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● 07.28.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Links 28/07/2023: Leaked Survey/Poll Shows Morale Crisis at Microsoft, Senator Ron Wyden Wants to Hold Microsoft Accountable for Epic Breach

Posted in News Roundup at 3:35 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux

=> ↺ Data Swamp ☛ Turning a 15 years old laptop into a children proof retrogaming station

• This article explains a setup I made for our family vacation place, I wanted to turn an old laptop (a Dell Vostro 1500 from 2008) into a retrogaming station. That’s actually easy to do, but I wanted to make it “childproof” so it will always work even if we let children alone with the laptop for a moment, that part was way harder.

• This is not a tutorial explaining everything from A to Z, but mostly what worked / didn’t work from my experimentation.

Audiocasts/Shows

=> ↺ Tux Digital ☛ Linux Out Loud 70: Tech Experts

• This week, Linux Out Loud chats about questioning the “tech experts”. Welcome to episode 70 of Linux Out Loud. We fired up our mics, connected those headphones as we searched the community for themes to expound upon. We kept the banter friendly, the conversation somewhat on topic, and had fun doing it.

=> ↺ Linux in the Ham Shack ☛ LHS Episode #511: I Hear Banjos

• Hello and welcome to Episode #511 of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this short topics episode, the hosts discuss the National Boy Scout Jamboree, SOTA activations in Colorado, volunteerism …

=> ↺ Jupiter Broadcasting ☛ NixOS is a bit Flakey | Self-Hosted 102

• Alex shares a suite of self-hosted apps that replace Reddit. Chris is struggling with Jellyfin, and we discuss where NixOS is killing it and where we think it falls down.

Applications

=> ↺ It’s FOSS ☛ Colors in ls Command Output: What do They Mean

• I’m sure you must have used the ls command to list the contents of a directory. In Ubuntu and many other distributions, you’ll see the ls command output in different colors.

• If you don’t see it, you can get colored output like this…

• But have you ever wondered what those colors mean in the ls command output?

• I’ll answer the questions in this article. I’ll also show how to get colored output with ls command if your terminal does not show it by default.

Instructionals/Technical

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Setting Up NTP Server and Client on Rocky Linux 9

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to setting Up NTP Server and Client on Rocky Linux 9. For those of you who didn’t know, NTP operates on the principle of hierarchical timekeeping using a set of stratum levels. Stratum 0 denotes high-precision reference clocks, such as GPS satellites or atomic clocks.

=> ↺ Linux Journal ☛ Mount Drives with Ease: A Guide to Automounting in Linux GUI and CLI

• Before we delve into the process, it’s important to comprehend why automounting is a handy feature. Normally, when a storage drive is connected to your Linux system, it does not become instantly accessible. You must manually mount the drive every time you boot up. Automounting eliminates this hassle by ensuring the drive is automatically accessible when the system starts. Now that you know why this is crucial, let’s delve into the process.

=> ↺ Make Tech Easier ☛ How to Backup Your GPG Key in Linux with paperkey

• Paperkey is a command line program for Linux that allows you to export your GPG private key in a human-readable format. It works by removing the redundant parts of a private key and leaving only its critical secret bits.

• This article will guide you through the process of installing and setting up paperkey on Ubuntu, and show you how to store your paperkey backup as a QR code and extract it during recovery.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install Jenkins on Debian 12

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Jenkins on Debian 12. For those of you who didn’t know, Jenkins is an open-source automation server, that plays a pivotal role in automating the CI/CD pipeline, enabling developers to focus on innovation rather than repetitive tasks.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ bzcmp Command in Linux with Examples

• Linux users have a multitude of commands at their disposal, and bzcmp is one such command. This command is used to compare bzip2 compressed files without needing to decompress them first, which saves time and computing resources.

=> ↺ It’s Ubuntu ☛ How To Mount Windows Share On Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• We will use CIFS or Common Internet File System in Ubuntu to access a particular mount point on a windows share.

=> ↺ TecAdmin ☛ Apache: Denying Access to URLs, Files, and Directories

• Apache HTTP Server, often referred to simply as Apache, is one of the most widely used web server software on the Internet today. Apache is open-source software, which means that it’s not only free to use, but it also benefits from the collaborative contributions of developers worldwide.

=> ↺ It’s Ubuntu ☛ Fix Brightness Problem In Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• If you are having a problem with the brightness of your Laptop after installing Ubuntu 22.04 LTS then you are in the right place as we have a solution for it.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ bzgrep Command in Linux with Examples

• The bzgrep command is a valuable Linux utility that lets users perform searches within bz2 compressed files without the need for manual decompression.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ bzdiff Command in Linux with Examples

• Bzdiff is a Linux command-line tool that plays a vital role in comparing bzip2 compressed files. It falls under the family of ‘bzip2’, a high-quality data compressor that significantly reduces file sizes, making data storage and transfer more efficient.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ echo Command in Linux with Examples

• The echo command in Linux is a simple yet extremely powerful tool. It’s often used to print text or the result of a command to the terminal or a file. It’s a built-in command in most shells like bash, ksh, or zsh, making it available in virtually all Linux distributions.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ cd (Change Directory) Command in Linux with Examples

• The Linux command line interface is a potent tool that offers immense power and flexibility to its users. This article explores one of the most fundamental and frequently used commands – the “cd” or “change directory” command.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ How to Install balenaEtcher on Linux Mint 21/20

• balenaEtcher is a user-friendly and efficient tool widely used for creating bootable USB drives and SD cards and works well on Linux Mint-based distributions. Its popularity stems from its ease of use, reliability, and robust features that simplify creating bootable media.

=> ↺ ID Root ☛ How To Install Wine on Debian 12

• In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Wine on Debian 12. Wine is an impressive compatibility layer that enables Linux users to run Windows applications without the need for a Windows operating system. It acts as a translation layer, providing the necessary Windows API calls to emulate a Windows environment within Linux.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ bzmore Command in Linux with Examples

• The bzmore command in Linux is a utility for viewing bzip2 compressed files. Unlike other file viewing commands in Linux, bzmore is designed to read bzip2 compressed files without the need to decompress them first.

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ bzless Command in Linux with Examples

• The bzless command is an essential utility in the Linux ecosystem, especially when managing bzip2 compressed files. This guide will provide a thorough understanding of the bzless command and illustrate its utility with various practical examples.

=> ↺ Install Virtualbox 7.0.10 on Manjaro Linux 22.1 ( kernel 6.4.6 )

=> ↺ Linux Capable ☛ bzip2 Command in Linux with Examples

• The bzip2 command is a powerful tool available in the Linux command line. It is primarily used for file compression and decompression, making it an essential utility for conserving storage space and managing file sizes.

=> ↺ It’s Ubuntu ☛ How To Install Nvidia Drivers On Ubuntu 22.04 LTS [2023]

=> ↺ Own HowTo ☛ How to create a user account on Debian 12

• Adding another user on Debian 12, is easy, and it can be done without having to use the terminal.

=> ↺ TecAdmin ☛ How to Install AWSCLI on Alpine Linux

• In this article, we will guide you on how to install AWSCLI on an Alpine Linux environment. AWSCLI, or Amazon Web Services Command Line Interface, is a comprehensive tool that enables you to manage and control various AWS services from the command line. With AWSCLI, you can automate simple or complex tasks via scripts.

=> ↺ TecAdmin ☛ How To Redirect To Subfolder Using .htaccess

• The .htaccess file is an Apache server configuration file that allows developers to manage server functionality directly from the application directory. Among the multitude of functions you can use .htaccess for, one of them is to redirect visitors to a subfolder on your website.

=> ↺ nixCraft ☛ How to run script after mounting NFS with systemd in Linux

• If you need to execute a shell script or command following the mounting of a particular file system in Linux using systemd, you can do so. For instance, you can run a backup task when a USB hard disk is mounted or adjust specific options at runtime when NFS is mounted.

=> ↺ FOSSLinux ☛ How to install Discord on Ubuntu 22.04

• Discord, a popular voice, video, and text communication platform, is widely embraced by gaming communities, study groups, hobby clubs, and more. With its robust features such as voice channels, direct messages, and integration with various gaming platforms, it’s an excellent tool for both social and professional communication. Installing Discord on your Ubuntu 22.04 system can open up a world of seamless interaction with diverse online communities.

=> ↺ TecAdmin ☛ How To Install PHP (8.2, 8.1 or 7.4) on Debian 12

• In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to install PHP on a Debian 12 system. We will specifically look into two different versions – PHP 8.2 and PHP 7.4, providing you with the flexibility to choose the version that suits your needs.

=> ↺ How to Install and Use Yay on Arch Linux and Derivatives

• Yay (Yet Another Yaourt) is a popular Arch User Repository (AUR) helper for Arch Linux and its derivatives, such as Manjaro, after the discontinuation of Yaourt and Packer.

=> ↺ KDE Videos ☛ How to perform Baseline Correction in LabPlot

• LabPlot is a FREE, open source and cross-platform Data Visualization an Analysis software accessible to everyone.

=> ↺ It’s Ubuntu ☛ How To Set JAVA_HOME Environment Variable On Ubuntu 22.04

Desktop Environments/WMs

K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

=> ↺ Volker Krause ☛ Akademy 2023

• A week ago I returned home from KDE Akademy in Thessaloniki, Greece. If you count online attendance in the recent years this would have been my 20th Akademy, and I had no idea how much I had missed doing this in person for the past four years.

=> ↺ Niccolò Venerandi ☛ I Went To Akademy!

• This will be a quite short post, as I’m still working on getting my studio back, meaning I don’t have a lot of time lately. But yeah: I joined the other devs @ Akademy and I even did a quick talk with Marco regarding what Plasma 6 will bring.

• Before I start talking about the event itself, though, do let me say that I only managed to join in thanks to the KDE eV, who covered part of the traveling and hotel costs. That’s extremely helpful, and I hope to get back to productivity and give back to KDE!

• So, how was the event for me? Well, firstly, Thessaloniki had some pretty places:

Distributions and Operating Systems

=> ↺ HaikuOS ☛ [GSoC 2023] VPN Support Project Update #4

• So we are just past the midway point for GSoC and last update I told you guys that I had a working (albeit somewhat buggy) TUN Driver working. I had gotten great feedback from Pulkomandy, Axel, and Korli to help with a more efficient driver and to make it more human-readable because it made no sense the way I had written it. I have very good news to bring to everyone in that all of the 3 main problems that I talked about last time are all solved! I think most of them got solved after I fully understood creating semaphores and imposed execution order by adding a write semaphore. While this new code made the driver much more efficient and less error-prone, there were two new errors that popped up during testing:

SUSE/OpenSUSE

=> ↺ Linuxiac ☛ Happy SysAdmin Day, Linux Wizards!

• Happy Sysadmin Day to all the fantastic Linux admins out there! Thank you for being our servers’ heroes and our data guardians!

Fedora Family / IBM

=> ↺ GNOME ☛ Richard Hughes: Introducing Passim

• tl;dr: Passim is a local caching server that uses mDNS to advertise files by their SHA-256 hash. Named after the Latin word for “here, there and everywhere” it might save a lot of people a lot of money.

• Much of the software running on your computer that connects to other systems over the Internet needs to periodically download metadata or other information needed to perform other requests.

• As part of running the passim/LVFS projects I’ve seen how download this “small” file once per 24h turns into tens of millions of requests per day — which is about ~10TB of bandwidth! Everybody downloads the same file from a CDN, and although a CDN is not super-expensive, it’s certainly not free. Everybody on your local network (perhaps dozens of users in an office) has to download the same 1MB blob of metadata from a CDN over a perhaps-non-free shared internet link.

• What if we could download the file from the Internet CDN on one machine, and the next machine on the local network that needs it instead downloads it from the first machine? We could put a limit on the number of times it can be shared, and the maximum age so that we don’t store yesterdays metadata forever, and so that we don’t turn a ThinkPad X220 into a machine distributing 1Gb/s to every other machine in the office. We could cut the CDN traffic by at least one order of magnitude, but possibly much more. This is better for the person paying the cloud bill, the person paying for the internet connection, and the planet as a whole.

• This is what Passim might be. You add automatically or manually add files to the daemon which stores them in /var/lib/passim/data with xattrs set on each file for the max-age and share-limit. When the file has been shared more than the share limit number of times, or is older than the max age it is deleted and not advertised to other clients.

=> ↺ Vice Media Group ☛ The Linux Community Is Circumventing Red Hat’s Controversial New Strategy

• Red Hat’s recent decision to restrict the source code for its enterprise Linux build has led open-source projects big and small to come up with creative strategies to continue to serve their users.

Canonical/Ubuntu Family

=> ↺ Hectic Geek ☛ Pop!_OS VS Linux Mint, Which One to Select in 2023

• Struggling to pick between Pop!_OS and Linux Mint? Our comparison guide will help you pick the best distro. Both Pop!_OS and Linux Mint are targeted toward beginner users. Which one should you get?

=> ↺ Ubuntu News ☛ Ubuntu 22.10 (Kinetic Kudu) End of Life reached on July 20, 2023

• This is a follow-up to the End of Life warning sent earlier to confirm that as of July 20, 2023, Ubuntu 22.10 is no longer supported. No more package updates will be accepted to 22.10, and it will be archived to old-releases.ubuntu.com in the coming weeks.

=> ↺ Ubuntu 22.10 (Kinetic Kudu) End of Life reached on July 20, 2023

=> ↺ Ubuntu Fridge ☛ The Fridge: Ubuntu 22.10 (Kinetic Kudu) End of Life reached on July 20, 2023

Devices/Embedded

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Turing RK1 RK3588 system-on-module for cluster boards is now available (for pre-order)

• The module comes preloaded with Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS with Linux 5.15 LTS kernel, and some documentation is available with the specs and instructions to use the 6 TOPS NPU with the RKNN toolkit v2. Since the Turing RK1 system-on-module is compatible with Jetson Nano and NX modules, it can not only be used with the Turing Pi 2 cluster board, but with other carrier boards made for Jetson modules with a SO-DIMM edge connector. For example, it can replace the Jetson Nano in the official developer kit as shown below.

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Armbian Ubuntu 23.04 can now run on Lenovo X13S Arm laptop

• The Lenovo X13S Windows 11 Arm laptop based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 processor can now run Armbian-built Ubuntu 23.04 Lunar images with GNOME or XFCE desktop environment. But before getting too excited note that this is a work-in-progress (WiP) port, so while it’s a nice development, there may be some issues. Let’s have a look at the available information. When laptop manufacturers started to sell Windows Arm laptops with Qualcomm processors, people wondered whether it would be possible to run Linux on the device, and a community formed around the idea of porting Linux to the Windows Arm laptops, and that gave rise to projects such as Aarch64 laptop.

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Turing RK1 RK3588 system-on-module for cluster boards is now available (for pre-order)

• Turing Pi has been making mini-ITX cluster boards for Raspberry Pi CM4 and NVIDIA Jetson modules for over four years, but last year, the company teased their own Turing RK1 system-on-module based on a powerful Rockchip RK3588 Arm processor with 6 TOPS NPU while launching the Turing Pi 2 cluster board on Kickstarter and raising over 2 million dollars in the process.

Open Hardware/Modding

=> ↺ Andrew Hutchings ☛ Amiga 3000: Restoration Part 4

• In my last post, I had started a new retrobrighting process on the keyboard. Let’s see how it went. Keyboard Part 2 Of course, the day I started the vapour retrobrighting technique, the dark clouds rolled over, and we had rain for most of the day.

=> ↺ The New Stack ☛ RISC-V Finds Its Foothold in a Rapidly Evolving Processor Ecosystem

• Developers have grown up hearing ARM or x86 being the guts of PCs and servers, but an alternative architecture [...]

=> ↺ Arduino ☛ New backscatter technology promises cost-effective reliability

• Traditional bi-directional wireless communication requires both a receiver and a transmitter at either end. Your laptop, for example, needs to receive a signal from your Wi-Fi router, but it also needs to transmit a signal back to that router.

=> ↺ Tom’s Hardware ☛ Raspberry Pi Pico Paper Piano Uses Pencil Drawn Keys

• Cytron has published a tutorial on how to create a Raspberry Pi Pico-powered piano using a piece of paper and pencil-drawn keys for input.

=> ↺ peppe8o ☛ Web Browsers You Can Install on Raspberry Pi: 7 Options

• Planning to buy a computer that can balance functionality and budget? Go for Raspberry Pi.

Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications

=> ↺ Moto Edge+ 2023 (Edge 40 Pro) Android Auto USB connection issues

=> ↺ Gizmo China ☛ Google Fights Back Against Poor Large Screen Support in Android Apps

=> ↺ Tom’s Guide ☛ Google’s making 2 big Android changes — what you need to know | Tom’s Guide

=> ↺ Phone Arena ☛ Lenovo launches two mid-range Android tablets in Europe – PhoneArena

=> ↺ Make Use Of ☛ The 9 Best Simple Note-Taking Apps for Android

=> ↺ SlashGear ☛ The Best 5 Hidden Android Auto Features

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Tungsten700 SMARC SoM and devkit features MediaTek Genio 700 AIoT processor – CNX Software

=> ↺ Google Chrome tabs switched from list to grid view on Android

=> ↺ SlashGear ☛ How To Create Ringtones For Your Android Phone

=> ↺ HowTo Geek ☛ How to Use Videos as Live Wallpaper on Android

=> ↺ The Verge ☛ How to use Google’s Reading Mode app for Android – The Verge

=> ↺ SlashGear ☛ How To Stop Annoying Pop-Up Ads On Your Android Phone

=> ↺ Notebook Check ☛ Lenovo Tab P12 arrives as new Android 13 tablet from €399 with MediaTek Dimensity 7050 – NotebookCheck.net News

=> ↺ Engadget ☛ Android’s earthquake warning system failed in Turkey, according to the BBC | Engadget

=> ↺ 9to5Google ☛ Google Maps for Android rolling out new voice input

=> ↺ 9to5Google ☛ Android Auto is getting a new Google Maps redesign

Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

=> ↺ Linux Links ☛ Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Apple Keychain Access

• In 2020, Apple began the Apple silicon transition, using self-designed, 64-bit ARM-based Apple M1 processors on new Mac computers. Maybe it’s the perfect time to move away from the proprietary world of Apple, and embrace the open source Linux scene.

• Keychain Access is an app that stores your passwords and account information, and reduces the number of passwords you have to remember and manage.

• Keychain Access is proprietary software and not available for Linux. We recommend the best free and open source alternatives.

Web Browsers/Web Servers

Mozilla

=> ↺ Mozilla ☛ Hacks.Mozilla.Org: So you want to build your own open source chatbot…

=> ↺ Mozilla ☛ Mozilla Localization (L10N): L10n Report: July 2023 Edition

=> ↺ Mozilla ☛ Mozilla Privacy Blog: Mozilla Calls on Congress to Reform FISA

• FISA Reform is Critical for Civil Liberties and Human Rights

• Mozilla has advocated through dozens of blog posts, regulatory filings, and amicus briefs for more transparency and due process in government surveillance in the United States. Our Surveillance Principles for a Secure, Trusted Internet have served as the guiding force of our advocacy in this space. These principles were created in the aftermath of the Snowden revelations of 2013 that showed the world the catastrophic breadth of US government surveillance. Our advocacy here also stems from Principle 4 of Mozilla’s Manifesto: “Individuals’ security and privacy on the internet are fundamental and must not be treated as optional.” The status quo of US government surveillance violates this principle and can threaten the human rights of journalists, dissidents, and even members of Congress.

• The current FISA process is overbroad, restricted only by weak legislation and executive orders that, experience has shown, do not create real accountability. It has been clear for some time that any meaningful reform to FISA 702 would create accessible due process available to subjects of surveillance accompanied by effective oversight.

Content Management Systems (CMS)

=> ↺ WordPress ☛ Synced Patterns: The Evolution of Reusable Blocks

• Synced patterns are replacing Reusable blocks, offering a unified creation experience for new pattern functionality coming to WordPress 6.3. Patterns, first introduced in WordPress 5.5, are a collection of blocks that make it simple to add complex layouts and designs to any WordPress site without starting from scratch.

GNU Projects

=> ↺ GCC ☛ GCC 13.2 Released

Licensing / Legal

=> ↺ Software Freedom Conservancy ☛ Software Freedom & Trademarks: Examining Rust’s New Policy through the Lens of FOSS History [Ed: Rust has trademark issues, says RMS, and it uses proprietary Microsoft hosting, so here's why "team CANCEL RMS" says]

• However, trademark law can have a significant impact on what people can do with a FOSS project, including whether they can enjoy these rights at all.

• Practical software freedom (the right to use, study, modify, and redistribute software you’ve received) requires meeting several conditions. First, that program must be under a Free and Open Source (FOSS) license. Second, the entity(ies) distributing the program must abide by the terms of the license. And third, there must be no additional restrictions that would inhibit your ability to exercise your rights under the license. (Copyleft licenses include extra verbiage to assure the third condition is met.)

Programming/Development

=> ↺ Collabora ☛ EOSS – Recorded presentations (videos) now available

• If you weren’t able to attend Embedded Open Source Summit in Prague last month, you’re in luck as all presentations were recorded and are now available on YouTube.

=> ↺ Daniel Vetter: EOSS Prague: Kernel Locking Engineering

• EOSS in Prague was great, lots of hallway track, good talks, good food,

=> ↺ Qt ☛ Qbs 2.1 released

• The Qbs build tool version 2.1.0 is available.

• Qbs is a community-driven language-agnostic build automation system. It is fast and offers an easy-to-learn language based upon QML. 

Rust

=> ↺ Kushal Das: My talk in RustNL 2023

• On May 10th, I attended my first ever Rust conference, RustNL 2023. I reached there the night before. My talk was the 3rd one in the morning.

Leftovers

=> ↺ Barry Kauler ☛ Idea for a stove windshield and stand

• For many years have hiked with my great little titanium 1 litre cooking pot. However, to cook a hearty meal at end of a day of hiking, would prefer a slightly bigger size. So, have ordered a 1.3 litre pot. It is TOAKS brand, same as before, same height at 100mm, just a slightly bigger diameter:

• Ordered it from here:

• https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32854649082.html

• Then had some thoughts about the stove. My favourite stove is from Speedster Backpacking Products (SBP). Fantastic little stove. Purchased in 2021 and posted about it here: [...]

Hardware

=> ↺ Ruben Schade ☛ Camera specs don’t tell the whole story

• Cameras are weird devices. They’re first and foremost a tool for artistic creativity, yet nerds like me are also drawn to their endless potential for technobabble and obsession about specifications. But as I’ve now learned, spending your time on the latter may impact the former in ways you don’t expect.

• My first camera was an Olympus Trip 35 film camera I inherited from my mum. I was so excited to come home from school to see the photos she took to be processed. I loved the hobby so much that my parents later bought me a FujiFilm S9600 bridge camera, which had all the controls of an SLR, but at a much lower price and with a permanent f/2.8 telephoto. Yes, f/2.8! It was a fantastic introduction to wider photography.

• My first SLR was a Nikon D60, which I carried in a separate bag for almost a decade. I had a couple of budget kit lenses, but I spent most of my time using a 35mm f/1.8 prime. My only regret not going Canon, or spending the extra for a D90, was being limited to AF-S lenses for autofocusing. But again, it felt like a massive upgrade, and I learned a lot.

=> ↺ CNX Software ☛ Youyeetoo X1 – A Compact Intel Jasper Lake SBC going for $110 and up

• Youyeetoo X1 is a compact Intel Celeron N5105 Jasper Lake SBC with up to 16GB RAM, optional eMMC flash of up to 256GB capacity, support for an M.2 NVMe or SATA SSD,  up to three video outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, and optional WiFi and Bluetooth or 4G LTE connectivity. In some ways, it reminds me of the Zimaboard, but the X1 SBC comes with an 11th Gen Jasper Lake processor instead of a 7th Gen Apollo Lake processor, it’s cooled with a fan and heatsink instead of being fanless and does offer more I/Os.

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ China 2Q23 phone shipments down despite push from shopping festival

• The technology analyst firm IDC said the decline in the second quarter this year was less than in 2022, adding that in the first six months, the Middle Kingdom saw shipments of 130.9 million units, a fall of 7.3% year-on-year.

• IDC said recovery of consumer demand was sluggish and thus the discounts offered during the shopping festival did not count for much.

Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

=> ↺ The Atlantic ☛ Fatigue Can Shatter a Person

• Everyday tiredness is nothing like the depleting symptom that people with long COVID and ME/CFS experience.

=> ↺ Off Guardian ☛ This pro-mask “study” is why you should NEVER “Trust the Science”

• Last week it was reported that the Australian state of Victoria may be considering “permanent” facemask mandates to achieve “zero-Covid”.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ South Dakota attorney general calls on lawmaker to repay more than $600K in COVID-19 relief funds

• South Dakota’s attorney general is calling on a state lawmaker to repay more than $600,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funding her preschool received. State officials have written a letter in which they’ve given fellow Republican state Sen. Jessica Castleberry 10 days to return the funds. Gov. Kristi Noem says Castleberry violated the state constitution by accepting the pandemic aid. Castleberry says she believed her preschool was eligible for the funding and was open with the state Social Services Department about her grant applications. The South Dakota Supreme Court in 2020 advised that it’s unconstitutional for state lawmakers to accept COVID-19 funds.

Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

=> ↺ Vice Media Group ☛ Elon Musk Doesn’t Have a Plan For Twitter, Or Anything Really

• Rebranding the blue bird site as ‘X’ is the billionaire’s latest pathetic grab for attention.

=> ↺ Bleeping Computer ☛ Twitter’s rebranding to ‘X’ triggers Microsoft Edge security alert

=> ↺ Bleeping Computer ☛ Microsoft fixes bug that breaks video recording in Windows apps

=> ↺ SUSE’s Corporate Blog ☛ SAP Data Intelligence 3 validated on top of Rancher RKE 2 and VMware vSphere/vSAN [Ed: SUSE is promoting lots of proprietary on proprietary instead of SUSE]

• We are happy to announce that SUSE validated the installation of SAP Data Intelligence 3 on top of Rancher RKE 2 and VMware vSphere/vSAN. .

Microsoft and Windows TCO

=> ↺ Business Insider ☛ Leaked Microsoft polls show employees feel much worse about culture and leadership than at the beginning of the year

• Microsoft employees feel significantly worse about the company’s workplace culture and the effectiveness of leaders than they did at the start of the year, internal polls viewed by Insider show.

• The company measures employee sentiment through polls called Daily Signals. Insider viewed screenshots of graphs of daily responses to each question since January. Microsoft provided monthly averages in response to a request for comment.

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ US Senator seeks federal action over Microsoft Azure breach

• Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, was referring to a recent breach of Microsoft’s Azure platform. The email account of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was one of the more prominent accounts to have been breached during the attack which was blamed on Chinese attackers whom Microsoft has named Storm-0588.

=> ↺ Senator urges US agencies to hold Microsoft accountable for email hack

• In a letter released yesterday 27 July 27, Senator Ron Wyden urged the FTC, CISA and DOJ to “hold Microsoft responsible for negligent cybersecurity practices” that “enabled” a successful Chinese hack against the US government.

• The letter, addressed to the heads of each organisation, describes that the hack happened after the hackers stole an encryption key Microsoft itself had generated for Outlook’s identity service.

• The stolen encryption key allowed hackers to “impersonate users and gain access to Microsoft-hosted consumer accounts”, despite multi-factor authentication efforts.

• Microsoft itself has stated that the hack stayed undiscovered for around a month before they received complaints from users recording unusual email activity on their accounts.

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ Europe opens probe into Microsoft bundling of Teams with Office

• It said Microsoft had included Teams in its “well-entrenched cloud-based productivity suites for business customers Office 365 and Microsoft 365″.

• Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president in charge of competition policy, said: “Remote communication and collaboration tools like Teams have become indispensable for many businesses in Europe.

• {loadposition sam08}”We must therefore ensure that the markets for these products remain competitive, and companies are free to choose the products that best meet their needs. This is why we are investigating whether Microsoft’s tying of its productivity suites with Teams may be in breach of EU competition rules.”

=> ↺ TechCrunch ☛ EU opens competition probe of Microsoft bundling Teams with Office 365

• The European Union has finally announced a formal antitrust investigation of Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with Office 365 and Microsoft 365.

=> ↺ PC World ☛ Windows update causes video problems: Microsoft issues emergency fix

• Microsoft confirms two new automatic updates are causing problems with video playback under Windows 10/11 for many users, and offers a fix.

=> ↺ XDA ☛ Microsoft blames third-party apps for breaking Start menu in latest Windows 11 update

• Microsoft has accused third-party apps of breaking the Start menu in Windows 11, saying that it won’t release a workaround.

Linux Foundation

=> ↺ Linux Foundation’s Site/Blog ☛ FINOS ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF AN OPEN STANDARD PROJECT FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMON CLOUD CONTROLS TO ADDRESS COMPLIANCE AND CLOUD CONCENTRATION RISKS

• The Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS), the foundation of open innovation in financial services and part of the Linux Foundation, today announced the formation of an open standard project, based upon an approach developed by FINOS Platinum Member Citi, to describe consistent controls for compliant public cloud deployments in the financial services sector.

• As the pace of cloud adoption accelerates in a highly fragmented global regulatory landscape, this collaborative project aims to develop a unified set of cybersecurity, resiliency, and compliance controls for common services across the major cloud service providers (CSPs). By developing a unified taxonomy of common services and associated threats, the project also sets out to alleviate the systemic risk of cloud concentration, an issue highlighted in recent reports from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the UK HMT, the European Council, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Security

=> ↺ Diffoscope ☛ Reproducible Builds (diffoscope): diffoscope 246 released

• The diffoscope maintainers are pleased to announce the release of diffoscope version 246. This version includes the following changes: [...]

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Multiple Security Issues Identified in Peloton Fitness Equipment

• Internet-connected Peloton workout equipment is impacted by multiple security risks, such as having USB debugging enabled.

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ CardioComm Takes Systems Offline Following Cyberattack

• Canadian medical software provider CardioComm has taken systems offline to contain a cyberattack.

=> ↺ X.Org DoS, Code Execution Vulns Fixed

• Several significant out-of-bounds access vulnerabilities have been found in the X.Org X Server (CVE-2021-4008, CVE-2021-4009, and CVE-2021-4011). These flaws threaten data confidentiality and integrity, as well as system availability, and have received a National Vulnerability Database severity rating of ”High”.

=> ↺ Zenbleed Microcode Info Disclosure Vuln Fixed

• It was discovered that under specific microarchitectural circumstances, a register in “Zen 2″ CPUs might not be written to 0 correctly, potentially causing data from another process and/or thread to be stored in the YMM register (CVE-2023-20593, also known as Zenbleed).

=> ↺ Security Week ☛ Two New Vulnerabilities Could Affect 40% of Ubuntu Cloud Workloads [Ed: Microsoft talking point, former Microsoft employees]

• Researchers discovered two vulnerabilities in the Ubuntu OverlayFS module: CVE-2023-2640 and CVE-2023-32629 (together dubbed ‘GameOver(lay)’).

=> ↺ SANS ☛ ShellCode Hidden with Steganography, (Fri, Jul 28th)

Privacy/Surveillance

=> ↺ NYOB ☛ Booking a Ryanair flight through an online travel agent might hold a nasty surprise

• Booking a Ryanair flight through an online travel agent might hold a nasty surprise

Defence/Aggression

=> ↺ France24 ☛ North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets Russian defence chief Shoigu in Pyongyang

• Kim Jong Un met the Russian defence minister and a high-ranking Chinese delegation in Pyongyang ahead of major Korean War anniversary celebrations, state media said Thursday, the leader’s first known foreign guests since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Japan Defense White Paper Affirms Stronger Military Strategy

• In a defense white paper, Tokyo presents its case for engagement with allies to respond to threats posed by China and by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ ‘Grim reality’ of regional crises behind Japan’s defence build-up: White Paper

• Japan singled out actions by China, North Korea and Russia as an affront to the international rules-based order.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ ‘Last bastion of democracy in the Sahel’: Uncertainty in Niger prompts concern among allies

• The situation in Niger remained fluid on Thursday, a day after members of the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum at the presidential palace in Niamey. FRANCE 24 spoke with Danielle Resnick, a political scientist specialising in sub-Saharan Africa at the Brookings Institution, about how a military coup could affect Niger’s relations with regional and Western allies, and what it might mean for Russian influence on the African continent.

=> ↺ Latvia ☛ Russian and Belarusian border fences still have a long way to go

• The project for the construction of a fence along the border between Latvia and Russia has been entrusted to the state-owned company “Valsts nekustamie īpašumi” (VNĪ, State real estate), but the scale of the work required means much remains to be done, Renārs Griškevičs, chairman of the board of VNĪ, said in an interview with the Latvian Radio program “Krustpunktā” July 27.

=> ↺ The Strategist ☛ Seventy years on, the Korean War still resonates

• Commemorations in South Korea yesterday, and elsewhere around the world, marked the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice at Panmunjom on 27 July 1953.

War in Ukraine

=> ↺ CS Monitor ☛ Russian attacks on grain exports challenge Ukraine, and the world

• Russia has launched near-nightly attacks on Ukrainian export facilities since it withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, reviving concerns for worsening global food security.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Lithuanian president criticises minister‘s Facebook posts about German tanks [Ed: Why are politicians misusing Facebook in the first place?]

• President Gitanas Nausėda has criticised Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas for sharing information on Lithuania’s plans to sign a letter of intent on the acquisition of Leopard tanks.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Ukrainian Court Sentences In Absentia 18 Russian Lawmakers To 15 Years In Prison

• The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on July 26 that a court in Ukraine had sentenced in absentia 18 lawmakers in the Russian parliament’s lower chamber, the State Duma, to 15 years in prison each on a charge of encroaching on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ North Korea Vows Support for Moscow in Visit by Russian Defense Minister

• Pyongyang vowed increased military cooperation against the United States, a common enemy, during a visit by Russia’s defense minister.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Putin claims Russian lines are holding.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Photos Suggest Prigozhin Is in Russia, Meeting

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ How Russia’s State Media Describes Life In Occupied Crimea

• Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Russian government officials and state television have hammered home the message that everything is fine.

=> ↺ The Straits Times ☛ Rich Russians isolated from the West are flocking to Thailand’s Phuket

• Phuket International Airport makes announcements in Russian, while many shop names and street signs are in Cyrillic.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Putin’s Promise of Free Grain Reflects Russia’s Priorities in Africa

• The Russian leader made the overture days after pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal that benefited many countries on the continent.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Putin, at Summit With African Leaders, Casts West as Mutual Foe

• At a summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, President Vladimir V. Putin offered free grain as he sought to shore up ties with the continent. But lower-than-hoped-for attendance among African leaders hinted at tempering support.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ Russia Calls for Peaceful Dialogue in Niger

• On Wednesday night, a group of Nigerien military announced on national television the dismissal of President Bazoum.

=> ↺ teleSUR ☛ Russia-Africa Summit 2nd Day Takes Place, President Putin

• “…Putin reaffirmed the ideals of freedom, independence and sovereignty as essential foundations of the new multipolar world order…”

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russia Places Another ICC Judge On Its Wanted List

• The Russian Interior Ministry said on July 27 that International Criminal Court Judge Tomoko Akane has been placed on the government’s wanted list.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Helicopter Crash In Siberia Kills At Least Six

• An Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Siberian region of Altai Krai on July 27, killing at least six people and injuring seven others.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Prigozhin Apparently Spotted In St. Petersburg On The Sidelines Of Russia-Africa Summit

• Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary chief who led a short-lived insurrection in Russia last month, is reportedly in St. Petersburg where a Russia-Africa summit is taking place.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russia Says It Repelled Drone Attack On Moscow Region

• Russia’s Defense Ministry said on July 28 that it had thwarted an attack by a drone “on objectives in the Moscow region” overnight.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russian, Chinese Officials Join Kim Jong Un At North Korea Military Parade

• Chinese and Russian officials stood shoulder to shoulder with Kim Jong Un as they reviewed North Korea’s latest nuclear-capable missiles and new attack drones at a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korean state media showed on July 28.

=> ↺ RFA ☛ US intelligence: Beijing has increased Russia support

• China has become an ‘increasingly important buttress for Russia in its war effort,’ the report says.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Minister appeals to president to strip ice dancer Drobiazko of Lithuanian citizenship

• Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė has appealed to President Gitanas Nausėda to take a decision on stripping Russian ice-dancer Margarita Drobiazko of Lithuanian citizenship granted by exception.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Support Group For Russian Soldiers Stops Activities Under Government Pressure

• Olga Tsukanova, a leader of the Council of Mothers and Wives of Russian soldiers, said on July 28 that the group had stopped its activities after the Justice Ministry added the council and its leaders to the list of “foreign agents.”

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Russian Court Cancels Transfer Of Anti-Putin Shaman To Less Restrictive Psychiatric Clinic

• A court in Russia’s Far East has canceled a lower court decision to transfer to a less restrictive psychiatric clinic a Yakut shaman who became known across the country for his attempts to march to Moscow to drive President Vladimir Putin out of the Kremlin.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Cruise Ship With Russian Tourists Leaves Georgian Port Amid Public Protests

• The Astoria Grande cruise ship, carrying some 800 passengers including Russians,  was forced to leave the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi on July 27 upon arriving there the same day from the Russia port of Sochi, after groups of Georgians protested its presence there.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ What to make of the Wagner’s threats?

• At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed mercenaries of the Wagner Group were planning a westward “excursion”. How serious are the risks to NATO member Poland? Marta Sakavik writes for Deutsche Welle, partners of LRT English.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Lithuania, Poland mull jointly closing border with Belarus over Wagner

• Lithuania and Poland consider jointly shutting their border with Belarus if there are serious incidents involving the Russian mercenary group Wagner along the frontiers, officials of the two countries have confirmed.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Moldova limiting number of Russian diplomats due to ‘unfriendly action’

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MAEIE) in the Republic of Moldova announced Wednesday that Russian ambassadors in Moldova would be limited to 10 diplomats and 15 administrative positions due to “ongoing tensions [and] unfriendly actions.” A

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Russian Interior Ministry issues arrest warrant for ICC judge that issued arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin

• Russia’s TASS news agency reported Thursday that the Russian Interior Ministry has issued an arrest warrant for the International Criminal Court judge who issued the arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, Justice Tomoko Akane.

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Russia jails top cybersecurity executive in treason case

• The Moscow City Court sentenced Ilya Sachkov, a prominent cybersecurity executive, Wednesday to 14 years in jail on charges of treason, following his conviction under Article 275 of Russia’s Criminal Code. The verdict came shortly after the state prosecutor urged the court to impose an 18-year sentence.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Russian War Report: Kremlin seeks stronger ties in Africa as Wagner eyes Niger coup

• As Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Russia-Africa Summit, he and his government are making moves to solidify regional cooperation. Amid this, Wagner seeks to capitalize on the coup in Niger.

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Russian and Chinese delegates join North Korean leader Kim at a parade showing his newest missiles

• Photos showed Kim Jong Un smiling and talking with Shoigu and Li, who respectively stood to his right and left at the balcony’s center spot, and Kim and Shoigu raising their hands to salute the parading troops. KCNA did not say whether Kim made a speech.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Ukrainian Fencer Disqualified After Not Shaking Hands With Russian Opponent

• The 17-month war continues to disrupt competitions a year before the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Ukrainian Fencer Disqualified After Refusal To Shake Hands With Russian Opponent

• The Fencing Federation of Ukraine (NFFU) is preparing to appeal a decision to disqualify Olha Kharlan from the World Fencing Championships in Milan, Italy, for refusing to shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova.

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Ukrainian fencer disqualified from World Championships after refusing handshake with Russian opponent

• Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan, a four-time Olympic medalist and four-time individual world champion, was disqualified from this year’s championships in Milan.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Heavy Fighting Under Way Amid Signs That Ukrainian Counteroffensvie Gaining Momentum

• Ukrainian troops have been engaged in heavy fighting in several areas of the front as Kyiv’s counteroffensive appears to be ramping up in the southern region of Zaporizhzhya after months of slow progress, military officials say.

=> ↺ LRT ☛ Ukrainian woman allowed to stay in Lithuania after saying that ‘Crimea belongs to Russia’

• A Ukrainian woman who stated in her visa renewal questionnaire that “Crimea belongs to Russia” has been allowed to stay in Lithuania, the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court has ruled.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Russia Says It Intercepted a Ukrainian Drone Near Moscow

• Russia said it had foiled the attack, the second such incident in the capital region in less than a week.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Makes Some Gains, but Questions Remain

• Kyiv has intensified its counteroffensive against the Russian invasion, but has kept things murky on the size of the assault, the casualties and what forces it still has in reserve.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Colombians Seeking to Rally South America Behind Ukraine Were Nearly Killed

• A deadly missile strike on a crowded restaurant wounded three Colombians who hope to build support for Ukraine in a continent that has avoided taking sides.

=> ↺ NYPost ☛ Ukrainian forces press southward, say strategic village recaptured from Russians

• Ukrainian officials have reported slow, steady progress.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Ukrainian Lawmaker Loses Mandate After Vacationing In The Maldives

• Ukraine’s parliament on July 27 voted to strip Yuriy Aristov, a lawmaker from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Servant Of the People party, of his mandate because he has been out of the country for almost two months on vacation.

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Acting Director Of Holodomor Museum In Kyiv Plans To File Lawsuit Over Online Bullying

• The acting director of the Holodomor Museum in Kyiv, Lesia Hasydzhak, told RFE/RL on July 27 that she plans to file a lawsuit to protect her dignity and honor over recent online statements about her physical appearance.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ 🔴 Live: Russia ‘examining’ African leaders’ proposals to end Ukraine war, says Putin

• Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said Moscow is “carefully examining” African leaders’ proposals to end the war in Ukraine on the second day of a Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine’s digital revolution is proving vital for the country’s war effort

• Ukraine’s remarkable resilience amid the biggest European war since World War II owes much to the country’s ongoing digital revolution, writes Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

• /blockquote>

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Russia’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children may qualify as genocide

• Vladimir Putin has already been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court over the mass abduction of Ukrainian children. Many believe the deportations quality as genocide, writes Vladyslav Havrylov.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Ukraine must not forget fight against corruption while battling Russia

• The Ukrainian fightback against Russia’s invasion has won the admiration of the watching world, but corruption continues to threaten the country from within and could undo any battlefield success, warns Brian Mefford.

=> ↺ Atlantic Council ☛ Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina: The sports world must get behind Ukraine’s cause

• “As a Ukrainian, I cannot be silent,” Svitolina said at an Atlantic Council Front Page event. “I want to scream everywhere I can and use my voice [to] the fullest.”

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Russia-Ukraine War: As Ukraine Reclaims Southern Village, a Brutal Fight Lies Ahead

• Ukrainian forces said they retook a village seized by Russia early in the war, overcoming heavy fire from Moscow’s aircraft and artillery.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Europe Vowed to ‘Make Russia Pay’ for the War. It’s Not That Easy.

• Confiscating Russian state assets frozen by the United States and Europe could breach international law and set a dangerous precedent, experts say.

Transparency/Investigative Reporting

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ Carr asks why Albanese not pushing for Assange’s freedom

• {loadposition sam08}The second appeal was filed on 13 June. Since then his wife, father and brother have been campaigning for his release.

• Carr said Albanese had made his position clear to the US administration by saying: “We are working through diplomatic channels, but we’re making very clear what our position is on Mr Assange’s case.”

• It was, thus, safe to assume that Albanese had, during one of his seven meetings with US President Joe Biden, raised the issue of Assange’s freedom, Carr reasoned, adding that Australia had promised the largest transfer of wealth — $368 billion — to serve as a subsidy to American naval shipyards and the British naval builder BAE Systems.

• “…it clinches Australia’s reputation as a deliriously loyal, entirely gullible US ally,” Carr said. “It gives President Biden the justification for telling Republicans or Clinton loyalists in his own party that he had no alternative but to end the pursuit of Assange. ‘Those Aussies insisted on it. They’re doing us all these favours … we can’t say no’.”

Environment

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Biden announces first-ever heat wave “hazard alert” for workers

• The Department of Labor will boost efforts to protect workers from extreme heat as temperature records fall in the Southwest and elsewhere, President Biden announced on Thursday.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ July is Earth’s hottest month, agencies declare

• Scorching heat waves on three continents, unprecedented ocean temperatures along with global average temperature records are prompting scientists to predict July will clinch the title of Earth’s hottest month.

=> ↺ The Atlantic ☛ Devastating Wildfires on the Greek Island of Rhodes

• Images of the fires burning across Rhodes, and those battling the blazes

Axios ☛ Heat wave puts over two-thirds of U.S. population under heat alertsA heat wave that has stifled the southern tier of the U.S. for weeks has expanded into the Plains, Midwest and now the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Friday, triggering heat alerts for over 190 million people, according to the National Weather Service.Why it matters: The extreme heat is expected to persist over a massive swath of the country through Friday, all the while posing an immediate risk to public health.Heat events are the top annual weather-related killer in the U.S., especially when they persist over a long period of time, as the current heat wave has in many locations.The extreme, record-breaking heat that has recently broiled the U.S. and Europe would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, according to a new study published earlier this week.The study reinforced prior research that found that greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are making extreme heat events both more likely and more severe.

Energy/Transportation

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Exxon Reports Leaner Earnings in Second Quarter

• The company’s record profit a year earlier was driven by a surge in oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

=> ↺ Louis-Philippe Véronneau: My new friend Ted

• About 6 months ago, I decided to purchase a bike trailer. I don’t drive and although I also have a shopping caddy, it often can’t handle a week’s groceries.

• Since the goal for the trailer was to haul encumbering and heavy loads, I decided to splurge and got a Surly Ted. The 32″ x 24″ flat bed is very\ versatile and the trailer is rated for up to 300 lbs (~135 kg).

Finance

=> ↺ RFERL ☛ Chinese Bank Rolls Over $2.4 Billion Loan To Boost Pakistan’s Economy

• China’s Exim Bank has rolled over a $2.4 billion loan to Pakistan, an official said on July 27, in a boost to the country’s economy, days after the International Monetary Fund approved a bailout package.

AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Once Wary, Biden Welcomes Italy’s Meloni to the White House

• President Biden had feared the electoral victory of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party last fall would spell trouble. But she has proved to be a strong ally in the American-led effort to support Ukraine.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Biden praises Italian PM Meloni’s support for Ukraine during White House visit

• US President Joe Biden on Thursday praised Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for strongly backing Western efforts to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s invasion — while setting aside any qualms about her far-right government.

=> ↺ Federal News Network ☛ Biden thanks far-right Italian Premier Meloni for her strong support of Ukraine

• President Joe Biden is praising Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni for Italy’s “very strong support” of Ukraine under her watch. Biden welcomed Meloni on Thursday for her first visit to the White House since she became Italy’s premier last year. Biden expressed trepidation about Meloni when she first rose to power last year as the head of Italy’s first far-right led government since the end of World War II. But on the eve of Meloni’s visit, White House officials underscored she has proven to be a steady ally in the U.S.-led effort to assist Ukraine as it tries to repel Russia’s invasion. Meloni also met on Thursday with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders.

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Poll: 50% of Americans say China is the greatest threat to the U.S.

• Half of U.S. adults say China is the greatest threat to the country, nearly three times the share who named Russia, according to a new Pew Research Center survey released on Thursday.

Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Singapore authorities invoke fake news law against prime minister’s brother

• The Ministry of Law of Singapore enforced the country’s fake news law Tuesday against Lee Hsien Yang, the younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, for a Facebook post regarding recent political scandals involving the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

Censorship/Free Speech

=> ↺ Reason ☛ UK Banks Commit to “the Principle of Non-Discrimination Based on Lawful Freedom of Expression” as to Clients

• From The Independent (UK): Economic secretary Andrew Griffith told the bosses of some of the UK’s biggest banks on Wednesday that it is important to protect freedom of expression…. It came after former politician Nigel Farage’s bank account with Coutts—a bank for the ultra wealthy—was closed. The account was shut after Mr Farage’s mortgage payments came…

=> ↺ JURIST ☛ Booksellers and publishers sue Texas officials over new book ratings law

• A group of booksellers and publishers filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Texas officials to block House Bill (HB) 900, the state’s new book ratings law. The plaintiffs believe the new law could ban classics like “Romeo and Juliet” and “Of Mice and Men” from state public school classrooms and libraries due to sex-related content.

=> ↺ uni Michigan ☛ Museum visits provide learning experiences following Donovan Edwards’ antisemitic retweet

• Last October, then-sophomore running back Donovan Edwards retweeted a post from Ye — formerly Kanye West — on Twitter containing hateful, antisemitic rhetoric. The day after his retweet, Edwards initially called it a “glitch,” while failing to acknowledge the harm caused to the Jewish community by amplifying hate speech.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ What’s Happening With the Quran Burnings in Sweden?

• Sweden has found itself caught between outrage over anti-Muslim actions and its commitments to free speech.

=> ↺ New York Times ☛ Judge Rejects Bid to Ban “Glory to Hong Kong” From Internet

• The authorities sought a court injunction that could have pressured Google and other tech firms to remove “Glory to Hong Kong.”

=> ↺ Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong court rejects gov’t application for ban on pro-democracy protest song

• Hong Kong’s High Court on Friday rejected a government bid to ban people from performing or playing the pro-democracy protest song Glory to Hong Kong with illegal intentions, saying such a move could have a “chilling” effect on freedom of speech.

Civil Rights/Policing

=> ↺ Axios ☛ Emmys delayed due to Hollywood strikes

• The 2023 primetime Emmy Awards have been postponed due to the ongoing writers and actors strikes that have brought Hollywood to a halt, Variety first reported Thursday.

• Why it matters: It’s the first time the Emmys have been delayed since September 2001, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

=> ↺ France24 ☛ Video documents female genital mutilation camp in Guinea

• The video shows four little girls, one in tears, in what is referred to as a “camp for genital mutilation” in Conakry. Our Observer says that this is the first time a video of one of these places has emerged. While genital mutilation is banned in Guinea, it is still widely practiced. In the wake of the video’s release, activists, including our Observer, have mobilised and authorities have responded to the pressure by opening an investigation into the matter. Authorities have made one arrest and are still searching for other suspects.

Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

=> ↺ David Revoy ☛ Fighting for the open web.

• A picture I had in mind about the topic of Web Environment Integrity.

Monopolies

=> ↺ IT Wire ☛ France claims Apple abusing market position in collecting data for ads

• In a statement, issued on Thursday, the French agency confirmed that it had notified Apple of its concerns over practices in distribution of mobile apps, “which are likely to have consequences on several related markets for advertising and consumer services”.

• “This investigation opens inter partes proceedings and makes it possible to exercise rights of defence,” the French statement said.

• “It does not pre-judge the culpability of the company that has received notification of objections.

• “Only an inter partes investigation that respects the rights of defence of the company concerned will enable the board to determine, after exchanging written observations and following an oral hearing, whether or not the objection is well-founded.”

Patents

=> ↺ Unified Patents ☛ NHK/Fintiv Denials Return: H1 2023 PTAB Denials in Review

• While the PTAB saw a temporary reprieve from NHK Spring/Fintiv (“Fintiv”), it seems to be making a

• comeback, despite its ongoing challenges in Federal Court. Recall that parties have challenged Fintiv facially in District Court on the three grounds: 1) that in enacting Fintiv the PTO Director acted contrary to the patent statute, that 2) Fintiv is arbitrary and capricious, and that 3) the Fintiv instructions were issued without notice-and-comment rulemaking. The Federal Circuit has sent that challenge back to the district court to proceed.

• Not satisfied to wait for that challenge to proceed, the USPTO issued a controversial Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”), proposing further changes. That has been met with overwhelming public opposition, generating almost 15,000 almost entirely negative comments.

• In the meantime, half of all filed challenges continue to be forced to brief the issue in some fashion. Actual denials, despite that mountain of analysis, became rare, but the Board has begun to again deny petitions on the challenged rules.

=> ↺ Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 awarded for Dominion Harbor entity, Monument Peak Ventures, camera battery patent prior art

• Unified is pleased to announce PATROLL crowdsourcing contest winner, Ekta Aswal, was awarded $2,000 for her prior art submission on U.S. Patent 7,187,858, owned by Monument Peak Ventures, an NPE and Dominion Harbor entity. The ‘858 patent generally relates to a camera for use with a power supply. The patent had been asserted against Kyocera and HMD Global.

Trademarks

=> ↺ TTAB Blog ☛ TTAB Affirms Rejection of Specimen (Slide Presentation) for Oil Drilling Equipment as “Mere Advertising”

• The Board upheld the USPTO’s refusal to register the mark SUBSEA 2.0 for various oil and gas drilling equipment, finding that Applicant FMC’s specimen of use constituted “mere advertising” and not an acceptable “displays associated with the good.” The specimen was described by FMC as “slides from a live sales presentation given to potential customers for purposes of soliciting orders for the equipment.” In re FMC Technologies, Inc., Serial No. 88705569 (July 25, 2023) [not precedential] (Opinion by Deputy Chief Judge Mark A. Thurmon).

=> ↺ Ghacks ☛ Microsoft X trademark could pose legal challenge to Elon Musk

• Elon Musk’s recent announcement that he plans to rename Twitter to “X” has raised some legal concerns. Microsoft owns the trademark to the letter “X”, and it is unclear whether Musk will be able to use the name without facing legal challenges from Microsoft.

Copyrights

=> ↺ Michael Geist ☛ Same as It Ever Was: Cabinet Overhaul Signals Government Doubling Down on Digital Policy Mess

• It should not come as a surprise, but those hoping that the government’s much-anticipated cabinet overhaul might signal a potential course-correction on its digital policy mess will be sorely disappointed. If anything, yesterday’s changes at Canadian Heritage and Justice suggest an acceleration of plans that will include continuing to head toward the Bill C-18 cliff of blocked news links as well as introducing controversial online harms legislation and perhaps even copyright reform.

=> ↺ Michael Geist ☛ Culture Lobby Groups Call on Government to Open Door to CRTC Regulation of Video Games, User Content and Algorithms Under Bill C-11 Implementation

• Bill C-11 may have receded into the background of CRTC consultations and government policy directions, but Canadians concerned with user content, video game and algorithmic regulation would do well to pay attention. Lobby groups that fought for the inclusion of user content regulation in the bill have now turned their attention to the regulatory process and are seeking to undo government assurances that each of those issues – user content, algorithms and even video games – would fall outside of the scope of the regulatory implementation of the bill. In fact, if the groups get their way, Canadians would face unprecedented regulations with the CRTC empowered to create a host of new obligations that could even include requirements for Youtubers and TikTokers to register with the Commission. With a new Heritage Minister in place, the submissions raise serious concerns about whether the government will maintain its commitments regarding scoping out users, video games, and algorithms.

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