● 05.31.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 31/05/2023: Armbian 23.05 Release and Illegal UPC

Posted in News Roundup at 1:45 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

=> ↺ Linux Format 303

• Run Ubuntu at lightspeed with our guide to taking the world’s most popular distro to the next level by stripping it back, running light desktops, dumping Snaps and customising the server build to your own needs.

Applications

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ Machine Learning in Linux: PhotoPrism – AI-Powered Photos App

• An important feature of machine learning is the ability to scour data at speed and scale far outclassing human analysts. This enables the discovery of patterns or anomalies to derive cogent insights and automate all kinds of laborious or mundane tasks that humans used to have to perform manually.

• While AI falls short of human intelligence in many applications, there are areas where it vastly outshines. Machines can identify trends and patterns hidden across millions of documents, and this ability improves over time. Machines also behave consistently, in an unbiased fashion, without committing the kinds of mistakes that humans inevitably make.

• PhotoPrism is an AI-powered photos app for the decentralized web. It uses modern technologies to tag and find pictures. The software can be run at home, on a private server, or in the cloud. It’s free and open source software.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ Understanding Ext4 Disk Layout, Part 1

• This blog is the first in a series of blogs in which we are going to look at the disk layout of the ext4 filesystem. We will be looking at different types of on-disk structures in newly created ext4 filesystems and understand their importantance.

=> ↺ Ubuntu Handbook ☛ Add ‘Open Terminal Here’ for other Terminal Emulator in Ubuntu 22.04

• Want to let ‘Open in Terminal’ context (right-click) menu option work for another terminal emulator? Here’s an extension to do the similar job for Nautilus. When right-clicking on either a folder or blank area in file manager, there’s an ‘Open in Terminal’ menu option to launch system default terminal with that folder as working directory.

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ Alternatives to popular CLI tools: dig

• This article spotlights alternative tools to dig. This is a DNS lookup utility.

=> ↺ Linux Journal ☛ A Comprehensive Guide to the wc Command in Linux

• One of the most valuable utilities offered by Unix and Linux-based systems is the wc command. This versatile command stands for “word count” and offers you a simple, yet powerful way to analyze text files. By comprehending the full scope of wc, you’ll increase your proficiency with command-line operations, making your interaction with Unix or Linux systems more productive and efficient.

=> ↺ What is the difference between apt and snap install docker?

• If you are planning to install Docker on Ubuntu or Debian-based system then you can either use the APT package manager or Snap which is a Universal package installer. However, what is the difference between having Docker from Apt and Snap, here we discuss that.

=> ↺ UNIX Cop ☛ How to enable (or disable) Bash autocompletion in Debian-based distributions

• Hello, friends. In this post, you will learn how to enable Bash autocompletion in Debian-based distributions. Bash is a very versatile shell, but many newcomers to Linux may find it a bit complex. This is not the case, but for them, any help is important.

=> ↺ Eerie Linux ☛ Exploring the CBSD virtual environment management framework – part 5: Jails (III)

• [New to Gemini? Have a look at my Gemini FAQ.] This article was bi-posted to Gemini and the Web; Gemini version is here: gemini://gemini.circumlunar.space/users/kraileth/neunix/2023/cbsd_pt5.gmi This article is about creating jails right from the command line. This time we will also build an example jail that is somewhat useful.

=> ↺ Linux Handbook ☛ Run Linux Commands Inside Containers With Docker Compose

• Here are various ways you run Linux commands inside Docker Containers, with or without entering them. Moreover, learn how to do that from any directory in Linux.

=> ↺ Ubuntu Handbook ☛ How to Install Brave Browser in Ubuntu 23.04 | 22.04 with New Apt Rule

• This simple tutorial shows how to install brave browser via the new apt source policy in Ubuntu 23.04 & 22.04. Due to security issue, Debian changed its policy for adding apt sources. Ubuntu is changing the rules too. Since Ubuntu 22.04, it uses more secure key files with digital signature for system repositories and PPAs.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Prompt for Input in Bash

• Comprehensive tutorial on the uses of prompt with the “read” command in the Bash script and the benefits of using a prompt message with the “read” command.

=> ↺ Kifarunix ☛ Easily Install Solaris 11.4 on VirtualBox

• In this tutorial, you will learn on how to easily install Solaris 11.4 on VirtualBox. Oracle Solaris is the trusted business platform that is known for its scalability, security, and reliability, making it a popular choice for enterprise environments. Install Solaris 11.4 on VirtualBox Follow the steps below to install Solaris 11.4 on VirtualBox.

=> ↺ Red Hat ☛ Build an all-in-one edge manager with single-node OpenShift

• Red Hat OpenShift includes an abundance of technologies out of the box that are necessary for effectively managing a fleet of devices at the edge. One of those components, the scheduler, enables these services to be efficiently co-located onto a single platform.

• In addition, OpenShift manages many of these services via an Operator, meaning a non-technical team doesn’t need to understand all the specific details about the service. OpenShift, in a sense, helps make managing devices at the edge simpler and cost-effective.

• This article details how to go about building this configuration on a single-node OpenShift cluster. Keep in mind that you can apply these same concepts to a 3-node compact and full OpenShift cluster as well.

=> ↺ It’s Ubuntu ☛ How To Enable PPP on Ubuntu on Linux

• In this tutorial, we will show you the method to enable Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) on Ubuntu. PPP is a standard protocol that allows for the transmission of network data over phone lines, modems, or Ethernet connections.

=> ↺ Linux Host Support ☛ How to Install Jenkins on AlmaLinux 9

• In this blog post, we will explain how to install Jenkins on AlmaLinux 9 OS. Jenkins is an open-sourced automation software used to automate the process of the developers. It is used for building, testing, and deploying the apps with the process of continuous integration and continuous delivery.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Stellarium on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

• Welcome to the magnificent world of Stellarium.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Darktable on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install novelWriter on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Sublime Merge on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Pinta on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Nextcloud Desktop on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install PlayOnLinux on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Arduino on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install RPM Packages on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install OpenJDK 8 on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Zsh on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install Syncthing on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ Understanding NGINX URL Rewrite

• Diving deep into the workings of NGINX, one facet that demands attention is its capability to perform URL rewrites. In the world of NGINX, URL rewriting essentially means modifying either a part or the entire URL as requested by a client. A primary reason for such URL rewriting in NGINX is to inform clients when the resources they’ve been seeking have changed their location. Simultaneously, NGINX URL rewriting provides enhanced control over the execution flow of pages.

Games

=> ↺ Boiling Steam ☛ DeckyLoader: Improve Your Steam Deck Experience Now

• DeckyLoader is a little piece of software that adds an extra menu in the side bar of your Steam Deck.

Desktop Environments/WMs

=> ↺ Make Tech Easier ☛ 10 Beautiful Linux Icon Themes You Should Install

• You changed the default wallpaper and window theme of your distribution, but your desktop doesn’t look much different. It’s because of the icons! You can find many icon sets to radically change your desktop’s looks, especially when you combine them with a matching wallpaper and window color theme. Let’s take a look at some of the best Linux icon themes that will upgrade your OS’s look.

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ My work in KDE for May 2023

• I can’t believe it’s already the end of May! This month turned out a little meatier than last month I think, but I still have a large backlog of merge requests and TODOs to go through.

=> ↺ Adriaan de Groot ☛ Memory Disks

• Not a moment after I had walked out the door to catch a train to Berlin for the KDE e.V. board sprint (May 2023), there was a local power failure which took down my in-house IT. That wouldn’t be so bad, except it did not come back up. Cue gnashing of teeth from the people who stayed at home (but, really, should have been able to hack into the router to fix it).

• [...]

• In rc.conf there are dozens of system-configuration variables that you can set. It’s still old-school SysV initialization, and I like it like that.

• Here is what I added to /etc/rc.conf:

• The configuration says to use a memory-disk for /var, that it should be 256MiB large (plenty, and still acceptable within the 3GiB memory size of the H6), without softupdates (a BSD UFS tweak) and using /var.md as “skeleton”. That means that the memory disk is populated from the contents of /var.md when it is created.

• With this setup, I have writable storage that is not persistent and that does not wear our the SD card, with minimal impact on the rest of the system – and it is simple to switch back if necessary.

GNOME Desktop/GTK

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ GNOME 44.2 Released with Fixes for GNOME Software, Nautilus, and More

• Coming a little over a month after the GNOME 44.1 point release, GNOME 44.2 is here to add another layer of bug fixes and improvements to make your GNOME 44 desktop experience better, smoother, and more stable.

• In GNOME 44.2, the devs update the GNOME Software package manager to improve support for Flatpak apps, check for updates when automatic updates are disabled, better handle multiple background jobs, prevent rpm-ostree updates from being downloaded when only checking to see if any updates are available, and reduce background resource consumption when the app is idle.

=> ↺ OMG! Linux ☛ GNOME Software Fix Reduces Background CPU Usage

• The latest version of GNOME Software uses fewer resources when idle.

=> ↺ Tim F. Brüggemann: Bi-weekly GSoC Update: Reaching FlatSync’s MVP

• In this post, I want to sum up the latest events regarding GSoC and FlatSync, and what’s been done to reach our project’s MVP goal.

• We participants were invited to a Contributor Summit where tips and tricks regarding GSoC and open-source involvement were shared. We heard talks from previous contributors, mentors as well as Google employees regarding OSS and its development flow. Alongside many other topics, the importance of communication was highlighted a lot. But other than just keeping up-to-date with our mentors, we were encouraged to also engage in a wider range of communication, so e.g. within the org’s community, be that through chats like Matrix rooms, project issues and MRs or blogging. Many other topics were being discussed as well, but this would probably go a little too far for this blog entry.

Distributions and Operating Systems

New Releases

=> ↺ Linux Magazine ☛ Mageia 9 Beta 2 is Ready for Testing

• The latest beta of the popular Mageia distribution now includes the latest kernel and plenty of updated applications.

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ Red Hat ☛ Why use RHEL for SAP Solutions?

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for SAP Solutions is a secure and scalable platform tailored to the needs of SAP workloads, such as SAP NetWeaver, SAP S/4HANA, and the SAP HANA platform. As SAP Business Suite will be out of standard support by 2027, it is essential for developers and administrators to plan for a smooth migration to the SAP S/4 HANA platform.

=> ↺ Silicon Angle ☛ Revolutionizing the cloud landscape: HPE GreenLake and Red Hat OpenShift join forces [Ed: The "rhsummit" in the URL means this is sponsored SPAM. Red Hat is buying articles about Red Hat.]

=> ↺ Fedora Magazine ☛ Fedora Magazine: You’re invited to the Fedora Linux 38 Release Party!

• Join the Fedora community this weekend on Friday, June 2nd and Saturday, June 3rd to celebrate the final release of Fedora Linux 38 with a virtual Release Party. Please register on Hopin and join us on June 2nd & 3rd for a short program of informational sessions and social activities. Make sure to save the dates, share the registration, and show up to celebrate with Fedora Friends, old and new!

Debian Family

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ Armbian 23.05 Releases with Debian 12 “Bookworm”-Based Images, i3 Support

• Coming three months after Armbian 23.02, the Armbian 23.05 release is the first to be created on a completely refactored build framework and based on the soon-to-be-released Debian 12 “Bookworm” operating system series, providing users with some of the latest features and updates from the Debian GNU/Linux community, such as the long-term supported Linux 6.1 LTS kernel series.

• This release also brings support for the i3 tiling window manager, which is now Armbian’s fourth officially supported graphical environment, updates the Ubuntu-based desktop images for x86 computers by removing unnecessary “Ubuntu Advantage” services and removing web browsers in the Snap format.

=> ↺ Sparky GNU/Linux ☛ OpenOffice

• The Apache OpenOffice suite has been uploaded to Sparky repos now. What is OpenOffice? Apache OpenOffice is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ Ubuntu Now Runs on AMD-Xilinx Versal Adaptive SoC Evaluation Kits

• If you’ve ever wanted to run Ubuntu on the AMD-Xilinx Versal AI Core Series VCK190 Evaluation Kit, Canonical now provides optimized Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) images for the VCK190 Evaluation Kits (non-ES) models.

• The AMD-Xilinx Versal AI Core Series VCK190 Evaluation Kit features the VC1902 Versal AI Core series ACAP, promising high throughput AI inference and signal processing for cloud, edge, and network applications.

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) Transitions to Extended Security Maintenance

• Continuing its tradition to offer commercial support in the form of Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) for Ubuntu LTS releases that reach the end of standard support after five years of maintenance, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) now joins the Ubuntu 16.04 ESM offering, which will end on April 2024.

• Released five years ago, on April 26th, 2018, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS will now be supported by Canonical with critical bug and security fixes for five more years, until April 2028, through the Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) package of the Ubuntu Advantage for Infrastructure and Applications offering.

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ LILYGO T-FPGA devkit combines ESP32-S3 WiSoC with Gowin GW1NSR-4C FPGA

• LILYGO T-FPGA development kit is comprised of an M.2 module with an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth wireless microcontroller and a Gowin GW1NSR-4C FPGA with 4,608 LUTs, and a carrier board that gives easy access to I/Os and comes with a 18650 battery holder.

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ NXP i.MX 91 single-core Cortex-A55 SoC to power Linux-based cost-optimized edge devices

• NXP has just unveiled the NXP i.MX 91 single-core Cortex-A55 processor following the introduction of the i.MX 93 in 2021, and designed for cost-optimized edge devices running Linux. The NXP i.MX 93 processor comes with up to two Cortex-A55 cores, a Cortex-M33 real-time core, and an Ethos U65 microNPU, but targeting entry-level Linux systems, the NXP i.MX 91 processor does without the real-time core and the AI acceleration, while still integrating NXP EdgeLock Secure Enclave, and the company highlights support for multiple wireless connectivity options through companion chips such as the IW612 that supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, 802.15.4, and the new Matter protocol.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ $10 Arduino-programmable WCH CH552 macro keyboard is configurable from a web browser

• The 4xMacropad is a low-cost, open-source hardware 4-key mechanical macro keyboard based on WCH CH552G 8051-compatible USB microcontroller and whose keys can easily be configured from a web browser generating an Arduino sketch.

=> ↺ Arduino ☛ Meet our next 3 favorite Project Hub entries!

• The “Arduino Project of the Month” competition continues to bring out the best in our community! We are happy to highlight inventive projects and creative solutions, as well as the generous users who share everything they’ve learned along the way. So let’s hear it for the three entries selected for the month of March!.

=> ↺ Petros Koutoupis ☛ Book Review: The Best of Hack and / by Kyle Rankin

• I was fortunate enough to learn about and acquire a copy of Kyle Rankin’s latest publication The Best of Hack and /: Linux Admin Crash…

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ AnExplorer: Feature-rich Open-source Android File Manager

• AnExplorer or Another Android Explorer (File Manager) is an All-in-One Open source file manager. AnExplorer File Manager (File Explorer) is designed for all android devices including Phones, Phablets, Tablets, Chromecast, Wear OS, Android TV and Chromebooks. It’s a fully designed with Material guidelines by Google.

• It is Simple, Small, Fast,

=> ↺ Silicon Angle ☛ Spyware discovered in 101 Android apps downloaded 421M times [Ed: A lot of "legit" Android "apps" are also spyware, buy we're meant to "trust" the spies because they're connected to the government and wear in suits in public]

=> ↺ Android Police ☛ Android 12L Explained: Google’s next-gen OS for tablets and foldables

=> ↺ Pocket Now ☛ What is battery calibration on Android and why you should do it

=> ↺ Gadget Bridge ☛ Best Ways to Turn Facebook Chat On or Off on Android

=> ↺ Android Police ☛ How to share the Wi-Fi network password on your Android phone

=> ↺ Android Police ☛ How to set up and use Live Transcribe on your Android phone

=> ↺ Phone Arena ☛ Delete these Android apps right now if you’re among the 400 million+ users spied on by them – PhoneArena

=> ↺ Hindustan Times ☛ Motorola Edge 40 emphatically sets a new mid-range Android phone benchmark – Hindustan Times

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ ECS RK3568-IS 3.5-inch SBC with Rockchip RK3568 SoC showcased at COMPUTEX 2023 – CNX Software

=> ↺ XDA ☛ Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu officially comes to Android

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ Sigma File Manager: An Open-source File Manager for Windows and Linux

• “Sigma File Manager” is a free, open-source, quickly evolving, modern file manager (explorer / finder) app for Windows and Linux.

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ Tiny File Manager: Self-hosted Free Web-based File Manager

• TinyFileManager is a web-based PHP file manager that is a great solution for users who want a simple, fast, and compact file management system. Its small size makes it easy to download and install, and its single-file PHP format makes it easy to integrate into any folder on your server.

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Qt ☛ Qt for Android Automotive 6.5.1 is released

• The latest patch release for Android Automotive 6.5.1 is just released. This release is based on Qt LTS 6.5.1 with more than 350 bug fixes, security updates, and other improvements on top of Qt 6.5. 

Python

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Seaborn Kdeplot() Method

• The “kdeplot()” method in Python is used to create “KDE” plots that show the distribution of continuous variables in one or more dimensions.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python Find Last Occurrence in String

• To find the last occurrence in the string the “rfind()” method, “rindex()” method, “str.rpartition()” method, and “for” loop are used in Python.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Seaborn Legend

• A legend is automatically added to seaborn graphs by default. However, to add it manually, “plt.legend()” function of “matplotlib” library is used in Python.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ SciPy Bessel Functions

• Learn how to apply two different techniques to solve the SciPy Bessel Functions, a type of second-order differential equation, with some sample problems.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ SciPy Signal Processing

• “scipy.signal” module of “scipy” library provides various functions in Python used to apply different operations on the signal i.e., convolution of two arrays.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ SciPy Odeint

• In Python, the “odeint()” function of the “scipy.integrate” module is utilized to solve a system of ordinary differential equations by integrating them.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python Multiline String

• To create a multiline string various methods such as “using triple quotes”, “using escape characters” and “using the join()” are used in Python.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python String isascii() Method

• The “string.isascii()” method in Python checks whether a string contains an “ASCII” (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) character or not.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python String rindex() Method

• In Python, the “string.rindex()” method is utilized to determine the last occurrence of a particular character in a given string.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Use of Matplotlib Tight_Layout in Python

• The “tight_layout()” function of the “matplotlib.pyplot” module is utilized to adjust the spacing and padding of the plots.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python Replace Characters in a String

• To replace characters or strings in the string the “string.replace()” method, “re.sub()” method, “String Slicing” technique, or “for“ Loop is used in Python.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python switch statement syntax

• The series of “if-else” statements, the “Dictionary” and a newly introduced method “match-case” is used to implement the “Switch Statement” in Python.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Ord function in Python

• The built-in “ord()” function in Python is employed to convert a specific character into its corresponding Unicode code.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ The Python AttributeError

• The “AttributeError” is caused due to various reasons such as “misspelled attribute name”, “incorrect namespace or scope” and “incorrect object type”, etc.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python Count Unique Values in the List

• To count unique values in the Python list the “set()” function, the “collections” module, the “for” loop, and the “Numpy” library are used in Python.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Matplotlib Spectrogram

• Python’s “Matplotlib” library provides the “matplotlib.pyplot.specgram()” function that is used to draw a spectrogram in Python.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ Python List -1 Index

• In Python, the “-1” special list index shows the usage of negative indexing, which means the last object of the specified list.

Leftovers

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ ‘The Pictures Are Miracles’: How Judith Joy Ross Finds Pain and Nobility in Portraits

• With a retrospective in Philadelphia, the artist is still seeking to capture a mysterious moment with a stranger.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Iowa Building Collapse: As People Remain Missing, Demolition Is Put on Hold

• Residents of Davenport, Iowa, protested plans to quickly remove the damaged building. Rescue workers pulled one resident to safety hours after officials said they were unaware of anyone still trapped.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ Change stalled? How to unite different teams around a goal

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ From mortarboards to more creative careers

• Gen Z graduates seek pathways into work marked more by values than material considerations.

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ CityNerd on the necessity of urbanist comedy

• Comment on his Power Centre video

• If you didn’t laugh you’d have to cry

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ High Density Housing Plan in Berkeley Sparks Familiar Fight

• Plans to build apartments have sparked a fight between progressive newcomers and nostalgic old-timers — with surprising allegiances in a writer’s hometown.

=> ↺ Mexico News Daily ☛ Melipona honey: the ancient Mayan elixir facing extinction

• Despite the fact that more popular European pollinators are where the money is, Yaxcabá, Yucatán locals keep an ancient tradition alive.

=> ↺ Mexico News Daily ☛ Judge suspends clear-cutting on Sections 3-6 of Maya Train

• A Yucatán judge has ordered a halt to logging work related to almost the entire Caribbean section of the Maya Train project.

Science

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Signs of a Critical Imbalance in Physics Seen in The Arrangements of Galaxies

• We owe our very existence to this.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ NASA Had a Plan For Rescuing Space Shuttle Astronauts Using a Big Fabric Ball

• Don’t panic.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ ‘Evil Eye’ Galaxy: The Sinister Glare Can Finally Be Explained

• Don’t look at me like that.

=> ↺ H2 View ☛ CSIRO to develop mobile hydrogen generator in $10m Australian project

• Australia’s national science agency CSIRO will develop the country’s ‘first’ mobile hydrogen generator to help the country reach Net Zero emissions by 2050.

=> ↺ uni Michigan ☛ UMich project team MASA successfully launches the largest student built rocket

• The Michigan Aeronautical Science Association successfully launched Clementine — the United States’ largest student-built rocket May 14. Clementine is a 20-foot tall liquid bipropellant rocket constructed and launched by MASA, an engineering project team that aims to give members experience with high-power rocketry through the designing, building and launching of rockets.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Breach Media ☛ Minister stalled lower drug prices—then officials tried to keep it secret

• A letter from Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos may have helped the pharmaceutical industry kill drug pricing reforms—and documents reveal officials wanted to keep it hidden

=> ↺ European Commission ☛ Statement by Commissioner Kyriakides on World No Tobacco Day

• European Commission Statement Brussels, 30 May 2023 Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides marked World No Tobacco Day on 31 May by stating…

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ California is taking the red out of red velvet cake

• California has become the first US state to ban food additives used in candies, cake mixes, and protein shakes, due to concerns linked to cancer and other health issues.

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Government gives green light to hospital reform

• On May 30, the government supported the reform of the hospital network launched by the Ministry of Health (VM), taking note of the VM report presented to the government.  A new, updated report has to be prepared by the ministry by mid-August, with detailed criteria for each hospital.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ California’s test: Can floodwater be captured and stored for future?

• While heavy winter storms alleviated California’s years of “megadrought,” experts say that capturing the rainwater presents a challenge and opportunity. One solution to harnessing the resource could be the recharging of underground water systems.

=> ↺ Three children drown in irrigation canals, one still missing after five days

• One of the children was the son of a family of seasonal agricultural workers and two were Syrian refugees.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ First generation of independent Lithuania chooses solo life, avoids responsibility, research shows

• The first generation to grow up in independent Lithuania is unwilling to take up responsibility and tends to postpone family planning, Laima Žilinskienė, associate professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University, has found.

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Add Latvia’s home-grown ‘Superfoods’ to your menu

• Various so-called ‘superfoods’ have enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years for their supposedly sensational health benefits. A recent feature from LSM’s Latvian language service examined whether various traditional Latvian dishes qualify as superfoods.

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Health Minister hopes to find funds in unused heating aid

• Part of the additional EUR 140 million needed for the health sector could be reallocated from the surplus of the heating aid program, the Minister for Health, Līga Meņģelsone, told Latvian Television on May 30.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Sacklers Can Be Shielded From Opioid Liability, Appeals Court Rules

• The decision gives the Purdue Pharma owners long-sought protection, but it is a major step toward releasing billions of dollars from their fortune to states and communities to help cope with the costs of addiction.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Sleep Disorder Affecting 1% of People Can Foreshadow Dementia

• A nightmare with lasting consequences.

=> ↺ The Atlantic ☛ The Blue-Strawberry Problem

• A family in the Netherlands has a rare and perplexing brain condition that helps explain how we recognize color.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Fast or Slow? Expert Reveals The Best Strategy For Weight Loss

• It matters more than you think.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Black Death Pathogen Lurked in Britain Millennia Before Plague Struck

• The oldest cases ever found in Britain.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Has Dementia

• The announcement by the Carter Center came just over three months after it said that Jimmy Carter, 98, had entered hospice care at the couple’s home in Plains, Ga.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Fluorescein Turned Venice Grand Canal Green, Officials Say

• A chemical used in underwater construction and medical procedures was used to dye parts of the channel bright green, but the authorities still don’t know how it got there.

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Emails suggest ex-NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched COVID-19 memoir project in March 2020

• In August, an Albany county court ruling allowed Cuomo to keep the proceeds from his book after the since-disbanded Joint Commission on Public Ethics ordered him to surrender the cash to the state.

=> ↺ The Atlantic ☛ What the Pandemic Simulations Missed

• And why it’s the perfect time to role-play the next one

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Elizabeth Holmes Reports to Prison in Texas on Tuesday

• The disgraced founder of the blood testing start-up Theranos, who was convicted of fraud, turned herself in at a minimum-security prison in Texas.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes starts prison sentence for blood-testing hoax

• Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes entered a Texas prison Tuesday where she could spend the next 11 years for overseeing a blood-testing hoax that became a parable about greed and hubris in Silicon Valley.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ The substance that turned part of Venice’s Grand Canal neon green has been identified

• Italian authorities have partially solved the mystery of the substance that changed the color of Venice’s canal water.

Proprietary

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Would Large Language Models Be Better If They Weren’t So Large? [Ed: Microsoft SPAM carries on in NYTimes; Desperate to hype up chatbots, as Microsoft's share price depends on this lie. Ponzi scheme in the making, now tied to a resurrected old buzzword.]

• Teaching fewer words to large language models might help them sound more human.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ AI Poses ‘Risk of Extinction,’ Industry Leaders Warn [Ed: Straw man]

• Leaders from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic and other A.I. labs warn that future systems could be as deadly as pandemics and nuclear weapons.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ AI in the courtroom: Judges enlist ChatGPT help, critics cite risks [Ed: Microsoft SPAM and misuse; this should be illegal for many reasons]

• An Indian High Court judge used AI chatbot ChatGPT to summarize case law. The use of AI chatbots in the legal system is growing, with proponents praising their potential to streamline processes while critics warn of biases and false results.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Artificial Intelligence may lead humanity to extinction, industry leaders warn [Ed: A distraction from the real harm they already do under the guise of "Hey hi" (AI)]

• Top artificial intelligence (AI) executives including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday joined experts and professors in raising the “risk of extinction from AI”, which they urged policymakers to equate at par with risks posed by pandemics and nuclear war.

Windows TCO

=> ↺ Silicon Angle ☛ How the Mirai botnet continues to threaten business networks

Linux Foundation

=> ↺ Linux Foundation’s Site/Blog ☛ Meet New OpenSSF GM Omkhar Arasaratnam [Ed: The first one was Microsoft (yes, Microsoft back doors!)]

=> ↺ Linux Foundation’s Site/Blog ☛ Meet New OpenSSF GM Omkhar Arasaratnam [Ed: The first one was Microsoft (yes, Microsoft back doors!)]

• Omkhar Arasaratnam is a veteran cybersecurity and technical risk management executive with more than 25 years of experience leading global organizations. Omkhar began his career as a strong supporter of open source software as a PPC64 maintainer for Gentoo and contributor to the Linux kernel, and that enthusiasm for OSS continues today.

Security

Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

=> ↺ WhichUK ☛ ‘Please add me as a friend’: romance scammers are targeting vulnerable people on charity Facebook pages

• Fraudsters lurk on Age UK, Mind and Good Grief Trust posts

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ OpenRightsGroup ☛ Resist Pre-Crime

• Data and content is being weaponised to criminalise people without cause. The police and criminal justice authorities are increasing using tech, data and AI to identify people who they believe are at ‘risk’ of committing crimes. These flawed tactics, which include the Met’s gang matrix, the data mining of social media and the Prevent programme…

=> ↺ Mexico News Daily ☛ Mexico’s human rights agency finds no evidence of state espionage

• The CNDH said their investigation found no evidence of espionage by this government, despite media reports implicating the military.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ YLE ☛ HS: Defence Forces propose raising upper age limit for military reserve

• The Finnish military’s Defence Command has suggested raising the age limit for reservists to 65 from the current level of 60 for officers and 50 for enlisted personnel.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ Chinese and US jets tangle over South China Sea

• A Chinese fighter jet performed ‘an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver’ near an American jet, the U.S. said.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Meetings highlight unstable U.S.-China relationship

• A rare meeting between the U.S. and China’s top commerce officials last week was followed by a failed attempt to get the countries’ defense chiefs together, underscoring the difficulty of getting the two superpowers back on speaking terms.

=> ↺ ADF ☛ As Fighting Spreads in Sudan, Experts Expect Darfur to Play a Central Role

• While Sudan’s conflict between rival military leaders is being fought largely in the streets of Khartoum, experts say the fighting could shift to the Darfur region should the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) drive the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) out of the capital.

=> ↺ ADF ☛ Sudan’s Connections With CAR, Chad Could Cause Conflict to Spread

• With fighting between Sudan’s rival generals showing no signs of abating, experts are paying close attention to the possibility of the conflict spilling over into the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ RSF & Sudanese Army Agreed to a 5-Day Cease Fire Extension

• “…negotiations started on May 6 under the auspices of Saudi Arabia and the United States…”

=> ↺ TwinCities Pioneer Press ☛ North Korea fails on attempt to launch its first spy satellite

• North Korea’s attempt to put the country’s first spy satellite into space has failed. Wednesday’s failed launch is a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to boost his military capabilities. After its unusually quick admission of failure, North Korea vowed to conduct a second launch after learning what went wrong. A satellite launch by North Korea is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Tuesday’s launch prompted brief evacuation alerts in South Korea and Japan. South Korea’s Defense Ministry released photos of a salvaged white, metal cylinder suspected to be part of the crashed North Korean rocket.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ Aiding the Allied war effort, one donut at a time

• Luis Alberto Urrea’s latest novel “Good Night, Irene” honors the Clubmobile Corps, popularly known as the Donut Dollies, who supported the morale of soldiers during World War II.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ Tree of Life synagogue massacre trial begins 4 years after attack

• Robert Bowers went on trial Tuesday in Pittsburgh for an attack that killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. He could face the death penalty if he is convicted of some of the 63 counts he faces.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ Tibetans in western China ordered to vacate land for hydropower dam construction

• The project’s first phase will begin in early June.

=> ↺ Seventy students on trial for Boğaziçi pride participation amid torture allegations

• They face imprisonment for up to three years for ‘resisting the police and opposing demonstration laws’ during the 9th Pride Parade at Boğaziçi University on May 20, 2022.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ At Guantánamo’s Court Like No Other, Progress Is Frustrated by State Secrets

• The U.S. government is still sorting out what’s secret in an Indonesian bombing case more than two decades after the attack.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ Hui Muslims and police clash in China’s Yunnan over mosque dome demolition

• Destruction is part of “sinicization” of religion under Xi

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Unspecified numbers arrested after partial mosque demolition sparks protests in southwest China

• China deployed hundreds of police and made arrests in a mostly Muslim southwestern town after clashes erupted over the planned partial demolition of a mosque, witnesses told AFP.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Rate of Latinos killed by police skyrockets

• The rate of Hispanics killed by law enforcement officers jumped nearly 45% in the last decade, according to newly released data reviewed by Axios.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ Malaysia investigates Chinese ship over looting of British WWII wrecks

• Discovery of relics come amid recent reports of scavengers plundering two British shipwrecks.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ Why the Philippines is deploying navigation buoys in the South China Sea

• The Philippines is asserting its maritime rights more boldly in the face of Chinese action.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ China plans 6-nation drills with Southeast Asian countries

• Analysts say Aman Youyi-2023 will be smaller than similar U.S. exercises.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Tesla chief Elon Musk says wants to expand China business during trip to Beijing

• Elon Musk said Tuesday he was willing to expand his business in China, as he met Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing on his first trip to the country in over three years.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ North Korea can build rockets. Can it build a satellite?

• North Korea says it will attempt to launch a spy satellite sometime before June 11, after warning nearby Japan about potential rocket debris.

=> ↺ The Strategist ☛ Why did South Korea invite Pacific leaders to a summit, and why did they go?

• ‘I’m trying to figure this out,’ said the journalist who had just phoned. ‘Why is South Korea holding a summit with Pacific leaders?’

=> ↺ France24 ☛ North Korea confirms it will launch spy satellite in June

• North Korea has confirmed it will launch a reconnaissance satellite in June, saying it is needed to monitor military movements of the United States and its partners in real time, state media reported Tuesday, citing a senior defence official.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ North Korea botches firing ‘space launch vehicle,’ South Korean military says

• Rocket believed to be carrying spy satellite fell into the Yellow Sea after an ‘abnormal’ flight.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s space satellite crashes into sea; alerts sent then retracted in South Korea, Japan

• The launch prompted brief evacuation warnings in South Korea and Japan, which were then withdrawn.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ North Korea Says Rocket Launch Failed After It Triggers Alerts in South Korea

• The North’s rocket was said to carry a spy satellite, enabling it to watch its enemies more closely. But it said Wednesday that the launch had failed.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Evacuation alerts, sirens cause panic in Seoul after North Korea satellite launch

• A mobile alert called for evacuation, until the city authorities sent another saying it was a false alarm.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ North Korea spy satellite plunges into sea after rocket failure

• A North Korean satellite launch on Wednesday ended in failure, sending the booster and payload plunging into the sea, North Korean state media said, and the South’s military said it had recovered parts of the launch vehicle.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Amnesty confirms Uyghur student ‘did not travel to Hong Kong’ after Korean professor refutes group’s statement

• Human rights group Amnesty International said it had spoken to Uyghur student Abuduwaili Abudureheman, who was recently reported missing after landing at Hong Kong’s airport. Abudureheman told the group he had not entered Hong Kong, a claim that was also disputed by his South Korean professor and the city’s government.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Young South Koreans drive shift in attitudes to Japan as ties thaw

• Young South Koreans’ enthusiasm is fuelling a rebound in demand for Japanese consumer products.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ ‘Kosovo is the heart of Serbia’: Djokovic courts controversy with political message at French Open

• Serbian world No. 3 Novak Djokovic risked stirring up a political controversy at the French Open on Monday, after writing a message about Kosovo on a camera lens following his first-round victory.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ What is Behind the Rising Tensions Between Kosovo and Serbia?

• Clashes in northern Kosovo that injured dozens of ethnic Serbs and NATO soldiers are the latest flare up in a long-running standoff between Kosovo and Serbia.

=> ↺ New Yorker ☛ The Rise of Latino White Supremacy

• At a time of rising racial violence, Latinos are potential perpetrators and potential victims.

=> ↺ Defence Web ☛ TKMS hands over second Meko frigate to the Egyptian Navy

• ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) has handed over the second Meko A200EN frigate ordered by Egypt during a ceremony in Bremerhaven, Germany, with two more to be delivered. During the handover ceremony on 25 May, the Commander in Chief of the Egyptian Navy, Vice Admiral Ashraf Ibrahim Atwa, named the vessel Al-Qahhar, meaning The Irresistible Subduer.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Berlin is working to increase German troop presence in Lithuania – Steinmeier in Vilnius

• Berlin is taking steps to increase the number of German brigade troops in Lithuania, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Vilnius on Tuesday.

War in Ukraine

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Drone Attacks on Moscow

• Also, hard-right Republicans balk at the debt deal. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.

Transparency/Investigative Reporting

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Supreme Court: Most of Anneli Auer case materials to remain sealed

• The nearly two-decade old murder mystery remains one of Finland’s highest-profile legal cases in recent history.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Veteran political reporter criticises ‘secrecy’ in government formation talks

• There have been relatively few leaks during these talks about the policy content agreed by the party negotiators, according to political journalist Unto Hämäläinen.

separate her garden from Black history

Environment

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Summer Heat

• Why the next few months may be hotter than normal.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Tackling plastic pollution: ‘We can’t recycle our way out of this’

• The second meeting on a possible international treaty on plastic pollution takes place this week at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Recycling is often touted as a solution to reducing plastic waste, but recent studies show the process poses its own risks and is no match for soaring plastic production.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Cross-border cooperation between Israel and MENA region is key to addressing climate change

• There are many opportunities to meet climate-related challenges through cooperation, expertise sharing, and the exchange of ideas in MENA.

=> ↺ Torrential rainfall causes flooding, disruption in eastern Turkey

• Severe impact was reported in Karlıova, Bingöl, following heavy rainfall.

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ A Journey Across London on the Elizabeth Line

• The new rail line lets travelers leave the city’s tourist-clogged core and embark on fast, inexpensive journeys to fascinating outer-London destinations, from a bustling market town to a hub of South Asian culture.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ A Plan to Avert a Vast Oil Spill Off Yemen Moves Ahead

• A decaying tanker holds about four times the amount of oil leaked in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. Experts have warned that it is an ecological time bomb that could explode or disintegrate at any moment.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ VR updates long-distance train ticket prices

• The new 25-point scale will mean passengers can get a good deal if they book in advance, but same-day departures during peak times could cost more than the price of a flight along the same route.

=> ↺ Breach Media ☛ Alberta elects ‘unhinged’ right-wing oil lobbyist as premier

• In failing to defeat a ‘serial’ corporate lobbyist, Rachel Notley suffers her ‘Hillary Clinton moment’

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ The I.A.E.A. takes its case for securing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to the U.N. Security Council.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ US firm Plug Power plans billion-euro hydrogen plant investment in Finland

• If the plans go ahead, three hydrogen production plants would be built in Kokkola, Kristinestad and Porvoo, leading to the creation of around 1,000 direct jobs and over 3,000 indirect jobs.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ France to open first electric car battery factory in ‘reindustrialisation’ push

• France will launch its first battery factory for electric cars on Tuesday, taking a big step in its race to build up a sector dominated by China.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ China’s domestically built C919 plane is full of foreign technology [Ed: Europe’s and US domestically built planes full of foreign (made in China) technology, so what's your point?]

• China’s first domestically built passenger jet flew its maiden commercial flight on Sunday (May 28), in what state media celebrated as the first step towards breaking the aircraft manufacturing duopoly of Boeing and Airbus.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ ExxonMobil is preparing to fend off multiple shareholder resolutions related to climate change

• ExxonMobil Corp. will face the heat on climate change at the oil giant’s annual shareholder meetings—scheduled for May 31—with activist investors proposing several carbon emissions resolutions.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Debt Deal Includes a Green Light for a Contentious Pipeline

• Climate activists are livid over a provision in the debt limit agreement that orders federal agencies to issue permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline — and says courts can’t review them.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ How Harmful Are Gas Stove Pollutants, Really?

• Scientists are lugging sophisticated sensors into homes in 10 cities to measure and track the pollution from gas stoves as it drifts from room to room.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ The New Climate Law Is Working. Clean Energy Investments Are Soaring.

• The investment wave has the potential to drive a more rapid and efficient decarbonization of the economy while increasing the supply of clean energy.

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ US company unveils plan to build three green hydrogen plants in Finland

• PLUG POWER, a fuel-cell company headquartered in Latham, New York, on Tuesday unveiled a tentative plan worth an estimated 5.6 billion euros to build three hydrogen plants in Finland – in Kokkola, Kristiinankaupunki and Porvoo.

• The American company is expected to make a final investment decision on the projects in 2025–2026.

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ The Strange Walk of This Extinct Marsupial Giant Was Perfect For Roaming

• Just don’t ask it to run.

=> ↺ Rescued fox cub taken under protection in Dersim

• The young animal will be reintroduced to its natural habitat once it has completed its rehabilitation.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Wildfire Near Halifax, Nova Scotia, Leads to Evacuation of More Than 16,000

• Wildfires in Nova Scotia have heightened the sense of unease as blazes also burn in the west of the country.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Thousands evacuate as wildfires rage in Canada’s Nova Scotia

• Wildfires in Canada’s Atlantic coast province of Nova Scotia have caused thousands to evacuate.

=> ↺ European Commission ☛ Questions and Answers on wildfires: EU response 2023

• European Commission Questions and answers Brussels, 30 May 2023 The fire risk in Europe and the rest of the world is expected to continue increasing due to climate change and this wildfire season will likely be increasingly characterised by massive fires that cost lives and burn areas that take longer to fully recover.

Overpopulation

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Mayotte: Drought and water cuts bring misery to French island

• Systemic problems in infrastructure and the worst drought seen since 1997 have combined to create a dire shortage of running water on the island of Mayotte, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean. Residents currently face having their water shut off from 5pm to 7am three times a week, a situation likely to become even worse when the summer arrives.

=> ↺ Overpopulation ☛ To Advance Humanity and Save Nature We Need a Common Agenda

• Problems caused by rapid population growth, environmental degradation and climate disruption are harming human welfare and the natural world. These problems are largely addressed separately, with little common understanding or integration of efforts.

Finance

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ China’s Young People Can’t Find Jobs. Xi Jinping Says to ‘Eat Bitterness.’

• With youth unemployment at a record, the Communist Party is trying to reset expectations about social mobility by talking up the virtue of hardship.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Debt Ceiling Deal Moves Toward House Vote Despite GOP Revolt

• Despite growing Republican opposition, a key committee voted to move the bill forward to the House floor.

=> ↺ New Yorker ☛ The Debt-Ceiling Deal Could Be a Lot Worse

• If House Republicans were trying to create a draconian new fiscal framework that would dominate American politics for the next decade, they failed to achieve their goal.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Freedom Caucus promises “reckoning” over McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal

• Right-wing furor over the debt ceiling deal reached a boiling point Tuesday, producing the first public threats to Kevin McCarthy’s speakership since he secured the gavel in January’s tortured, 15-ballot election.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ The Turkish lira sank to a record low after Erdogan’s election win

• The Turkish lira slipped to a fresh record low against the US dollar today (May 30), in reaction to the re-election of the country’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday (May 28).

=> ↺ Digital Music News ☛ YouTuber LaTasha Kebe Files for Bankruptcy Following $4 Million Cardi B Defamation Judgement

• YouTuber LaTasha Kebe files for bankruptcy following $4 million Cardi B defamation judgement, saying she has less than $60,000 to her name.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ State Farm has stopped insuring Californian homes because of their “catastrophe exposure”

• State Farm, the largest property insurer in the US, will no longer accept new applications for home insurance in California, citing the risks of apocalyptic wildfires as well as the exorbitant costs of construction.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Debt ceiling deal passes hurdle in the US House, teeing up Wednesday vote

• Legislation brokered by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to lift the $31.4 trillion US debt ceiling and achieve new federal spending cuts passed an important hurdle late on Tuesday, advancing to the full House of Representatives for debate and an expected vote on passage on Wednesday.

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ Over 40% of Finns adjust summer plans due to inflation

• Inflation is having a significant impact on the summer plans of Finnish individuals this year. According to a recent survey conducted by If, a leading insurance company in Finland, more than 40% of Finns stated that inflation has influenced their upcoming summer vacation plans. The primary effect of inflation is a reduction in travel, with many individuals opting for less frequent trips or seeking more affordable alternatives.

=> ↺ Reason ☛ Debt Ceiling Bill ‘Locks in the Inflated Spending Levels of Recent Years’

• Plus: Artificial intelligence and jobs, how government caused a lifeguard shortage, and more…

=> ↺ WhichUK ☛ Revealed: how high street banks have been shortchanging savers for years

• Which? analysis of savings rates highlights the long-term gap between the high street giants and their smaller competitors

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Here’s what’s in, what’s out of the debt limit bill to avert US default

• The details of the deal between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are out. The 99-page bill produced from their agreement Sunday would avoid a federal default while limiting government spending. But the two leaders still have to persuade Congress to pass the bill. Both sides can point to some victories in the package. It includes provisions to fund medical care for veterans, change work requirements for some recipients of government aid and streamline environmental reviews for energy projects. But some conservatives are concerned that the compromise doesn’t cut future deficits enough. And Democrats have been worried about proposed changes to work requirements in programs such as food stamps.

=> ↺ The Strategist ☛ Space-based solar power: renewable energy at an affordable price

• As pressure grows to phase out fossil fuels and meet emissions-reduction targets, Australia is well placed to harness clean, affordable and virtually unlimited space-based solar power.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Why Texas Republicans Are Targeting Renewable Energy

• Why is Texas rejecting renewable energy?

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ Shift in housing trends: Smaller apartments and decrease in homeownership

• A recent study conducted by researchers Mari Vaattovaara and Pekka Vuori sheds light on significant changes in housing construction in the Helsinki metropolitan area and Tampere between 2015 and 2021. The study, titled “Changes in Housing Construction in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and Tampere, 2015-2021,” reveals a surge in the construction of predominantly small rental studios and one-bedroom apartments.

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ Sweet deal for exporters as UK FTA comes into force

• The free trade deal between Australia and the UK has one major exporter buzzing with excitement. Queensland-based agribusiness Capilano – one of the largest suppliers of pure honey in the world – is hopeful of making some inroads under the agreement, which comes into force on Wednesday.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ ‘We know that nobody who voted for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is angry’

• CHP Group Deputy Chairperson Özel said that they will develop and announce their new road map after the evaluation by the president and the supreme board of the party.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Malaysian polls in November saw surge of hate speech on social media: Study

• The study also found Parti Islam SeMalaysia and its president Hadi Awang to be the prime proponents of racial rhetoric.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Turkey’s Election Is a Warning About Trump

• Erdogan’s manifest failures as a leader didn’t stop his re-election.

=> ↺ New Yorker ☛ The Turkish Elections Swung from Hope to Despair

• The corrupt state that President Erdoğan built essentially guaranteed his reëlection.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Erdogan Pushed to Victory in Turkey by Conservative Women

• In winning another term as Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was propelled to victory in part by the fervent support of an often underappreciated constituency — conservative religious women.

=> ↺ Demirtaş hits back at Erdoğan over ‘execution’ slogans during re-election speech

• When the president labeled the Kurdish politician a “terrorist” during his speech, the crowd responded by chanting slogans demanding his execution.

=> ↺ Shots fired at CHP office in İstanbul

• An office of the main opposition party in the Gaziosmanpaşa district was targeted in the attack. The authorities are investigating the incident.

=> ↺ 16th İstanbul Documentary Days starts on June 10

• The documentary screenings and festival events in the 16th edition of the Istanbul Documentary Days will be held in five different venues between June 10 and 15.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Official Warns Iranian Film Industry Over Dissent After Cannes Festival

• The head of the Cinema Organization of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has warned the country’s film industry that dissent will be dealt with harshly after several people from the sector participated in the Cannes Film Festival without obtaining permission from Tehran.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Fight with policy, not ‘morality’: Macron balks at equating French far right to WWII collaborators

• French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday contradicted a remark by his prime minister that the far-right party of Marine Le Pen were the heirs of Nazi-era collaborators, saying they had to be defeated on policy issues, not with such moral arguments.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Central African Republic President calls for constitutional referendum

• President Faustin Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic called for a constitutional referendum Tuesday that would allow him to seek a third term in office. This call was quickly followed by the Central African Republic’s Electoral Body decreeing that a vote on the proposed changes to the constitution would occur on July 30.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Alberta Election Sees Conservatives Keep Power After Hard-Right Turn

• But the United Conservative Party will hold substantially fewer seats in the legislature, in an apparent rebuff of the politics of its outspoken leader.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Germany’s Tenuous Coalition Government Shows Strain

• Tensions in the three-party government have built for months. But the latest sniping is unusually fierce, raising fresh questions of dysfunction.

=> ↺ İstanbul mayor says Turkey’s democracy marred by polarization, unfair elections

• While admitting that he was saddened by the election results, İmamoğlu said “we must acknowledge the existence of unfair circumstances.”

=> ↺ Turkey’s runoff vote ‘marked by unlevel playing field, media bias,’ international observers say

• A joint mission comprising the OSCE and PACE has released its findings based on observations made during the presidential runoff vote in Turkey.

=> ↺ Biden congratulates Erdoğan on re-election in phone call

• The two leaders reportedly discussed the potential selling of F-16 warplanes to Turkey and Sweden’s NATO membership bid.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Lin-Manuel Miranda encourages Hunter College graduates in ‘age of online misinformation’

• “The times and challenges that greet you are greater than those faced by Jonathan [Larson] or myself or anyone in history,” the “Hamilton” producer said.

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong ex-leader urges UK police to investigate cancelled event involving ‘seditious’ sheep books

• A former Hong Kong leader has urged police in the UK to investigate the organisers behind a planned event involving children’s books that were the subject of a sedition trial in the city last year.

=> ↺ Reason ☛ German Police Investigate Roger Waters Over Concert Wardrobe

• Laws against displaying Nazi-esque iconography are well-intended, but they pose a threat to free speech and the principles of a free society.

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Iran Starts Retrial Of Journalist Who Covered Woman’s Death In Morality Police Custody

• A court in Iran on May 30 began the closed-door trial of a female journalist on charges linked to her coverage of a Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, whose death in custody last year sparked months of unrest.

=> ↺ RTÜK investigates six broadcasters over ‘violations’ during election coverage

• The media outlets under investigation “engaged in “hurling insults and launching attacks that belittle our nation” during their broadcasts, according to the media regulatory body.

=> ↺ Former Diyarbakır Bar chair given 7.5 year jail term on ‘terror’ charges

• After his previous conviction was overturned, Fethi Gümüş has been handed the same sentence.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Why Did The Financial Times Kill a #MeToo Scoop on the Observer Columnist Nick Cohen?

• Seven women say that a star columnist groped them or made unwanted sexual advances. But Britain’s news media has a complicated relationship with outing its own.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ National security trial of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai estimated to take 83 days

• Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai is expected to face an 83-day national security trial, a court has heard. The media tycoon did not appear in court on Tuesday.

=> ↺ Turkey denies entry to pro-Navalny journalist for election coverage

• Irina Alleman, who covered the dual elections in Turkey on May 14, was denied entry to the country when she arrived for the runoff vote.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ Detainees released in Hakkari

• Seven people were detained following yesterday’s police raids on houses, including two children.

=> ↺ Over 3,800 people detained in a week for drug-related offenses

• The police seized a substantial quantity of diverse narcotics in a week, according to an official statement.

=> ↺ İstanbul Municipality faces resistance as it demolishes illegal cafes on Bosphorus shoreline

• A municipal official has been injured in an assault during the demolition of a cafe. The municipality has condemned the incident.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ The Oscar goes to … HAL? Why AI is at center of Hollywood strike.

• Striking screenwriters carry placards such as “Alexa will not replace us.” But if some view AI the way Sarah Connor in “The Terminator” did, others are embracing the technology.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Private daycare centre workers’ strike starts on Wednesday

• The labour dispute, chiefly concerning salary issues, will also prompt workers at privately-run elderly care facilities to join the strike.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Survey: Majority in Finland report experiencing various workplace harassment

• Women with minority backgrounds experienced more harassment than other groups last year, according to the Harassment Barometer.

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ Why Camille Dungy can’t separate her garden from Black history

• In “Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden,” readers glean not only gardening tips but observations about history, Black culture, and parenting.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Some Air New Zealand passengers to be weighed before international flights

• The airline said this is “essential to the safe and efficient operation of the aircraft”.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Iranian Retirees Join Workers In Fresh Wave Of Protests Over Pensions, Living Conditions

• A new wave of protests is sweeping across Iran as retirees and workers demonstrate against harsh living conditions and skyrocketing inflation in the country, which has been hit hard by international sanctions over the government’s nuclear program and its suppression of human rights.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Hints of economic slow-down in Lithuania rekindles debate on migrant labour

• After a year and a half of rising prices, Lithuania is reporting a tiny deflation in May. In addition to giving a reprieve from last year’s double-digit inflation, this, says an adviser to the prime minister, could be a harbinger of a coming recession and the country should prepare for rising unemployment.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Uganda’s president signs into law anti-gay legislation with death penalty in some cases

• Uganda’s president has signed into law new anti-gay legislation supported by many in the East African country but widely condemned by rights activists and others abroad. The version of the bill signed by President Yoweri Museveni doesn’t criminalize those who identify as LGBTQ, a key concern for rights campaigners, who condemned an earlier draft of the legislation as an egregious attack on human rights. However, the new law still prescribes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people.

=> ↺ Quartz ☛ The US is reviewing nearly $1 billion of aid towards Uganda over its anti-LGBT law

• The US has harshly criticized Uganda over its recent legislation known as the Anti-Homosexuality Act.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Senegal’s main opposition leader says he is ‘illegally held,’ urges protest

• Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko alleged on Tuesday he was being “illegally held” by security forces and urged the public to protest.

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ MPs set to vote on setting up voice referendum

• Australians will soon be another step closer to having their say on an Indigenous voice to federal parliament, as lower house MPs prepare to vote on the referendum’s final form.

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ China’s subsea-cable power in the Middle East and North Africa

• Dale Aluf analyzes China’s campaign to make countries in the region more dependent on Chinese networks, while reducing its own dependence on foreign cables. China’s growing presence in the Middle East and North Africa’s cable industry is significant because Beijing has the power to shape the route of global internet traffic by determining when, where, and how to build cables.

Monopolies

Patents

=> ↺ JUVE ☛ From seed to tree: A timeline of the UPC [Ed: Thus publisher is taking a lot of bribes from Team UPC to lie about the UPC and promote it despite it being illegal. We no longer have legitimate press in this domain.]

=> ↺ Unified Patents ☛ Traxcell navigation patent reexam granted

• On May 22, 2023, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 10,820,147, owned and asserted by Traxcell Technologies, LLC, an NPE. The ‘147 patent is generally directed to providing navigation information to a wireless mobile communications device while also allowing the user to set preference flags to prevent tracking of the wireless mobile communications device.

=> ↺ On the way to a paperless patent granting process [Ed: This is illegal. EPO staff already pointed out that this is in violation of the EPC. The EPO isn't just lawless. It commits crimes with impunity and laughs at the law.]

• How we are transforming the way we interact with our users.

Software Patents

=> ↺ Unified Patents ☛ Velos Media video codec patent challenged in reexam

• On May 26, 2023, Unified Patents filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 10,390,013, owned by Velos Media, an NPE. The ’013 patent generally relates to encoding syntax elements that indicate tile information into a slice header.

• Unified is represented by in-house counsel Ellyar Barazesh and Jessica L.A. Marks.

=> ↺ Unified Patents ☛ Datanet file backup patent reexam granted

• On May 24, 2023, just under two months after Unified filed an ex parte reexamination, the Central Reexamination Unit (CRU) granted Unified’s request, finding substantial new questions of patentability on the challenged claims of U.S. Patent 8,473,478, owned and asserted by Datanet, LLC.

Trademarks

=> ↺ TTAB Blog ☛ Precedential No. 16: TTAB Finds Guitar Shape for Hotel to be Inherently Distinctive

• The Board reversed a refusal to register “trade dress consisting of a three-dimensional building in the shape of a guitar” (shown below), for “casinos” and “hotel, restaurant and bar services,” finding the proposed mark to be inherently distinctive. The examining attorney had accepted the Seminole Tribe’s alternative claim of acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f), but the Tribe chose to pursue its claim that the building shape is an inherently distinctive source indicator. In re Seminole Tribe of Florida, Serial No. 87890892 (May 25, 2023) [precedential] (Opinion by Judge Melanye K. Johnson).

Copyrights

=> ↺ Digital Music News ☛ UK Government Green-Lights Streaming Compensation ‘Working Group’: ‘A Welcome Step Towards Addressing the Frustrations of Musicians’

• Following a lengthy investigation into the economics of music streaming, the UK government has officially “agreed to establish an industry working group” designed “to explore issues around fair pay for creators in the music streaming industry.”

=> ↺ Digital Music News ☛ Singaporean Singer Stefanie Sun’s Career Hijacked By AI — “My AI Persona Is the Current Hot Property”

• Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun’s voice has taken off in China. The only problem is the songs are AI-generated fakes.  The release of her debut album Yan Zi in 2000 helped Sun become a household name in China and Hong Kong.

Gemini* and Gopher

Personal

=> ↺ 🔤SpellBinding: CGIRNPK Wordo: HEADS

=> ↺ Alliterations

• I’ll have an Espresso, please! And make it exquisite. Lots of foam. Only the best quality barista will do today. I need a real “pulling” to get through this lovely fucked-up morning.

• Let my Lady go this weekend. To a gentle dude from the southwest. A working man. A typical young Swede with one eye closed and one eye exposed (fully, to a slick utopian future that doesn’t really exist, other than in a Philip K. Dick dystopian mist). In his early 40s. Enthusiastic. Big eyed. Curious. It was his first ride on a Harley, his first stride into a larger world – trying to get ahead of Charlie and the good old Brits. He was amazed by her scintillating wits, her good grace, her soft roar, the big angry boar I’d tatooed on her back. The smile on his face said it all. The rare mood. No need to get into a bare(-knuckle) brawl, about cash, hash or what have you, when the deal was made. A handshake, a contract under seal, some coffee and cake… then they left.

Technical

Internet/Gemini

=> ↺ Only A Fool

• I have Things To Say about the Gemini protocol and spec, but like others I have decided to rate limit my posts about Gemini.

• There’s time.

• To switch metaphors: we’re all in the same boat, but let’s not spend too much time talking about the boat.

=> ↺ Remy’s tinylog

• I use a string of tools on the server to post tinylogs by email: - getmail to download the email - ripmime to extract mime parts for the email, I get one file per part - imagemagick to rotate the images - exiftool to remove the exif data

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