russian Jet

Environment

=> ↺ Common Dreams ☛ There’s Still Time to Avoid Climate Catastrophe

• Cutting greenhouse gas emissions to keep the world from heating to catastrophic levels is entirely possible and would save money. Although emissions continue to rise, there’s still time to reverse course. Ways to slash them by more than half over the next seven years are readily available and cost-effective — and necessary to keep the global average temperature from rising more than 1.5 C.

=> ↺ NPR ☛ California’s epic snowpack is melting. Here’s what to expect

• The Kaweah River hasn’t seen a major increase in flows from snowmelt. Peak runoff isn’t expected until late May or June. Like most watersheds in the southern part of the mountain range though, its geology makes it susceptible to flooding. The watershed’s path is one of the steepest in the country. As snow melts, water rushes downslope in gullies and draws, merging into bigger and bigger streams and creeks.

• Some is absorbed by the trees and ground. Most makes its way into the Kaweah River.

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ Common Dreams ☛ ‘Mad Panic’ Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Leads IAEA to Sound Alarm

• The situation Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has taken a turn for the worse as Russia has begun evacuating 18 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, including Enerhodar.

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Out-of-control wildfires cause evacuations in western Canada

• Fire crews battling wildfires threatening communities in western Canada are getting some relief from cooler temperatures and a bit of rain, but officials warn the reprieve is only in some areas. Officials in Alberta say there were 108 active fires in the province Sunday and the number of evacuees grew to about 29,000. A provincewide state of emergency was declared Saturday. Two out-of-control wildfires in neighboring British Columbia also have forced some people to leave their homes, and officials warn that they expect high winds to cause the blazes to grow bigger in the next few days. Officials in Alberta say that despite the current cooling, hot and dry conditions are predicted to return within a few days.

=> ↺ NPR ☛ The fate of a teenage zoo elephant in Pakistan was tragic — and a symbol of much more

• “I regret to say this, but I think Noor Jehan can only find peace when she dies,” said Pakistani singer Natasha Baig in an Instagram story republished in the Pakistani daily, The Express Tribune. “Pakistan is truly incapable of showing mercy to animals,” she continued. “Noor Jehan’s story also raises the question of whether countries like Pakistan are even capable of operating zoos,” wrote local publication, Global Village Space.

• Activists hope the conversation will continue, because they say, the situation is dire for Pakistan’s animals.

• [...]

• Omar, of the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society, gestured to the concrete shed where the two used to sleep. For years, they were shackled while they slept – it’s unclear why, Omar said. “I don’t know how one can sleep if you know your three legs are chained – two in the front, one in the back.”

• It’s not just the elephants that suffer at the zoo. On a recent spring day, boys chipped off cobblestones to hurl at a crocodile huddled in a concrete pool. Others threw chips and chocolate at baboons in a tiny enclosure, gleefully watching them gobble them up. A gorilla sat quietly in another cage, entirely alone.

• The zoo’s current director, Kanwar Ayub, told NPR he couldn’t comment on Noor Jehan’s neglect, her living conditions or even that of other zoo animals, as he had only been appointed to manage the institution in early April. Since then, he told NPR, he was dealing with Noor Jehan’s decline. Local media reported he was appointed in the wake of the previous director’s dismissal for negligence after several zoo animals died and Noor Jehan’s mysterious injuries went untreated.

Finance

=> ↺ Haaretz ☛ Analysis | Israel’s Latest Tech Layoffs: No One Is Immune

• Meta and Amazon have dropped scores of employees in Israel, while Dropbox and EA have shut down their operations entirely – and even engineers are having trouble finding new jobs

=> ↺ CBC ☛ 2023-04-28 [Older] Canada’s economy eked out 0.1% growth in February, Statscan says

=> ↺ CBC ☛ 2023-04-28 [Older] Threatened at knife point, wages clawed back: Uber drivers decry working conditions after high-profile assault

=> ↺ Common Dreams ☛ Grocery Store Workers Stand to Lose Over $300 Million Annually if Kroger and Albertsons Merge

• In October 2022, Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the U.S., announced plans to acquire Albertsons, the second largest, for $24.6 billion—a deal that faces antitrust scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission and state regulators. Historically, antitrust concerns have focused on the damage to consumers caused by concentration in product markets that gives large firms pricing power. However, a recent wave of economic research has called attention to potential damages to workers’ bargaining power over wages stemming from concentration in labor markets. In this policy memo, we discuss these labor market implications of the proposed merger. We find that the merger of two of the largest supermarket chains in the country will increase employer concentration and reduce the wages of all grocery store workers in affected cities across the country.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ Times Higher Education ☛ Swedish alarm over ministry-ordered security experts on boards

• These external members are chosen by a two-person search committee and approved by the ministry in what the rectors describe as a “delicate balance” between academic autonomy and oversight of universities, which are effectively government agencies.

• In late April, days before the current crop of appointees were due to begin their three-year terms on 1 May, nomination committees received a telephone call from the ministry telling them their external board members would serve only 17-month terms.

• Justifying the move to local media, education minister Mats Persson cited a recent security service report that warned universities were being infiltrated and having their patents stolen by agents of China, Iran and Russia.

=> ↺ ABC ☛ New Twitter rules expose election offices to spoof accounts

• Impostor accounts on social media are among many concerns election security experts have heading into next year’s presidential election. Experts have warned that foreign adversaries or others may try to influence the election, either through online disinformation campaigns or by hacking into election infrastructure.

=> ↺ Jacobin Magazine ☛ Cory Doctorow Explains Why Big Tech Is Making the Internet Terrible

• In his new book Red Team Blues, Cory Doctorow explores the world, and grift, of cryptocurrency by way of a techno-thriller. He recently spoke to Jacobin’s David Moscrop about his latest book, the state and future of artificial intelligence, and why Twitter and Google suck so much.

=> ↺ Variety ☛ Yahoo Once Considered Buying Netflix — but Unfortunately Acquired Tumblr Instead, Ex-CEO Says

• Ten years ago, Yahoo was looking for a “transformative” acquisition, former CEO Marissa Mayer said in a recent interview with Tech Brew. Among the targets the internet company was looking at: Netflix and Hulu. Yahoo ended up buying blogging site Tumblr for $1.1 billion in 2013 — which, to put it mildly, did not pan out as expected.

=> ↺ Jacobin Magazine ☛ 2023-05-03 [Older] Turkey’s Election Is About Democracy Itself

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Japanese PM Kishida’s Seoul visit puts bilateral ties back on track

• The leaders pledged to strengthen relations and deepen cooperation during a visit that came earlier than expected.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ Risen Word

• A divide between elites and the populace is a recurrent feature of every large, organized society. That has been true without exception since the abundance generated by the mastery of agriculture/husbandry encouraged the growth and elaboration of early Neolithic bands. There are no known exceptions; but there are variations and modalities.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ Bono Is Doing Illustrations For The Atlantic Now, Because Everything’s Fake And Stupid

• So U2 singer Bono is literally just doing illustrations for the imperialist propaganda rag The Atlantic now, because that’s the sort of thing that happens in a dystopian civilization during the death throes of a globe-spanning empire. A Washington Post article titled “Bono likes to sketch Atlantic covers, so the […]

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ Psychiatric Incarceration Isn’t Treatment — It’s Violence, Survivors Say

• After the murder of Jordan Neely, NYC’s mayor doubled down on his plan to disappear those who “appear mentally ill.”

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Kyrgyz President Arrives In Russia For Putin Meeting, Possible Solo Seat At WWII Events

• Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has arrived in Moscow for bilateral meetings with President Vladimir Putin and to attend a victory parade in the Russian capital to mark the end of World War II, likely making him the only foreign head of state to be at the May 9 events.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russian Pro-War Activist, Writer Said To Be ‘Conscious,…Cheerful’ After Car Bombing

• The governor of Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region said on May 7 that the war-backing writer and political activist Zakhar Prilepin is awake and “stable” following an induced coma after his car was hit by an explosion a day earlier.

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Russian Nationalist Writer Describes Surviving Attack Moscow Blamed on U.S., Ukraine

=> ↺ Axios ☛ House to vote on GOP migration plan as border restrictions end

• The House will vote on a sweeping, hardline border security package Thursday — just as a pandemic-related policy that has allowed the rapid expulsion of migrants will end, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) tells Axios.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ Russia staging protests for anti-Ukraine propaganda — report

• According to research by several media outlets, Russian secret services are infiltrating or staging demonstrations in major western European cities to create anti-Ukraine sentiment or hamper Sweden’s bid to join NATO.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Did China Help Vancouver’s Mayor Win Election?

• Ken Sim, Vancouver’s first mayor of Chinese descent, rejects claims of Chinese interference and says his landslide win was due to his tireless campaigning and more appealing policies.

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Former CIA chief Michael Morell, who wrote ex-spy letter dismissing The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop reports, misled signers by saying he’d ‘clear’ it with agency

• The ex-CIA chief who wrote the letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials falsely claiming that emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop were Russian disinformation, misled his fellow signatories.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Scoop: Tucker Carlson ready to torch Fox News

• Tucker Carlson is preparing to unleash allies to attack Fox News in an effort to bully the network into letting him work for — or start — a right-wing rival, sources close to him tell Axios.

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Memorial’s Perm Chief Jailed For 15 Days For ‘Hooliganism’ In Russian Court

• The Memorial human right group says the head of its branch in the Russian city of Perm, Aleksandr Chernyshov, has been ordered to serve 15 days in jail on a hooliganism charge stemming from his appearance in a Khimki court.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Local Cleric Lynched After Blasphemy Alleged At Pakistani Political Rally

• [...] Video on social media showed the victim, identified as Maulana Nigar Alam, being beaten by a mob. [...]

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Belarusian Opposition Blogger Klimovich Dies In Prison, Says Rights Group

• Belarusian blogger Mikalay Klimovich, who was imprisoned for posting an online caricature of the country’s authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has died in a penal colony in the Vitebsk region, the Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center reported on May 7. [...]

=> ↺ Tibet ☛ China bans online posts on poverty etc that damage party’s image

• China effectively outlawed any unofficial media discussion on the existence of poverty in the country after President Xi Jinping declared “a comprehensive victory” in the battle against it in 2021. But many people still remain poor or live just above the poverty line and censors have been deleting any video about it over the internet, reported the UNI news service May 7, citing other reports. Any video or post that “deliberately manipulate sadness, incite polarization, create harmful information that damages the image of the Party and the government” is officially banned.

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

=> ↺ Craig Murray ☛ Julian’s Voice is Heard Once More

• Though convicted of nothing, and merely in “administrative detention” entitled to the presumption of innocence, for five years Julian Assange’s voice has been effectively silenced.

=> ↺ Common Dreams ☛ Brazilian President Lula da Silva Calls For Freedom For Julian Assange

• Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva has called for freedom for Julian Assange and denounced the lack of concerted efforts to free the journalist.

=> ↺ VOA News ☛ Gunmen Kill Journalist in Restive Northwest Cameroon, Says Union

• The Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) confirmed Nsoh’s death and called for an investigation.

• “This latest attack on a journalist is one too many. The long-drawn conflict in the northwest and southwest regions has pitched journalists into grave danger,” said CAMASEJ President Jude Viban.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ Common Dreams ☛ Now Is the Time to Stop Using Dehumanizing Language to Describe Migrants

• Last year, my client Susan called me to discuss her immigration case.

=> ↺ CBC ☛ 2023-05-06 [Older] On Red Dress Day, Indigenous voices urge timely introduction of proposed public alert system

=> ↺ CBC ☛ 2023-04-28 [Older] Suicides abroad prompt police to investigate Ontario website that sold lethal substance

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Jordan Ends Emergency Laws That Stifled Public Freedoms

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ The Land Beneath This Stadium Once Was Theirs. They Want It Back.

• Dodger Stadium is the home to the seven-time world champion Los Angeles Dodgers. But in the 1950s, the land around it belonged to families who are now seeking reparations for what they lost.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Asian Americans least likely to feel they belong in U.S., study finds

• Asian Americans — especially young, Asian American women— are the least likely to feel they completely belong and are accepted in the U.S., an annual survey of attitudes about Asian Americans has found.

• Why it matters: The broad survey illustrates the anxiety felt by Asian Americans three years after the pandemic generated a wave of anti-Asian violence in the U.S.

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ Iran: Sports boss quits over unveiled runners — report

• Iran’s state news agency IRNA said on Sunday that the head of the country’s athletics federation resigned over a sporting event where women competed without the mandatory headscarf.

=> ↺ India Times ☛ Hollywood strikes inflamed by claim AI could do writers’ jobs

• The Hollywood writers’ strike broke out this week over pay, but the refusal of studios like Netflix and Disney to rule out artificial intelligence replacing human scribes in the future has only fueled anger and fear on the picket lines.

Digital Restrictions (DRM)

=> ↺ Engadget ☛ 2023-04-28 [Older] Canada’s controversal streaming bill just became law

Monopolie/Sanctions

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ Brussels Plans to Slap Sanctions on Chinese Companies Aiding Russia’s War Machine – FT

Patents

=> ↺ The Register UK ☛ Samsung to pay out $303M for memory patent infringement • The Register

Copyrights

=> ↺ Torrent Freak ☛ IPTV Piracy Lawsuit Against Datacamp Close to Settlement For Second Time

• In February 2022, UK-based CDN company DataCamp was hit with a $32.5m copyright infringement lawsuit claiming the company failed to disconnect IPTV services identified as repeat infringers. More than a year later a settlement may be in reach but despite putting up a fight, DataCamp has already been required to hand over data related related to 11 pirate IPTV services.

=> ↺ Torrent Freak ☛ La Liga Asked GitHub to Shut Down Football Streaming App ‘Nodito’

• A few days ago, the Spanish Football League La Liga asked GitHub to remove the popular pirate live-streaming app Nodito from its servers. The request targets the tip of an iceberg as the app remains widely available elsewhere. The recent takedown notice is part of an ongoing whack-a-mole game where scammers have also entered the field.

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