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● 06.20.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 20/06/2023: Windows TCO on Steroids (Microsoft Incidents/Breaches and Resort to Political Scapegoating)

Posted in News Roundup at 12:45 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

Audiocasts/Shows

=> ↺ Destination Linux 328: openSUSE Leap 15.5 Review, Steam Deck & more!

• FULL SHOW NOTES ►► https://tuxdigital.com/podcasts/destination-linux/dl-328/

=> ↺ Tux Digital ☛ Destination Linux 328: openSUSE Leap 15.5 Review, Steam Deck & more!

• This week’s episode of Destination Linux, we discuss OpenSuse Leap 15.5 and then we discuss small business getting some love from Canonical. Plus, we have our tips/tricks and software picks. All this and more coming up right now on Destination Linux to keep those penguins marching! Hosts of Destination Linux: Ryan (DasGeek)…

=> ↺ Late Night Linux – Episode 234

• A victory against the dystopian nightmare of facial recognition, Reddit drama might be good news long term, Google kills yet another service so muckyjpegs.com needs a new home, great KDE news, and more.

Applications

=> ↺ Make Use Of ☛ The 7 Best SSH Clients for Linux

• To establish an SSH connection between your Linux PC and a remote server, you need to have an SSH client installed. Here are some of the best options.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ OSTechNix ☛ How To Dual Boot Linux Mint And Windows

• Welcome to the ultimate guide on dual-booting Linux Mint and Windows! If you’re a tech enthusiast or someone who craves the best of both operating systems, you’ve come to the right place. Dual-booting allows you to harness the power and versatility of Linux Mint, a perfect Windows alternative, while still having the familiarity and accessibility of Windows at your fingertips.

=> ↺ Linux Handbook ☛ Use Systemctl Status Command to Check Service Status

• You’d find systemd in almost every popular distro and to control the services, you use the systemctl command.

=> ↺ Ubuntu ☛ Ubuntu Blog: Tuning a real-time kernel

• This blog expands our  technical deep-dive into a real-time kernel.  You will need to be familiar with a real-time kernel to understand the tuning concepts in this blog. If you are starting from scratch and need to revisit the basics of preemption and a real-time system, watch this introductory webinar. If you are interested in the primary test suites for real-time Ubuntu, an explanation of the components and processes involved, head over to the first part of this mini-series. Alternatively, keep reading to learn the three primary metrics to monitor when tuning a real-time kernel, some key configs set at compile time, and a tuning example.

• Before tuning, let’s launch the real-time Ubuntu kernel.

=> ↺ Own HowTo ☛ How to upgrade Debian 11 “Bullseye” to Debian 12 “Bookworm”

• Debian 12 got released on June 10th 2023, it uses kernel 6.1, and it comes with a lot of new features. One thing that I liked in this new version, is that now Debian 12 comes with multiple Desktop environments that you can use, such as :GNOME, KDE, XFCE,

=> ↺ FOSSLinux ☛ How to set up Steam and Lutris on Pop!_OS for Gaming

• Pop!_OS, developed by System76, has become a popular choice among Linux enthusiasts for its sleek design and powerful performance. But did you know it’s also an excellent platform for gaming? With the ability to install gaming platforms like Steam and Lutris, you can play a multitude of games from various sources, all on your Pop!_OS system.

=> ↺ How to install FF in Ubuntu Linux?

• FF (FireFox) is the default browser in almost all Linux systems including Ubuntu, however, if you don’t have it already then here is the article to install FF in Ubuntu Linux.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install Seafile on Rocky Linux 9

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Seafile on Rocky Linux 9. Are you looking for a secure and reliable cloud storage solution? Seafile might be just what you need.

=> ↺ Orphan Branches in Git: An Overview

• In simple terms, a branch serves as an independent timeline for your project’s codebase. By using branching, you can test different features or functionality without interfering with the main codebase.

=> ↺ Calculating the Difference Between Branches in Git

• Branching is one of the most crucial aspects of using Git effectively. When working on large projects or complex features, it can be difficult always to have one cohesive line of development that everyone follows strictly.

=> ↺ Linux Hint ☛ ESP32 Pinout Reference – A Complete Guide

• Understanding the pinout is important to work with the ESP32 board. This article is a complete guide on ESP32 pinout.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install Shotwell on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Shotwell on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Shotwell is an open-source image organizer designed specifically for the GNOME desktop environment.

=> ↺ Leveraging ‘git rerere’ to Resolve Merge Conflicts

• Leveraging ‘git rerere’ to resolve merge conflicts in software development has several benefits that cannot be ignored. The tool works automatically to capture and reuse resolutions of past conflicts, making it easier and faster for developers to address merge conflicts in the future.

=> ↺ Forcing a Merge Commit in Git: When and How

• Conflicts can arise when two or more team members make changes to the same line(s) of code within one file in different ways that cannot be automatically merged by Git. Force merging in this case results in combining both sets of changes into one final version with conflicts resolved manually

=> ↺ Working with Remote Branches in Git: A Comprehensive Guide

• Working with remote branches in Git is an essential aspect of modern software development. With proper guidance and best practices in place, teams can collaborate effectively on shared projects, regardless of their physical location.

=> ↺ Git Configuration: A Few Useful Examples

• Git configuration allows users to customize their version control environment according to their preferences and needs. By configuring Git, users can set up essential information such as their name and email address to keep track of who made specific changes in the repository.

=> ↺ Understanding Refspecs: Git Demystified

• A good understanding of RefSpecs will enable you to use Git’s features efficiently while minimizing errors that could cause setbacks in your project development life cycle. With this knowledge under your belt, you’ll be better equipped for collaborative coding projects where every team member needs access to different versions of code bases on various branches.

=> ↺ Streamlining Workflow: A Guide to Git Aliases

• Git aliases offer a convenient way to reduce the number of keystrokes required for frequently used Git commands, making it easier to focus on writing code rather than typing out complex command lines.

=> ↺ Branching, Merging, and Options: An Introductory Guide to Git

• Git is a crucial component of modern software development and understanding its fundamentals is essential for anyone looking to become a proficient developer. By learning about branching, merging, and options in Git, you can work collaboratively with other developers while keeping your project organized.

=> ↺ Efficient Management of Local Branches in Git

• In Git, a branch is essentially a copy of the codebase, which allows developers to make changes in isolation from the main codebase. A local branch is a branch that exists only on your local machine and not on the remote repository.

=> ↺ Daniel Lange ☛ Daniel Lange: Linux kernel USB errors -71 and -110

• After an upgrade of my PC’s mainboard BIOS the boot would take a minute or more to complete and sometimes the lightdm login screen would sit there but not accept keyboard input for another minute or so. Then the keyboard got enabled and I could log in normally. Everything worked fine after that bootup struggle completed. This was fully reproducible and persisted across reboots. Weird.

• The kernel dmesg log showed entries that looked suspicious:

• [...]

=> ↺ Trend Oceans ☛ How to Fix Rust Error Linker CC Not Found on Linux

• Did you just encounter a “Linker ‘cc’ not found” error while installing your favourite Rust program from Cargo Package Manager if yes then let me show you how to fix it up.

=> ↺ Trend Oceans ☛ How to Install the Boost Library in C++ on Ubuntu or any other Linux Distribution

• Here we will show you two simple steps to install the Boost library in C++ on Ubuntu/Linux, along with an example of using the Boost library. Boost is a portable set of C++ programming language libraries. It contains libraries for pseudo-random number generation, linear algebra, multi-threading, image processing, regular expressions, and unit testing.

Games

=> ↺ Boiling Steam ☛ Killer Frequency: Review on Linux (and Steam Deck) with Proton

• Killer Frequency is a narrative first-person horror puzzle set in the 80s, developed and published by Team17 Digital.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Dark Chess now has a Native Linux version available

• Originally released on Steam back in February, Dark Chess now has a Native Linux version available and it brings some interesting sounding adjustments to the classic to really change how you play. It’s Chess but perhaps nothing like what you know it to be.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ DevilutionX continues improving classic Diablo and Hellfire

• A fan of the classics? DevilutionX is a modern game engine for running Diablo and Hellfire on various systems and a big new update has rolled out. This is a community-made thing, not endorsed by Blizzard.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Save your owner as a space-pup in shoot ‘em up ProtoCorgi

• ProtoCorgi is a shoot ‘em up with a difference. You’re not a spaceship, you’re not even a person, you’re a dog on a quest to save their owner.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ GOG giving away classic RPG Eschalon: Book II – plus Yakuza series now on GOG

• Ready for another free game? The GOG Summer Sale 2023 continues with their third giveaway being the RPG classic Eschalon: Book II. Plus the Yakuza series is now on GOG.

=> ↺ GamingOnLinux ☛ Steam Next Fest June 2023 is live now with lots of games

• Say goodbye to your free time for the next week? Steam Next Fest June 2023 is live and there’s lots and lots of demos to feast your eyes on.

Distributions and Operating Systems

=> ↺ Make Tech Easier ☛ 6 of the Best Linux Distributions for Mac Users

• However, there might be a few scenarios where you don’t want to use the default OS, craving something different that appeals to your needs.

• While you can technically install Microsoft’s Windows, you might be better off switch to Linux for a better user experience. Here are some of the best Linux distributions that Mac users can install either on their Macs or on dedicated Linux computers.

=> ↺ Barry Kauler ☛ More Turkish translations

• I would like to thank forum member madanandam for submitting more Turkish tr translations.

• In addition, recently MrBoom submitted many Spanish es translations. A little while before that, forum member Maybe submitted Russian ru translations.

BSD

=> ↺ Data Swamp ☛ Using git bundle to synchronize a repository between Qubes OS dom0 and an AppVM

• In a previous article, I explained how to use Fossil version control system to version the files you may write in dom0 and sync them against a remote repository.

• I figured how to synchronize a git repository between an AppVM and dom0, then from the AppVM it can be synchronized remotely if you want. This can be done using the git feature named bundle, which bundle git artifacts into a single file.

SUSE/OpenSUSE

=> ↺ OpenSUSE ☛ openSUSE.Asia Summit 2023 Call For Papers

• It is a pleasure to announce the call for papers for openSUSE.Asia summit 2023 starting today, the openSUSE.Asia Committee is looking for speakers from different avenues of life, representing and advocating Free and Open Source Software. openSUSE.Asia Summits are organized every year to promote the use of free and open source software and have been appreciated events for the openSUSE community (i.e. both contributors and users) in Asia. Following the last Asia Summit, the nineth openSUSE.Asia Summit 2023 will be held by openSUSE Chongqing team on Late October. The speakers are eligible to receive sponsorship from openSUSE Travel Support Program (TSP). Even if you live away from China, please consider applying for the event.

• The past Asia Summits received major participation from Indonesia, China mainland, China Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and India.

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ FOSSLinux ☛ The 20 Best Themes for Fedora Workstation [2023 Edition]

• The ability to customize is one of the things that make Linux a favorite among power users and enthusiasts. Fedora Workstation, being one of the most popular Linux distributions, is no exception. Offering a variety of themes that can dramatically change your desktop’s look and feel, Fedora Workstation allows you to tailor your user experience according to your preference.

Debian Family

=> ↺ Linuxiac ☛ Sparky Linux 8 Codename Revealed

• Based on Debian 13 “Trixie,” the upcoming Sparky Linux 8 has been given a thrilling codename: “The Seven Sisters.”

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ Ubuntu News ☛ Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 792

• Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 792 for the week of June 11 – 17, 2023. The full version of this issue is available here.

=> ↺ Ubuntu Fridge ☛ The Fridge: Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter Issue 792

• Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 792 for the week of June 11 – 17, 2023. The full version of this issue is available here.

=> ↺ It’s Ubuntu ☛ Linux Mint 21.2 Beta Is Now Available For Download

• The beta version of the  Linux Mint 21.2 “Victoria” is now available for download. You can download Linux Mint 21.2 Beta from the official website of the Linux Mint.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Raspberry Pi ☛ 10 amazing lighting projects

• Lighting an LED may be a simple beginner project for Raspberry Pi and Raspberry Pi Pico coders, but that doesn’t make it any less cool. There’s so much you can do with an LED when it’s connected to a computer. Here are just some of the ways a Raspberry Pi project focussed on lights has wowed us.

=> ↺ Linux Gizmos ☛ URANUS is an AI Edge Fanless Embedded System with NVIDIA Jetson Modules

• URANUS is an AI edge fanless embedded system designed to be compatible with multiple NVIDIA Jetson modules. This compact platform is designed to handle various neural networks and offers support for LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

Events

=> ↺ FOSSY schedule announcement

• A news item from Software Freedom Conservancy.

• The FOSSY schedule has been set! With four days of talks and workshops, we are looking forward to a fantastic conference. Thanks to all our incredible track organizers and speakers for working with us to create a jam packed weekend of FOSS. We look forward to building this conference with you all in Portland, OR this July 13-16th.

• Join us Thursday the 13th for registration and a welcome lunch, then there are 2 workshops and 3 tracks to choose from! Grow Your Project Workshop, Free BSD Workshop, AArch64/ARM64 Servers and Open Source, FOSS For Education, XMPP.

Web Browsers/Web Servers

=> ↺ Chris Coyier ☛ Why don’t sites go down much anymore?

• Websites used to go down with more regularity than they do now. Twitter famously had the fail whale. But I mean more like “normal” websites, like this one. If Daring Fireball linked to a site and it went down, that community called it getting “Fireballed” and there was exotic solutions. If Slashdot traffic took down a site it was “slashdotted”. There was the “Digg Effect” and “Reddit Effect” and the like.

• You don’t really see that anymore. Why?

=> ↺ Talospace ☛ Firefox 114 on POWER

• Firefox 114 is released. The biggest update in my humble opinion is that (assuming you’re running Linux) you can now use FIDO2/WebAuthn authenticators over USB, and virtually all of them should “just work” with OpenPOWER hardware. I’m going to try this out and report back but cursorily looking at the source code I don’t see any reason why it would be incompatible. If you bought your POWER9 for security purposes, or even if you just like being secure-adjacent, here’s another advance to take advantage of. A more nebulous new feature in 114 is support for WebTransport, which adds low-latency datagram-grade server communication and should facilitate more interactive applications but will probably just be another way for sites to spy on you. Oh well! This initial cut requires HTTP/3 but HTTP/2 support is coming.

Mozilla

=> ↺ Thunderbird ☛ Community Voice: 5 Ways To Make Thunderbird and LibreOffice Better Together

• Thunderbird doesn’t come bundled with a great suite of office productivity software, but there are many excellent free and open source applications that work well alongside it. One fantastic example is LibreOffice from The Document Foundation. And just like Thunderbird, it’s open source and multiplatform, available on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Licensing / Legal

=> ↺ [Repeat] Carl Schwan ☛ My generic Open Source Project FAQ

• People are often asking the same questions again and again about some of my projects, so it might be a good opportunity to write a small FAQ.

• If you get redirected here, don’t take it personally; I am getting asked these questions very often, and I feel people often misunderstand how open-source projects work.

=> ↺ The Register UK ☛ Whose line is it anyway, GitHub? Innovation, not litigation, should answer

• Perhaps it’s the way it does it, presenting the code suggestions out of context. There are lots of open source licenses, after all, and some may contain conditions that our happy Copilot cut and paster should know about. Well, assuming Copilot can recognize when it’s suggesting someone else’s code, it’s not unreasonable that it can report the licensing conditions it’s offered under. That puts the onus on the coder to comply, which is more ethical than offering up temptation while hiding the consequences. Might even improve the hit rate for following open source rules.

Openness/Sharing/Collaboration

=> ↺ Bert Hubert ☛ Welcome to the BAG: The Dutch Building and Addresses database

• Recently I wrote a dedicated open source tool called bagconv for this purpose which also papers over some semantics of the BAG that are easy to get wrong.

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Phil Eaton ☛ Metaprogramming in Zig and parsing CSS

• I knew Zig supported some sort of reflection on types. But I had been confused about how to use it. What’s the difference between @typeInfo and @TypeOf? I ignored this aspect of Zig until a problem came up at work where reflection made sense.

• The situation was parsing and storing parsed fields in a struct. Each field name that is parsed should match up to a struct field.

=> ↺ Matt Rickard ☛ Merge Queues

• A CI workflow starts when a developer pushes a proposed change (pull request, changeset, patch, etc.). The code goes through a cycle of reviews and testing until it passes automated and manual (i.e., review) tests. Then it gets merged into the main branch.

• But it’s not that simple, and there are numerous places where this can go wrong (and ways to make it more efficient).

=> ↺ University of Toronto ☛ Failing to draw lines between ‘script’ and ‘program’

• I’m not sure I fully believe what I posted any more, or even that I can clearly draw a distinction between ‘script’ and ‘program’ that feels right and is useful in practice. Personally, I think that all compiled things are programs, not scripts, and I probably call all of my Python code, even small ones, a ‘program’. Is Linux’s DKMS, famously written as several thousand lines of Bourne shell, a ‘program’ or a ‘script’? I don’t know. I’ve probably called it both at various times, but then some of the times I’ve called it a script I’ve probably meant that as short for ‘a Bourne shell script’, ie I was talking about the implementation language.

=> ↺ MaskRay ☛ Port LLVM XRay to Apple systems

• I do not use Apple products, but I sometimes like investigating Mach-O as an object file format and my llvm-project changes sometimes need to work around the quirks.

• LLVM has a function call tracing system called XRay. It supports many architectures on Linux and some BSDs but does not support Apple systems. If the target triple is x86_64-apple-darwin*, you may notice that Clang will allow you to perform compilation, but linking will fail. For other architectures, Clang will reject it.

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Raspberry Pi Tracks Flights and Weather in One Convenient Project

• In this project, C0wsaysmoo is using a Raspberry Pi 3 A+ but there’s no reason you couldn’t use something smaller like a Raspberry Pi Zero or even bigger like the latest Raspberry Pi 4. It’s connected to a 64 x 32px RGB matrix panel that’s controlled using an Adafruit Bonnet. Everything is housed inside of a wooden box and finished with a tinted acrylic cover in front of the screen.

=> ↺ The Servo Blog: Conference news

• In the first week of June 2023, the Servo project team participated in the Web Engines Hackfest 2023. Delan Azabani gave a talk about the Servo project, diving into the details of the team’s work in the first half of the year and its plans for the second half. The talk provided some valuable insights into running some Servo demos as well as the status of floats and the evolution of the layout system. In addition, there were some engaging discussions around the future of the shared style crate in Gecko and Servo.

=> ↺ Arthur Grillo: How it’s Going: Adding NV12 support to VKMS

• This work proposed by my mentor Maíra Canal is going more difficult than I thought >W<.

• On the Community Bonding Period of GSoC, Maíra proposed I work on VKMS. While looking on the TODO list of the driver, on the plane feature section, I found the item “Additional buffer formats, especially YUV formats for video like NV12” interesting to work on, as it has some correlation with my work on the GSoC.

=> ↺ Vasudev Kamath: Notes: Experimenting with ZRAM and Memory Over commit

• The ZRAM module in the Linux kernel creates a memory-backed block device that stores its content in a compressed format. It offers users the choice of compression algorithms such as lz4, zstd, or lzo. These algorithms differ in compression ratio and speed, with zstd providing the best compression but being slower, while lz4 offers higher speed but lower compression.

• One interesting use case for ZRAM is utilizing it as swap space in the system. There are two utilities available for configuring ZRAM as swap: zram-tools and systemd-zram-generator. However, Debian Bullseye lacks systemd-zram-generator, making zram-tools the only option for Bullseye users. While it’s possible to use systemd-zram-generator by self-compiling or via cargo, I preferred using tools available in the distribution repository due to my restricted environment.

Python

=> ↺ Evan Hahn ☛ Python’s nonstandard JSON encoding

• Python’s built-in JSON module, json, can produce results that most other JSON parsers do not accept. This is because it has nonstandard serializations for infinity, negative infinity, and NaN.

Java

=> ↺ Alexandru Nedelcu ☛ Java Volatiles

• In Java and other JVM languages, “volatile” reads and writes are part of the concurrency toolbox. But adding volatile on variables can be a mistake. This is a poorly understood concept. Let’s gain a better understanding.

Leftovers

=> ↺ Old VCR ☛ RIP, Bob Applegate

• It’s hard to do two memorial posts in one weekend. If you use a KIM-1 or related 6502 single-board computers, Bob Applegate’s hardware (sold as Corsham Tech, though I remember when it was k2ut.org) was the best, including his virtually essential I/O card. [...]

=> ↺ Ali Reza Hayati ☛ Community versus Corporation

• As much as I like Reddit, I believe the corporation behind it makes it fundamentally impossible to build a real community-powered and people-driven network. Reddit’s benefits and decisions over their policies are based and focused on development of the corporation and financial factors while the communities focus on their interests such as building relationships with one another and producing and sharing better material with each other.

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ How the musical ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ became a cult hit

• Whether in Australia or in the UK, the musical is getting new stagings to mark its 50th anniversary.

Science

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ The Surprising Reason Astronomers Are Vital in Legal Proceedings

• Most court evidence from an astronomer involves calculating the positions and lighting from an astronomical body – the Sun or Moon. Luckily, the tools we use to calculate the positions of celestial bodies are very accurate, and can be calculated hundreds to thousands of years into the past or future.

• An obvious example is when someone claims the Sun was in their eyes, causing a glare, and they get into a car accident. Someone needs to say where the Sun was, its position, and how it aligned with the street and direction of travel. At certain times and in certain directions, the Sun may indeed hinder someone’s vision.

• There is also the situation where someone sees something, but it happened around sunrise or sunset. An expert is needed to say what the lighting level was – as there are very clear definitions based on the Sun’s position below the horizon, and how much you can see.

Education

=> ↺ Pro Publica ☛ Post-Pandemic Test Scores Show Schools Struggling to Catch Up [Ed: Pro Publica, which publishes this, is meanwhile taking bribes from the wrecking ball who has demolished US schools for personal profits. His name is Bill Gates and Pro Publica is in no position to claim high ground.]

• Angela Wright became the principal of Fairfield Court Elementary School in Richmond, Virginia, in the fall of 2020, but she didn’t meet her students until a year later. At the start of the pandemic, Richmond had moved all of its 22,000 students to remote learning. By the time they returned to the classroom, in September 2021, after every other school district in the state, it had been 18 months since they’d been inside a school building.

• For Wright, the posting at Fairfield Court was the culmination of a steady rise: from instructional assistant to teacher to assistant principal to principal. When her father saw her first monthly paycheck as a teacher, he asked, “Is this for a week?” “He said, ‘Are you sure this is what you want to do?’” she recalled. “I said, ‘Yes.’ When you see kids light up, when you see that they get it, when you see kids who were tier three or lower rise to the top …”

Hardware

=> ↺ HowTo Geek ☛ System76’s New Laptops Have 16:10 Displays And RTX 4000 GPUs

• System76 has announced an update to the Oryx Pro, one of the company’s laptops that ship with desktop Linux. It has a 16-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, making it excellent for reading and working, and if you’d like to game, it’s also equipped with RTX 4000 GPUs, letting you choose up to an RTX 4070.

=> ↺ Adafruit ☛ Torture-Testing C-Clamps

• Of all of the tools tested, only 1 out of 18 clamps survived the testing without damage. The brands Todd tested were Wilton, Wright Tool, Stanley Proto, Crescent, Bessey F-Style, Bessey C-Clamp, Groz, Yost, Lincoln Electric, Performance Tool, Pony, Harden, WEN, Pittsburgh, and Shop Tek.

=> ↺ Hackaday ☛ Bringing Back The Minitel

• If you didn’t live in France in the 80s or 90s, it’s likely you missed out on one of the most successful computer networks in existence prior to the modern Internet. Known as Minitel, it was an online service available over existing phone lines that offered a connected computer terminal for users to do most things we associate with the modern world, such as booking travel, viewing news, looking up phone numbers, and plenty of other useful activities. While a lot of the original system was never archived, there are still some efforts to restore some of its original functionality like this MiniMit.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Latvia’s Covid vaccine procurement case reaches court

• Court proceedings are under way against the former Minister of Health Ilze Viņķele, in which she has been accused of inaction in the position as a state official. On Monday, June 19, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš was among those testifying, Latvian Television reported.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Stand News sedition trial: Closing arguments adjourned for a week after Hong Kong prosecutor gets Covid-19

• Closing arguments for the sedition trial against two former editors of now-defunct news outlet Stand News have been adjourned for a week after the lead prosecutor tested positive for Covid-19.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ China’s Economic Rebound Hits a Wall, With ‘No Quick Fix’ to Revive It

• Policymakers and investors expected China’s economy to rev up again after Beijing abruptly dropped Covid precautions, but recent data shows alarming signs of a slowdown.

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ YouTube says it removed Jordan Peterson interview of RFK Jr. for violating vaccine policy [Ed: GulagTube: we advertise for experimental vaccine giants with patents and you cannot "insult" them. If you don't want critics in YouTube, just change your first name to "vaccine" (everything is presumed 100% without side effects) and if you don't want your businesses criticised, claim that it is in fact a religion.]

• On Sunday, both Kennedy and podcast host Jordan Peterson tweeted that the video-sharing website had taken down their interview from an episode of Peterson’s show and accused the social media platform of censorship and interfering with a presidential campaign.

Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Western Digital Blocks Unpatched Devices From Cloud Services

• The move, which began on June 15, comes one month after the company released firmware updates for its My Cloud product line to address multiple security defects, including a critical path traversal bug that leads to remote code execution (RCE).

• The issue is tracked as CVE-2022-36327 and carries CVSS severity score of 9.8/10. According to a NIST advisory, the flaw “could allow an attacker to write files to locations with certain critical filesystem types.”

=> ↺ Counter Punch ☛ The Frankenstein ChatBots Are Coming

• Before he gets specific, Claypool previews his conclusion: “Until meaningful government safeguards are in place to protect the public from the harms of generative A.I., we need a pause.” Just how, he doesn’t say. Because with so many increasing generators of these Chatbots around the world, this flood of Frankenstein Chatbots may present a problem the Dean of the Harvard Law School, Roscoe Pound, described regarding the prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the 1920s as being beyond “the limits of effective legal action.”

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ Ralph Nader: The Frankenstein Chatbots Are Erupting

• Will the People Counter with Ethical and Enforceable Legal Frameworks?

Windows TCO

=> ↺ The Register UK ☛ Guess what happened to this US agency using outdated software?

• It turns out that this same gang of government-backed hackers used a different – and even older – Telerik flaw to break into another US federal agency’s Microsoft IIS web server, access the Document Manager component, upload webshells and other files, and establish persistence on the government network.

• The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and FBI warned about the first intrusion into a federal civilian executive branch agency’s Microsoft IIS web server back in March, and said the snafu happened between November 2022 and early January.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Ransomware Gang Takes Credit for February Reddit Hack

• The attackers accessed internal documents, internal dashboards, business systems, source code, the information of hundreds of contacts and current and former employees, and advertiser data, Reddit said at the time, noting that it had no evidence that the attackers compromised production systems, user passwords or accounts.

• Over the weekend, the Alphv/BlackCat ransomware gang listed Reddit on its leak site and claimed to have stolen 80GB of data. No file-encrypting ransomware appears to have been deployed on Reddit’s systems.

=> ↺ Silicon Angle ☛ BlackCat ransomware gang demands $4.5M, API changes for 80GB leaked Reddit data

• Hackers from the BlackCat ransomware gang have contacted Reddit Inc. claiming to be behind a [breach] that affected the social media forum platform in February that took more than 800 gigabytes of internal documents, code, contracts and employee information.

=> ↺ SANS ☛ Malware Delivered Through .inf File, (Mon, Jun 19th)

• They are simple text files and contain setup information in a driver package.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ New Information Stealer ‘Mystic Stealer’ Rising to Fame

• Written in C and targeting Windows…

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ MOVEit Customers Urged to Patch Third Critical Vulnerability

• A critical vulnerability (CVE-2023-35708) in MOVEit software could allow unauthenticated attackers to access database content.

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ Medibank Group says it has not been affected by MOVEit flaw

• A Medibank spokesperson said: “We were advised by the vendor Ipswitch about some vulnerabilities discovered in MOVEit – a software system we use to share information with external parties – and have promptly applied all the vendor’s recommended security patches.

• “We continue to investigate and work closely with the vendor, and at this stage we are not aware of any of our customers’ data being compromised.”

• {loadposition sam08}The spokesperson said the company was aware of the latest advisory issued by Progress Software Corporation, the firm that makes MOVEit.

Security

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Asus Patches Highly Critical WiFi Router Flaws

• Asus patches nine WiFi router security defects, including a highly critical 2018 vulnerability that exposes users to code execution attacks.

=> ↺ Support for Istio 1.16 ends on July 19th, 2023

• According to Istio’s support policy, minor releases like 1.16 are supported until six weeks after the N+2 minor release (1.18 in this case). Istio 1.18 was released on June 7th, and support for 1.16 will end on July 19th, 2023.

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ Alphv ransomware gang wants Reddit to withdraw change in API pricing

• The Alphv group said it had told Reddit that it had been initially willing to wait for the company’s proposed IPO to settle the data theft issue. It claimed to have contacted Reddit twice: on 13 April and again on 16 June.

• {loadposition sam08}”We are very confident that Reddit will not pay any money for their data. But I am very happy to know that the public will be able to read about all the statistics they track about their users and all the interesting confidential data we took. Did you know they also silently censor users? Along with artifacts from their GitHub!” the group wrote.

• Reddit has been mired in a stoush with its users for a while after it said it would be imposing costs for accessing its data. About 9000 subreddits have gone dark since the protest began.

• Third-party developers rely on the API to build their own apps which can provide access to features not found in the official Reddit app, especially in the case of content moderation and accessibility aids.

Integrity/Availability/Authenticity

=> ↺ [Repeat] Light Blue Touchpaper ☛ The Pre-play Attack in Real Life

• Almost ten years ago, after we wrote a paper on the pre-play attack, we were contacted by a Scottish sailor who’d bought a drink in a bar in Las Ramblas in Barcelona for €33, and found the following morning that he’d been charged €33,000 instead. The bar had submitted ten transactions an hour apart for €3,300 each, and when we got the transaction logs it turned out that these transactions had been submitted through three different banks. What’s more, although the transactions came from the same terminal ID, they had different terminal characteristics. When the sailor’s lawyer pointed this out to Lloyds Bank, they grudgingly accepted that it had been technical fraud and refunded the money.

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ How Classified Evidence Could Complicate the Trump Documents Case

• Prosecutors and defense lawyers appear to be preparing for a pretrial fight over showing sensitive evidence to the jury and the public.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Donald Trump Says ‘Secret’ Document He Described on Tape Referred to News Clippings

• “There was no document,” the former president said on Fox News as he gave some of his most expansive remarks on the case that led to his federal indictment.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ False Witnesses and Sinister Plots: Exposing the CIA Connection in the ‘Chinese Police Station’ Narrative

=> ↺ Common Dreams ☛ “I’s Free, I’s Free”: Let The Story Be Told

• Aptly for a nation built on racism, Juneteenth marks not the actual day enslaved black Texans were declared free but the day Union troops bothered to tell them they were free – months after the Civil War ended, and two years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Today, black Americans beset by newly bold white supremacy, from the erasure of their history to the erosion of their voting rights, fight back with rage, truth, art, protest, but are still moved to ask: “How long must we sing this song?”

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ Is Juneteenth, Our New National Holiday, a Delusion?

• On June 16, 2023, the White House announced that President Biden was proud to have signed the 2021 bi-partisan law establishing Juneteenth as a new Federal holiday to, in his words, “commemorate America’s dedication to the cause of freedom.” Juneteenth, in many ways, is the quintessential American holiday.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ Juneteenth: Embracing the Power of Awareness and Repair

• When President Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021, I initially saw it as a symbolic gesture, unable to replace the concrete legislation needed to address the challenges faced by the Black community in America.

=> ↺ Democracy Now ☛ “Get Down to Business”: Harry Belafonte in 2016 on Trump, Socialism & Fighting for Justice

• We continue our Juneteenth special with more from Harry Belafonte, the legendary actor, singer and civil rights activist, who died in April at the age of 96. Belafonte last appeared on Democracy Now! in 2016 at a special event at the historic Riverside Church in New York to celebrate Democracy Now!’s 20th anniversary. He co-headlined the event with Noam Chomsky. It was the first time they had done a public event together. Belafonte spoke about Donald Trump, who had just been elected president, and ongoing struggles for freedom and justice in the United States. “We just have to get out our old coats, dust them off, stop screwing around and just chasing the good times, and get down to business,” he said. “There’s some ass-kicking out here to be done. And we should do it.”

=> ↺ Democracy Now ☛ “Sing Your Song”: Remembering Harry Belafonte, Who Used His Stardom to Help MLK & Civil Rights Movement

• We dedicate part of our Juneteenth special to remembering the life and legacy of the legendary actor, singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, who died in April at the age of 96. Belafonte appeared on Democracy Now! numerous times, and we feature two interviews. We begin with our 2011 interview at the Sundance Film Festival, where a documentary about his life, titled Sing Your Song, premiered, and discuss his political awakening and activism in detail. “Going into the South of the United States, listening to the voices of rural Black America, listening to the voices of those who sang out against the Ku Klux Klan and out against segregation, and women, who were the most oppressed of all, rising to the occasion to protest against their conditions, became the arena where my first songs were to emerge,” Belafonte recalled.

=> ↺ Democracy Now ☛ Juneteenth Special: Historian Clint Smith on Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

• We feature a special broadcast on the newly created Juneteenth federal holiday commemorating the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. We begin with our 2021 interview with historian Clint Smith, originally aired a day after President Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth the first new federal holiday since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Smith is the author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. “When I think of Juneteenth, part of what I think about is the both/andedness of it,” Smith says, “that it is this moment in which we mourn the fact that freedom was kept from hundreds of thousands of enslaved people for years and for months after it had been attained by them, and then, at the same time, celebrating the end of one of the most egregious things that this country has ever done.” Smith says he recognizes the federal holiday marking Juneteenth as a symbol, “but it is clearly not enough.”

=> ↺ Axios ☛ More states marking Juneteenth as holiday this year

• Two years after Juneteenth became the 11th federal holiday, more companies are giving their employees the day off and a growing number of states are recognizing it as a public holiday.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ China is losing Eastern Europe

• Eastern Europe was once touted as China’s economic ‘gateway to Europe,’ but China’s failure to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put strain on the relationship.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Germany and China Try to Reset Relations for a Changed World

• This week the two countries will restart government consultations after a pandemic hiatus, but amid the war in Ukraine and rising U.S., Chinese tensions, common ground may be elusive.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ China’s premier Li Qiang in Germany on first overseas duty visit

• By Hui Min Neo China’s Premier Li Qiang met Germany’s president in Berlin during his first trip abroad on Monday, at a time when Beijing’s policies on Russia, trade and human rights are receiving an increasingly hostile reception in the West.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ U.S. Worries About Private Chinese Companies Aiding Russia, Blinken Says

• Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said he urged Chinese officials “to be vigilant” as Washington continues to express concerns over possible military support to Russia.

War in Ukraine

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Ukraine retakes some villages but its forces face minefields and more airstrikes.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Moldova constitutional court rules pro-Russia opposition party ‘unconstitutional’

• The Constitutional Court of Moldova ruled Monday that the pro-Russian opposition Shor party is “unconstitutional” and must be disbanded. The party, named for its leader, Ilan Shor, is known for organizing mass protests against Western influence in Moldova and institutions such as the European Union.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Moldova’s Consitutional Court Bans Pro-Russian Shor Party

• Moldova’s Constitutional Court has declared the pro-Russian Shor party “unconstitutional” and has dissolved it amid moves by the impoverished former Soviet republic to escape Moscow’s orbit.

=> ↺ European Commission ☛ State aid: Commission approves €718 million Czech scheme to support companies in the heat sector in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine

• European Commission Press release Brussels, 19 Jun 2023 The European Commission has approved an approximately €718 million (CZK 17 billion) Czech scheme to support companies affected by increased heat energy costs in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Russia launches overnight air attack on Ukraine from east to west

• The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said that according to preliminary information, Ukraine’s air defense systems shot down 28 out of 30 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia launched.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Beyond the battlefield: Why we should invest in Ukraine’s democratic future

• Western military aid has helped Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s full-scale invasion, but the West must also support Ukraine’s efforts to consolidate the country’s democracy, argue Peter Erben and Gio Kobakhidze.

=> ↺ Defence Web ☛ South Africa wraps up clunky peace mission to Ukraine and Russia

• President Cyril Ramaphosa, along with other African heads of state, has urged Russian and Ukrainian leaders to pursue peace during a challenging and largely symbolic trip to Europe. The African Peace Mission leaders from the continent met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday 16 June and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday the 17th.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Russia launches overnight air attack on cities across Ukraine

• Russia launched a widespread overnight air attack on Ukraine, targeting the capital and cities from east to west a day after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Kyiv’s forces had made progress in their counteroffensive while Russian forces had sustained “only losses”.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ UN urges Russia to allow aid workers into Ukraine dam collapse area

• The UN implored Russia on Monday to allow UN aid workers into the area of the Kakhovka Dam collapse. Russia has denied entry to aid workers due to alleged safety concerns, according to a Kremlin spokesperson.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Ukraine won’t be invited to join NATO at Vilnius summit, says Stoltenberg

• NATO will not issue an invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance at a summit in Vilnius in mid-July, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Lithuanian architects pool EU counterparts to preserve cultural heritage in Ukraine

• Lithuanian architects are bringing together European and Ukrainian counterparts to preserve cultural heritage in Ukraine.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Ukraine Meets Two Out Of Seven Conditions To Launch EU Membership Talks, Sources Say

• A European Union report will this week say that Ukraine has met two out of seven conditions to start membership negotiations, two EU sources said.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Kyiv Repels ‘Massive’ Russian Drone Attack; Zaporizhzhya And Lviv Also Hit Overnight, Officials Say

• The air defenses of the Ukrainian capital repelled a “massive” Russian drone attack overnight, destroying about 20 Iranian-made drones, the governor of the Kyiv region said early on June 20.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Denmark Pledges Aid To Ukraine’s Military Of More Than $3 Billion

• Denmark’s military support to Ukraine will be increased to 21.9 billion Danish crowns ($3.21 billion) during 2023-2028, the Danish Defense Ministry said in a statement on June 19.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Ukraine’s Defense Chief Points To Support From European Partners, Hopes To Liberate Crimea

• Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov provided few details about Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive but stressed the importance of the military support Kyiv is receiving from European countries and his hopes to celebrate his 58th birthday next year in Crimea.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ U.K. To Keep Russian Assets Frozen Until Ukraine Is Compensated

• The British government announced plans to tighten its sanctions policy against Russia on June 19, including introducing legislation to keep assets frozen until Moscow has agreed to pay compensation to Ukraine.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Public Outcry Forces Cancellation Of Pro-Kremlin Singer’s Concert In Kazakhstan

• Officials in Kazakhstan’s southern Almaty region have cancelled a concert by pro-Kremlin Russian singer Grigory Leps amid a public outcry over his support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ NATO Summit Will Not Formally Invite Ukraine To Join Alliance, Stoltenberg Says

• NATO leaders will not issue an invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance at a summit in Vilnius in mid-July, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 19.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Car Explosion Injures Russian-Imposed Official Of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Region

• Volodymyr Epifanov, an aide to the Russian-imposed deputy minister of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya region, and his two associates were injured when his car exploded in Russian-annexed Crimea on June 19.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ Russia Continues to Inflict Casualties on NATO-Trained Soldiers

• “From the Anglo-Saxon elite’s perspective, Ukrainians are cannon fodder who can be used without hesitation,” SVR Director said.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Finland’s new defence, foreign ministers promise close relationship with US, support for Ukraine

• Defence Minister nominee Antti Häkkänen said that a Ukrainian victory is essential for Finland and Europe’s security.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ In Lviv, Ukraine, Digging Up Old Graves to Bury Newly Fallen Soldiers

• Funerals have taken on a grim routine in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, and as the fighting grows more intense during the counteroffensive, gravediggers say they are bracing for more bodies.

=> ↺ YLE ☛ President Niinistö seeks clarification regarding Russian consulate on Åland

• The presence of Russia’s consulate office on the demilitarised islands in the Finnish archipelago has been a topic of much public and political debate in recent weeks.

Transparency/Investigative Reporting

=> ↺ Counter Punch ☛ Daniel Ellsberg’s Last Message

• Ellsberg was deeply determined to do all he could to help prevent omnicide. As he said in an interview when “The Doomsday Machine” came out, scientific research has concluded that nuclear war “would loft into the stratosphere many millions of tons of soot and black smoke from the burning cities. It wouldn’t be rained out in the stratosphere. It would go around the globe very quickly and reduce sunlight by as much as 70 percent, causing temperatures like that of the Little Ice Age, killing harvests worldwide and starving to death nearly everyone on earth. It probably wouldn’t cause extinction. We’re so adaptable. Maybe 1 percent of our current population of 7.4 billion could survive, but 98 or 99 percent would not.”

=> ↺ Counter Punch ☛ Daniel Ellsberg and the Endless Federal Lies

• The Nixon administration charged Ellsberg with espionage regardless of the Supreme Court decision. At the start of his trial for leaking the Pentagon Papers, Ellsberg declared: “This has been for me an act of hope and of trust. Hope that the truth will free us of this war. Trust that informed Americans will direct their public servants to stop lying and to stop the killing and dying by Americans in Indochina.” The federal case collapsed after the judge learned of endless illegal skullduggery against Ellsberg by the Nixon White House.

=> ↺ Craig Murray ☛ Daniel Ellsberg, and the “Good” and “Bad” Whistleblower

• The massive obituaries to Daniel Ellsberg at the weekend in both New York Times and Washington Post were proof of the status he held in the United States.

Environment

=> ↺ Science Alert ☛ Himalayan Glaciers Are Melting 65% Faster Than Just 10 Years Ago

• Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region are a crucial water source for around 240 million people in the mountainous regions, as well as for another 1.65 billion people in the river valleys below, the report said.

• Based on current emissions trajectories, the glaciers could lose up to 80 percent of their current volume by the end of the century, said the Nepal-based ICIMOD, an inter-governmental organization that also includes member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Pakistan.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ UN Adopts First Treaty to Protect the High Seas

• Among other provisions, the agreement will regulate the sharing of benefits derived from marine genetic resources beyond national jurisdictions, the creation of protected areas on the high seas, and the establishment of a framework for assessing environmental damage.

Finance

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ ‘Great Resignation’ continues amid cooling economy: PwC [Ed: "Great Resignation" is a myth and a lie, in this case perpetuated by professional liars who helped EPO cover up corruption and lies about oppressed staff; it's just victim-blaming spin. It's also gaslighting like "cooling economy". Before Sheela Zemlin, the wife of Jim Zemlin, committed fraud she had worked at PwC.]

• A quarter of workers surveyed by PwC expect to change jobs in the next 12 months, up from 19 per cent last year, as they are increasingly left cash-strapped in a cooling economy while dealing with inflationary pressures.

• Even as the ‘Great Resignation’ continues, about 42 per cent of the employees surveyed by PwC in its latest study of the global workforce said they planned to demand a pay rise to cope with the higher cost of living, up from 35 per cent last year.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ The Guardian UK ☛ Signal’s Meredith Whittaker: ‘These are the people who could actually pause AI if they wanted to’

• The president of the not-for-profit messaging app on how she believes existential warnings about AI allow big tech to entrench their power, and why the online safety bill may be unworkable

=> ↺ RIPE ☛ EuroDIG 2023 Live Blog

• EuroDIG 2023, the European Dialogue on Internet Governance, is taking place this week. A rich agenda will cover Internet fragmentation, the impact of the war in Ukraine, regulation of digital platforms, youth engagement and digital inclusion and much more. RIPE NCC staff will be live-blogging the event!

=> ↺ International Business Times ☛ Security must take centre stage in AI development, urges head of UK’s National Cyber Security Centre

• Speaking at the Chatham House Cyber 2023 conference, Cameron highlighted the need for security to be integrated into AI systems from the outset, rather than being an afterthought. She also stressed the responsibility of developers to protect individuals, businesses, and the wider economy from potential vulnerabilities in AI systems.

• Cameron’s comments underscore the growing recognition of the inherent risks associated with AI and the need for a proactive and preemptive approach to security. She argued against relying on retroactively adding security measures to AI technology in the future and shifting the burden of risk onto individual users.

=> ↺ International Business Times ☛ Google teams up with UK NCSC, offering SMEs free cybersecurity training

• In an effort to equip small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with essential cybersecurity knowledge, Google and the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have launched a free training program called ‘Improve your online business security.’

• The course, which can be accessed online or in person at Google’s Digital Garage events across the country, offers valuable insights into cybersecurity best practices and lasts for one hour.

=> ↺ MIT Technology Review ☛ Five big takeaways from Europe’s AI Act

• What Wednesday’s vote accomplished was to approve the European Parliament’s position in the upcoming final negotiations. Structured similarly to the EU’s Digital Services Act, a legal framework for online platforms, the AI Act takes a “risk-based approach” by introducing restrictions based on how dangerous lawmakers predict an AI application could be. Businesses will also have to submit their own risk assessments about their use of AI.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ The Emergence of a New Non-Alignment

• Dear friends, Greetings from the desk of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ Putin Shows African Leaders Draft Treaty on Ukrainian Neutrality From March 2022

• A delegation of African leaders traveled to Russia and Ukraine to urge for a ceasefire and negotiations.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ G.O.P. Targets Researchers Who Study Disinformation Ahead of 2024 Election

• Much of the disinformation surrounding both issues has come from the right. Many Republicans are convinced that researchers who study disinformation have pressed social media platforms to discriminate against conservative voices.

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ Project Censored ☛ Exposing International News Neglect, Censorship, and Agenda Cutting – Dispatches from Project Censored: On Media and Politics

=> ↺ Meduza ☛ Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny faces 30 more years in prison as new ‘extremism’ trial begins

• Journalists have been barred from entering the courtroom, as have Navalny’s own parents. Footage of the hearing is being broadcast to a separate location for observers, but according to Mediazona, the poor quality of the video makes it impossible to understand what is being said in the court.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ New Trial of Russia’s Jailed Opposition Leader Navalny Begins

• The new extremism charges could add decades to the prison terms that Aleksei Navalny is already serving.

=> ↺ [Repeat] Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong student arrested over ‘seditious’ posts handed strict bail terms incl. deleting all social media apps

• The outlet reported that national security judge Peter Law granted Yuen bail on a HK$10,000 cash bond and a long list of strict conditions related to social media use. The defendant was not allowed not to possess electronic devices with social media apps, make comments on social media or join messaging groups with more than five people.

• She was also ordered to delete all social media apps and the offending posts; hand over and sign into accounts for police to investigate; not make contact with foreign politicians; and report to the police station twice a week.

=> ↺ Deutsche Welle ☛ Salman Rushdie wins prestigious German peace prize

• The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for 2023 has been awarded to British-American author Salman Rushdie, “for his indomitable spirit, for his affirmation of life and for enriching our world with his love of storytelling,” the award’s Board of Trustees said in a statement on Monday in Frankfurt am Main.

• “From the moment his masterpiece ‘Midnight’s Children’ was published in 1981, Salman Rushdie has awed us with his interpretations of migration and global politics. In his novels and nonfiction, he melds narrative foresight with unfailing literary innovation, humor and wisdom. His work chronicles the force used by oppressive regimes to destroy entire societies while also celebrating the indestructible spirit of resistance displayed by individual human beings,” the prize’s board added.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ In Latest Move To Stifle Civil Society, Russia Labels Agora Rights Group ‘Undesirable’

• The Russian Prosecutor’s Office has designated prominent human rights group Agora, which has provided political and rights activists with legal advice, as “an undesirable organization” and banned its operations in the country.

Freedom of Information / Freedom of the Press

=> ↺ EDRI ☛ Open letter: The Council of European Union must protect journalists against spyware and surveillance in the European Media Freedom Act

• While the attempt to protect journalists is welcome, there are concerns about how effective the Regulation will end up being, given the recent changes being made to the draft by the Council of the European Union. The latest compromise text of 24 May and discussed by the Audiovisual and Media Working Group on 30 May poses serious risks to European Union core democratic principles and fundamental rights, notably press freedoms, freedom of expression and the protection of journalists.

• Pressure to weaken the already insufficient Commission’s proposal comes from the French authorities. In a non-paper circulated in April to other delegations, the French government strongly pushed for adding a wide “national security” carve out from any protections afforded by the EMFA, in order to safeguard the prerogative of Member States in this area of competence. France absolutely dreads the scrutiny of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which “presents the risk of an extensive interpretation”of safeguards in EU law. It also advocated for the deletion of the term “spyware” in the Regulation so as to treat the deployment of such extremely intrusive tools like any other investigative means.

=> ↺ Project Censored ☛ Latest Developments in the Julian Assange Extradition Case / Honoring the Late Daniel Ellsberg and His Work – The Project Censored Show

• Notes: Kevin Gosztola is the managing editor of ShadowProof. He has covered the Julian Assange legal proceedings in the UK from its beginning, as well as other press-freedom and whistleblower cases. Gosztola also writes at The Dissenter. His new book on the Assange case, Guilty of Journalism, is now available in bookstores.

=> ↺ Scheerpost ☛ Judge Who Ruled Against Assange Built Career as Barrister Defending UK Government

• Jonathan Swift, the High Court judge who has just rejected Julian Assange’s attempt to halt his extradition to the US, is the government’s former top lawyer and previously defended the Defence and Home Secretaries.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ YLE ☛ Report: One in ten in Finland unable to afford a “decent life”

• “It is easy to then fall below the poverty line,” Mäkinen said, referring to the strain caused by social benefit cuts, amplified by the rise in the cost of living.

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Gig workers win employment status recognition after delivery platform Zeek accused of withholding pay

• Delivery platform Zeek has been ordered to pay six of its employees outstanding wages, payment in lieu of notice, annual leave, and legal costs, following a Labour Tribunal ruling that the six couriers were indeed employed by the delivery platform.

=> ↺ Michael West Media ☛ ‘Rogue heroes’: body cameras alone won’t fix the likes of Ben Roberts-Smith

• The nation’s elite soldiers will be soon have a new piece of kit, body cameras, to help stamp out Ben Roberts-Smith-style rogue elements. But, as Lisa-Jane Roberts writes, the culture of the SAS has deep roots and is unlikely to be fixed by technology. 

• The Australian Defence Force’s top brass is supporting a push to have special forces wear body cameras in a move aimed at stamping out bad behaviour. But is the camera push simply window dressing? Will it address a deeper problem within our defence forces?

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong court blocks bid by media tycoon Jimmy Lai to appeal against phones’ national security search warrant

• Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal has blocked pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s bid to challenge a national security search warrant of his phones, which he says contained protected journalistic materials, at the city’s top court.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Court Bailiff Found Dead In Public Restroom In Russia’s Bashkortostan

• A court bailiff was found dead in a public restroom in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan.

=> ↺ OpenRightsGroup ☛ Refugee Week: Compassion needed at the Home Office

• This year marks the 25th anniversary of Refugee Week, and the theme is compassion, celebrating the resilience of refugees and asylum seekers. However, it is disheartening to note that this year has also seen a significant increase in attacks on refugees’ rights, particularly digital rights.

Monopolies

Patents

=> ↺ The Register UK ☛ Mega patent holder Huawei said to be putting licensing squeeze on SMEs

• Earlier this year, Washington put a halt on all American technology export licenses to Huawei, depriving it of a range of key smartphones components from US manufacturers such as Qualcomm. The US has also been leading a campaign to have Huawei technology blocked from the telecommunications networks of its allies in Europe and elsewhere, which has had a devastating effect on its bottom line in countries such as the UK.

• The move could have worrying implications if Huawei intends to expand this apparent targeting of small to midsize companies to other regions. Nikkei states that the company is believed to be stepping up royalty collections in Southeast Asia as well as Japan.

=> ↺ How the UPC and European Patents with Unitary Effect Reach Beyond Europe to the United States [Ed: UPC is illegal. UPC is unconstitutional. UPC is corruption. UPC judges already resign in droves, perhaps as they realise what this scam was all along about. UPC is basically a kangaroo court that is, by its very existence, an attack not only on laws but also many constitutions across the EU and an attack on international conventions. Never before in Europe did we see a court that embodies so much crime by virtur of being ratified illegally.]

=> ↺ How the UPC and European Patents with Unitary Effect Reach Beyond Europe to the United States [Ed: UPC is illegal. UPC is unconstitutional. UPC is corruption. UPC judges already resign in droves, perhaps as they realise what this scam was all along about. UPC is basically a kangaroo court that is, by its very existence, an attack not only on laws but also many constitutions across the EU and an attack on international conventions. Never before in Europe did we see a court that embodies so much crime by virtur of being ratified illegally.]

=> ↺ How the UPC and European Patents with Unitary Effect Reach Beyond Europe to the United States [Ed: UPC is illegal. UPC is unconstitutional. UPC is corruption. UPC judges already resign in droves, perhaps as they realise what this scam was all along about. UPC is basically a kangaroo court that is, by its very existence, an attack not only on laws but also many constitutions across the EU and an attack on international conventions. Never before in Europe did we see a court that embodies so much crime by virtur of being ratified illegally.]

Software Patents

=> ↺ CNBC ☛ Huawei turns to patents for a lifeline — including those in the U.S.

• Over the last two years, Huawei’s U.S. patents have increased the most in areas related to image compression, digital information transmission and wireless communication networks, according to IFI.

• The U.S. government put Huawei on a blacklist in 2018 that restricted its ability to buy from American suppliers. By October 2022, the U.S. made it clear that no Americans should work with Chinese businesses on high-end semiconductor tech.

Copyrights

=> ↺ Torrent Freak ☛ Most Prolific World Cup Pirates Also Most Likely to Use a Paid Service

• At the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, defending champions France couldn’t prevent Argentina from lifting the trophy. Back on home soil, French telecoms regulator Arcom blocked 83 domains during the tournament but couldn’t prevent some fans from streaming games illegally. The conundrum for Arcom is that if it cracked down on the most prolific football pirates, it would also be cracking down on the fans most likely to use paid, legal services.

=> ↺ Torrent Freak ☛ Anti-Piracy Group Signals Opportunities to Tackle Online Piracy Apps

• A recent publication by the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance signals app piracy as a growing problem that has room for improvement. Rightsholders could collaborate more intensely with app stores, for example. Meanwhile, app platforms could implement know-your-customer verification, while deploying automated tools to scan for and filter apps that use known pirate keywords.

=> ↺ Torrent Freak ☛ Pirate Movie Supplier Quits After Russian Pirates Cammed its Pirate Releases

• There are fears that Russia’s black-market supply of unlicensed Hollywood movies could soon dry up. Cinema insiders say Kazakhstan-based company ‘WesternRus” had been supplying keys to cinema chains to unlock localized mainstream movies. Announcing an indefinite suspension of its activities, WesternRus cited “high levels of piracy” as the main reason for throwing in the towel.

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