● 06.04.23

The Bluefish text editor just got a new bug-fix release today! It’s Bluefish 2.2.14, that fixed crashes when deleting backup files on close, when closing some of the dialogs in flatpak app, and when the CSS language file was loaded on a 32-bit system.

=> ↺ Oh My Posh a beatifull prompt for your shell

Oh My Posh is a custom prompt engine for any shell that has the ability to adjust the prompt string with a function or variable. It’s beautiful, elegant and intuitive; if you use git from the command line it will be great for you, it has several predefined themes that allow you to customize your prompt in a matter of seconds, it is also possible to create your own theme, it is compatible with BASH, PowerShell, CMD, Fish, Zsh and nushell is developed in golang and can be installed on GNU/Linux, MacOS, Windows and Termux (Android).

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ Grab Your Favorite Software From Yesteryear

Most Linux users (PCLinuxOS users included) got their start with computers using a commercially available OS. Exceptionally few actually started with Linux.

Along the way, we all encountered software that we came to love. Much of that software was designed to run on Microsoft Windows, the commercially available OS that held/holds the lion’s share of the OS market.

However, as I’m sure we’re all aware, Linux is NOT Windows, and in MANY aspects, we Linux users are thankful for that. But, it also means that it’s typically not a trivial task to hang on to and use those software titles that we came to love along our journey, if we can even get them to run at all.

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ NovelWriter: Help Writing Your Next Bestseller

According to Synaptic, NovelWriter is “a markdown-like editor for novels”. Well, what does this mean?

As the name implies, it’s a program intended for writing novels. It has several features to help with that, including an adaption to the markdown syntax to help with getting an overview of the novel. On my computer (a reasonably old one), this application launches instantly and is very responsive.

When we open NovelWriter we are immediately greeted by an “open project” window. It lists the projects we’re busy with, which can be opened by double-clicking. There are several other options at the bottom to create a new project, remove a project, and to change the current path.

I chose to create a new project. It asks me several questions about the project and finally asks me whether I would like to have it fill the project. I chose the option which results in an example project.

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ Repo Review: Puddletag

If your digital music collection is similar to mine, the music files are haphazardly tagged with various degrees of completeness. Some files may lack informative names and cover art; others may have misspelled track titles or incorrect genres. To better organize your collection, specialized audio tag editors allow you to add and/or edit metadata. Metadata lets information about the audio file — such as Title, Artist, Composer, Album, Genre, Year — be stored in the audio file itself. (These core tags are popularly known as ID3 tags).

Puddletag is a simple yet powerful, Qt-based music tag editor that uses Python 3 and PyQt5 (for the GUI). Under the hood, the application uses Mutagen, a Python module which handles audio metadata. Puddletag is an alternative to EasyTag, the oldest and perhaps most commonly used tag editor.

Puddletag is a mature project with a fourteen-year track record. It was first released in July 2008. The original developer, known by the Internet moniker concentricpuddle, is now assisted by a group of developers which includes Sandro Tosi (a computer scientist from Italy) and Corubba (Germany). The program has been translated into French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Czech, Swedish and Russian. The version in the official PCLinuxOS repository is 1.2.0 (released in November 2016).

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ Repo Review: Thorium Reader

Thorium Reader is a free Electron-based ebook reader designed with accessibility and ease of use in mind. With support for both EPUB 2 and EPUB 3, PDF, DAISY, LCP DRM, and numerous other ebook as well as audiobook formats, Thorium Reader should be able to open most books without a problem.

Thorium Reader provides a very uncluttered interface, making it quick and easy to navigate. The application is divided into three tabs allowing access to the main books page, OPDS catalogs, and the application settings. From the My Books page, you can open and manage all your ebooks, which can easily be imported into Thorium Reader by simply dragging and dropping them into the application. Books are automatically sorted into separate categories for those that were recently added, and those that you’ve already started reading. You can also add custom tags to books in order to help organize them better. A search bar is also provided to make finding books easier.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ Make Use Of ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] How to Create and Manage Multiple Split Windows in Vim

=> ↺ Linux Made Simple ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] How to install the MEGA Desktop App on MX Linux 21.3

=> ↺ Linux Made Simple ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] How to install Intellij Idea Ultimate on MX Linux 21.3

=> ↺ Linux Made Simple ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] How to install PhpStorm on MX Linux 21.3

=> ↺ Linux Made Simple ☛ 2023-05-29 [Older] How to install Obsidian on MX Linux 21.3

=> ↺ Linux Made Simple ☛ 2023-05-28 [Older] How to install FreeCAD on MX Linux 21.3

=> ↺ HowTo Geek ☛ Static IP vs. Dynamic IP: What Is the Difference?

Dynamic IP addresses are set automatically, but liable to change each time your computer boots up. Static IP addresses need manual configuration, but always survive reboots. Is one better than the other?

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ Getting Started With LibreOffice Writer

This tutorial is about LibreOffice Writer (from now on referred to as simply Writer). If you follow along you will learn quite a lot about how to get stuff done with this amazingly complex program, which is capable of more than you might think.

Now, there are some situations in which you probably do not want to use Writer, like when you have loads of “objects” in a big document. Everything other than text is an object. If you want to work on a document, which you’ll expect to become large and it is expected to have a lot of these objects, you’re better off working with another solution, such as LaTeX. It’s specifically designed for such situations (and is a whole other subject of its own).

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ Inkscape Tutorial: Create A Celtic Knot

As I’m looking on YouTube for interesting things to do with Inkscape, I found one from IronEchoDesign on how to make a Celtic Knot. It’s fairly easy and very fun!

In this tutorial, we’re going to use the Path Effect called Knot.

=> ↺ Barry Kauler ☛ Access encrypted folders on mounted ext4 partitions

With ext4 fscrypt v1, it was easier. Running Easy 5.3., with encrypted folders, if you plugin Easy 5.3. on a USB-stick, if the bootup password is the same on the USB-stick, then the encrypted folders on the USB-stick are accessible.

Not so with fscrypt v2. The decryption password has to be applied to each filesystem.

To fix this, I have modified /usr/local/bin/drive_all. This script runs when you click on a partition icon on the desktop. The script now detects that the mounted partition may have encrypted folders, and pops up this window:

So, as long as you know what password you used to boot that USB-stick, you can decrypt any encrypted folders. Fscrypt v2 only.

I can see where this might be handy. Maybe the USB-stick won’t boot, so now you can copy any files off it. As long as it is not broken so much that the working-partition can’t be mounted.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How to Redirect URL on Nginx

Redirecting URLs is a common practice in web development to ensure users are directed to the correct page or location. NGINX, a popular web server, provides powerful tools for URL redirection. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the concept of URL redirection, learn how to configure URL redirects in NGINX and discuss advanced techniques,

=> ↺ Install Windows 11 as KVM Guest in Fedora 38 WKS using virt-manager

=> ↺ How to map SAN LUN, Disk and FileSystem in Linux

For some requirements, you may need to find a block device mapped against a logical unit number (LUNs) and filesystem (FS) for FS expansion or disaster recovery (DR) activity.

=> ↺ Kubernetes in Action: Establishing a Powerful Cluster

What is Kubernetes and Why is it Important in Modern Computing? Kubernetes is a powerful open-source container orchestration system that automates deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.

=> ↺ The Art of Concealment: Managing Secrets in Docker Swarm

Modern software development is all about scalability, agility and speed. This is why developers are increasingly turning to container orchestration platforms like Docker Swarm. Docker Swarm provides a native clustering and scheduling solution for Docker containers.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install VLC Media Player on Rocky Linux 9

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install VLC Media Player on Rocky Linux 9. For those of you who didn’t know, VLC is a popular open-source media player that can handle virtually any type of media file you throw at it, including DVDs, CDs, and streaming media.

=> ↺ Building a Strong Foundation: Setting up a Docker Swarm Cluster

Docker Swarm is a widely used container orchestration tool that simplifies the deployment, management, and scaling of containerized applications. It allows developers to easily manage multiple Docker containers across distributed infrastructure. With Docker Swarm, you can create a cluster of Docker nodes that work together as a single virtual system.

=> ↺ Synchronized Success: Running Applications with Docker Compose

However, deploying and managing these applications can be a challenge. This is where Docker Compose comes in handy.

=> ↺ 9to5Linux ☛ How to Enable Wayland for Hybrid NVIDIA Graphics on Fedora Linux 38 Workstation

I was a happy Wayland user for a long time now, even if I have a hybrid NVIDIA graphics system. I usually like to use the internal AMD graphics when I don’t play games for better battery life, so Wayland is my default session. I like to use Wayland because there are a few advantages over X11, such as pinch-to-zoom in Firefox.

As you may know, my main machine is a hybrid NVIDIA graphics laptop with an AMD Ryzen CPU and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU. Recently, I discovered that I am not using Wayland anymore as my system falls back to X11 even if I am using the integrated AMD GPU.

Distributions and Operating Systems

New Releases

=> ↺ Solidifying the direction | Serpent OS

It’s been quite a while since our last post, and a great many questions emerged as a result of our announced cooperation with the Solus project. This post will clarify a few points, including our technical approach to solving problems as well as the relationship between the two projects going forwards.

BSD

=> ↺ TrueNAS ☛ TrueNAS 13.0-U5 Maximizes Quality and your Storage Experience – TrueNAS – Welcome to the Open Storage Era

Building on the Enterprise maturity of prior versions, TrueNAS 13.0-U5 is released. The previous version, TrueNAS 13.0-U4, proved to be the highest quality release in TrueNAS history and has become the most widely-deployed version of TrueNAS. This new release includes roughly 60 new bug fixes including improvements to NFS, SMB, and replication. For Enterprise users, a specific fix corrects an incorrect alert in earlier generation NVDIMMs.

TrueNAS 13.0 includes significant new components and delivers improved performance, scalability, and reliability when compared to the previous major version, TrueNAS 12.0. To date, over 75% of TrueNAS 12.0 users have updated to TrueNAS 13.0, including many of our larger enterprise customers. In particular, the increased speed and robustness of HA failover is extremely valuable for most Enterprise use-cases. Version 12.0 is no longer available for TrueNAS Enterprise, and is no longer recommended for deployment.

One strong quality indicator of TrueNAS 13.0 is that there are fewer than 10 bug fixes and improvements currently planned for 13.0-U6. We recommend that all TrueNAS 12.0 and TrueNAS 11.3 users update their systems to TrueNAS 13.0 before attempting to resolve any software or performance issues.

PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandriva/OpenMandriva Family

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ From The Chief Editor’s Desk…

So, please don’t be like all these idjits out there, on their phones while operating a motor vehicle. Put your phone down, and “arrive alive.” Your life and the lives of those around you depend on it. Most of all, we don’t want to lose any PCLinuxOS users because they were on their phones while operating a motor vehicle. We’d also hate to see any PCLinuxOS users cause the demise of innocent bystanders because they were on their phones while operating a motor vehicle.

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ PCLinuxOS Screenshot Showcase

SUSE/OpenSUSE

=> ↺ The New Stack ☛ My Further Adventures (and More Success) with Rancher

When last we met, I offered my first-run experience with the SUSE Rancher Kubernetes distribution, which did not go well.

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ Slashdot ☛ Red Hat is Dropping Its Support for LibreOffice – Slashdot

The Red Hat Package Managers for LibreOffice “have recently been orphaned,” according to a post by Red Hat manager Matthias Clasen on the “LibreOffice packages” mailing list, “and I thought it would be good to explain the reasons behind this.”

=> ↺ Red Hat Official ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Red Hat Satellite 6.13.1 has been released

=> ↺ Red Hat Official ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Unlocking the potential of edge computing: Mastering observability at scale

Debian Family

=> ↺ Armbian 23.05 Suni

The Armbian project is nearing its 10-year anniversary, and we’re excited to announce that our upcoming release Armbian 23.05, codename “Suni”, will be the biggest one yet! It’s a significant milestone as it marks the first release based on our completely refactored build framework! The new framework has been in development for around 3 years, during which we combined our decades long experience with Linux and embedded systems with the latest technologies that have emerged in recent years. We’ve taken all that knowledge and expertise to create something truly exceptional for our users and Linux community at large.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ Intel Arc GPUs Working Out-of-the-Box on Ubuntu 23.04

Ten months after Intel released their first line of dedicated GPUs, out-of-the-box support with Linux has arrived with the release of Ubuntu 23.04.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Raspberry Pi Powers Beer Pong Winning Robot

Niklas Bommersbach is using a Raspberry Pi to power his beer pong-playing robot alongside an Arduino.

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Raspberry Pi Projects: June 2023

These are the best Raspberry Pi projects we’ve had the honor of covering over the last month.

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Raspberry Pi Camera Uses Sound to Create Photos with AI

Diego Trujillo Pisanty is using a Raspberry Pi to power this blind camera that has no lens and relies on sound to generate an approximation of its surroundings for photos.

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Is MINIX Dead? And Does It Matter? | Hackaday

Is MINIX dead? OSnews is sounding its death-knell, citing evidence from the operating system’s git log that its last updates happened as long ago as 2018. Given that the last news story on the MINIX website is from 2016 and the last release version, 3.3, came out in 2014, it appears they they may have a point. But perhaps it’s more appropriate to ask not whether or not MINIX is dead, but whether indeed it matters that the venerable OS appears no longer in development. It started as an example to teach OS theory before becoming popular in an era when there were no other inexpensive UNIX-like operating systems for 16-bit microcomputers, but given that its successors such as Linux-based operating systems have taken its torch and raced ahead, perhaps its day has passed.

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ Builder: The Open-source CMS View Builder for Your Next Project

Drag and drop headless CMS for React, Vue, Svelte, Qwik, and more

=> ↺ Medevel ☛ Docspell Is An Open-source Document Management System (DMS) For Individuals and Enterprises

Docspell is a personal document organizer. Or sometimes called a “Document Management System” (DMS). You’ll need a scanner to convert your papers into files. Docspell can then assist in organizing the resulting mess 😉. It can unify your files from scanners, emails and other sources. It is targeted for home use,

GNU Projects

=> ↺ GNU ☛ unifont @ Savannah: Unifont 15.0.05 Released

3 June 2023 Unifont 15.0.05 is now available. This is a minor release, but significantly is planned to be the last release to include TrueType files in its default build. This release also includes a new Hangul Syllables block contributed by Minseo Lee, with his modifications to three combining patterns in the johab2ucs2 Perl script. This release also includes a few changes to Chinese ideographs. Details are in the ChangeLog file. https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/unifont/unifont-15.0.05/ https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/unifont/unifont-15.0.05/ ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/unifont/unifont-15.0.05/ https://unifoundry.com/pub/unifont/unifont-15.0.05/ https://unifoundry.com/pub/unifont/unifont-15.0.05/font-builds/ https://unifoundry.com/unifont/unifont-utilities.html Enjoy! Paul Hardy

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Rlang ☛ Simulating confounders, colliders and mediators by @ellis2013nz

Motivation and key points

So this tweet came across my feed.

=> ↺ Ben Hutchings: FOSS activity in May 2023

Perl / Raku

=> ↺ Perl ☛ 2023-06-03 [Older] Perl Toolchain Summit 2023 in Lyon

=> ↺ Perl ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] Perl Weekly Challenge 218: Maximum Product and Matrix Score

=> ↺ Perl ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] Perl Weekly Challenge 219: Sorted Squares

Standards/Consortia

=> ↺ James G ☛ Creating an index for my personal website using NLP

At Homebrew Website Club this week, we discussed book indexes (with the Chicago Manual of Style nearby as a reference, of course!). This got me thinking about what a web index may look like for a blog: a page formatted like a book index where you can see articles that mention unique concepts on your blog. Book indexes are useful tools for navigating information. Given a concept, the index tells you where to find out more. I was curious about what this may look like for a blog.

=> ↺ Updated my blog! Also news of Revontuli colorscheme

Note: Old links to my site do not work anymore, due to change in the URL layout!!

Blog update

I have finally updated my blog look and feel. In fact, I completely switched my static site generator from Jekyll to Zola!

I used Jekyll at first due to it being the one that Github Pages used. It was clunky but once set up it just did the job.

But the reason why I changed to Zola was not Jekyll itself, it was the mess of setting up Ruby on my home PC.

I tried Ruby Version Manager, using Ruby from DNF packages, changing paths, but there was always some package that kept failing. All I wanted to do is test my site before I push it to server. I couldn’t test on my own PC. Yes, I had to test on production!

And I didn’t want to set a virtual machine or docker or whatever for a dang static site generator. That is just silly!

So instead I went with Zola since my friend told me about it. Zola is just a single binary that you run and it does the magic for you, which is all I wanted.

Leftovers

Science

=> ↺ The Atlantic ☛ The Invention of Objectivity

The view from nowhere came from somewhere.

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ Everything, including black holes, will eventually evaporate: Study

Researchers found, Black holes will eventually evaporate due to Hawking radiation, but the event horizon is not as important as previously thought.

New theoretical research from Radboud University’s Michael Wondrak, Walter van Suijlekom, and Heino Falcke has shown that Stephen Hawking was partially correct about black holes.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Discovery of More Than 50 Tweezers Reveals Ancient Roman Obsession With Hair Removal

A little pluck here, a little pluck there.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ A Strange Thing Happens When You Read Around Background Noise

Your brain is amazing.

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Blue Balls Can Affect Anyone, But 1 Group Faces More Sexual Pressure Because Of It

This isn’t OK.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Reason ☛ Incentives Increase Vaccine Uptake After All

A new review suggests modest incentives appear to have positive effects on vaccine uptake.

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ Grief may increase risk of heart problems: Study

Losing loved ones may have a significant impact on both psychological and physical health. The University of Arizona researched the influence of grief on heart function and discovered that intense grieving might induce a significant increase in blood pressure. According to the data, grieving may be a risk factor for cardiac events.

The study, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, demonstrates an association between grief severity and elevated systolic blood pressure response.

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ Cutting boards can produce microparticles when chopping veggies: Study

Cutting boards are useful kitchen utensils that may be found in most homes and restaurants. However, a small-scale research published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology by the American Chemical Society reveals that they are an overlooked source of micrometer-sized particles. According to the researchers, cutting carrots on wood and plastic boards can generate tens of millions of microparticles every year.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ In Sierra Leone, Reasons for Hope

Fewer children are starving, fewer moms are dying and terrible diseases are retreating.

=> ↺ Helsinki Times ☛ Increased anxiety and persistent bullying among 8th and 9th graders after COVID-19, according to THL survey

The latest data from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) reveals that anxiety and experiences of bullying among 8th and 9th graders in middle school have increased. The percentage of students reporting moderate to severe anxiety in the spring 2023 survey is even higher than during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. In particular, girls have experienced a significant rise in anxiety compared to previous years.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Explainer: Is it legal for people in Hong Kong to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown?

unday’s anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown is the first since Hong Kong lifted Covid-19 social distancing restrictions. In recent years, the authorities cited anti-epidemic measures as the reason to ban the annual candlelight commemoration in Victoria Park.

Proprietary

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ AI Regulation: Too Little, Too Late?

A “new genie” has escaped the bottle. A new prince occupies the castle. Elvis has left the building. The barn door has been bolted after the cows and horses have left.

No matter how you frame it, talks about “regulating” (read that legislation) the new, emerging and proliferating artificial intelligence (AI) technology might just be too little, too late.

I’ll talk mostly about efforts in the U.S. to “regulate” the explosion of AI across the computing landscape, simply because this is where I am, and where the information I’m exposed to is most focused. But, we’ll also talk a bit about the E.U., since they offer the best head-to-head comparison with U.S. efforts.

But first, we need to look at a bit of recent history.

Security

=> ↺ Critical LibreOffice Code Execution Vuln Fixed

An Improper Validation of Array Index vulnerability (CVE-2023-0950) was discovered in the spreadsheet component of The Document Foundation LibreOffice 7.4 versions prior to 7.4.6 and 7.5 versions prior to 7.5.1. With a low attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction required to exploit, and a high confidentiality, integrity and availability impact, this bug has received a National Vulnerability Database (NVD) severity rating of ”Critical”.

=> ↺ The Conversation ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Car thieves are using increasingly sophisticated methods, and most new vehicles are vulnerable

=> ↺ PCLinuxOS Magazine ☛ ICYMI: Five Things Scammers Hope You “Google”

Your email address may actually be hurting your chances for landing that new job, according to an article on Lifehacker. Believe it or not (or like it or not), gmail.com email addresses are generally viewed as “neutral.” Addresses from aol.com or yahoo.com may elicit concerns about your age. And email addresses like “ladysman@someemail.com” or “satansoffspring@anotheremail.com” or “darthvaderfan@sith.net” may be torpedoing your job chances before you ever get out of port, so to speak.

The U.S., Europe and Ukraine are reportedly targets in this malware threat involving Cisco routers, according to an article on TechRepublic. State–sponsored Russian threat actor APT28 targets certain Cisco routers with an old vulnerability. I’ll wait patiently to see a show of hands of everyone who has ever/never applied patches to their router. [chirp-chirp] [chirp-chirp] [chirp-chirp] sing the crickets. Yeah … me neither. Routers (and other hardware) can be “borked” or “bricked” too easily while applying patches, and cost too much to replace (if they do end up borked/bricked). Thus, the vast majority of users never do apply patches to hardware, despite the presence of a valid and verified threat vector. Fortunately (unfortunately?) these particular Cisco routers (they never say in the article exactly which routers are affected) appear to be “commercial” routers. But then again, you can never know for sure which consumer-level Cisco routers use a command or SNMP protocol (the attack vector) that has been (or may have been) “inherited” from the commercial side of their business.

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ EU data protection body launches investigation against coast guard agency

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) suggested on Thursday that Frontex (European Coast Guard Agency) is violating rights and data protection laws by not handling migrant data correctly when processing debriefing interviews before handing the data to Europol (EU’s police agency).

=> ↺ Engadget ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Google Wallet will let you add passes by taking a photo

=> ↺ CBC ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Amazon ordered to pay more than $30M for privacy violations related to Alexa, Ring devices

=> ↺ CNET ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Amazon to Pay $30M for Ring and Alexa Privacy Violations: Tips for Protecting Your Smart Home Data – CNET

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Amazon Settles FTC’s Ring and Alexa Privacy Lawsuits for $31 Million

=> ↺ RIPE ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Amazon Doesn’t Care How You Heat Swimming Pools: ICT and Ecosocialism

=> ↺ Engadget ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Amazon settles lawsuit with FTC over Ring doorbell privacy concerns

=> ↺ Engadget ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Amazon will pay $25 million to settle FTC lawsuit over Alexa privacy for kids

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Amazon’s Ring Used to Spy on Customers, FTC Says in Privacy Settlement

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] These Celebrity Voices Are Disappearing From Amazon’s Alexa

=> ↺ CNET ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] Amazon’s Alexa Will No Longer Sound Like Shaquille O’Neal – CNET [Ed: Way to the distract from the upcoming fines one day before it goes public?]

=> ↺ Engadget ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] Amazon ditches Alexa’s celebrity voices and will issue refunds upon request

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Judge Dismisses Washington, DC, Privacy Lawsuit Against Facebook Owner Meta

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Facebook Accuses FTC of Power Grab Over Proposed Changes to $5 Billion Privacy Settlement

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] California Assembly Calls Meta’s Bluff on Journalism Preservation Act

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Thousands Protest In Serbia, Accusing Government Of Fostering Violence

Tens of thousands of people gathered in the center of the Serbian capital, Belgrade, on June 3 for the fifth anti-government protest in recent weeks.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ 3 Israeli Soldiers Killed in Gunfire on Israel-Egypt Border

“…the perpetrator has been identified as an Egyptian law enforcement officer…”

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Florida federal court sentences man for assassination of Haiti president

Rodolfe Jaar was sentenced to life in prison Friday by Judge Jose Martinez of the Southern District of Florida for his role in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise. In Jaar’s March plea agreement, he admitted to “knowingly and willfully” providing weapons and personnel in furtherance of the plot.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ US sanctions Sudan warring factions and suspends negotiated ceasefire

The White House announced sanctions against Sudanese companies Thursday in an attempt to “hold the [fighting] parties accountable and to deny them the resources, funds, and weapons that have enabled them to perpetuate this horrific conflict.”

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Turkey To Send Reinforcements For NATO Force In Kosovo

Turkey will send a battalion as reinforcements for the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR in Kosovo, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on June 3.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ North Korea slams UN meeting on satellite launch, US demand

North Korea will never acknowledge UN sanctions resolutions, said Ms Kim Yo Jong.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ U.S. Warns China on Nuclear Rivalry and Vows to Keep Patrolling Region

Speeches by two top officials illustrated the depth of concern over the rift between the nations. China called it provocation.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Death toll from Senegal protests rises to 15 as opposition supporters clash with police

Senegal’s government says the number of people killed in clashes between police and supporters of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has now risen to 15, including two security officers. While Dakar was calmer on Saturday, clashes continued into the evening as protesters threw rocks at police, who responded with tear gas. Sonko was convicted Thursday of corrupting youth but acquitted on charges of rape and issuing threats. Senegalese are blaming the government for the violence and the loss of lives. Sonko is the main rival to President Macky Sall and is popular with the country’s youth. His supporters maintain his legal troubles are part of a government effort to derail his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ In Other News: Government Use of Spyware, New Industrial Security Tools, Japan Router Hack

Cybersecurity news that you may have missed this week: the spyware used by various governments, new vulnerabilities, industrial security products, and Linux router attacks.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ 3 Israeli Soldiers Killed in Rare Attack on Egyptian Border

The suspect was identified by the Israeli and Egyptian authorities as an Egyptian security officer. The deadly event may be connected to a thwarted drug smuggling attempt, the Israelis said.

=> ↺ HRW ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Saudi Arabia Executes Two Shi’a Bahrainis on Terrorism Charges

=> ↺ International Business Times ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Saudi Arabia is best positioned to be the ‘peace maker’ in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Italy Ends Yemen-Linked Embargo on Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia

=> ↺ Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2023-06-04 [Older] Indonesian Media Perception of China After Brokering Saudi-Iran Peaceful Restoration

=> ↺ Counter Punch ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Letters From Saudi: Lawrence in Cairo’s Shadows

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-04 [Older] Senegal protests: More clashes erupt as death toll rises

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-04 China seeks military talks with US amid warnings

War in Ukraine

=> ↺ LRT ☛ What happened to Lithuania’s claim to be the geographical centre of Europe?

Lithuania used to boast that it lies at the geographical centre of Europe and even built a park around the spot as part of its campaign to “rejoin Europe” in the 2000s. The park has been somewhat neglected in the following decades but is now up for a facelift.

=> ↺ The Atlantic ☛ A New Cold War Could Be Much Worse Than the One We Remember

China is a more formidable adversary than the Soviet Union ever was, and the world is less divisible.

=> ↺ The Local SE ☛ 2023-06-03 [Older] Sweden greenlights anti-Nato protest despite Turkey warning

=> ↺ ANF News ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] NATO Secretary General says he will visit Turkey soon

=> ↺ The Local SE ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] US urges Turkey and Hungary to ratify Sweden’s Nato membership

=> ↺ Modern Diplomacy ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] Newsweek: “Putin scores a win in Turkey’s election”

Environment

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ India’s Train Collision Death Toll Rises to 288

“…injured passengers have been transported to medical facilities…”

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ Getting stuck in the middle of a stroad

Stroad is a deliberately-ugly portmanteau given by Strong Towns to thoroughfares that fail at being streets and roads. Roads are high-speed connections, and streets are complex environments with driveways and pedestrians. Trying to be both, they argue, makes stroads ineffective, expensive, ugly, and dangerous. And they have the data to prove it.

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ Science and art: Benx Wors casts a dichroic cube

Australian artist and video creator Ben from Bens Worx has been hitting it for six lately with all his projects, but this latest episode might be among his most impressive and beautiful works yet.

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-03 India: More than 280 dead in massive train crash

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-03 India: Over 280 dead in massive train crash

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-03 [Older] India’s Modi: ‘No stone unturned’ in train crash probe

Wildlife/Nature

=> ↺ The Atlantic ☛ Dark Extinctions Are Popping Up Everywhere

Scientists keep discovering species in museum collections long after they’ve died out. What else have we missed?

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Did Dinosaurs ‘See Through’ Each Other’s Eyes? New Research Provides Insight

If only I could see what you’ve seen with your eyes.

=> ↺ The Conversation ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Speaking up for the annoying fruit fly

Finance

=> ↺ The Conversation ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Are rich people more intelligent? Here’s what the science says

=> ↺ The Conversation ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] Automation risks creating a two-tier workforce of haves and have-nots

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ 81 Nations to be Present at Erdoğan’s Inauguration Ceremony

Erdoğan is set to undertake the oath ceremony at the Grand National Assembly

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Erdogan sworn in as he begins third term as Turkey’s president

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on Saturday sworn in for a third term as president, promising to serve “impartially” after winning a historic runoff election to extend his two-decade rule.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Canada NGOs request federal court block former Israel PM’s visit

Canadian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) submitted a court application, known as a mandamus, in federal court Friday urging Canadian Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino to deny former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett entry into Canada.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ New York exhibit keeps dream of a democratic China alive – across the generations

June 4 Memorial Hall aims to preserve memories erased by Communist Party propaganda

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ Erdoğan Takes Oath as Türkiye’s President

“For the next five years, we will continue to work heartily to realize our vision of the Century of Türkiye”

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Iran Says To Form Naval Alliance With Persian Gulf States To Ensure Regional Stability

Iran’s navy commander said his country and Saudi Arabia, as well as three other Persian Gulf states, plan to form a naval alliance that will also include India and Pakistan, Iranian media reported.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ Engadget ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] YouTube changes misinformation policy to allow videos falsely claiming fraud in the 2020 US election

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-06-03 [Older] Things We Bought Instead of Giving Elon Musk $8

=> ↺ US News And World Report ☛ 2023-06-03 [Older] Twitter Executive Responsible for Content Safety Resigns After Elon Musk Criticism

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Twitter Loses Its Second Trust and Safety Head Under Elon Musk’s Reign

=> ↺ Engadget ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Twitter’s head of brand safety and ad quality has left the company

=> ↺ Make Tech Easier ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Twitter Head of Trust and Safety Resigned Before New CEO Comes In

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Elon Doesn’t Tweet for 2 Days, Regains Status as World’s Richest Man

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Elon ‘The Dogefather’ Musk Accused of Insider Trading

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Instagram’s Head Says You Shouldn’t Worry About Shadowbanning

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] You Do It: Twitter Outsources AI Image Detection to Its Users

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Fidelity: Twitter is Now Only Worth a Third of What Elon Musk Paid for It

=> ↺ NL Times ☛ 2023-05-31 [Older] Dutch parliament leader demands Twitter take action against threats targeting politicians

=> ↺ Engadget ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] Twitter is testing Community Notes for images

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Video: Hong Kong Tiananmen crackdown activists, artists taken away by police on eve of anniversary

At least eight people were apprehended by the police as they sought to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Causeway Bay on Saturday. Police confirmed four arrests for alleged sedition and public disorder.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ Comedy and autocracy are made for each other

U.S.-based legal scholar and activist Teng Biao says totalitarian regimes are ‘major manufacturers’ of jokes

=> ↺ Reason ☛ Journal of Free Speech Law: “Sober and Self-Guided Newsgathering,” by Prof. Jane Bambauer

Just published as part of the symposium on Media and Society After Technological Disruption, edited by Profs. Justin “Gus” Hurwitz & Kyle Langvardt.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Arrests and tight security in Hong Kong on Tiananmen anniversary

Police say they have detained 8 people, 4 of them for ‘seditious intention and disorderly conduct’.

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-03 [Older] Hong Kong: 8 held on eve of Tiananmen Square anniversary

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ In Pictures: Hong Kong patriotic carnival opens at traditional Tiananmen crackdown vigil venue ahead of anniv.

A carnival hosted by 26 pro-Beijing organisations in part of Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park opened on Saturday morning – the eve of the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. For three decades, the space hosted the city’s annual commemorative vigil, which would normally take place on the June 4 anniversary.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Police and 3 other Hong Kong gov’t depts probe store, days after it began Tiananmen crackdown candle giveaway

A Sai Kung shop has been inspected by officers from four different government departments within nine days, after it started to give away candles to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown.

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-03 [Older] How China is erasing Hong Kong’s Tiananmen Square memories

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Devastating profile dogs CNN boss Chris Licht

Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, felt so confident in his plan to reinvent cable news that he allowed extraordinary, months-long access to a magazine writer. The result is devastating.

Why it matters: The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta paints a brutal portrait of the head of one of the world’s most famous, consequential and profitable brands — in what’s destined to become an iconic magazine profile.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ Good Morning CHD – Sustainable Slavery

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] Apartheid chronicler Ernest Cole’s photos on show in Germany

=> ↺ CBC ☛ 2023-06-03 [Older] The U.S. writers strike began 1 month ago. Here’s how it’s affecting the Canadian industry

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Northern Ireland Department of Justice report highlights support for raising the age of criminal responsibility

On Thursday, the Northern Ireland Department of Justice published a summary of various responses pertaining to increasing the minimum age of criminal responsibility.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Three Europeans Return Home After Release By Iran In Prisoner Swap

Three Europeans returned home on June 3, a day after being released by Iran in a prisoner swap, and Tehran said there was no reason for Europeans to be arrested if they were not “exploited” by foreign security services.

=> ↺ Make Tech Easier ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Amazon Workers Protest ‘Return to Office’ By Walking Out

=> ↺ Gizmodo ☛ 2023-06-02 [Older] Mark Zuckerberg Mandates Meta Employees Return to the Office Three Days a Week

=> ↺ ANF News ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] HBDH marks the anniversary of Gezi uprising, calling for expansion of revolutionary struggle

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Don’t attack the messenger, work to rebuild trust among Hongkongers

On the night of May 10, 2023, publishers of Ming Pao axed Zunzi’s political cartoons, which they had published daily since 1983. Governance and civil society in Hong Kong are worse off for this move. Ming Pao reacted to government pressure.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Thousands gather in Florida to protest law targeted at undocumented immigrants

Floridians gathered across the state Thursday to protest a recently enacted law that imposes restrictions on undocumented immigrants. In what protesters dubbed, “a day without immigrants,” thousands walked off the job to voice their disapproval of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s approval of Senate Bill (SB) 1718.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Federal judge declares Tennessee’s anti-drag bill unconstitutional

Judge Thomas Parker, a judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Friday ruled that Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Act (AEA) is unconstitutional. In his opinion, Parker ruled that the AEA violates First Amendment rights. He stated that free speech does not extend to just words.

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-03 Germany: Police break up banned far-left protest in Leipzig

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ 2023-06-03 Left-wing extremism in Germany: How much of a threat is it?

Monopolies

=> ↺ IP Kat ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] A musical box infringes author’s moral rights, says the French Cassation Court

Software Patents

=> ↺ SJVN ☛ Controversial new USPTO Rules would empower Patent Trolls

What is the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) thinking of? The USPTO’s new proposed rules sound good. It would “provide a less-expensive alternative to district court litigation to resolve certain patentability issues while also protecting against patentee harassment.” Open-source legal experts, however, from the Unified Patents Open Source Zone, The Linux Foundation, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) the Open Invention Network (OIN) hear an entirely different message

When they listen closely, they hear a message that will encourage patent trolls, aka non-practicing entities (NPEs), increase patent litigation costs, and inflate the overall volume of patent litigation. We need this like a hole in the head.

Besides open-source, for example, pharmaceutical businesses use patents to keep the price of life-saving drugs high. According to a recent New York Times report. “The House Oversight Committee concluded that … twelve of the drugs that Medicare spends the most on are protected by more than 600 patents.” These patents include such important changes as “making a tablet instead of a pill, changing the dose, adding a flavor. When it comes to protecting a drug monopoly, it seems no modification is too small.”

Trademarks

=> ↺ IP Kat ☛ 2023-05-30 [Older] “EMMENTALER” cannot be an EUTM, says the General Court

=> ↺ IP Kat ☛ 2023-06-01 [Older] 3D trade marks for string cheese – Distinctive, yet descriptive?

Copyrights

=> ↺ IP Kat ☛ 2023-05-28 [Older] The copyright adventure of two typefaces: Is the Spectral font infringing?

=> ↺ Copenhagen Post ☛ 2023-05-24 [Older] Supreme Court finds in favour of newspaper in Little Mermaid copyright case

=> ↺ Counter Punch ☛ 2023-05-24 [Older] The Debt Burden and the Burden of Copyright and Patent Monopolies

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