𝕿𝖊𝖈𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 Bulletin for Wednesday, November 11, 2020 ┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅ Generated Thu 12 Nov 00:18:39 GMT 2020 Created by Dr. Roy Schestowitz (𝚛𝚘𝚢 (at) 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚣 (dot) 𝚌𝚘𝚖) Full hyperlinks for navigation omitted but are fully available in the originals The corresponding HTML versions are at 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈 Older bulletins can be found at 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒕𝒙𝒕-𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 Full IPFS index in 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒊𝒑𝒇𝒔 and as plain text in 𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑://𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝒐𝒓𝒈/𝒊𝒑𝒇𝒔/𝒕𝒙𝒕 ╒═══════════════════ 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐒 ════════════════════════════════════════╕ Previous bulletins in IPFS (past 7 days): Qme6tUQz9HbrFEyLrXZYhJEVcqahaSMEEhmSsv1qky5Lux Qma1Q1kNahagEkgXL7GiboNFEfw1WofSG4qB8nh3nes1Vf QmYHrR1P7YFy5prPQ3pAK1DZaGm7Mrr75NwK4VhUeFsTLD QmZ3Yy7uWVtMyGfgaCQYtpcJZBxS2LoLEFZPgRSiYBF73w QmUzg7gYUYeQZnNpRqRFQDoWcbEZUSphfYKmDhSpEWWSMS QmZqXrn8HKzFhZxbxuxfob86u5iANXocM81qQoKops1KiF QmQjedfsHmNZWLhwmpa4tVdn76zcDGmMHAfJ4E11EuRhwJ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐗 ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ Bulletin articles (as HTML) to comment on (requires login): http://techrights.org/2020/11/11/campinos-corona-wave/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/11/eye-in-the-skype/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/11/inside-the-epo-during-corona-cameras-and-microphones-in-epo-peoples-private-homes-have-been-broadly-welcomed-by-the-patent-profession-the-law-and-epo-staff-dont-count/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/11/irc-log-101120/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/11/rms-on-open-source/#comments Followed by Daily Links (assorted news picks curated and categorised): http://techrights.org/2020/11/11/mx-linux-19-3-released/#comments ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.11.20 ****** ***** Inside_the_EPO_During_Corona:_Death_Toll_of_Benoît_Battistelli’s_‘Suicide Wave’_Will_be_Exceeded_by_the_‘Corona_Wave’_of_António_Campinos ***** Posted in Europe, Patents at 7:17 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz Leadership by example? On the left: EPO management. On the right: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). [EPO hypocrites] The EPO one month ago (that’s António_Campinos and his co-conspirators, snubbing_government_regulations_while_flaunting_diplomatic_immunity) Summary: The regime of Campinos (the “gentle” and “attentive” dictator) is being asked to let workers in vulnerable (age) groups focus on isolation/ recovery instead of crushing workloads, collectively imposed in the name of monopoly (which the Office likes to conflate with tackling the crisis) THE death toll of the Benoît_Battistelli regime includes almost 10 suicides, set aside the consequences on staff’s health, which can lead to complications, death or premature death (stress shortens people’s lives). This subject has been thoroughly documented over the years. Imagine being an EPO examiner in 2020, only to receive mail like the following from the Office_witch and cohorts: [The_EPO's_threatening_language] That cannot be good for people’s health, can it? Back in late March the EPO’s Central Staff Committee wrote the following, citing early figures from WHO: The Central Staff Committee points the report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 out to the President. This document identified that patients who reported no comorbid conditions had a crude fatality ration of 1.4%, offset against the much higher rates of patients with comorbid conditions. In an open letter, the CSC requests inter alia that colleagues who are amongst such high-risk groups, or living with such vulnerable people in their home, should be discharged from any duty on Office premises. The CSC further addresses stress as an aggravating factor for many diseases and maintains that the Office should flatten the (production) curve. Furthermore, a deferral of special leave pursuant to Circular No. 22 and Article 59(3) ServRegs should be permitted if necessary. Here’s the open letter in full (it has been long enough since then and the EPO’s response didn’t “age well” — like an old/elderly person repeatedly infected by coronavirus). Reference: sc20055cl – 0.3.1/4.3 Date: 30.03.2020 Mr António Campinos President of the EPO ISAR – Room 1081 OPEN LETTER Health matters as a priority Dear Mr President, The outbreak of the relentless COVID-19 has triggered an unprecedented cascade of measures in our host countries and now constitutes one of the most disruptive health challenges ever. As an independent international organization, the Office faces responsibilities similar to those of a sovereign state in its care for staff. So far the Office’s visible measures were essentially focused on ensuring business continuity. There is little evidence of support for maintaining staff’s physical and mental health. To live up to its duty of care, the Office must implement preventive health measures to take care of its most vulnerable staff and their dependents and to reduce casualties. The report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) identified that patients who reported no comorbid conditions had a crude fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.4%, offset against the much higher rates of patients with comorbid conditions: • 13.2% for those with cardiovascular disease, • 9.2% for diabetes, • 8.4% for hypertension, • 8.0% for chronic respiratory disease, and • 7.6% for cancer. Your current proposal (GCC/DOC 04/2020 REV 2) to increase the level of reimbursement from 80% to 100% for COVID-19 related costs is a first small step into the right direction, to be supplemented by further measures. Colleagues who are amongst the high-risk groups as listed above, or living with such vulnerable people in their home, should be discharged from any duty on Office premises, or even, if teleworking is not possible, from all duties so that they can stay in containment and focus on their health to maximise their chances of survival. The Office should also continue to provide the EPO health benefits to dependents who are suffering from these medical conditions, until after the crisis. Colleagues now see the first infections with the virus and even cases of death among their relatives and friends, leading to worry and grief. Combined with containment this result in the need for extensive psychotherapy treatments. The Office should encourage distressed colleagues to seek support, and there should be no petty penny-pinching when it comes to reimbursing the cost for such support. Stress is a recognised aggravating factor for many diseases and medical conditions. Therefore, we maintain that the Office should flatten the (production) curve in order to support staff in maintaining their health condition. The prevailing travel restrictions make it impossible for colleagues to avail themselves of the special leave pursuant to Circular No. 22 and Article 59(3) ServRegs to attend the funerals of relatives they have lost. The Office should recognise the need for people to grieve together with their loved ones and therefore take the measure of deferring such special leave until after travel bans are lifted. This would take another worry of mind of colleagues faced with a sad loss in their family. Thank you in advance for considering these requests to the benefit of our colleagues and their families in need. Yours sincerely, Michael Sampels Acting Chairman of the Central Staff Committee Did Mr. Campinos listen? Does he ever listen to staff? Stay tuned for later parts of this series to find out. The Office is run by merciless sharks, not human beings with emotions and empathy. Let that be somewhat of a series spoiler… we’ll unmask António. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.11.20 ****** ***** Inside_the_EPO_During_Corona:_The_Eye_in_the_Sky(pe) ***** Posted in Europe, Patents at 8:15 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz [Don't Fall Below Production Targets Or Else!] Or Else! Summary: The EPO’s rush to outsource legal proceedings to Microsoft (US) and put cameras/microphones in workers’ homes isn’t receiving any media attention; this wasn’t overlooked by those affected the most — EPO staff THE António_Campinos-run EPO is a total disaster. His approval rates (among staff) are even worse than Benoît_Battistelli‘s and he’s treating COVID-19 like an excuse for holiday (for himself, not others, whom he’s besieging inside their homes). The examiners find the whole thing anything but amusing. “The Office is gloating, as recently as yesterday in the EPO’s “news” section, about doing something illegal.”Back in April the EPO’s staff representation wrote about so-called “distributed” divisions and what later became known as videoconference (ViCo). It now seems like a good time to highlight their preliminary (back in spring) concerns, outlined briefly in an introduction as follows: We would also like to draw your attention to the open letter that we will send to the president in the next days, regarding legal issues concerning distributed oral proceedings. The corresponding letter, which targets examiners, says “oral proceedings do not belong to the vital procedures to keep the business running. The Office still functions smoothly if they are postponed or if the procedure is continued in writing.” It further notes that examiners “do not understand the obstinacy of the Office in optimising the Office throughput in such an unbalanced way with respect to staff health.” Here’s the full letter: Munich, 03.04.2020 sc20059cp – 0.2.1/1.3.1 “Distributed” oral proceedings in times of a pandemic Dear examiners, dear colleagues, In time of a pandemic, things are changing very fast. We see governments continuously adapting regulations to the events in order to maintain, as much as possible, the health and safety of their citizens. The EPO has also been trying, obviously also with a view to maintaining business operations. In this line, on 20.03, VP1 decided to postpone until further notice all face-to-face oral proceedings in examination and opposition proceedings scheduled until 17 April. On 26.03 the Office published preliminary guidance for oral proceedings with so- called “distributed” divisions and decided that those oral proceedings (OP) that were originally scheduled to take place after 17 April 2020 as face-to-face meetings should be held by videoconference (ViCo). The extensive and complicated procedure described in the guidance has caused concerns among colleagues who feel it as another stone in the already troublesome homeworking during the critical situation in which we all are immersed. Distributed OP are however not mandatory but merely a possibility, being so that, if the conditions for properly conducting the ViCo-OP are not given, then the division should look for alternatives. At least the Office admits that holding OP on the Office premises (keeping at least 1.5 meters distance between attendees) is not a recommended option. The responsibility lies again on the shoulders of staff, who will need to choose between the stress of a cumbersome distributed procedure (with the corresponding loss of production) or the risk on their health by coming to the Office. We can understand that the Office has to be kept functioning also during the crisis at least to a certain extent. However, oral proceedings do not belong to the vital procedures to keep the business running. The Office still functions smoothly if they are postponed or if the procedure is continued in writing. A division may decide to do so1. We therefore do not understand the obstinacy of the Office in optimising the Office throughput in such an unbalanced way with respect to staff health. ____ 1 A division may decide to postpone the oral proceedings (see e.g. GL (E.III.7.1.2), or to cancel them and continue in writing (similar to GL E-III7.2.1). ===================================================================== Considering all this, we want to encourage you to concentrate on your health and to follow your own instinct when faced with the question of whether holding or not oral proceedings. Incidentally this advice also applies to other decisions you and your colleagues in the division have the power to make! We would also like to draw your attention to the open letter that we will send to the president in the next days, regarding legal issues concerning distributed oral proceedings. First of all, take care of yourself and your families! Then do the best you can under the current circumstances and remember that production targets should not be your first priority! Take care of your health and contact us any time! Your Central Staff Committee They said they would also speak “regarding legal issues concerning distributed oral proceedings.” We’ve covered some of these before and we’ll come back to that soon. The Office is gloating, as recently as yesterday in the EPO’s “news” section, about doing something illegal. This too impacts_the_health_of_people. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.11.20 ****** ***** Inside_the_EPO_During_Corona:_Cameras_and_Microphones_in_EPO_People’s Private_Homes_“Have_Been_Broadly_Welcomed_by_the_Patent_Profession”_(the_Law and_EPO_Staff_Don’t_Count) ***** Posted in Europe, Patents at 6:42 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz [Looking through the peephole] Summary: The utter disregard for the rule of law at the EPO has only deepened under the Campinos regime, which enjoys zero scrutiny from European media and staff’s inability to organise (dispersed, spied on, and unable to stage mass resistance amid pandemic) THE dignity of staff and the quality of European Patents is going down the drain. Down the drain it goes… [Sneak A Peek]On Tuesday the EPO again promoted illegal_practices, in effect outsourcing legal proceedings to the United States — back doors notwithstanding (it’s all under surveillance by parties that ought have no access). The EPO wrote (warning: epo.org link) that it “is announcing today further measures to improve access to justice in relation to opposition hearings held by videoconference (VICO), in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which imposes restrictions on travel and health risks for all in-person meetings. Today’s report shows the considerable progress made so far in terms of the necessary legal framework, technical infrastructure and training support since the pilot project to conduct opposition hearings by VICO started in May 2020. In recent weeks the addition of Zoom as a technical platform has facilitated multi-party opposition hearings and interpretation. These advances have been broadly welcomed by the patent profession.” “Both SUEPO and the Central Staff Committee have repeatedly warned that the EPO compels examiners to allow loads of illegal/bogus/fake patents.”Nuclear weapons advances have been broadly welcomed by the military profession. “These advances have been broadly welcomed by the patent profession.” That’s missing the point that EPO staff rejects it (cameras inside people’s private spaces) and it is also not legal. Speaking of legality and illegality, the sole function of the Office isn’t being done properly anymore. A lobby site of patents on life/nature vested interests (Life Sciences Intellectual Property Review) wrote about the EPO throwing out fake patents — a topic which hitherto we’ve only mentioned in Daily Links (there have been quite a few mentions in blogs and comments, not full articles). “The European Patent Office (EPO) has released the long-awaited reasoning for its decision to uphold the revocation of a Broad Institute CRISPR/Cas9 patent,” this_one_said (behind paywall). [Trump and Iancu]Both SUEPO and the Central Staff Committee have repeatedly warned that the EPO compels examiners to allow loads of illegal/bogus/fake patents. They’ve been saying this for years, but the management of the EPO keeps muzzling them and commissioning ‘studies’ to claim the opposite. Heck, even stakeholders have publicly complained about this, rightly worrying that confidence in European Patents was eroding, thereby reducing interest in their ‘services’ (for short-term gains). We’ve already seen what happened in the United States after systematic lowering of the patent bar. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) inter partes reviews (IPRs) routinely squash US patents, to then be reaffirmed (decisions defended) by the Federal_Circuit, citing decisions like Alice (SCOTUS) and 35 U.S.C. § 101/§ 102/§ 103. Under the regime of Donald Trump the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) carried on granting lots of these bogus patents and it remains to be seen how quickly Biden fires Iancu (Trump loyalist from land_of_Viktor_Orbán) and who he will be replaced by. At the EPO they aren’t getting rid of fascistic dictators; they just swapped one (Benoît_Battistelli) with his_friend, who openly promotes illegal patents like software_patents. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.11.20 ****** ***** IRC_Proceedings:_Tuesday,_November_10,_2020 ***** Posted in IRC_Logs at 2:47 am by Needs Sunlight [GNOME_Gedit] [GNOME_Gedit] #techrights_log #boycottnovell_log [GNOME_Gedit] [GNOME_Gedit] #boycottnovell-social_log #techbytes_log Enter_the_IRC_channels_now =============================================================================== **** IPFS Mirrors **** _____________________________________________________________________________ |CID___________________________________________|Description___________________| |QmY42A4RdHAJnYBmqkrt15iouFmADsAj9cH7gtxWXBJAYN|IRC log for 101120 (full IRC | |______________________________________________|log)__________________________| |QmeHUxZhStXDcKCB2LupXbjqTh7zJHF7Y6LPy62GPpzxf5|IRC log for social-101120 | |______________________________________________|(full_IRC_log)________________| |Qmb13MrPvubuZnSqPM2nGYk8oKcdFofrcPejBP3NiE9V6F|IRC log for techbytes-101120 | |______________________________________________|(full_IRC_log)________________| |QmcHr1yf4Bh3vkL6L7rnyC7ogrQzPYMCKqHsuUWAxc9o76|IRC log for techrights-101120 | |______________________________________________|(full_IRC_log)________________| [IPFS logo] **** Bulletin for Yesterday **** Local_copy | CID (IPFS): QmQjedfsHmNZWLhwmpa4tVdn76zcDGmMHAfJ4E11EuRhwJ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.11.20 ****** ***** Newly-Published_Richard_Stallman_Video_From_2001,_Where_He_is_Explaining “Open_Source”_3_Years_After_OSI_Was_Established ***** Posted in Free/Libre_Software, OSI, Videos at 5:32 pm by Guest Editorial Team https://dmcasucks.com/demandfreedom-rms.mp4 Summary: “I hope this video piece inspires others to demand freedom,” Marcia K. Wilbur said about this video she made two decades ago and has just belatedly published Marcia K. Wilbur recently published her_old_footage_of_Dr._Richard_Stallman_ (RMS)_and_Prof._Larry_Lessig. “Well,” she has told us, “the videos are posted and my_site is holding up (so far so good).” “I hope this video piece inspires others to demand freedom!”       –Marcia WilburWilbur is technical and she has spent a lot of time on this lately. “While there [were] a lot of videos of RMS interviews in the past available to view online,” she said, “the rally interview the night before the San Francisco march [see context regarding the_Dmitry_Sklyarov_situation] where RMS discusses open source and demanding freedom is not only historically significant, but inspirational.” [DMCA]This video isn’t long. There are much longer videos. She said, “I hope this video piece inspires others to demand freedom!” “Those issues are very much relevant right now because of DMCA takedowns at Microsoft’s GitHub, demanded by allies of President-elect Biden.”“I’m glad to place this content in the public domain,” she added. “Video editing was done with vlc, ffmpeg and some kdenlive. Video editing does take some time. What day is it again? My first attempt to convert the analog video in 2001 was using xawtv with ffmpeg. The video and audio did not sync too well then. A little better now, but the camera was a sony hi-8 and the person behind the camera… was a novice without a tripod! Enjoy.” The overall/total set seems to contain 7 new videos in total (thus far), including the one we linked/embedded already. Maybe can do one post about each pair of related videos, giving the necessary context and exposure to each. Better a release two decades late… than never. Those issues are very much relevant right now because of DMCA takedowns at Microsoft’s GitHub, demanded by allies of President-elect Biden. DMCA was correctly foreseen back then as a massive threat to Free/libre software. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 ════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.11.20 ****** ***** Links_11/11/2020:_Clonezilla_Live_2.7.0,_Feren_OS_2020.11,_MX_Linux_19.3 Released ***** Posted in News_Roundup at 12:22 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz [GNOME bluefish] **** Contents **** * GNU/Linux o Distributions o Devices/Embedded * Free_Software/Open_Source * Leftovers * **** GNU/Linux **** o ** Have_you_considered_buying_used_hardware? ** For my current job I knew I wanted a Linux laptop again, after enough exposure to Apples ecosystem. Naturally a Thinkpad came to mind as an option, but I wanted to give used hardware a chance, given that Thinkpads are known to be reliable and well built. I went with used/refurbished hardware from a vendor I know and trust for a while now, lapstore.de, and I could not be happier with my choice. I went with a Lenovo Thinkpad T460s, as a compromise between decent performance, weight, screen size and good Linux support out of the box. This model is 5 years old, but CPUs are not evolving that fast anymore, so it still feels very snappy with everything I’m doing. The internal screen could have used a slightly higher resolution for my taste, but I am rarely using it these days. One big advantage of the older models is access to the old version of the docking stations, which are totally worth it. At home the laptop sits there, gets charged and drives my 4K display easily, while being hooked up to my mouse, keyboard and network cable. Speaking of ports: the T460s still has proper Rj-45, USB 2.0/3.0 and HDMI ports. No adapters needed! o **** Desktop/Laptop **** # ** New_Galago_Pro_Linux_Laptop_Arrives_With_Refresh_Look, Upgraded_Specs ** Well-known Linux PC vendor System76 has launched the refreshed version of its light and thin Galago Pro Linux laptop. The latest Galago Pro contains several upgrades including looks and specifications. This 14-inch laptop with 1080p Full HD matte display now features Intel Iris Xe Graphics along with optional support for NVIDIA graphics (GeForce GTX 1650) for the first time. # ** Things_We_Love_About_the_New_Galago_Pro ** The Galago Pro has returned in style! This laptop has received a few upgrades since its last appearance, and we can’t wait to share them with you. So we won’t! The Galago Pro’s slim, light aluminum body sports a new look and a larger trackpad. Carry your responsibilities between meetings, classrooms, war rooms, and Supervillans Anonymous member sessions (virtual, of course) without developing a conspicuous hunchback. # ** System76_Launches_New_Galago_Pro_Linux_Laptop_with_11th Gen_Intel_Core_CPUs ** The refreshed Galago Pro Linux laptop is powered by 11th Gen Intel Core processors with 4 cores and 8 threads, namely the i5-1135G7 CPU with up to 4.2 GHz clock speeds and 8MB cache, as well as the i7- 1165G7 CPU with up to 4.7 GHz clock speeds and 12MB cache. As expected, these new CPU options make the Galago Pro even more powerful and faster. In addition, the Linux laptop now comes with up to 64GB dual-channel DDR4 3200MHz RAM, up to 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage, Thunderbolt 4 support, Intel Dual Band Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.0. # ** System76_refreshes_the_Galago_Pro_and_you_can_buy_the affordable_Linux_laptop_now ** # ** System76_bring_back_the_Galago_Pro_with_Intel_Xe_and NVIDIA_GPU_options ** Bringing back something of a fan favourite, hardware vendor and Linux distribution maker System76 have announced the brand new Galago Pro. “The Galago Pro has always been a fan favorite of our laptop offerings,” says Carl Richell, Founder and CEO. “The extremely light chassis and well balanced mix of components, all for a very good price, make the Galago an all around excellent computer choice for gamers and engineers alike.” # ** This_New_System76_Linux_Laptop_Packs_Something_Special ** @System76 returns with a new and improved version of one of their gorgeous Linux laptops! The Galago Pro is back and it’s more “open” than ever! It also features all kinds of goodies from 11th Gen Intel chips with Iris Xe graphics, to storage loadouts of up to 2TB of NVMe storage and 64GB of RAM. o **** Server **** # ** How_I_use_Cockpit_for_my_home’s_Linux_server_management ** Cockpit is a service for Linux that provides a web- based interface for managing and monitoring hosts. It can be deployed in any size organization, even a small office, and it’s a great way for home users to maintain the family IT infrastructure. I use it to manage and monitor all of the computers in my house—including Raspberry Pi. Cockpit is a free and open source software project released under the LGPL v2.1+. It is sponsored by Red Hat and included in Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the RHEL Web Console. # ** Nginx_vs._Apache_Comparison_–_Linux_Hint ** Whenever it comes to deploying a website, the first thing that comes to your mind is choosing the right web server since, after deploying your website, your web server will be responsible for handling all the requests and serving the users with what they need. Nginx and Apache are the two leading web servers in the market that handle more than half of the Internet traffic these days. Apache was launched back in 1995, whereas Nginx is relatively newer since it was launched in 2004. The market share of both these web servers is more or less the same, which leaves users confused in choosing which web server they need for their particular website. Therefore, today we will try to draw a comparison between Nginx and Apache by discussing multiple parameters in which these web servers can be compared. After drawing that comparison, we will give you our take on which web server is better in certain situations. So let us try to find it out together. o **** Audiocasts/Shows **** # ** Episode_#289_Discovering_exoplanets_with_Python_–_[Talk Python_To_Me_Podcast] ** Talk Python to Me is a weekly podcast hosted by developer and entrepreneur Michael Kennedy. We dive deep into the popular packages and software developers, data scientists, and incredible hobbyists doing amazing things with Python. If you’re new to Python, you’ll quickly learn the ins and outs of the community by hearing from the leaders. And if you’ve been Pythoning for years, you’ll learn about your favorite packages and the hot new ones coming out of open source. [...] When I saw the headline “Machine learning algorithm confirms 50 new exoplanets in historic first” I knew the Python angle of this story had to be told! And that’s how this episode was born. Join David Armstrong and Jev Gamper as they tell us how they use Python and machine learning to discover not 1, but 50 new exoplanets in pre-existing Keplar satellite data. # ** Vifm_Is_Amazing_But_Not_The_File_Manager_For_Me_–_YouTube ** A few weeks back I had a look at vifm and you know it’s a really great terminal file manager but there’s just some things about it that really bother me that aren’t an issue inside of lf which is my current tool of choice, that’s not to say it’s bad or anything, it’s exceptional but it’s not the tool for me. # ** Favorite_Linux_Tweaks_|_LINUX_Unplugged_379_|_Jupiter Broadcasting ** We round up our favorite tweaks to the desktop, and apps that make it great. Plus some highlights from Arch Conf, and our reaction to Mint finally fixing their Chromium problem. # ** Wow!_elementary_OS_6_Dark_Mode_is_Looking_Gorgeous_ [Preview_of_the_Early_Build] ** elementary OS 6 is still under development and this is a look at the early builds. Please keep in mind that a lot can change by the actual release. # ** mintCast_347.5_–_Sensational_Silverback_–_mintCast ** In our Innards section, we cover our experiences with the flavors of Ubuntu 20.10! And finally, the feedback and a couple suggestions # ** I_Will_Not_Watch_These_Linux_YouTubers ** In this rant, I talk about why I don’t watch much Linux YouTube content. I talk about three categories of YouTubers that I especially take issue with, and how these kinds of YouTubers are completely missing the mark with their coverage of Linux. o **** Kernel Space **** # ** Linux_5.9.7 ** I'm announcing the release of the 5.9.7 kernel. All users of the 5.9 kernel series must upgrade. The updated 5.9.y git tree can be found at: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/ stable/linux-stable.git linux-5.9.y and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser: https://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/ linux-s... thanks, greg k-h # ** Linux_5.4.76 ** # ** Linux_4.19.156 ** # ** Linux_4.14.205 ** # ** Linux_4.9.242 ** # ** Linux_4.4.242 ** # ** Linux_5.9.8 ** # ** Linux_5.4.77 ** # ** Linux_4.19.157 ** # ** Linux_4.14.206 ** # ** Linux_4.9.243 ** # ** Linux_4.4.243 ** # ** exFAT_File-System_Performance_On_Linux_5.9 ** Now that the Samsung-contributed open-source exFAT file-system kernel driver has matured quite nicely since being merged earlier this year as a replacement to the short-lived staging exFAT driver based on an older code-base, here is a look at how exFAT is performing on the Linux 5.9 kernel compared to EXT4 and F2FS as well as the existing exFAT FUSE file-system implementation. # ** With_$29M_in_funding,_Isovalent_launches_its_cloud-native networking_and_security_platform ** # ** Isovalent_Launches_Breakthrough_New_Approach_to_Cloud- Native_Networking_With_$29_Million_Series_A_Led_by_Andreessen Horowitz_and_Google ** Today Isovalent, the cloud-native networking company, formally launched to help enterprises connect, observe and secure modern applications with Cilium. Cilium’s fundamentally new approach frees modern cloud-native applications from outdated, legacy techniques that place unnecessary limits on the agility that is driving enterprises to adopt Kubernetes and other cloud-native technologies. Cilium’s superior approach has already won the support of open source and commercial adopters, with a diverse community of hundreds of active contributors to the open source project and thousands of users. # ** Google,_Andreessen_Horowitz_lead_$29M_round_for_Linux kernel_networking_startup_Isovalent ** Google LLC and Andreessen Horowitz have jointly led a $29 million funding round into Isovalent Inc., a startup with a Linux-based networking platform that enterprises can use to manage the flow of data in their Kubernetes environments. Cisco Systems Inc. also participated in the Series A round, which was announced today. The networking software that orchestrates the movement of packets between servers is usually installed on top of those servers’ operating system. Isovalent’s platform, in contrast, embeds its network orchestration code directly into the operating system itself. The startup claims that its approach makes the network more efficient by reducing the number of additional software layers that need to be installed atop Linux to help manage data traffic. [...] Isovalent’s platform, called Cilium, facilitates this simplification by harnessing a low-level mechanism of Linux called eBPF. The mechanism makes it possible to embed networking code directly into the operating system’s kernel with less work and fewer security risks than traditional approaches. # **** Graphics Stack **** # ** mesa_20.3.0-rc1 ** Hi list, It's that time again. Mesa 20.3.0-rc1 is now available for your general consumption. Please be sure to test it out and report plenty of bugs. There's lots of good stuff in this release, among the notable things off the top of my head: - lavapipe for vulkan swrast - v3dv vulkan driver for raspberry PI devices - lots of clover work, in particular spir- v for clover - tons of stuff I've not mentioned Dylan # ** Mesa_20.3-RC1_Released_With_Lavapipe_CPU-Based Vulkan,_Raspberry_Pi_V3DV_Added_–_Phoronix ** Dylan Baker of Intel announced Mesa 20.3-RC1 overnight with its many new changes for this quarterly feature release. Mesa 20.3 comes the new V3DV Vulkan driver for Raspberry Pi 4/400 devices, LLVMpipe is in much better shape, Lavapipe has been added as a CPU-based Vulkan implementation akin to LLVMpipe, lots of OpenCL modernization work in Clover Gallium3D, many new Vulkan extensions added, various optimizations, and more. Our Mesa 20.3 feature overview will be published soon. # ** Mesa_21.0_Merges_Direct3D_12_Gallium3D_Driver_– Phoronix ** Mesa 21.0 will allow running OpenCL and OpenGL on top of Gallium3D for any hardware on Windows 10 supporting Direct3D 12 acceleration. # ** Mesa_21.0_Feature_Development_Opens_For_Release_In Q1-2021_–_Phoronix ** Mesa 20.3 was branched this evening in marking the end of feature development for this Q4-2020 Mesa3D release that should debut as stable in December. This also means that Mesa 21.0 is now open for development. Mesa 20.3 bring continued improvements to LLVMpipe’s OpenGL 4 capabilities, various new Vulkan and OpenGL extensions to the Intel/ Radeon drivers, the RADV ACO compiler back- end continues getting in much better shape, OpenCL Clover has been seeing renewed attention, continued bring-up around RDNA 2 graphics cards, Intel Gen12/Xe Graphics optimizations, and much more. # ** NVIDIA_Extends_Fragment_Shading_Rate_Extension_In Vulkan_1.2.160 ** Vulkan 1.2.160 is out this morning as the newest revision to the Vulkan graphics/ compute API. Besides the usual assortment of fixes/ clarifications to the specification, Vulkan 1.2.160 brings one new extension. That new extension this week is NVIDIA’s VK_NV_fragment_shading_rate_enums. # ** Compute_Express_Link_2.0_Specification_Published ** Just a year after the Compute Express Link 1.0 and 1.1 interconnect specifications were published, CXL 2.0 is being announced this morning for this high-speed, data center minded specification built atop the PCI Express interface. o **** AMD **** # ** AMD_Renoir_Running_Smooth_On_Linux_5.10_–_Phoronix ** After last week sharing some Intel Tiger Lake benchmarks on Linux 5.10, the tables have turned and here are some similar tests when running Linux 5.10 on an AMD Ryzen 4000 series “Renoir” notebook. Using a Lenovo IdeaPad with Ryzen 5 4500U with Ubuntu 20.10, I ran some benchmarks of Linux 5.9 stable against the Linux 5.10 development snapshot of the time. Via the Phoronix Test Suite dozens of benchmarks were run in comparing these latest kernel versions. # ** AMD_SoC_PMC_Driver_Slated_To_Come_With_Linux_5.11_– Phoronix ** In addition to the AMD Sensor Fusion Hub (SFH) driver coming with Linux 5.11 for improving Ryzen laptop support, the AMD SoC PMC driver is also under review for landing in this next kernel release. The AMD SoC PMC driver is for the power management controller found so far with Raven Ridge, Picasso, Renoir, and Cezanne SoCs. While Raven through Renoir has been available for a while, AMD only now is contributing this power management controller for the mainline Linux kernel — presumably due to AMD Chromebooks and the like that have motivated the other recent AMD Linux mobile improvements. # ** AMD_Ryzen_Embedded_V2000_8-core_Computer-on-Module supports_up_to_64GB_RAM ** AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processors with up to eight Zen2 cores and faster Radeon graphics have been officially announced, and one of the first hardware platforms to take advantage of the new processor is ADLINK cExpress-AR COM Express Type 6 Compact computer-on-module suitable for demanding graphics-based applications such as medical ultrasound, image processing, 4K high-speed video encoding and streaming for broadcasting, embedded gaming, and infotainment. o **** Applications **** # ** SysTray-X_Is_A_Thunderbird_68+_Tray_Icon_With_Unread_Email Counter_And_Close_/_Minimize_To_Tray ** SysTray-X is a Qt5 system tray icon for Thunderbird email client version 68 and newer, which shows the number of unread emails, and can minimize / close Thunderbird to tray. It’s available for Linux and Microsoft Windows. The tool is made of two parts: a Thunderbird extension and a companion system application. It uses the WebExtension APIs to control an external system dependent system tray application. You can tweak the look of the Thunderbird system tray icon provided by SysTray-X, like using a custom mail notification icon, set the new mail count font color and size, and more. You can also choose how Thunderbird behaves when you minimize or close it. From the SysTray- X setting you can set the Thunderbird window to hide when it’s minimized or use the default behavior, and have it minimize when closing the Thunderbird window. There’s also an option to start Thunderbird minimized, and depending on how you set the minimize options, this can mean to either have the window minimize in the taskbar, or have it minimize (hide) to tray. # ** Regards_–_modern_photo_viewer ** One of our favorite adages is “A picture is worth a thousand words”. It refers to the notion that a still image can convey a complex idea. Images can portray a lot of information quickly and more efficiently than text. They capture memories, and never let you forget something you want to remember, and refresh it in your memory. Images are part of every day internet usage, and are particularly important for social media engagement. A good image viewer is an essential part of any operating system. Linux offers a vast collection of open source small utilities that perform functions ranging from the obvious to the bizarre. It’s the quality and selection of these tools that help Linux stand out as a productive environment. This is particularly true when it comes to image viewers. There are so many image viewers that are available for Linux that it can make selection difficult. Regards is billed as a modern photo viewer. It supports a very large range of image formats. There’s OpenGL/OpenCL support. The software can also play videos. It’s written in C++ and C. # ** OpenRazer_2.9_Released_with_New_Razer_Peripherals_Support_ [PPA] ** OpenRazer, open-source driver and user-space daemon to manage Razer peripherals on Linux, released version 2.9.0 a few days ago with new Razer devices support, improvements, and bug-fixes. [...] The new release also adds read support for idle_time and low_battery_threshold, ability to configure the battery notification frequency, screensaver monitor support on Xfce, improved fake driver support, and more. o **** Instructionals/Technical **** # ** About_the_offline_laptop_project ** Having a totally disconnected system isn’t really practical for a few reasons. Sometimes, I really need to connect the offline laptop to the network. I do produce some content on the computer, so I need to do backups. The easiest way for me to have reliable backup is to host them on a remote server holding the data, this requires network connection for the time of the backup. Of course, backups could be done on external disks or usb memory sticks (I don’t need to backup much), but I never liked this backup solution; don’t get me wrong, I don’t say it’s ineffective, but it doesn’t suit my needs. # ** My_First_Post_On_CSS_Tricks ** My post is about making the WordPress back end match the look and feel of the front end so you don’t have to mess around with previews. You can read the post using the button below: [...] # ** Linux_Fu:_Send_In_The_(Cloud)_Clones_|_Hackaday ** Storing data “in the cloud” — even if it is your own server — is all the rage. But many cloud solutions require you to access your files in a clumsy way using a web browser. One day, operating systems will incorporate generic cloud storage just like any other file system. But by using two tools, rclone and sshfs, you can nearly accomplish this today with a little one-time setup. There are a few limitations, but, generally, it works quite well. It is a story as old as computing. There’s something new. Using it is exotic and requires special techniques. Then it becomes just another part of the operating system. If you go back far enough, programmers had to pull specific records from mass storage like tapes, drums, or disks and deblock data. Now you just open a file or a database. Cameras, printers, audio, and even networking once were special devices that are now commonplace. If you use Windows, for example, OneDrive is well-supported. But if you use another service, you may or may not have an easy option to just access your files as a first-class file system. The rclone program is the Swiss Army knife of cloud storage services. Despite its name, it doesn’t have to synchronize a local file store to a remote service, although it can do that. The program works with a dizzying array of cloud storage providers and it can do simple operations like listing and copying files. It can also synchronize, as you’d expect. However, it also has an experimental FUSE filesystem that lets you mount a remote service — with varying degrees of success. # ** Tagging_commands_on_Linux ** Tags provide an easy way to associate strings that look like hash tags (e.g., #HOME) with commands that you run on the command line. Once a tag is established, you can rerun the associated command without having to retype it. Instead, you simply type the tag. The idea is to use tags that are easy to remember for commands that are complex or bothersome to retype. Unlike setting up an alias, tags are associated with your command history. For this reason, they only remain available if you keep using them. Once you stop using a tag, it will slowly disappear from your command history file. Of course, for most of us, that means we can type 500 or 1,000 commands before this happens. So, tags are a good way to rerun commands that are going to be useful for some period of time, but not for those that you want to have available permanently. # ** Ultimate_Guide_to_SNES_Emulation_on_Retroarch_–_Make_Tech Easier ** The Super Nintendo is widely regarded as one of the best games consoles of all time, building on the revolution of its predecessor, the NES, to offer more color, great sound, and some of the best pixel-art games of all time (as well as some early 3D ones). Thanks to the miracle of emulation, we’ve been able to play SNES games on our PCs for years now. Retroarch is one of the best options around, offering an all-in-one emulation frontend for your SNES games, as well as those from other consoles. But Retroarch can be a little fiddly to set up, so this guide will show you how to give yourself the ultimate SNES experience on PC. # ** How_to_Install_CentOS_on_a_Raspberry_Pi_[Tutorial] ** CentOS is very popular because of its stability. In this article, I am going to guide you on how to install CentOS on a Raspberry Pi. # ** How_To_Install_Beautiful_Desktop_Environment_on_Termux Android!_–_Fosslicious ** This time I want to discuss about the Desktop Environment that can be installed in Termux and run using VNC Viewer. This is a bit similar to this blog’s previous post about the GUI that comes with Termux when installing and running Ubuntu in this application. But this time, we don’t have Ubuntu, Arch or maybe any other linux distro installed. Only termux with its desktop environment. So, in this section we are going to try to setup a desktop environment for Termux itself. OK Let’s Get Started! … # ** How_to_Install_Etcher_on_Linux_and_How_to_Use_it ** Etcher is a popular USB flasher app for creating bootable Linux USB drives. Let me show you how to install it and how to use it for making a live Linux disk. # ** How_to_Setup_Local_DNS_Resolver_using_Dnsmasq_on_Ubuntu 20.04 ** Dnsmasq stands for “short for DNS masquerade” is a simple, lightweight and easy to use DNS forwarder used for a small network. It can be configured as a DNS cache and DHCP server and supports both IPv4 and IPv6 protocol. When it receives any DNS queries, it will answer them from its cache or forward to the different DNS server. # ** Zeit_–_A_GUI_Tool_to_Schedule_Cron_and_At_Jobs_in_Linux ** Zeit is an open-source GUI tool for scheduling jobs via “crontab” and “at”. It is written in C++ and released under GPL-3.0 License. It is an easy to use tool that provides a simple interface to either schedule a one-time job or iterative jobs. Zeit also comes with an alarm and timer which uses sound and notify the user. # ** How_to_uninstall_apache2_on_Ubuntu_20.04 ** In this quick tutorial, you will learn how to completely remove Apache2 on Ubuntu 20.04 and similar distributions. When removing a package, sometimes it may leave behind some dependencies and configuration data which might clutter up your system. On Ubuntu, one of the best tools that helps with the removal of a package is the apt-get purge command. # ** Etcher_–_USB_ISO_Burner_and_Clone_Tool_|_Pen_Drive_Linux ** Etcher is essentially an ISO to USB Burner and USB Clone tool. Created by Balena, this open source direct image writing and disk cloning software can be used to etch or burn an image or iso file onto a flash drive. In addition the utility functions as a USB disk cloning tool, and can be used to easily clone a USB flash drive to another of equal size or larger. Be aware that functionality is similar to using a destructive RawWrite DD command. Meaning that Etcher will overwrite the content of the destination drive with whatever source file has been chosen. As a result, all existing content on the destination drive will be erased, wiped clean or deleted. Additionally, depending on the filesystem of the source, the device might not remain usable for file storage purposes. After etching an ISO or IMG, the drive may no longer be detected by some operating systems. So, after playing around for a bit, you might find a need to restore your USB. # ** Load_balance_network_traffic_with_HAProxy_|_Opensource.com ** You don’t have to work at a huge company to justify using a load balancer. You might be a hobbyist, self-hosting a website from a couple of Raspberry Pi computers. Perhaps you’re the server administrator for a small business; maybe you do work for a huge company. Whatever your situation, you can benefit from using the HAProxy load balancer to manage your traffic. HAProxy is known as “the world’s fastest and most widely used software load balancer.” It packs in many features that can make your applications more secure and reliable, including built-in rate limiting, anomaly detection, connection queuing, health checks, and detailed logs and metrics. Learning the basic skills and concepts covered in this tutorial will help you use HAProxy to build a more robust, far more powerful infrastructure. # ** How_To_Install_Wine_5.0_on_LinuxMint_–_TecAdmin ** Wine 5.0 Stable Released. Wine team has announced the latest stable release 5.0. Its source code, as well as the Debian packages for Linux Mint is available on its official site. You may also use the package manager to install wine. Wine is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API and will always be free software. Approximately half of the source code is written by its volunteers, and remaining effort sponsored by commercial interests, especially CodeWeavers. # ** How_to_Resize_and_Create_Partitions_with_GParted_–_Make Tech_Easier ** Need to meddle with your hard disk partition? Here, we’ll be showing you how to create and resize partitions with GParted. # ** How_to_install_Netbeans_12_on_Ubuntu_20.04. ** To do this we first update our Linux Repositories, then we install Java, then we download the Netbeans appimage, next we make the appimage executable as a program, with the next two commands we move (and rename) the appimage to the /opt directory which is a folder where many third-party apps stores it’s data and lastly we install a menu editor which we use to add Netbeans to our menu. Enjoy! # ** How_to_make_Flameshot_the_default_Linux_screenshot_app ** Flameshot is an excellent screenshot tool, but it doesn’t set itself as the default screenshot app once installed. Instead, users need to set it up themselves. To do this, you will need to modify the default screenshot shortcuts on your desktop. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up Flameshot as the default screenshot app in Gnome, KDE, Mate, and XFCE 4. To get started, find the desktop you in this guide and follow along. # ** How_to_repair_the_GRUB2_boot_loader_on_Linux_– TechRepublic ** Jack Wallen shows you how easy it is to repair the GRUB2 boot loader in Linux. # ** Manage_Raspberry_PI_GPU_Memory_Split ** As you know, Raspberry PI is, before all, a single board computer. This means that available memory is shared between CPU (Central Processing Unit) for programs usage and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) for video processing usage. Unlike other bigger computer boards, Raspberry PI hasn’t memory slots to increase total available RAM (even if last Raspberry PI 4 models increased up to 8GB, matching heavier tasks needs). Furthermore, the amount of memory assigned to GPU is subtracted to CPU and you can’t dynamically reassign it until re-set its quantity and reboot. For this reason, you could need to tune your RAM needs and test and re-test until you ind the right compromise. In this tutorial I’m going to show you how to manage Raspberry PI Memory Split and set RAM amount assigned to GPU. This tutorial applies to all Raspberry PI boards. o **** Games **** # ** Linux_game_manager_Lutris_gets_a_0.5.8_Release_Candidate_| GamingOnLinux ** The absolutely huge 0.5.8 update for the game manager Lutris is one step closer to a proper release, with a Release Candidate out now. Following on from the Beta release we covered in late October, this RC is mainly cleaning up all the issues found during testing. Giving you an easy way to bring your games from Steam, GOG, Humble Store, games run through compatibility layers like Wine and Proton and more all under one roof. If you’ve not tried it yet, you might find it’s actually really useful. # ** The_Darkside_Detective:_Season_2_becomes_The_Darkside Detective:_A_Fumble_in_the_Dark_|_GamingOnLinux ** Akupara Games and Spooky Doorway have announced that The Darkside Detective: Season 2 is going through a rebranding to The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark and they released a new trailer too. What is it? The Darkside Detective is a serial point-and-click adventure where you are put in the shoes of Detective McQueen and his sidekick, Officer Patrick Dooley, investigating cases plaguing Twin Lakes and its colourful citizens. A Fumble in the Dark continues to expand the Darkside Universe by adding an additional six cases full of loveable characters, old and new, wacky dialogue and out-of-the-box puzzles with unconventional solutions. Due to arrive in 2021 along with Linux support after a successful Kickstarter campaign, they mentioned that part of the reason for the renaming is that often sequels “do worse than their previous game”. Since The Darkside Detective presents you with a bunch of standalone cases, they wanted to reflect that in the sequel to show the first game is not needed to be played through too. # ** With_deep_sandbox_building_options_and_lots_of_content, From_the_Depths_is_out_now_|_GamingOnLinux ** After 6 years in Early Access, the sandbox vehicle building game From the Depths has officially released. Designed for those who absolutely love to build anything possible, From the Depths gives you a ridiculous amount of freedom to do whatever you want with its creation tools. There’s something of a sharp learning curve to it but once you’re able to get through that, you will find something quite deep. Nick Smart, founder of the development team at Brilliant Skies mentioned how it’s designed to encourage people to love engineering commenting “It’s a very refreshing thing to see; Players thinking hard about their engineering choices on their vehicles, spending days, weeks or even months on a creation, trying to make it exactly how they want.”. # ** DoubleShake_is_an_upcoming_love_letter_to_5th_generation console_platformers_|_GamingOnLinux ** Currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter with a goal that’s been hit, DoubleShake from Rightstick Studios is a love letter to classic 5th generation platformers. Inspired by the likes of Mischief Makers, Tomba!, Klonoa and others from the Nintendo 64 and original PlayStation, it certainly looks the part with its delightfully blocky style. However, they make it clear they’re using some modern techniques and game design to shake it up and make it feel better. Using a mix of traditional platforming that also has you navigate through 2.5D styled paths where you can find all sorts of secrets. They say as the game progresses, it slowly switches from a platformer to be more puzzle and exploration- focused so it’s one big mix. # ** Shortest_Trip_to_Earth_gets_a_second_DLC_expansion_with new_content_|_GamingOnLinux ** Shortest Trip to Earth, a roguelike spaceship sim that somewhat resembles FTL but with far more depth to it has a second expansion now available. Originally released in August of 2019, it later came to Linux officially in April of 2020. The Old Enemies is the new DLC which adds in over 20 new enemy ships across 3 major new factions to the original game, so your short trip might end up quite a bit longer. There’s also a new playable ship, The Exception, which is a mysterious alien craft was excavated from a deep ravine on Mars full of advanced systems. Since the game is very much about exploration, there’s also a bunch of new planets and other interesting points to discover. # ** SDL2_Adds_Support_For_The_Xbox_Series_X_Controller_– Phoronix ** Last week Valve added Sony PlayStation 5 controller support to SDL2 while today there is launch-day support for the Xbox Series X controller for this cross-platform abstraction layer popular with games. Sam Lantinga of Valve who leads much of the Simple DirectMedia Library effort provided the Sony PlayStation 5 controller support. Today he committed to the Xbox Series X controller support. # ** Everafter_Falls_is_a_super-sweet_farming_sim_with_action- RPG_elements_on_Kickstarter_|_GamingOnLinux ** As we previously covered back in September, Everafter Falls is an upcoming mix of a sweet and casual farming life sim blended with some action- RPG elements and it’s now live on Kickstarter. Taking elements from the popular titles Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing it looks simply wonderful. “You wake up to discover the life you previously had on Earth was nothing but a simulation. With no memory of this place, you will explore and rediscover the serene and peaceful existence you once had here. Welcome to Everafter Falls.” # ** Godot_Engine_–_Complex_text_layouts_progress_report_#2 ** This is the second part of my work on Complex Text Layouts for Godot 4.0, focusing on Fonts and UI mirroring. See godot-proposals#1180, godot-proposals#1181, godot-proposals#1182, and godot-proposals#1183 on GitHub for detailed information on CTL proposals and feedback. See also the previous progress report for the TextServer API implementation details. o **** Desktop Environments/WMs **** # **** K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt **** # ** KD_Reports_1.9.0_Released ** KDAB has released KD Reports 1.9.0! KD Reports is a developer tool that generates printable and exportable reports from code and from XML descriptions. Reports may contain text paragraphs, tables, headlines, charts, headers and footers and more. Starting with this release, 1.9.0, KD Reports no longer supports Qt 4. However, KD Reports 1.8.2 and lower are still available with support for Qt 4. Our future efforts with KD Reports will go towards supporting Qt 6, which is due to come out soon. # ** Calamares_–_translations_update ** Calamares is a Linux installer – a distro-, desktop- and toolkit- independent installer that is used by (at least) a few dozen different Linux distributions to get the software from the ISO image (or USB stick, or whatever) onto your computer. It’s modular and configurable so that each distro can make it their own with a minimum of fuss. Calamares is translated into 71 languages, of which 58 are usable for the installation. Calamares runs on “short-cycles”, which means there’s a release every two or three weeks with new features and new translations and whatnot. What actually gets onto ISO images is up to the distro’s: some produce weekly snapshots (like KDE neon and ArcoLinux) and some take a bit more time. A positive spin on this is that there’s always something fresh for rolling ISO’s to try out (and I really do appreciate the testing done by people from Manjaro and KaOS), a negative spin is that there’s always new bugs. # ** KDE_Plasma_5.20.3_Desktop_Update_Arrives_with_More Than_30_Bug_Fixes ** Coming only two weeks after KDE Plasma 5.20.2, the KDE Plasma 5.20.3 update is here with more than 30 bug fixes and other changes, including a fix for switching of users to work again when invoking the action, which is now visible in the Kickoff Application launcher, along with all the shutdown options, for users with Linux distros using an older systemd version. KDE Plasma 5.20.3 also addresses a crash in the Plasma Wayland session, which was improved for laptop users to immediately wake up the system when opening the lid instead of having to also press a key on the keyboard, as well as some minor visual glitches with the “Sliding Popups” effect used for various Plasma panel widgets # ** Maui_Weekly_Report_7_—_Nitrux_—_#YourNextOS ** Today, we bring you a new report on the Maui Project progress. Are you a developer and want to start developing cross-platform and convergent apps, targeting, among other things, the upcoming Linux Mobile devices? Then join us on Telegram: https://t.me/mauiproject. # ** QmlBook:_Felgo_Service_Integration ** Felgo has kindly sponsored the QmlBook, which has resulted in a new chapter. The topic this time around is the Felgo Qt extensions for integrating various services that are commonly used by app developers, the Felgo cloud builds, as well as their live reloading technology. # **** GNOME Desktop/GTK **** # ** GNOME_40_–_Planned_Features_and_Release_Date ** GNOME 40 – the next major release of the GNOME Desktop environment brings more auto- completion features across some modules. o **** Distributions **** # ** MX_Linux_19.3_Released_with_Latest_Debian_Buster_10.6 Updates,_BleedingTooth_Patches ** Packed with all the latest software and security updates from the Debian GNU/Linux 10.6 (Buster) release, MX Linux 19.3 is here with new kernel versions patched against the recently discovered BleedingTooth security vulnerability affecting certain Intel processors. While the standard ISO images ship with Linux kernel 4.19.152 LTS, the more advanced AHS (Advanced Hardware Support) edition is powered by Linux kernel 5.8.14. The latter also comes with a newer Mesa graphics stack, version 20.1.8, as well as recent X.Org Server graphics drivers. # ** MX-19.3_now_available! ** MX-19.3 is the third refresh of our MX-19 release, consisting of bugfixes and application updates since our original release of MX-19. If you are already running MX-19, there is no need to reinstall. Packages are all available thru the regular update channel. [...] The standard MX-19.3 releases (32 bit and 64 bit) feature the latest debian 4.19 kernel and unlike in the past the kernel will now auto-update along with debian sources by default. The AHS (Advanced Hardware Support) iso features a debian 5.8 kernel, mesa 20, as well as a new updated firmware package. The KDE iso has also been updated, and being based on AHS, also has the 5.8 kernel and updated firmware and mesa packages. As usual, this release includes the latest updates from debian 10.6 (buster) and MX repos. # **** New Releases **** # ** Stable_Clonezilla_live_2.7.0-10_Released ** This release of Clonezilla live (2.7.0-10) includes major enhancements and bug fixes. # ** Feren_OS_2020.11_“Carbon”_Is_Here_With_New_Base Ubuntu_20.04_LTS ** Dominic Hayes, the man behind Feren OS, has announced the immediate availability of a new Feren OS November 2020 snapshot codenamed “Carbon.” The latest snapshot is a major release containing numerous changes ranging from visual appearance to core components. Let’s see what Feren OS 2020.11 has to offer… # **** BSD **** # ** Oops,_a_fork ** An R&D project I’m involved with has forked freeDiameter. Since forks should be a last resort, I feel the need for some public justification. The fork isn’t driven by delusions of grandeur, but mostly down-to- earth practical considerations and has as explicit goal to upstream all work and dissolve the fork as soon as possible. The R&D project was spawned by a vision of a future-proofed Internet, described at InternetWide.org. To some extent that can be read as “break the big tech companies and allow everyone to be effectively self- hosting”. It is a tall task, and I poke and prod at tiny bits of it. [...] So, in order to “get shit done” we have forked onto GitLab, so that we have a modern collaboration mechanism, drive-by-branches, quick response times, etc. Still no mailing list, though, but then we’re not aiming to take over the project, we’re aiming to do some development and then upstream it – when we get to that point we can wrestle with Mercurial again. # ** FreeBSD_Fridays:_Introduction_to_RISC-V_on_FreeBSD_– LinuxReviews ** Video: Join Mitchell Horne as he discusses the past, present, and future of FreeBSD’s support for the RISC-V CPU architecture. x86- 64 is the most well-supported platform FreeBSD runs on. RISC-V support is not yet complete in all areas, but it is rapidly getting here. # **** SUSE/OpenSUSE **** # ** SES_7_and_SUSE_Global_Services:_A_Perfect_Pairing ** It’s no surprise that data is the most valuable commodity you have. After all, with the right data, you can personalize your services to meet your customer’s exact needs – virtually leapfrogging your competition. And with the rate of which data is growing, why wouldn’t you invest in a Software Defined Storage (SDS) solution. After all, SDS provides your business with greater flexibility, efficiency and faster scalability – and at the same time being extremely budget-friendly. # ** Digest_of_YaST_Development_Sprint_112_|_YaST ** Our previous sprint report was full of promises. We stated we were working to improve the Cockpit support for (open)SUSE and finishing some other interesting stuff. We also mentioned we had delivered a YaST presentation in the openSUSE + LibreOffice Virtual Conference. Time has come to pay our debts. The current report offers more news about all that. # ** Supercharge_your_compliance_practices_with_SUSE Manager ** Many industries and governments require compliance with security standards to ensure security, identity, confidentiality and data integrity. These standards specify a minimum- security level and also mandate measures such as logging and auditing to reveal any hints of unauthorized use. # ** An_Introduction_to_SUSE_Manager_for_Retail ** SUSE Manager for Retail is an open source infrastructure management solution that is optimized and tailored for the retail industry. # ** A_New_SUSE_SAP_Business_One_installer_image_is_ready –_SUSE_Communities ** Cloud environments grow organically and often include a dizzying combination of virtual, bare metal and container-based systems. If cloud computing is part of your Linux landscape, you’ll save time and money with a single tool for managing all your Linux resources. SUSE® Manager is a versatile Linux management tool (all major distributions) built for the cloud. # ** Portworx_and_SUSE:_a_cloud-native_storage partnership ** Kubernetes changed how we manage our applications and it has done the same for storage data which is growing at a staggering rate, coming from a vast variety of sources. The global software-defined-storage (SDS) is expected to hit $16 billion by 2020. In such a promising context, a partnership between Portworx and SUSE definitely made sense. It goes back to 2018 right after we met at Kubecon in Copenhagen. The Kubernetes ecosystem was just booming, and we were looking for partners who could align with us in the adoption of cloud native and container-based technologies. Portworx can be used to run any stateful service, on top of any cloud or storage infrastructure, using any Kubernetes platform and has now been certified on SLES 12 and lately on our latest version of CaaS Platform 4. # ** A_New_SUSE_SAP_Business_One_installer_image_is_ready –_SUSE_Communities ** First of all many thanks to all IHV‘s which have validated the new installer image. They went the extra mile with us and make this happen. I‘d like to say thank you again for the great cooperation between all parties during this validation period. The new SUSE SAP Business One installer image was validated by FUJITSU, Nutanix, Supermicro and Dell for their respective Hardware. # **** IBM/Red Hat/Fedora **** # ** Daniel_Pocock:_Withdrawing_my_nomination_for_Fedora Council ** First of all, my email nominating myself on the Fedora Council list was delayed for approximately 14 hours. [...] This strikes me as a strong hint that I’m an independent candidate who is not afraid to ask the important questions. If I was to suggest the election was about to be rigged then I would risk looking like the world’s biggest clown but nonetheless, messages delayed like that makes it feel like the playing field is not quite level. It is an all-too-familiar feeling in the free software world. This was an important revelation about transparency achieved without even getting to a vote. Secondly, there has been increased attention on the difference between real harassment as opposed to the counter-accusations that appear all too frequently from leaders covering up their own rogue behavior. Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer publicly blamed his victims and the outgoing US president claimed to be a victim of lynching. Leaders of certain free software organizations cry the same crocodile tears. Let us remember the original words chosen by young women coming into our environment are the only genuine examples of harassment. With or without a vote, I remain committed to allocating a share of my time to courageous volunteers like this. Their willingness to speak up gives me hope that the leaders of tomorrow may be better than the office holders of yesterday. The ultimate achievement of my short campaign is to depart gracefully. I couldn’t think of a better time to do so. This is what leadership looks like. Either you understand that or you don’t. # ** Exploring_OpenShift_Source-to-Image_using_Git webhooks_|_Enable_Sysadmin ** OpenShift is an enterprise application platform based on the Kubernetes orchestration tool. It can deploy applications from a number of sources, including prebuilt images as well as from source. In this article, I will talk about Source-to-Image (S2I) and how to automate the entire process using Git webhooks. You can follow along and try it out yourself for free at the OpenShift Interactive Learning Portal. # ** Call_for_Code_Spot_Challenge_for_Wildfires ** Nearly 3 billion animals were affected by Australia’s worst wildfire season that burned from July 2019 through March 2020 estimates Chris Dickman, a professor of ecology at the University of Sydney. We’re asking you to join data scientists to develop models focused on forecasting wildfires in Australia for the upcoming wildfire season, and enter the chance to win $5K USD. To get you started we’re releasing historical data sets extracted from the Weather Operations Center Geospatial Analytics component (PAIRS Geoscope) # ** The_history_of_an_API:_GitLab_Runner_and_Podman_| Enable_Sysadmin ** Here is one sysadmin’s journey through Podman and GitLab Runner integration # ** From_chemistry_to_coding:_Changing_careers_to_become a_software_developer ** Some people say that it doesn’t matter how you start, what matters is how you finish! And no truer words have been spoken, especially with regards to your career and professional life. Last year I graduated from college with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. Less than a year later I became a Systems Back End Software Engineer at IBM without a formal computer science degree. And today, I work at the Transaction Processing Facility in Poughkeepsie, where I develop and modernize an operations server console that handles transactions for several major credit card, hotels and airline companies. Most of my work is on the Java console for the z/TPF operating system. I also help process the linux build and package along with shipping code. (Note: According to the 2020 Stack Overflow developer survey, 4.4% of professional developers have a background in natural sciences.) My journey to becoming a software developer began when I took my first computer science class as a senior in college. After that one class I realized that being a developer was my true passion! But with a degree in an unrelated discipline I didn’t know how I could make the leap to becoming a professional developer. So, immediately after graduation, I completed an immersive software engineering boot camp at Flatiron School. While at that boot camp, I independently built scalable full-stack applications such as Facebook and Trello clones. I decided to attend a coding boot camp because I thought it would push me to learn as much as possible in the shortest period of time. After completing the boot camp, I applied for jobs and quickly accepted a position at IBM. # ** Automated_golf_highlights_in_a_fanless_environment ** Automating the creation of these videos dramatically reduced the time and effort required to produce this content. Quickly producing this content gave the Masters editorial team first mover advantage, coverage breadth across the entire field, and freed up critical video editing cycles to be used elsewhere. This automated system ingested video from every shot on every hole. The workflow that created the input content later went on to win the George Wensel Technical Achievement Emmy Award as well as many other accolades. As this content was ingested, it was evaluated for “highlight-worthiness” using a metric referred to internally by IBM as “excitement.” The excitement metrics were derived using artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of the content. These metrics were further enhanced by using IBM Watson® OpenScale to remove bias from the ranking. These excitement metrics, coupled with storytelling business rules, were used to select which golf scenes to include. These selections were then used to create a fully produced highlight video with broadcast interstitials and automated TV graphics minutes after the player completed their round. The work for the 2019 Masters was described in this IBM Developer blog. # **** Debian Family **** # ** jmtd_→_log_→_Borg,_confidence_in_backups,_GtkPod_and software_preservation ** Luckily, other fine folks have worked out reversing all these steps and implemented it in software such as libgpod and its frontend, GtkPod, which is still currently available as a Debian package. It mostly worked, and I got back 95% of the tracks. (It would have been nice if GtkPod had reported the tracks it hadn’t recovered, it was aware they existed based on the errors it did print. But you can’t have everything.) GtkPod is a quirky, erratic piece of software, that is only useful for old Apple equipment that is long out of production, prior to the introduction of the encryption. The upstream homepage is dead, and I suspect it is unmaintained. The Debian package is orphaned. It’s been removed from testing, because it won’t build with GCC 10. On the other hand, my experience shows that it worked, and was useful for a real problem that someone had today. I’m in two minds about GtkPod’s fate. On the one hand, I think Debian has far too many packages, with a corresponding burden of maintenance responsibility (for the whole project, not just the individual package maintainers), and there’s a quality problem: once upon a time, if software had been packaged in a distribution like Debian, that was a mark of quality, a vote of confidence, and you could have some hope that the software would work and integrate well with the rest of the system. That is no longer true, and hasn’t been in my experience for many years. If we were more discerning about what software we included in the distribution, and what we kept, perhaps we could be a leaner distribution, faster to adapt to the changing needs in the world, and of a higher quality. On the other hand, this story about GtkPod is just one of many similar stories. Real problems have been solved in open source software, and computing historians, vintage computer enthusiasts, researchers etc. can still benefit from that software long into the future. Throwing out all this stuff in the name of “progress”, could be misguided. I’m especially sad when I see the glee which people have expressed when ditching libraries like Qt4 from the archive. Some software will not be ported on to Qt5 (or Gtk3, Qt6, Gtk4, Qt7, etc., in perpetuity). Such software might be all of: unmaintained, “finished”, and useful for some purpose (however niche), all at the same time. # **** Canonical/Ubuntu Family **** # ** Best_Ubuntu_Flavors_You_Should_Try ** The Official Ubuntu flavors come with different specs depending on your specific need for the Ubuntu operating system. To help you choose one for your needs, let us list down the best Ubuntu flavors you should try. “I am because you are,” is the themed meaning behind the famed Ubuntu operating system. Moreover, this mindful phrase is practical because it continues to lure more individuals into the Ubuntu universe. Because great power beckons great responsibility, Ubuntu is stepping up. It realizes that different users will want to use the Ubuntu operating system software differently. For example, software developers and graphic designers cannot use the same Ubuntu operating system interface comfortably. In such an instance, these users will have different user experiences leading to varying user-experience ratings. Therefore, the best Ubuntu flavors you should try is the main theme of this article. # ** Ubuntu_20.10_Gets_Its_First_Linux_Kernel_Security Patch,_Update_Now ** Released about three weeks ago, Ubuntu 20.10 is the latest version of the popular Linux- based operating system. It ships with the Linux 5.8 kernel series by default, which has now been patched against two recently discovered security vulnerabilities. The first security vulnerability addressed in this update is CVE-2020-27194, discovered by Simon Scannell in Linux kernel’s bpf verifier, which could allow a local attacker to expose sensitive information (kernel memory) or gain administrative privileges. # ** New_Intel_Vulnerabilities_Now_Patched_in_All Supported_Ubuntu_Releases ** Following the recent Linux kernel updates for Ubuntu 20.10 and all the supported Ubuntu releases, Canonical published today an updated version of the Intel Microcode package to address the latest vulnerabilities. In addition to the CVE-2020-8694 vulnerability already patched in the Linux kernels of all supported Ubuntu releases, the new Intel Microcode update also patches the CVE-2020-8695, CVE-2020-8696 and CVE-2020- 8698 vulnerabilities, which could allow a local attacker to expose sensitive information. # ** st,_xft_and_ubuntu_20.04.1 ** Some time ago I switched to AwesomeWM and with that came another change, my default terminal emulator. Having used GNOME terminal for years, I soon switched to Terminator back in the day. Leaving GNOME behind, in search for a more lean desktop with less frills and more keyboard centric features, I also had to ditch that terminal emulator (it has too many dependencies for my use case). Eventually I stumbled upon st, which fit the bill. st still seems almost perfect for me and I’m sticking with it, for now. There is one annoying bug though, which came to light when I started receiving e-mails with emoticons. Those emoticons crashed my ‘st’ instance! This is actually caused by an upstream Xft bug. When emoticons are displayed, they crash st. I had to resort to using xterm sometimes, which is, well, not a great experience nowadays. I set out on a journey to fix my desktop. # ** Design_and_Web_team_summary_–_10th_November_2020_| Ubuntu ** Hi, my name is Long. I’ve recently joined Canonical on the Web and Design team as a Lead Visual Designer. Joining Canonical during this weird time that we’re all going through has been a strange experience. I’m generally a sociable person who likes those impromptu conversations and chance meets in the office, but having to work remotely I haven’t had the opportunity to meet any of them in person. That being said; all the guys have made me feel extremely welcome and everybody’s passion and enthusiasm is infectious. My previous experience expands a wide range of sectors, which include Banking, Insurance, Retail, Sports and Media, Healthcare and lots of other fun projects along the way. I’ve been doing design in some form or another for the past 20 years and it never gets old. I’m always awed and fascinated by the design community who are always pushing the boundaries of design. Although very cliche, my hobbies include keeping up with design trends, Fashion, Architecture, Product Design and everything else in-between that catches my eye. If I’m not scouring the net for inspiration, I’ll be reading stuff about tech or chilling out with a good book (Fantasy, Sci-Fi). # ** Open_Operators_Training_Day_hosted_by_Canonical:_a co-located_KubeCon_event ** KubeCon NA is just around the corner and, as always, we aim to give back to the community in any way we can. That’s why, in the context of the upcoming KubeCon, we’re hosting a full-day training on operators, led by Canonical’s engineers. o **** Devices/Embedded **** # ** The_Raspberry_Pi_400_–_A_full_computer_in_a_keyboard! ** The Raspberry Pi 400 has arrived in the studio, and in this video I’ll give it a review. I’ll show an unboxing of the Personal Computer Kit from Canakit, which is a great way to get started on the Pi 400. Then I’ll show off the hardware, as well as the out-of-box experience. # ** Raspberry_Pi_400_Is_An_ARM_Linux_Desktop_PC ** The Raspberry Pi Foundation has recently released the Raspberry Pi 400 computer. It is the latest Raspberry Pi in a compact keyboard and retails for $70. By connecting this to a TV via HDMI users have a fully functional ARM-based Linux Desktop PC. Since the inception of the Raspberry Pi, enthusiasts have been trying to use it as a mini desktop computer. Even the cheapest $10 Raspberry Pi Zero comes with all the hardware components necessary for a desktop computer: an ARM CPU, plenty of RAM for Linux desktop systems, a SD card slot for file system storage, USB ports for accessories, HDMI ports for displays, networking port (or integrated WiFi and Bluetooth on the broad), as well as Linux operating systems that work with these hardware elements. # ** The_Raspberry_Pi_400_is_Awesome!_A_Computer_in_A_Keyboard! ** The Raspberry Pi foundation has recently launched the Raspberry Pi 400, a whole computer built into a compact keyboard to make personal computers more affordable. We are glad to say that they have successfully provided us with a PC for just $70. This version of the Pi is supposed to be cooler and faster than the Pi 4, which is 40 times powerful than the original Pi. The foundation has also come up with a ready-to-go kit available for only $100. Regarding the “computer-in-a-keyboard,” Raspberry Pi 400 has been successful in being an excellent general-purpose computer. Though it can never be the substitute for a modern laptop or desktop computer, you can still do several things with it, including edit documents, search on the web, send an email or browse social media. Also, you can use it as an online learning center for your kids. So, in brief, this version of the Pi has successfully carried out the goals made by the Raspberry Pi foundation. # ** MediaTek_unveils_Dimensity_700_5G_processor,_MT8192_& MT8195_SoCs_for_Chromebooks ** MediaTek announced three new 6nm and 7nm processors yesterday with Dimensity 700 5G processor for mainstream 5G mobile phones, and MT8192 & MT8195 SoCs for Chromebooks. # ** Raspberry_Pi_4_Vulkan_Project_Status_&_Future_Plans_–_Q4 2020 ** Igalia has been developing a new open-source Mesa driver for the Raspberry Pi 4 since December 2019 and announced the implementation of the classical triangle Vulkan demo last February. Four months after the announcement of the Vulkan effort for Raspberry Pi 4 (v3dv), they merged with Mesa upstream. This means Raspberry Pi 4’s v3dv Vulkan driver has become part of the official Mesa drivers. Thus, bringing several advantages, like easy to find as it is now available on the official Mesa repository. Bugs can now be filed on the official Mesa repository bug tracker. In June, they passed over 70,000 tests from the Khronos Conformance Test Suite for Vulkan 1.0 and had an implementation of a significant subset of the Vulkan 1.0 API. This does not mean that the driver is ready for production use as they have implemented the full Vulkan 1.0 API. They are now passing over 100,000 tests in the Kronos Conformance Test Suite (CTS) and have implemented the full Vulkan 1.0 API. They are currently working on the Sascha Willems demos. # ** Raspberry_Pi_smart_IoT_glove ** # ** AMD_Ryzen_Embedded_V2000_Zen2_Processors_Announced ** AMD introduced Ryzen Embedded V1000 processors combining Zen cores and Radeon Vega 3/8 GPU in 2018, and the processors are found in several embedded products including 4K digital signage players, single board computers, computers-on- module, mini PCs, and more. # ** Ryzen_Embedded_V2000_brings_7nm_Zen_2_to_the_edge ** # ** Type_6_module_debuts_Ryzen_Embedded_V2000 ** Adlink’s Linux-ready “cExpress-AR” Compact Type 6 module features AMD’s up to octa-core Ryzen Embedded V2000 with up to 64GB DDR4-3200, 2.5GbE, 6x PCIe Gen3, 8x PCIe Gen2, and up to 4x 4K displays. # ** Purism_Adds_Affiliate_Program_–_Purism ** In response to some requests we’ve been getting, Purism has added an affiliate program, where people and businesses can sign up, get an affiliate id, and link to products on the Purism Store and get paid. Affiliates are able to promote the Librem 5, Librem 5 USA, Librem 14, Librem Mini, and Librem Servers through affiliate links. # **** Open Hardware/Modding **** # ** Arduino_Blog_»_Skee-ball-like_indoor_golf_game_gets an_automatic_scoring_system ** After making an indoor Executive Par 3 golf game with a ramp and cups like a skee-ball machine, creator “gcal1979” decided to add an automatic scoring system to the rig. What he came up with uses infrared break beam sensors for each of the three holes, feeding info to an Arduino Mega. Stats are shown on an electronic scoreboard behind the play area, with a seven-segment display for the hole number, as well as two four-digit units for player scores. # ** TTGO_T-Higrow_is_a_WiFi_&_Bluetooth_connected_soil temperature_&_moisture_sensor ** LilyGO has made plenty of ESP32 “TTGO” boards with various features be it PoE, battery support, OLED display, cellular connectivity, and even a devkit in watch form factor. The latest product from the company specifically targets smart farming/gardening as TTGO T-Higrow embeds either DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor or BME280 temperature, humidity, and barometric sensor to report soil temperature and moisture over Bluetooth or WiFi. It can also come as a kit with a battery and a 3D printed enclosure. # ** Arduino_Blog_»_FREE_advanced_debugger_for_Portenta H7 ** We are happy to announce a new partnership with Lauterbach to provide all Portenta H7 customers with the TRACE32 debugger for free. Lauterbach’s TRACE32 debugger has been at the forefront of debug technology for more than four decades, and it is this wealth of experience and expertise that Lauterbach will draw on for the Arduino Portenta. # **** Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications **** # ** Rumor:_Samsung_to_update_90_devices_to_One_UI_3.0_ (Android_11) ** # ** The_OnePlus_Nord_N10_and_Nord_N100_will_get_just_one Android_version_update_to_Android_11 ** # ** Xiaomi_Redmi_Note_8_getting_Android_10-based_MIUI_12 stable_update_in_India ** # ** Google_plans_to_add_support_for_encrypted_files_to Drive_for_Android ** # ** Money_Management:_Best_Apps_To_Manage_Your_Money_On Android,_iOS ** # ** Discord_on_Android_begins_testing_screen-sharing_in latest_beta ** # ** Intel_debuts_GPU_for_the_data_centre_with_a_focus_on Android_cloud_gaming ** # ** This_Hisense_70-inch_4K_UHD_Smart_Android_TV_is_on sale_for_just_$400 ** # ** 1_in_3_Android_Devices_Set_to_Block_Lets_Encrypt_SSL Certificates_in_2021 ** # ** How_to_Extract_Audio_from_Video_on_Android_and iPhone? ** # ** Widespread_HTTPS_Adoption_to_Cause_Problems_in Millions_of_Legacy_Android_Devices_in_2021 ** # ** Samsung_phones_and_tablets_are_now_part_of_the Android_Enterprise_Recommended_Program ** # ** The_Best_Video_Calling_Apps_for_Android ** # ** Bitwarden_password_manager_adds_support_for_Android 11’s_inline_autofill_API ** # ** Google_Keep’s_new_icon_just_hit_Android ** # ** Google_embraces_the_future_with_Ultra-Wideband_APIs for_Android ** # ** Millions_of_Android_phones_will_stop_displaying websites_in_2021 ** # ** Android_warning:_Downloading_these_Play_Store_apps will_cost_you_way_more_than_you_think ** # ** Mysterious_Bugs_Were_Used_to_Hack_iPhones_and Android_Phones_and_No_One_Will_Talk_About_It ** # ** Redmi_Note_8_MIUI_12_Update_Based_on_Android_10 Rolling_Out_in_India,_Here’s_the_Full_Changelog,_New Features ** # ** Redmi_Note_8_finally_gets_MIUI_12_update_in_India; Android_10_tags_along ** # ** Samsung_Galaxy_A52_5G_with_Snapdragon_750G_and Android_11_gets_benchmarked_on_Geekbench ** # ** Android_will_get_ultra-wideband_support_for_smarter item_trackers_and_car_keys ** # ** How_to_turn_off_the_auto-capitalization_tool_on_your Android’s_Gboard_keyboard ** # ** How_to_Enable_RCS_Messaging_in_Google_Messages_on Android ** # ** Android_Auto_5.8_prepares_to_let_you_change_the wallpaper_and_tests_Google_Assistant_shortcuts ** # ** Android_users_can_help_to_improve_the_Google_Photos AI_recognition_of_people,_pets_and_places ** # ** Why_won’t_my_Android_charge?_7_ways_to_fix_charging issues_on_your_Android_device ** # ** Older_Android_phones_will_start_failing_on_some secure_websites_in_2021 ** # ** Samsung_Galaxy_A52_5G_with_Snapdragon_750G_SoC_and Android_11_Spotted_on_Geekbench ** # ** Double_patterns_could_advance_Android_device security ** # ** Android_security_update_tracker,_November_2020: Rankings_for_popular_smartphones ** # ** ‘Your_connection_is_not_private’_–_One_in_three Android_devices_set_to_block_Let’s_Encrypt-certified websites_in_2021 ** o **** Free, Libre, and Open Source Software **** # ** Why_I_use_Home_Assistant_for_open_source_home_automation ** Home automation is a slippery slope; you have been warned! In this multipart series, I will discuss home automation using the open source project Home Assistant. This introductory article will cover my journey to Home Assistant, what the application does, and why it’s important. Some time ago, when I set out on this journey, my goal was not lofty. I was solving a need. You see, I have a fairly sizable homelab. Nothing on the scale of some notable YouTubers, but I have eight machines ranging from 16GB RAM all the way up to 96GB. I have a Netgear 10G Ethernet switch as the backbone of my networking infrastructure. However, I have a small problem. Every once in a while, this switch’s state table fills up, and then it crashes, taking the network with it. This is a known issue with this model (although it was not known to me ahead of time). The only way to resolve the issue, without replacing the switch, is to power it off for a few seconds and then power it back on. # ** JASP:_A_Less_Complicated_Free_Open-source_SPSS_Alternative for_Advanced_Statistics ** I had a run with many open-source statistics software and packages, but JASP was truly unique among them. JASP is a free open-source complete statistical package supported by University of Amsterdam. It’s a multi-platform program that runs on Windows, Linux and macOS. It’s designed for users who want to do some statistical work without having to deal with programming or dive deep in learning complex statistical programs. It’s a recommended option for students and researchers. # ** Origins_of_the_youtube-dl_project ** As you may know, as of the time this text is being written youtube-dl’s repository at GitHub is blocked due to a DMCA takedown letter received by GitHub on behalf of the RIAA. While I cannot comment on the current maintainers’ plans or ongoing discussions, in light of the claims made in that letter I thought it would be valuable to put in writing the first years of youtube-dl as the project creator and initial maintainer. # **** Events **** # ** SeaGL_–_Seattle_GNU/Linux_Conference_Happening_This Weekend!_|_Linux_Journal ** This Friday, November 13th and Saturday, November 14th, from 9am to 4pm PST the 8th annual SeaGL will be held virtually. This year features four keynotes, and a mix of talks on FOSS tech, community and history. SeaGL is absolutely free to attend and is being run with free software! Additionally, we are hosting a pre-event career expo on Thursday, November 12th from 1pm to 5pm. Counselors will be available for 30 minute video sessions to provide resume reviews and career guidance. # ** Linux_App_Summit_starts_on_Thursday_–_Jonathan Riddell’s_Diary ** The Linux App Summit runs this Thursday to Saturday. Like Akademy it’s scheduled on a Hispanic friendly time which gives sessions in the European morning (08:00UTC) good for out eastern friends and sessions in the European afternoons (15:30UTC) good for our western friends. # **** Web Browsers **** # **** Mozilla **** # ** SpiderMonkey_Newsletter_7_(Firefox_82-83)_| spidermonkey.dev [Ed: Mozilla blogging on Microsoft servers] ** SpiderMonkey is the JavaScript engine used in Mozilla Firefox. This newsletter gives an overview of the JavaScript and WebAssembly work we’ve done as part of the Firefox 82 and 83 Nightly release cycles. # ** iodide_retrospective [Ed: Mozilla blogging on Microsoft servers and talking about spying on Firefox users] ** A bit belatedly, I thought I’d write a bit about Iodide: an effort to create a compelling, client-centred scientific notebook environment. Despite not writing a ton about it (the sole exception being this brief essay about my conservative choice for the server backend) Iodide took up a very large chunk of my mental energy from late 2018 through 2019. It was also essentially my only attempt at working on something that was on its way to being an actual product while at Mozilla: while I’ve led other projects that have been interesting and/or impactful in my 9 odd-years here (mozregression and perfherder being the biggest successes), they fall firmly into the “internal tools supporting another product” category. At this point it’s probably safe to say that most of the project has wound down: no one is being paid to work on Iodide and it’s essentially in extreme maintenance mode. Before it’s put to bed altogether, I’d like to write a few notes about its approach, where I think it had big advantanges, and where it seems to fall short. I’ll conclude with some areas I’d like to explore (or would like to see others explore!). I’d like to emphasize that this is my opinion only: the rest of the Iodide core team no doubt have their own thoughts. That said, let’s jump in. [...] It describes how people typically perform computational inquiry: typically you would poke around with some raw data, run some transformations on it. Only after that process was complete would you start trying to build up a “presentation” of your results to your audience. Looking back, it’s clear that Iodide’s strong suit was the explanation part of this workflow, rather than collaboration and exploration. My strong suspicion is that we actually want to use different tools for each one of these tasks. Coincidentally, this also maps to the bulk of my experience working with data at Mozilla, using iodide or not: my most successful front-end data visualization projects were typically the distilled result of a very large number of adhoc explorations (python scripts, SQL queries, Jupyter notebooks, …). The actual visualization itself contains very little computational meat: basically “just enough” to let the user engage with the data fruitfully. Unfortunately much of my work in this area uses semi-sensitive internal Mozilla data so can’t be publicly shared, but here’s one example # ** New_Release:_Tor_Browser_10.0.4 [Ed: Firefox inside] ** Tor Browser 10.0.4 is now available from the Tor Browser download page and also from our distribution directory. This release updates NoScript to 11.1.5 and includes an important security update to Firefox. # ** You’re_Invited:_State_of_the_Onion_2020 ** Every year people from the Tor Project communities present the State of the Onion, a compilation of updates from our different projects, at conferences around the world. We use this opportunity to talk about highlights of the work we’ve accomplished during the year and what we are excited about in the upcoming year. With COVID-19 pandemic this year, we didn’t have the chance to ‘tour’ our State of the Onion during any face-to- face conferences. So we decided to bring the State of the Onion to you in a special livestream on November 16 from 16:00 – 18:00 UTC.* # **** Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra **** # ** LibreOffice_7.0_branding:_Blender_3D_model ** LibreOffice 7.0, released in August 2020, includes new branding elements for the splash screen and other places, thanks Bayu Rizaldhan Rayes and the Design team. Now Barbara Tostes has made a 3D model for use in Blender, so if you want to make a video or animation about LibreOffice, check it out! And indeed, if you make any kind of video or tutorial and want us to spread the word, join our marketing mailing list or Telegram channel and say hello. Also take a look at the Design community’s work too. We love having more ideas and feedback! # ** Community_Member_Monday:_Arnaud_Mez ** LibreOffice is way more than just an office suite – it’s a worldwide project and community where people share ideas, build up their skills, and have fun. Today we’re talking to Arnaud Mez, who’s part of the Francophone community and who’s spreading the word about LibreOffice and helping with design… To start, tell us a bit about yourself! I’m from the Republic of Congo (the one with Brazzaville as its capital city [:-)] ). I’m the owner of a small venture called Smarty TC, based in the town of Pointe Noire, the city I live in. My everyday tasks and duties are exactly similar to my hobbies, as I constantly fight to stay focused on doing only what I love… So I do a lot of reading and listening to music, but beyond that I do a lot of research on the internet in order to keep an average but updated knowledge base. I did sport years ago… [;-)] like Taekwondo until I reached the black belt level, and life just swallowed me up into the more exiting side: computers. My favourite musicians are Joshua Aaron and Paul Wilbur, but I also love Hebraic and Japanese music as they have strong and deep cultural riches. I don’t play games on my PC now and stopped playing on consoles, but my favourite games ever are Need for Speed Carbon, and the Zelda series starting from Ocarina of Time. # **** Programming/Development **** # ** Eleven_Years_of_Go ** Today we celebrate the eleventh birthday of the Go open source release. The parties we had for Go turning 10 seem like a distant memory. It’s been a tough year, but we’ve kept Go development moving forward and accumulated quite a few highlights. In November, we launched go.dev and pkg.go.dev shortly after Go’s 10th birthday. In February, the Go 1.14 release delivered the first officially “production-ready” implementation of Go modules, along with many performance improvements, including faster defers and non-cooperative goroutine preemption to reduce scheduling and garbage collection latency. In early March, we launched a new API for protocol buffers, google.golang.org/protobuf, with much-improved support for protocol buffer reflection and custom messages. # ** GCC_11_Lands_Support_For_Intel_AVX-VNNI_–_Phoronix ** GCC 11 feature development is ending very shortly but landing in time are the patches last month for adding AVX-VNNI support. AVX-VNNI is the equivalent to AVX512-VNNI with VEX encoding for Vector Neural Network Instructions outside the AVX-512 context. LLVM Clang 12 added AVX-VNNI support at the end of October while now the GNU Compiler Collection support has been merged in time for GCC 11. # ** Understanding_Elixir_mocking_with_Mox ** This post is clearing up confusions around mocking in Elixir. If you were ever confused about mocks and stubs in Elixir, I made it 100% clear for you. Mocking is the testing technique to replace underlying code behaviour with the response we want. Typically we use it to mock modules that depend on 3rd-party services, APIs, internet connection, or system dependencies. Mox is my go-to library for mocking in Elixir. Note that the distinction between mocks and stubs is highly inconsistent across the literature. I am using my own understanding of the terms that is aligned with the Mox documentation. # ** Javascript_Try_Catch_–_Linux_Hint ** Javascript is a translative programming language. Just like any other language, a developer or programmer often needs to care about error handling. Mostly a programmer or developer needs to handle errors while accessing or assigning some data to the database. So, error handling is an essential part of any programming project. There are three types of errors in programming that a programmer or developer often has to face. Syntax Error – An error in writing code against the syntax of programming language. For example, missing a semi-colon or not following the convention of creating and calling the function. Logical Error – An error in the logic building. For example, implementing the wrong arithmetic operation, which results in the wrong output. Runtime Error – Error occurred during the runtime. Like, calling a function without declaring it. The error that we get during the runtime is also known as an exception. Exceptional handling is very important. Because we can’t throw the errors and error codes right away. We have to handle that. So, In this article, we are going to have an understanding of how to handle exceptions using javascript’s try- catch block. We will also learn how to throw a custom message against an error and how to use the “finally” block with a try-catch block. # **** Python **** # ** New_packages_in_Fedora/EPEL:_screenkey_& python-secure_cookie_|_Soliloquies ** Two software packages — screenkey and python-secure_cookie are available in Fedora and EPEL repositories. Screenkey Screenkey is a tool that displays the keys one type, on the screen. It is quite useful for screen recording/ casting for video tutorials and such. I use it particularly to record tutorial sessions on Vim where keystrokes are important. # ** Calling_a_Function ** To use functions in Python, you write the function name (or the variable that points to the function object) followed by parentheses (to call the function). If that function accepts arguments (as most functions do), then you’ll pass the arguments inside the parentheses as you call the function. If that function has a return value, you can capture that return value into a variable or pass that return value straight into another function call. # ** Python_Software_Foundation_News:_Rami Chowdhury_Awarded_the_PSF_Community_Service_Award for_Q3_2020 ** Rami Chowdhury Entrepreneur, Software Engineer, DC Python User group co- organizer, and volunteer coordinator of PyCon US, has been awarded the Python Software Foundation 2020 Q3 Community Service Award. [...] With their help and encouragement, I progress through installing Linux-based operating system, learning the command line, and finally getting into the world of programming as a hobby. # ** Handling_Missing_Keys_With_the_Python defaultdict_Type_–_Real_Python ** The Python defaultdict type behaves almost exactly like a regular Python dictionary, but if you try to access or modify a missing key, then defaultdict will automatically create the key and generate a default value for it. This makes defaultdict a valuable option for handling missing keys in dictionaries. # ** Optimizing_your_code_is_not_the_same_as parallelizing_your_code ** You’re processing a large amount of data with Python, the processing seems easily parallelizable—and it’s sloooooooow. The obvious next step is switch to some sort of multiprocessing, or even start processing data on a cluster so you can use multiple machines. Obvious, but often wrong: switching straight to multiprocessing, and even more so to a cluster, can be a very expensive choice in the long run. # ** Loop_mount_an_S3_or_Ceph_object ** This is a fun, small nbdkit Python plugin using the Boto3 AWS SDK… # ** PyCoder’s_Weekly:_Issue_#446_(Nov._10,_2020) ** # ** Getting_Back_on_the_Horse_|_Janusworx ** Ok, one more time. I know there have been lots of one more times before, but I am going to keep at this until I get proficient enough at this to land a job [:)] And while I may not be brainy enough, the one thing I can do is be persistent enough to show up. o **** Standards/Consortia **** # ** [GNUnet]_GNS_Technical_Specification_Milestone_4/4_and Packaging_1+2 ** We are happy to announce the completion of the fourth and last milestone for the GNS Specification. [...] Based on this and private feedback received, we updated the draft and the implementation. Most notably, GNS now supports alternative cryptographic schemes for zone keys (“crypto agility”) which allows alternative zone types. The (protocol breaking) changes will be released as part of GNUnet 0.14.0. # ** HarfBuzz_shaping_engine_in_InDesign ** Adobe products use their own shaping engine known as ‘lipika’ for advanced text layout. The ‘world ready composer’ uses it by default when text with complex scripts such as Malayalam (and other Indic scripts) is used. Lipika has various issues in properly shaping advanced conjunct forms and has its own quirks. Certain issues are worked around in fonts, but certain issues cannot be. There were reports that Adobe products might eventually integrate the gold standard of shaping engines — libre software HarfBuzz. * **** Leftovers **** o ** It’s_Only_Words ** o ** The_Limits_of_the_Viral_Book_Review ** Have you read a book review recently? The ones that make the rounds, dropped in DMs and threaded down Twitter timelines? They all fixate on a certain quality. Critics—and the authors they cover—seem to be obsessed with self-awareness. Writing about oneself isn’t new at all, but what’s current (and quickly growing stale) is the overtly self-conscious way contemporary writers have chosen to go about it. o **** Hardware **** # ** Huawei_finalising_sale_of_budget_smartphone_unit_Honor_for $20b ** Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei Technologies is likely to sell its budget smartphone unit, Honor, to a group which is led by Digital China and the Shenzhen Government, a report claims. o **** Health/Nutrition **** # ** After_Boosting_Low-Income_Voter_Turnout,_Poor_People’s Campaign_Mobilizes_for_Covid_Relief ** People did not turn out in record numbers in the midst of a pandemic to vote for a return to normal. They want policy change based on a moral agenda. # ** As_U.S._Faces_Out-of-Control_Pandemic,_Pfizer_Raises_Hope for_Vaccine,_But_Many_Questions_Remain ** Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has announced that a Phase 3, late-stage study found their potential COVID-19 vaccine showed more than 90% effectiveness. The two-dose vaccine still faces several challenges, including how to store and transport it, since it must be refrigerated at subzero temperatures. Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Laurie Garrett says the news is hopeful, but urges caution. “There’s been no scientific release. There’s no published data,” she says. “We don’t have anything to go with except what the lawyers at Pfizer massaged carefully into a single-page press release. So, we have to take that with a big caveat.” # ** UN_Agencies_Warn_of_Global_Hunger_and_Displacement_‘Surge’ From_Coronavirus_Pandemic ** “The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on health and human mobility threatens to roll back global commitments,” said one official, “and hinder ongoing efforts to support those in need of assistance.” # ** Palestinian_Peace_Negotiator_Saeb_Erekat_Dies_of_COVID_as Virus_Rips_Through_Occupied_Territories ** Saeb Erekat, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, has died at 65 after he became infected with COVID-19. Erekat was a key Palestinian negotiator involved in peace talks for over three decades and stood in staunch opposition to the Trump administration’s Middle East plan, which he called the “fraud of the century,” and condemned recent agreements normalizing relations between Israel and Gulf nations. “One must really reflect and admire the tireless commitment he had to communicating the Palestinian cause as best he saw fit … and the important voice that he brought to the conversation at a time when many people around the world had not really heard from Palestinians, particularly Palestinians living in Palestine, on the ground,” says Palestinian American analyst Yousef Munayyer. # ** ‘A_Great_Loss_for_Palestine’:_Veteran_Diplomat_and_PLO Leader_Saeb_Erekat_Dies_of_Covid-19 ** Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hailed Erekat—who served a quarter century as the occupied state’s chief negotiator—as “our dear brother and friend, the great fighter.”  # ** Supreme_Court_Justices_Hint_That_Obamacare_Repeal_Is Highly_Unlikely ** # ** Supreme_Court_Hears_ACA_Case_That_Could_Imperil_COVID Treatment_for_Millions ** # ** “We_Are_Committing_Mass_Suicide”:_Laurie_Garrett_on_Danger of_Overturning_ACA_During_Pandemic ** Today, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act, and millions of Americans could lose their healthcare in the middle of a pandemic. “In a way, we’re committing mass suicide,” says science journalist Laurie Garrett, who says scrapping the landmark Obama-era healthcare law would leave people “to potentially carry disease forward into the community, into their workplaces, and so on, without any treatment, any help, any assistance. That’s just insane.” # ** Consumer_Advocates_Warn_Pfizer_Data_Is_Incomplete_— Vaccine_Is_Still_Months_Away ** # ** Most_States_Aren’t_Ready_to_Distribute_the_Leading_COVID- 19_Vaccine ** As the first coronavirus vaccine takes a major stride toward approval, state governments’ distribution plans show many are not ready to deliver the shots. The challenge is especially steep in rural areas, many of which are contending with a surge of infections, meaning that access to the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines may be limited by geography. # ** South_Africa:_MSF_20_Year_Anniversary_–_Two_HIV_Treatment Professionals_Reflect_on_20_Years_in_Khayelitsha ** Two pioneers of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) HIV programmes in Khayelitsha, Dr Eric Goemaere and nurse Nompumelelo Mantangana, look back at the defining moments of the last 20 years stitching together the legacy of the project in delivering patient-centered care, very often against the odds. o **** Integrity/Availability **** # **** Proprietary **** # ** Apple_Releases_M1-Powered_Apple_Silicon_Macs,_macOS Big_Sur_Releasing_This_Week [Ed: There’s no such thing as “Apple Silicon.” The term shows us that the Apple cult boils down to branding rather than actual tech.] ** As was widely expected for today’s Apple event, the Cupertino company just announced their first three Macs powered by Apple Silicon. [...] MacOS Big Sur meanwhile will begin shipping on Thursday. The new Apple M1 systems will begin shipping next week. In the next week or so we should also be able to present initial Phoronix Test Suite numbers on the Apple M1. Stay tuned. # ** Apple’s_M1:_A_closer_look_at_the_chip_inside_of_the latest_Macs ** The M1 configuration also includes an image signal processor (ISP) to enhance video quality and decrease noise, and more. A Thunderbolt controller offers up to 40Gbps transfer speeds and a dedicated Secure Enclave boosts device security. The build also includes media encode decode engines. # ** What_Apple’s_New_Mac_Products_and_M1_Chip_Mean_for Hollywood ** Elaborating on the new Mac’s potential, Miller explains that the two primary “pain points” for editors are rendering effects in a timeline, and then compressing and outputting the video for client review. “They are computer processing intensive actions. We have to see if this new M1 chip speeds that up. It should. Dramatically. Then Avid, Adobe, and DaVinci (Blackmagic) have to use those hardware and OS advances in their software development.” To that end, THR reached out to several professional software developers on Tuesday. Avid didn’t immediately respond and Adobe offered the following statement: “We’re excited to bring Creative Cloud apps to both Apple silicon and Windows ARM-based devices soon. We’ll have news related to Lightroom and Photoshop on ARM soon.” # ** Apple_announces_MacBook_Air_with_Apple’s_Arm-based M1_processor ** The biggest advantage of Arm systems is that they’ll provide better battery life and efficiency over the Intel systems. They’ll also be able to run iOS and iPadOS apps natively on macOS. As for macOS apps: Apple has updated its own programs, such as Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, to support its silicon, as have other major companies like Microsoft and Adobe. At its June event, Apple demonstrated Lightroom and Photoshop running smoothly on the new processor — Lightroom is slated for release next month, and Photoshop early next year. And macOS Big Sur, which the Air will run, includes an emulator called Rosetta 2 that will “translate” any apps that haven’t yet been updated for Arm at launch. # ** Apple_unveils_new_MacBooks_and_mini_powered_by_its M1_chip,_along_with_macOS_Big_Sur ** According to Apple, the M1 system-on-chip design allows it to provide high performance at extremely low power – much better than any PC design on the market – and it does so with eight cores. Four cores are high-power, and four cores are high-efficiency. Each of the cores is managed by a coordinator, which determines by workload needs in real time which tasks should be handled in order to keep wasted heat to a minimum and therefore provide the best power efficiency. Although Apple is absolutely glowing about its new M1 silicon, Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, felt that the numbers might be a little questionable. # ** Former_Microsoft_engineer_sentenced_to_nine_years for_theft_of_digital_currency ** Ukrainian national Volodymyr Kvashuk worked at Microsoft at its head office in Redmond, Washington, starting in 2016 before he was fired in June 2018 and then arrested the next month. Kvashuk worked on Microsoft’s online sales platform, where he used a Microsoft Store account meant for testing to gain access to online sales where he obtained “currency stored value” such as Microsoft gift cards and then resold them online for bitcoin. # ** Microsoft_hostility ** As some of you might have noticed, Microsoft (owner of Hotmail, Outlook, Live, Office360, etc.) is rejecting all emails originating from Disroot.org servers. Once reported to us, we immediately contacted support at Outlook as it was not the first time we have been targeted by Microsoft (last year for no reason, all emails from Disroot were marked as spam). After waiting for a reply for a few days, making sure we are compliant with ‘their policies’ and exchanging few pointless emails with the Microsoft’s support staff, we have gotten this final reply: [...] # ** Microsoft_Releases_.NET_5.0_With_Many_Performance Improvements,_Continued_Linux_Work [Ed: Very disappointing to see Phoronix giving a platform to Microsoft proprietary agenda] ** # ** Stratodesk_Announces_the_Worldwide_Availability_of the_Windows_Virtual_Desktop_Linux_Client_on_Stratodesk NoTouch ** Stratodesk, leader in delivering VDI, Cloud, and IoT endpoint solutions, today announced the official support for the Windows Virtual Desktop Linux Client on Stratodesk NoTouch software. As enterprises around the world look to migrate their Windows instances to the Cloud, IT leaders rely on Stratodesk NoTouch to streamline Windows Virtual Desktop endpoint deployments. Stratodesk enables secure remote access to Microsoft Azure to end users anywhere in the world, right at a time when the world needs these solutions most. # ** Curtiss-Wright_and_Concurrent_Real-Time_Team_to Bring_RedHawk_Linux_to_the_Ultra-Small_Parvus_DuraCOR 312_Mission_Computer ** # **** Pseudo-Open Source **** # **** Privatisation/Privateering **** # **** Linux Foundation **** # ** AMD_+_IBM_Team_Up_To_Tackle Confidential_Computing [Ed: There’s also that BS and misnomer called Confidential Computing and like clown computing it boils down to surveillance being spun as “private” and “secure”… the very opposite of what it really is. “Department of DEFENCE…”] ** Researchers from both AMD and IBM will collaborate on hardware-based Confidential Computing to strengthen their presence in the cloud and enhancing artificial intelligence workloads. This makes more inroads for AMD EPYC in the cloud and from IBM’s side strengthens their cloud offerings. The brief press release being sent out notes that the joint development activities under the agreement are now underway. Unfortunately, however, when briefed under embargo they were not able to shed any light yet on what the initial focus is or what are the open-source projects they are looking to improve upon for this Confidential Computing initiative. # ** CNCF_Releases_Free_Training_Course Covering_Basics_of_Service_Mesh_with Linkerd ** Introduction to Service Mesh with Linkerd is the newest training course from CNCF and The Linux Foundation. This course, offered on the non-profit edX learning platform, can be audited by anyone at no cost. The course is designed for site reliability engineers, DevOps professionals, cluster administrators, and developers who want to learn more about service mesh and Linkerd, the open source service mesh hosted by CNCF and focused on simplicity, speed, and low resource usage. # ** The_Linux_Foundation_Launches_LF Live:_Mentorship_Series [Ed: Linux Foundation_Outsources_Events_and_‘LF Live’_to_Proprietary_Software_With Back_Doors_and_Surveillance_(Zoom)] ** # ** The_Linux_Foundation_Launches_LF Live:_Mentorship_Series_–_The_Linux Foundation ** The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, is launching a virtual mentoring series entitled LF Live: Mentorship Series. The goal of this program is to (1) continue offering opportunities to learn and re-skill to those that have been displaced from jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) serve those considering jobs in open source by helping to grow their skills and build their network so they are better set up for successful careers; (3) grow the number of people entering the open source job market which has a huge demand for new talent; and (4) encourage new people to apply to The Linux Foundation’s Mentoring Program and other community mentoring programs. These webinars will be complimentary. There is no cost to participate in this program. # **** Security **** # ** Say_hello_to_PLATYPUS,_the_latest_CPU_security problem ** This kind of PLATYPUS is not a sweet and unusual mammal, this is a security problem recently announced that affect Intel across server, desktop and laptop CPUs. Along with a long list of other Intel issues that went public today (there’s like 40 of them…), PLATYPUS is one that’s gaining some attention and came with its own fancy website. PLATYPUS (Power Leakage Attacks: Targeting Your Protected User Secrets) is a way to exploit the unprivileged access to the Intel RAPL (Running Average Power Limit) interface exposing the processor’s power consumption to infer data and extract cryptographic keys. Physical access is not required the researchers say, so it’s quite a concerning one. # ** Intel_Discloses_40_More_Security_Advisories_– PLATYPUS_Is_An_Interesting_One ** As part of Intel’s monthly security disclosures the company is today releasing forty new security advisories today. With these 40 security advisories for November 2020 they are addressing 95 vulnerabilities. There are security advisories relating to the Converged Security and Management Engine (CSME) as well as the Intel Wireless Bluetooth support — including a “critical” vulnerability that could lead to escalation of privileges via the LAN. Also being disclosed today is “PLATYPUS” stemming from information leakage with the Intel Running Average Power Limit (RAPL) interface. # ** Intel_Releases_New_Processor_Microcode_For Security_Advisories,_CPU_Bugs ** Intel on Tuesday evening released their 20201110 CPU microcode package as their first collection of updated CPU microcode binaries since June and it’s a big update. Following the disclosure of some 40 new security advisories for their products including the notable “PLATYPUS” vulnerability affecting Intel RAPL, they released the Intel 20201110 CPU microcode package for Linux users to address these security problems as well as other CPU bugs. # ** SUSE_releases_fixes_for_new_PLATYPUS_attack ** Today security researchers from TU Graz have published a new side-channel information leak attack using power metering in modern Intel CPUs. With this side-channel attack on power consumption fluctuations it is possible to extract secret information on the same CPU, like for instance key material from SGX enclaves or the Linux kernel, or KASLR information to help other attacks. # ** New_Platypus_attack_can_steal_data_from_Intel CPUs ** A team of academics has disclosed today a new attack method that can extract data from Intel CPUs. Named Platypus, an acronym for “Power Leakage Attacks: Targeting Your Protected User Secrets,” the attack targets the RAPL interface of Intel processors. RAPL, which stands for Running Average Power Limit, is a component that allows firmware or software applications to monitor power consumption in the CPU and DRAM. # ** Colossal_Intel_Update_Anchored_by_Critical Privilege-Escalation_Bugs ** Intel released 40 security advisories in total, addressing critical- and high-severity flaws across its Active Management Technology, Wireless Bluetooth and NUC products. A massive Intel security update this month addresses flaws across a myriad of products – most notably, critical bugs that can be exploited by unauthenticated cybercriminals in order to gain escalated privileges. These critical flaws exist in products related to Wireless Bluetooth – including various Intel Wi-Fi modules and wireless network adapters – as well as in its remote out-of-band management tool, Active Management Technology (AMT). # ** Security_updates_for_Tuesday_[LWN.net] ** Security updates have been issued by Debian (moin, obfs4proxy, tcpdump, and zeromq3), Fedora (samba), Mageia (lout, openldap, pacemaker, samba, sddm, and spice, spice-gtk), openSUSE (bluez, ImageMagick, java-1_8_0-openj9, otrs, and wireshark), Red Hat (bind, buildah, curl, fence-agents, kernel, kernel-rt, kpatch-patch, librepo, libvirt, podman, python, python3, qt and qt5-qtbase, resource-agents, skopeo, tomcat, and unixODBC), SUSE (gcc10, python3, SDL, and zeromq), and Ubuntu (libexif). # ** Attackers_take_a_dig_at_Symantec_as_they announce_hit_on_tech_repair_firm ** Malicious attackers behind an attack on tech repair specialists CSAT Solutions have taken a dig at security firm Symantec, by releasing screenshots of the status of the Symantec security software on the site which was breached. # ** Oracle_Proposing_Change_To_Linux’s_KPTI Meltdown_Mitigation_–_Phoronix ** A proposal and set of patches have been sent out around the Linux kernel’s Page Table Isolation (PTI/KPTI) implementation to defer switching from the user page-table to kernel page- table until later in the kernel entry sequence. There are possible performance benefits and code improvements that would stem from this change. The proposal by kernel engineer Alexandre Chartre of Oracle is to defer making the page table isolation CR3 control register switch until hitting the kernel C code rather than the switch being early on within the Assembly entry code. # ** Campari_ransomware_attackers_break_into Facebook_to_publicise_incident ** The cyber criminals behind the ransomware attack on Italian liqueur manufacturer Campari Group have taken their efforts to publicise the intrusion in a different direction, infiltrating the Facebook page of an entertainment event organiser and posting an ad and news about the attack there. # ** Tenable_CSO_slams_Microsoft_over_change_to patch_release_information ** A seasoned security professional has slammed Microsoft for the company’s decision to remove CVE description information from the monthly listing of patches on the second Tuesday of each month, saying that the new method will give malicious attackers the advantage to reverse engineer patches. # ** November_2020_Patch_Tuesday:_Microsoft_fixes actively_exploited_Windows_Kernel_flaw ** Microsoft has changed the way it describes fixed vulnerabilities, and the new advisories unfortunately hold less information than before – information that may be crucial for admins to asses which patches are to be prioritized. So this month, the most information is available about CVE-2020-17087, a Windows Kernel privilege escalation vulnerability, because it’s being actively exploited in the wild (together with a Chrome bug) and because Google disclosed it on October 29, along with PoC exploit code. “While not explicitly stated, the language used makes it seem the exploit is not yet widespread. However, considering there is a full analysis of the bug weeks before the patch, it will likely be incorporated into other exploits quickly,” noted Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative’s Dustin Childs. # ** Linux_Security_Hardening_for_Beginners_Part_04 –_Using_Access_Control_Lists_–_The_Linux Juggernaut ** Welcome to our 4th part of our tutorial series. Today we will see how to create an access control list. With an ACL, we can allow only a certain person to access a file or directory or we can allow multiple people to access a file or directory with different permissions for each person. If we have a file or directory that’s wide open for Everyone, we can use an ACL to allow different levels of access for either a group or an individual. # ** Linux_Security_Hardening_for_Beginners_Part_05 –_Using_Lynis_Audit_Tool_–_The_Linux_Juggernaut ** Lynis is a open-source application that we can use to audit the security posture of a Linux and other UNIX-like systems. In this guide, you will learn how to install lynis and how to run a security audit on your Linux system. Lynis will give suggestions on how to fix the identified issues so it will be helpful for you to do the suggested security hardenings by yourself. # **** Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/ Dramatisation **** # ** Ubuntu’s_Gnome_desktop_could_be_tricked into_giving_root_access [Ed: The FUD from Bleeping Nonsense/Ionut Ilascu is getting truly ridiculous. Now they try to paint GNU/Linux as insecure/not secure because users can be tricked into doing things. This is new levels of FUD. "GitHub’s security researcher Kevin Backhouse" means Microsoft employee. Now we have full-time Microsoft staff (oh, but Microsoft loves Linux!) producing anti-Linux FUD.] ** # ** Ubuntu_fixes_bugs_that_standard_users could_use_to_become_root ** # ** Vulnerabilities_in_Ubuntu_Desktop enabled_root_access_in_two_simple_steps [Ed: This is utterly disgusting and a hallmark of corrupt, clueless 'journalism'. Microsoft employee says that you can write a script and convince a GNU/Linux user to foolishly run it, hence GNU/Linux is "not secure"] ** # **** Privacy/Surveillance **** # ** EU_Takes_Another_Small_Step_Towards Trying_To_Ban_Encryption;_New_Paper_Argues Tech_Can_Nerd_Harder_To_Backdoor_Encryption ** In September, we noted that officials in the EU were continuing an effort to try to ban end-to-end encryption. Of course, that’s not how they put it. They say they just want “lawful access” to encrypted content, not recognizing that any such backdoor effectively obliterates the protections of end-to-end encryption. A new “Draft Council Resolution on Encryption” has come out as the EU Council of Ministers continues to drift dangerously towards this ridiculous position. # ** Top_Monash_economists_urge_EC,_ACCC_to reject_Google-Fitbit_deal ** Researchers from the Monash Business School have made a presentation to the European Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, saying that Google should not be allowed to acquire US-based fitness company Fitbit. # ** Data_Broker_On_The_Hook_For_$5_Million After_Abusing_Its_Access_To_North_Carolina DMV_Data ** The government demands a lot of data from its citizens. In exchange for the privilege of operating a car, the government wants to know a lot about you. It then takes this data and locks it up tight, ensuring only the agency demanding the info has access to it. # ** Portland’s_Facial_Recognition_Ban_Won’t Stop_Private_Citizens_From_Rolling_Their Own_Tech_To_ID_Cops ** Portland, Oregon recently passed a ban on facial recognition tech. Unlike bans passed elsewhere in the country, this one wasn’t fucking around. The ban covered private companies as well as local government agencies. We’ve yet to see whether or not the courts will allow Portland to tell local businesses how to run their business, but the new ban has posed a novel problem not seen elsewhere. Residents trying to flip the script on law enforcement have discovered the new ban might impede their efforts. Kashmir Hill has the details on the unlikeliest outcome of blanket facial recognition bans. # ** The_DOJ_Will_Finally_Allow_Local_Cops_To Wear_Body_Cameras_When_Working_With_Federal Agencies ** The federal government is finally coming around to body cameras. While law enforcement agencies around the nation continue to buy body cameras for their officers, federal agencies have been less receptive to these tools of incremental accountability and transparency. # ** 10_Years_of_HTTPS_Everywhere ** It’s been 10 years since the beta release of EFF’s HTTPS Everywhere web browser extension. It encrypts your communications with websites, making your browsing more secure. HTTPS has journeyed it’s way from an urgent recommendation to a main component of traffic of our everyday web experience. In 2018, we discussed the importance of HTTPS Everywhere and our ongoing effort to encrypt the web. We have come far and still have more work to do. This post gives a snapshot into the landscape of HTTPS Everywhere today. Since the launch of HTTPS Everywhere, other projects have also taken on the task of helping users browse securely. These more recent projects include DuckDuckGo’s Smarter Encryption and Smart HTTPS. The biggest difference is that HTTPS Everywhere still operates a community-curated list of rules for particular sites. Many users who add to our list have intimate knowledge of the sites they are contributing. Examples of such reports include subdomains of a site that have misconfigurations, insecure cookies, or CDN buckets to account for. The dangerous EARN IT Act passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, and now it’s been introduced in the House of Representatives.Take ActionTell Congress to Reject the Earn It ActWe need your help to stop this anti-speech, anti-security bill. Email your elected officials in both chambers of… # ** Rights_Activists_Slam_EU_Plan_for_Access to_Encrypted_Chats ** A draft proposal dated Nov. 6 and circulated by the German government, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, proposes creating a “better balance” between privacy and crime fighting online. The confidential draft, obtained independently by The Associated Press, states that “competent authorities must be able to access data in a lawful and targeted manner, in full respect of fundamental rights and the data protection regime, while upholding cybersecurity.” It adds that “technical solutions for gaining access to encrypted data must comply with the principles of legality, transparency, necessity and proportionality.” # ** Is_the_EU_moving_towards_a_ban_on_end- to-end_encryption? ** While the draft resolution doesn’t mention a backdoor, it does state there is a need to review the effects arising from different regulatory frameworks and develop a consistent regulatory framework that would allow competent authorities to carry out their duties effectively. # ** Security_Instead_of_Surveillance:_There Is_No_Such_Thing_as_a_“Partial_Backdoor”_to End-to-End_Encryption! ** The proposal stands in line with regular attacks by governments on the secure encryption of content, made under the guise of the fight against organized crime and terrorism. # ** NHS_Digital_signs_deal_with_DXC,_CSIRO to_improve_data_sharing ** UK’s NHS Digital has signed a deal with US IT firm DXC Technology and Australia’s national science agency CSIRO with an objective to enhance data sharing across different organisations. The deal will help in making mapping clinical and administrative codes between various health and care organisations, and their contracted technology suppliers, faster and easier. This will be through a new terminology server, said NHS Digital. # ** TikTok_says_the_Trump_administration_has forgotten_about_trying_to_ban_it,_would like_to_know_what’s_up ** TikTok has filed a petition in a US Court of Appeals calling for a review of actions by the Trump administration’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFUIS). The reason, according for the company, is that it hasn’t heard from the committee in weeks about an imminent deadline for parent company ByteDance to sell off US assets over national security concerns. The CFIUS set the deadline of November 12th for TikTok to divest itself of “any tangible or intangible assets or property, wherever located, used to enable or support ByteDance’s operation of the TikTok application in the United States.” TikTok says it applied for a 30-day extension that was allowed for in the CFIUS’ order, but hasn’t received any communication on the matter. It’s not clear what would actually happen if the deadline passed; TikTok was granted a preliminary injunction against it late last month. # ** FTC_Settlement:_Zoom_Lied_About_End-to- End_Encryption ** Zoom announced recently that it was adding end-to-end encryption to its services, making it sound like it was providing users with a great service. It turns out it’s partially because it was court-mandated. Zoom has reached a settlement with the FTC, who claimed the company lied for years to users about utilizing end-to-end encryption. [...] According to the FTC, “Zoom has agreed to a requirement to establish and implement a comprehensive security program, a prohibition on privacy and security misrepresentations, and other detailed and specific relief to protect its user base, which has skyrocketed from 10 million in December 2019 to 300 million in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The Republican majority in the FTC supports the settlement. The Democratic minority wanted to force Zoom to provide help to affected users. The settlement says Zoom does not have to “offer redress, refunds, or even notice to its customers that material claims regarding the security of its services were false,” said Democratic Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. Zoom is also facing separate lawsuits from investors and consumers that could cause it to have to offer financial settlement to its users. o **** Defence/Aggression **** # ** As_Trump_Ignores_Election_Results_and_Plans_‘Flood’_of Sanctions,_Biden_Signals_Possible_Shift_in_US_Relations_With Iran ** Advocates of diplomacy are urging the president- elect to “take the opportunity to think bigger, even, than the Obama administration was able to.” # ** A_Triumphant_Return_to_Power_for_Bolivia’s_Social Movements ** The most important victory, however, did not come at the ballot box, but rather in the streets. # ** Recognize_What_This_Is:_A_Final_Attempt_of_a_Desperate, Bitter_Man_to_Cling_to_Power ** Why this effort to steal an election and corrupt democracy won’t work. # ** UK_Wing_Of_TikTok_Swears_It_Isn’t_Helping_The_Chinese Government_Oppress_Uighur_Muslims ** China doesn’t have a problem with censorship. By that, I mean the Chinese government sees no problem with its ever-expanding censorship of speech it doesn’t like. While China appears to have embraced capitalism, it hasn’t embraced the democratic accoutrements that normally accompany a move towards a more free society. # ** CodePink_Defends_Georgia_Senate_Candidate_Raphael_Warnock After_GOP_Opponent’s_‘Anti-Semitism’_Smear ** “Denouncing Israeli occupation is NOT anti- Semitic,” the women-led peace group stressed after Sen. Kelly Loeffler attacked her Democratic challenger over a 2019 letter.  # ** The_Urgency_to_Hold_Biden_Accountable_on_Foreign_Policy ** One thing to be hopeful about is that the man who comes in his place, Joe Biden, will probably work towards rebuilding US relations to organizations that are crucial for the survival of vast numbers of people around the world. International efforts – mostly spearheaded by the UN – have drastically reduced afflictions such as HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, malaria, Ebola and leprosy, and have almost eliminated polio – though the prevalence of any of such deadly diseases in a world of plenty is still a moral scandal. Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization, as the organization encounters one of the biggest global challenges in its history, was, as Richard Horton – the editor-in-chief of the prestigious medical journal The Lancet – aptly called it, a “crime against humanity.”[1] What else could one expect from a corrupt real estate tycoon who does not value brown and black lives, and does not even bring relief to his own people in a time of crisis? The wars to come # ** Mike_Pompeo:_‘There_Will_Be_a_Smooth_Transition_to_a Second_Trump_Administration’ ** During the same press conference, a smug, combative Pompeo attacked a reporter for asking whether Trump’s refusal to concede discredits America’s efforts to promote free and fair elections around the world and to encourage the losers of those elections to accept the results. # ** How_China’s_Belt_and_Road_threatens_European_Security:_A closer_look_into_the_nine-dash_line ** To address this issue, the EU released a report in which it criticized the BRI of being unsustainable to the members’ economy, environment, finances, and social welfare. The report also lambasted China for discriminating against EU businesses and for its lack of transparent bidding processes. Additionally, the EU has released an EU-Asia connectivity strategy in order to counter the BRI. This Joint Communication promotes the principles of the international rules based order and sustainable connectivity, and specifically addresses an equal level playing field regarding foreign investments between Asia and Europe. In order to promote these principles, the EU combines financial resources from the private sector and the EU’s External Investment Plan. With respect to the South China Sea, the EU has been relatively passive in this document and in its wider approach as it sees itself as a party that wants to deploy peaceful diplomatic resources to address the dispute. Although this might be the least confrontational option, it does not prevent the aforementioned security threats that might arise from a passive approach. # ** Celebrate_Armistice_Day_–_Wage_Peace_with_Renewed_Energy! ** November 11 is Armistice Day, marking the 1918 armistice that ended the First World War, on the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” Horrified by the industrial slaughter of millions of soldiers and civilians, the people of the U.S. and the world initiated campaigns to outlaw war once and for all. In 1928 the U.S. Secretary of State and the French Foreign Minister were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for co- sponsoring the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which declared war-making illegal and called upon nations to settle their differences by peaceful means. The United Nations Charter, signed by many nations in 1945 after the end of World War II, included similar language, “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind…” # ** Armistice_Day_Memorial_Service_2020 ** This 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is the symbolic moment chosen to remember the end of hostilities on the Western Front in 1918. # ** The_New_Humanitarian_|_Indigenous_people_in_Guatemala_lead their_own_Hurricane_Eta_response ** In the Indigenous communities of Guatemala hardest hit by Hurricane Eta’s ruinous sweep through Central America, early response to the disaster has come in the form of self-help, amid claims that the slow pace of official assistance is just the latest example of neglect. After making landfall on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast on 3 November as a category four storm, Eta barrelled northward, causing widespread flooding and damage in Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama before inundating roads and knocking out power in Florida. Millions of people in Central America – many of them rural Indigenous communities – have been affected and at least 120 lives have been lost across the region, with many more people missing and presumed dead after landslides subsumed villages. On 10 November, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was calling the situation in the region a “major humanitarian crisis” and announcing a large-scale aid response, but many communities have so far been left to fend for themselves. # ** The_New_Humanitarian_|_Ethiopia’s_Tigray_conflict_sees hundreds_dead,_thousands_flee_to_Sudan ** Aid operations for millions already in need have had to be scaled back, even as officials struggle to respond to this new and growing crisis. o **** Transparency/Investigative Reporting **** # ** Debunked:_These_viral_videos_do_not_reveal_US_election fraud_as_claimed ** As President Trump raises doubt about the results of the 2020 US Presidential Election and files lawsuits claiming fraud in numerous states, many social media users have echoed these concerns, posting videos they allege reveal election worker fraud under hashtags like #StopTheSteal. Here are three of the most viral videos claiming to show fraud at the polls, and our explanations as to why these assertions are false. o **** Environment **** # ** Carbon_speeds_crop_growth_but_often_for_little_gain ** More carbon dioxide speeds up crop growth with some key food harvests, but extra heat can hit the yield. # ** Climate_Change_Will_Make_Parts_of_the_U.S._Uninhabitable. Americans_Are_Still_Moving_There. ** Over the past year, the advent of a professional economy powered by people working from home has quickened the conversation about where to live, particularly among millennials. “Is now the right time to buy property in Minnesota?” “Is Buffalo the new place to be?” How important is proximity to fresh water? Should you risk moving somewhere that has fire seasons? How far north do you have to go to find liveable summers? # ** Trudeau_Lobbies_Biden_to_Maintain_Climate-Destroying_Trump Policy ** Why is Ottawa trying to maintain one of the Republican’s worst environmental policies? # ** How_Biden_Could_Use_the_Presidential_Bully_Pulpit_to_Drive Climate_Action ** With Donald Trump defeated and Joe Biden declared president-elect, the climate movement is already engaged in a fierce discussion about how to move policy forward in the Biden era, especially if Mitch McConnell manages to maintain his control of the Senate. But the debate over policy misses one of the most important things Biden must do when he finally makes it to the White House: Use his new bully pulpit to advance the politics of climate action. # **** Energy **** # ** IEA:_Renewables_on_Track_to_Be_Largest_Source_of Global_Electricity_in_Five_Years ** “Renewable power is defying the difficulties caused by the pandemic, showing robust growth while others fuels struggle,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol. o **** Finance **** # ** The_Death_of_Working-Class_Paris ** Thirty-four-year old medical secretary Soumia Chohra calls her ground-floor apartment in Paris a “rathole”—which, she stresses, she means in the literal sense. # ** Behind_the_Doors_of_New_York’s_Public_Housing ** The ongoing struggle for racial justice. The future for immigrant families. The health and well-being of all Americans. The very fate of our fragile planet. The United States faces a crossroads in this year’s elections. Seeking out the stories flying under the national radar, The Nation and Magnum Foundation are partnering on What’s At Stake, a series of photo essays from across the country through the lenses of independent imagemakers. Follow the whole series here. This installment was produced with support from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. # ** Can_American_Labor_Survive_Prop_22? ** Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Postmates, and Instacart convinced nearly 60 percent of Californian voters to support Proposition 22, which excludes “gig workers” from basic labor protections. The companies overwhelmed the opposition and muddled the truth with a record-breaking $200 million campaign, pelting voters with misleading ads that framed the proposal as a social justice cause. It marks a dangerous new phase in big tech’s onslaught against workers, and a pivotal test of whether labor can push back. # ** Uber_and_Lyft_Notch_Another_Corporate_Victory_in_the Global_Exploitation_of_‘Gig_Workers’ ** Labor organizing in California and around the world is pushing platform companies to take extreme measures to defend their exploitative business model. # ** A_World_Without_Work?_|_Dissent_Magazine ** Contemporary automation discourse responds to a real, global trend: there are too few jobs for too many people. But it ignores the actual sources of this trend: deindustrialization, depressed investment, and ultra-wealthy elites who stand in the way of a post-scarcity society. [...] The internet, smartphones, and social media have transformed the way we interact with each other and the world around us. What would happen if these digital technologies moved off the screen and further integrated themselves into the physical world? Advanced industrial robotics, self-driving cars and trucks, and intelligent cancer-screening machines presage a world of ease, but they also make us uneasy. After all, what would human beings do in a largely automated future? Would we be able to adapt our institutions to realize the dream of human freedom that a new age of intelligent machines might make possible? Or would that dream turn out to be a nightmare? The new automation discourse asks just these sorts of questions and arrives at a provocative conclusion: mass technological unemployment is coming, and it must be managed by the provision of universal basic income, since large sections of the population will lose access to the wages they need to live. Do the automation theorists have this story right? The resurgence of automation discourse today responds to a real, global trend: there are too few jobs for too many people. Chronic labor underdemand manifests itself in economic developments such as jobless recoveries, stagnant wages, and rampant job insecurity. It is also visible in the political phenomena that rising inequality catalyzes: populism, plutocracy, and the emergence of a sea- steading digital elite—more focused on escaping in rockets to Mars than on improving the lives of the digital peasantry who will be left behind on a burning planet. [...] Despite the weakening of the global economic-growth engine, workers will still have to find some way to earn wages in the pandemic (and post-pandemic) era. Over time, unemployment will therefore resolve into various forms of underemployment. In other words, workers will find that they have no choice but to take jobs offering lower-than-normal wages or worse-than-normal working conditions. Those who cannot find any work at all will set up shop in the informal sector or else drop out of the labor force entirely. As was the case following past recessions, the vast majority of the world’s underemployed workers will end up in low-wage service jobs. Services that see persistently low rates of labor-productivity growth and pay low wages have become the premier sites for job creation in stagnant economies. In those jobs, workers’ wages make up a relatively large share of the final price paid by consumers. That makes it possible for service-based firms to raise the demand for their products by holding down workers’ wages relative to whatever meager increases in labor productivity can be achieved in the wider economy. The small-scale family operations that comprise the world’s massive informal labor force use a similar strategy to compete with highly capitalized firms. They compress their own household wages as much as humanly possible. As underemployment rises, inequality must intensify. Masses of people can find work only as long as the growth of their incomes is suppressed relative to the average. As economists David Autor and Anna Salomons note, “Labor displacement need not imply a decline in employment, hours, or wages,” but can hide itself in the relative immiseration of the working class, as “the wagebill—that is, the product of hours of work and wages per hour—rises less rapidly than does value- added.” Such immiseration has contributed to the 9 percentage-point shift from labor to capital incomes in the G20 countries over the past fifty years. Worldwide, the labor share of income fell by 5 percentage points between 1980 and the mid-2000s, as a growing portion of income growth was captured by wealthy asset holders. o **** AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics **** # ** Celebrating_the_Biden-Harris_Win ** # ** Trump_Is_Trying_to_Overturn_the_Election,_but_I’m_Not Panicking—Yet ** Joe Biden is going to be the next president of the United States. He will be inaugurated on January 20 and take power at noon that day. There is nothing, legally, that Trump can do to stop that. # ** “An_Unprecedented_Attack_on_Democracy”:_Trump_Escalates Effort_to_Overturn_Biden_Election_Victory ** Republicans have aligned behind President Trump as he continues to make baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud and refuses to concede that he lost the presidential election to Joe Biden. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defended President Trump’s decision not to concede, and Attorney General William Barr upended long-standing Justice Department policy by announcing federal prosecutors could investigate “specific allegations” of voter fraud, a move that led to the resignation of Richard Pilger, the director of the Justice Department’s Election Crimes Branch. The Trump campaign has launched a barrage of lawsuits seeking to invalidate last week’s election results, including one in Pennsylvania attempting to block state officials from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory. So far no evidence has emerged of voter fraud as alleged by the Trump campaign. “This is an unprecedented attack on democracy,” says Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “The voters have spoken, and what we’re seeing is a president who refuses to recognize and embrace the will of the people.” # ** Democrats_Need_a_Winning_Message_in_Georgia._Bernie Sanders_Says_Fight_for_$15_Minimum_Wage ** The Vermont senator noted that “47% of workers in Georgia make less than $15 an hour and 71% of voters in Georgia support increasing the federal minimum wage.” # ** State_of_Chaos ** Donald Trump knew us better than we knew ourselves. # ** ‘If_Biden_Wants_to_Be_FDR,_He_Should_Immediately_Cancel Student_Debt’:_President-Elect_Urged_to_Go_Big ** “Young people voted for Biden in record numbers—he owes us this one.” # ** The_Myth_of_the_Latino_Vote_and_What_Newsrooms_Must_Learn From_2020 ** In 2016, when it became clear that Donald Trump would become president, media outlets across the U.S. were blindsided by the results. They pledged to do better representing the larger communities that make up America. That included conservatives, those in rural areas (a complex group on its own) and, yes, Latinos. Four years later, though Trump did not win reelection, former Vice President Joe Biden’s narrower margin of victory in spite of polls predicting a landslide have media outlets asking similar questions all over again. The increased percentage of Latino voters for Trump in particular caught many off guard. How could pollsters get it wrong again? And is the media, and a lack of diversity in newsrooms, part of the problem? # ** ‘Biden_Must_Not_Appoint_a_Single_Corporate_Lobbyist, Lawyer,_or_Executive’_to_Top_Posts,_Say_Progressives._‘Not One.’ ** “Why would we want a return to normalcy? We need a vision for the future, not a return to the past.” # ** We_Could_Use_a_Leader_Like_George_McGovern_Again ** As I lived through the nightmare of the election campaign just past, I often found myself dreaming of another American world entirely. Anything but this one. # ** Trump:_the_Sad_Facts_Are_In ** In 2016, almost 6 million votes in the presidential election went uncounted, and Trump won. Barely. Those were the very same kinds of votes that Trump would throw away today. And he’d have won again. Mail-in ballots. “Legitimate” ballots, as the pundits and TV prognosticators at the maps keep telling us over and over this time, but not so much in 2016, when they were willing to look the other way when the same votes were tossed. But Corona forced our hand. Attention was drawn to the process like never before. Many white Democrats, heeding the sane advice to stay at home and mail in their vote, did just that. So, their votes had to count. We kept a close watch on that heart of ours. Woe to anyone who crossed the line. Especially when Trump tipped his hand with attempted postal shenanigans. So, this time we call them “Democrat votes,” instead of the votes of Blacks, Latinos, university-aged future debt slaves, and others (meaning Injuns). But if we want to get Trump out of there, we’d better hunker down, take the extra time, and count that Democratic vote, like our second car payments depended on it. # ** Election_Security:_When_to_Worry,_When_to_Not,_and_the Takeaway_from_Antrim_County,_Michigan ** Everyone wants an election that is secure and reliable. With technology in the mix, making sure that the technology supports this is critical. EFF has long-warned against blindly adopting technologies that can be easily manipulated or fail without having systems in place to test, secure, and catch problems, including through risk limiting audits. At the same time, not every problem is worth pulling the fire alarm about—we have to look at the bigger story and context.  And we have to stand down when our worst fears turn out to be unfounded. A story out of Michigan last week in Antrim County provides a good opportunity to apply this. What seems to have happened is that a needed software update was not applied to a system that helps collect and report digital vote information—the county has paper ballots that are scanned—from the county. As a result, it appeared that 6,000 votes shifted from Republicans to Democrats in the unofficial reports. Javier Smaldone is a well-known figure in the Argentinian infosec community. As a security researcher, he’s worked to highlight the flaws in electronic voting in Argentina, despite the country’s local and federal attempts to move ahead with insecure software and electoral procedures.The Argentinian authorities have a reputation of… Foreign adversaries and domestic dirty tricksters can secretly hack our nation’s electronic voting systems. That’s why information security experts agree we must go back to basics: paper ballots. We also need “risk-limiting audits,” meaning mandatory post-election review of a sample of the paper ballots, to ensure the election-night “official” results… Sen. Ron Wyden’s new proposal to protect the integrity of U.S. elections, the Protecting American Votes and Elections (PAVE) Act of 2019, takes a much needed step forward by requiring a return to paper ballots.The bill forcefully addresses a grave threat to American democracy—outdated election technologies used in… # ** Biden’s_Victory:_a_Eunuch_Presidency_Beckons ** A Joe Biden presidency promises to be a return, not a progression.  But a glance at the US electoral map suggests no easy pathway to political amnesia.  A vote count shy of 71 million for Trump will be a hard statistic to ignore; even harder for the new administration will be the Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate.  The high priests and priestesses of news at CNN attempted to strangle any suggestion that they had gotten the election so horribly wrong.  Embarrassment would not be countenanced; Biden, despite struggling in various key states in the initial count, would come through on the mail-in ballots so vigorously slandered by Trump. CNN anchor Jake Tapper could not be accused of any complexity, preferring to summarise the Trump administration as a “time of extreme divisions… it’s a time of several significant and utterly avoidable failures, most tragically, of course, the unwillingness to accept the facts and science and do everything that can be done to save lives during a pandemic.”  A “long national nightmare” for Americans had concluded. # ** Queen_of_Diamonds_Waiting_in_the_Wings ** Biden won with the largest number of votes than ever before. 74million +. Almost looks like democracy worked, except for all the voter suppression from both the Democrats and Republicans. But there’s a side to this that few are recognizing. Who voted for Biden and why? Who voted for Trump and why? Biden’s supporters came in 2 groups. Vote Blue No Matter Who. This was anti- Trump as it wasn’t for any particular candidate. It could have been for any who ran in the primaries, except for Sanders. The Democratic party leadership would have been very lukewarm in its support for him, even though the voting public would have been ecstatic and a landslide all but guaranteed. As to this group of voters, they would have been the majority. A minority group of the overall voters would have been people who actually thought that Biden had what it took to take on Trump and supported his Republican-lite agenda. This may have been a minority of voters, but he was the preferred candidate for the party elite, the party establishment and those people who control the process. We see how the liberal media rallied around him, not so much as to praise his past accomplishments and propagandize over his ‘leadership’ skills but instead their job was to tear down Trump, a much easier, and likely for them, an enjoyable task. There is a lot to fear from the final vote. A four million vote spread is impressive, if the numbers were like any normal election year. And people will start mimicking Trump in how Biden’s numbers and win was in Trumpian proportions, like his imaginary largest inauguration audience ever attended. But let’s be mindful of how Trump fared in this election. Even when hundreds of thousands are now dying from the virus that he pretty much unleashed on America, people by the thousands came out to his rallies and to the polls, to support and vote for him. His 70 million voters voted for him, not as much against Biden. The Trump cult had its inauguration on Election Day. Everything before then was the organizing aspect of it and its preparation for what is to come. # ** A_White_House_That_Once_Again_Calls_on_Our_Better_Angels ** A new mood. A new plan of action. Once more, hope is reborn. # ** Trump_Family_Launches_PAC_to_Continue_Influence_Over Republican_Party ** # ** Trump_Removes_Scientist_Overseeing_Key_Climate_Assessment Report ** # ** Grassroots_Organizing_Defeated_Trump._Now_We_Must_Out- Organize_Trumpism. ** # ** Trumpism_and_Mushrooms ** Trump’s adoring cult groupies thrive in the dark of ignorance and eat conspiracy. Uninformed and disinformed they’re gullible and furious, and they can’t wait to use their long guns to prove it. These inchoate, violence-prone paramilitary groups are opaque but reproducing; especially by way of social media memes which, like mushrooms, thrive in the dark of algorithmically-induced silos of cultural isolation that become self-reinforcing by a targeted diet of conspiracy crap. # ** Reclaiming_American_Idealism ** In that spirit, I also found myself looking at a photo of my fourth-grade class, vintage 1972. Tacked to the wall behind our heads was a collage, a tapestry of sorts that I could make out fairly clearly. It evoked the promise and the chaos of a turbulent year so long ago. The promise lay in a segment that read “peace” and included a green ecology flag, a black baseball player (Brooklyn Dodgers second baseman Jackie Robinson, who had died that year), and a clenched fist inside the outline of the symbol for female (standing in for the new feminism of that moment and the push for equal rights for women). # ** How_Could_70_Million_Still_Have_Voted_for Trump? ** But it’s not all that difficult to understand. There are 3 major explanations: One economic. One health. And the third, and most important, a matter of culture and racism manipulated by clever politicians for the past quarter century at least. The first explanation—economics—is that the red states (Trump’s base) did not ‘suffer’ as much economically from the recession as have (and are) the blue states and big urban areas. The red states shut down only in part and for just a couple weeks then quickly reopened as early as May. A few hot spots in New Orleans and Florida were quickly contained. By reopening quickly they economically minimized the negative effects of the shutdowns and quarantines. They would eventually pay the price in health terms for early reopening, but they clearly chose to trade off later health problems for early economic gains. At the same time they quickly reopened, the red pro-Trump states still received the economic benefits of the March-April Cares Act bailout that pumped more than a $trillion into the economy benefitting households directly–i.e. this was the $670 billion in small business PPP grants, the $350 billion in extra unemployment benefits, the $1,200 checks, and other direct spending on hospitals and health providers. The Trump states got their full share of the bailout, even if they didn’t need it as much after having reopened early. Finally, if Trump supporters lived in the farm belt sector of Red State America, they additionally got $70B more in direct subsidies and payments from Trump that was designed to placate the farm belt during Trump’s disastrous China trade war. That’s 3 main sources of added income the red states as a general rule received that the blue states, coasts, big cities elsewhere did not get. In short the economic impact of this recession was therefore far less severe in the geographic areas of the greatest concentration of Trump’s political support. # ** When_the_Symptom_Has_Been_Removed,_But_the_Disease_Remains ** Biden won. Trump lost. But it should have been a landslide. It wasn’t. In fact, the Democrats lost a lot of ground in other key races. A few QAnon folks are now going to Washington. And the Supreme Court has now decisively shifted even more toward the right. This has all kinds of implications, but the most obvious is that the American Empire is both deeply divided and shifting ever rightward. Fascism has always lain under the surface of American society, but the veil was completely ripped off over these past four years. Biden won. Trump lost. But Trump will not go gracefully. He is already calling it fraud and challenging the results. And his sons and other unhinged sycophants are calling for a war. Literally, a war. Don’t forget the plot to kidnap a US governor. Don’t forget Amy Coney Barrett. Don’t forget Bush v. Gore. Don’t forget that Trump had the backing of many police departments, ICE, and countless white supremacist groups. Don’t forget that there was a surge in weapons sales in the run up to the election. Don’t forget that there a lot of people who feel very threatened right now. Threatened that their status in a society is at risk. Threatened that “communism” or “cultural Marxism,” as ridiculous as it sounds, will sweep through the country. In fact, the threat of violence and unrest has never been higher than it is now. I urge my American comrades to be vigilant and careful. # ** Fundraising_for_Trump_Legal_Challenge_Will_Help_Pay Campaign_Debt ** # ** The_Blue_Wave_that_Never_Came ** New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman has written that “We have just experienced four years of the most divisive and dishonest presidency in American history,” yet it produced “no landslide — no overwhelming majority telling Trump and those around him that enough was enough: Be gone with you and never bring that kind of politics of division back to this country again.” Friedman quotes Doy Seidman: “Whatever the final vote, it is already clear that the number of Americans saying, ‘Enough is enough’ was not enough. There was no blue political wave. But, more importantly, there was no moral wave. There was no widespread rejection of the kind of leadership that divides us.’’ Why was there no overwhelming moral rejection of leadership that divides? I believe that the answer is that both sides speak only to their base. Both sides use divisive rhetoric. Both sides are incapable of reasonable appeals beyond their base. # ** Sore_Loser ** “Every day you are waking up,” Jones said, wiping away tears. “And you are getting these tweets, and you don’t know, and you go into the store, and people who have been afraid to show their racism are getting nastier and nastier to you. And you are worried about your kids. And you are worried about your sister. Can she go to Walmart and get back into her car without somebody saying something to her. And you spent so much of your life energy just trying to hold it together.” It’s understandable that he cried, for himself, his family, his country because “the character of the country matters. Being a good man matters. I want my sons to look at this.” Tears came as I typed those words. It hasn’t been easy for any of us who despised Trump for what he was doing to our beloved country, at home and abroad. And it isn’t over. It won’t be over until noon Jan. 20. There’s a lot of space between now and then for Trump to cause a great deal of mischief. We don’t know how he will react to his defeat. He already refused to concede, mounting spurious court challenges. # ** Trump’s_Cult_of_Personality_Will_be_Badly_Damaged_by Defeat,_But_His_Toxic_Politics_Marches_On ** # ** Trump_Ousted._The_Spirit_of_Insurgent_Democracy_Is_Rising. ** # ** When_Centrists_Lose,_Corporate_Media_Blame_the_Left ** Joe Biden hadn’t even been declared the victor of the 2020 election before establishment Democrats, in the face of poorer-than-expected results in House and Senate races, began pointing fingers at the left—with corporate media giving them a major assist. # ** Progressives_Are_an_Asset_for_the_Democratic_Party._It Should_Treat_Them_That_Way. ** Is the growing progressive wing of the Democratic Party an asset or a liability? Do the largest citizen mobilizations in history—galvanized by the Black Lives Matter demonstrations—alienate more US voters than they bring to the polls? Before the presidential election was called on Saturday, and even as citizens filled the streets celebrating Joe Biden’s projected victory over President Trump, recriminations were flying among Democrats distraught over the unexpected loss of House seats and their narrowed hopes of winning a Senate majority. # ** ‘Naked_Political_Ploy’:_Outrage—and_a_Top_DOJ_Official Resigns—After_Barr_Memo_Aims_to_Bolster_Baseless_Trump_Fraud Allegations ** AG William Barr, said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, “is a corrupt Trump henchman who should have been impeached months ago. If he cared one shred about our democracy, he’d be focused on the peaceful transition of power instead of doing the bidding of a wannabe dictator.” # ** Lindsey_Graham_Admits_That_Making_Voting_More_Accessible Renders_GOP_Victories_Impossible ** The senator’s comment, said one journalist, “is not something that is said by a person who actually wants to represent people in a democracy.” # ** Bye,_Donald ** Support independent cartooning: join Sparky’s List—and don’t forget to visit TT’s Emporium of Fun, featuring the new book and plush Sparky! # ** ‘Astounding_and_Tyrannical’:_Mike_Pompeo_Denounced_for Vowing_Smooth_Transition…_for_Trump’s_Second_Term ** “This is a war against America’s democracy and against 75 million American voters.” # ** The_Asshole ** This blithering blathering idiot pauses at the podium, continuing to clap his itty bitty, self- congratulatory palms together like a baby sea lion clamoring for breakfast as the applause swells into a tsunami of hope and desperation, seasoned in some not inconsiderable quarters of the stadium with haters of the Other. His tiny pussy gropers flailing like an indignant lobster’s antennae as his facial asshole opens out into a perfect circle, he begins his peroration, a litany of libel and blame aimed squarely at all those who aren’t white and Christian and born here, in other words, all “those people” who steal his audience’s jobs and rape their women and desecrate their religion. He will deport the lot of them, build a wall around his country towering above that of ancient China – and nobody builds walls better than him. And they will all live happily ever after. # ** Barr_Order_to_Investigate_“Fraud”_Claims_Spurs_Top_DOJ Official_to_Quit ** # ** The_Reactionary_Immigration_Measures_Alabama,_Florida_and Colorado_Just_Passed_That_No_One_is_Talking_About ** The fight over non-citizen political rights is the cutting edge of democratic, refugee and migration discourse. # ** This_Would_Be_a_Very_Good_Time_to_Impeach_William_Barr ** Democrats have a duty to use this time of transition to define how they will respond during a Biden presidency to Republican lying, obstruction, and blatant disregard for the rule of law. And immediately impeaching Attorney General William Barr, who on Monday authorized federal prosecutors to examine baseless “allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities” before states move to certify results in the 2020 presidential election, is the place to start. As Barr and President Trump promote legal chaos in a subversive challenge to an election result that has gone against them, they are kicking at the essential underpinnings of the Constitution and the republic that extends from it. The Constitution outlines a remedy, and it ought to be employed, immediately and unapologetically. # ** Facebook_cracks_down_on_pages_linked_to_Bannon ** The company removed seven pages which collectively had more than 2.45 million followers, according to activist organization Avaaz, which notified Facebook of the network of Bannon-linked pages on Friday as part of the group’s investigation into election disinformation. # ** Georgia_GOP_senators_demand_GOP_election_chief_resign after_failing_to_outright_win_their_elections ** Without citing any evidence, the senators calling on Raffensperger to resign claimed that there had been “too many failures” in the state’s elections this year # ** I_was_a_Detroit_poll_challenger._The_GOP_came_to_make havoc. ** The counting hadn’t even started yet; the ballots hadn’t yet arrived at the counting boards and already it was clear that the GOP challengers were there to sow confusion and suspicion. One poll inspector pulled me aside and told me she wanted to do her job with precision, but felt nervous about GOP challengers asking personal questions and quizzing her. It was intimidating, she said. I advised her to let her supervisor know. The rules were clear: challengers were not allowed to speak with inspectors, only supervisors. Already the GOP challengers were breaking the rules. # ** Australia’s_hardcore_critical_infrastructure_laws_open_to challenge ** The scope is genuinely enormous. It encompasses all telcos and ISPs, defence and space industry, maritime ports, power generation, water utilities, freight and passenger transport, operators of broadcast transmission equipment and submarine cables, cloud service providers (at least 30), data centre providers (at least 100), domain registrars, banks (at least 10), wealth managers (at least 30), insurers (at least 35), an undisclosed number of trading, stockbroking and payment providers, food and grocery companies (at least 6), and hundreds of hospitals, universities and research organisations. It includes any organisation that holds PII (personal data) on more than 20,000 Australians. # ** What_is_Parler_and_why_are_some_people_leaving_Facebook_to join_it? ** As of Monday, Nov. 9, Parler is trending as the top free download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The up and coming social media app appears to be a haven for Republicans and in the wake of the 2020 presidential election results – it appears a flood of new users have joined Parler. o **** Freedom of Information/Freedom of the Press **** # ** Chinese_Authorities_Punish_Citizens_for_Using_Foreign Social_Media ** Chinese Communist Party officials appear to be increasing their harassment and punishment of Chinese internet users who publish on foreign social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. China’s government firewall blocks access to those sites, but users can use VPNs and other technology to circumvent it. A growing number of these Chinese “netizens” have been warned against visiting and posting on the social media platforms and have been forced to delete posts unfavorable to the government. Some have also been sentenced to jail terms. # ** Secular_Modernity_under_Theocratic_Assault ** France is not the only secular republic with a stake in the modernization and reformation of Islam. The United States, founded in large measure to advance the rights of mankind, is the proper nation to lead and rally support for this effort. In recent years, however, Americans have grown adrift from their national principles, at home and abroad. It would be pretty to think this degradation only began with Trump’s ascent and will cease to operate now that he has been voted out of office. This would be a false consolation. Recall that after the jihadist attack on Charlie Hebdo in 2015, neither President Obama nor any other senior US government official bothered to attend the “republican march” in Paris that followed the outrage. o **** Civil Rights/Policing **** # ** Number_of_Seized_Migrant_Children_That_Cannot_Be_Reunited With_Parents_Now_666 ** # ** What_does_REAL-ID_Act_“enforcement”_really_mean? ** For the last fifteen years, as both Republican and Democratic administrations have come and gone, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been using the threat of “enforcement” of the REAL-ID Act of 2005 to extort state legislators, governors, and driver licensing agencies into complying with the REAL-ID Act of 2005 and upload their residents’ drivers license and state-issued ID card data to the national REAL-ID database, “SPEXS”. The threat has been that the DHS and/or its components (such as the Transportation Security Agency) will harass or turn away residents of noncompliant states when they try to pass through TSA or other Federal checkpoints or enter Federal facilities. Not wanting to provoke riots or protests at airports, the DHS has repeatedly postponed its arbitrarily self-imposed “deadlines” for REAL-ID enforcement at TSA checkpoints, most recently until October 1, 2021.  And the TSA, despite repeated trial balloons suggesting what new rules it might try to adopt to require ID to fly, has not yet tried to finalize such a  rule. So we don’t really know what, if anything, REAL-ID Act enforcement at airports might mean. # ** Trump_fires_his_defense_secretary ** Two days after losing his bid for re-election, President Trump has removed Mark Esper, whose run as defense secretary was marked in its final stages by his defiance of Trump—on the idea of sending US troops to quell protests against police brutality and even on the question of wearing masks during the pandemic. How will his departure contribute to the post-election tumult? And is his successor likely to push back against the president? # ** Migrant_friend_to_Julian_Assange_dies_in_UK’s_Belmarsh prison ** On Monday last week, Stella Moris, partner of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who is currently held on remand in Belmarsh maximum security prison pending possible extradition to the United States, reported the suicide of his friend Manoel Santos. She tweeted: “Spoke to Julian. A friend of his killed himself in the early hours of this morning. His body is still in the cell on Julian’s wing. Julian is devastated… He’d lived in UK for 20 years. The Home Office served him with a deportation notice to Brazil.” The prisons watchdog is conducting an investigation into the death. # ** Police_looking_for_man_accused_of_racist_attack_on Southern_University_student-athlete ** Police are investigating reports of an attack on a Southern student-athlete which the university believes was racially motivated. The Baton Rouge Police Department confirmed it was looking into the assault which happened late Monday evening near the LSU lakes. Police said the attacker allegedly punched the victim in the chest and shouted a racial slur at her. Southern’s athletics department said it notified police of the incident Tuesday. # ** The_New_Humanitarian_|_Rethinking_Humanitarianism_podcast: US_election_special ** After a few torturous days of suspense, Joe Biden was declared the winner of the US presidential elections. With 50.7 percent of the popular vote, as of recording, the election was much closer than many expected. In his victory speech, Biden said he seeks to unify not divide. “I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation – the middle class – and to make America respected around the world again.” So what of that last promise? How will the Biden administration show up in the world? Is this an opportunity to reimagine US foreign policy and its humanitarian implications? Flying solo with hosting duties for this episode (spoiler alert: Jeremy Konyndyk has taken a role in the new Biden transition and is in the midst of working things out there), Heba Aly speaks to Sarah Margon, director of US Foreign Policy at Open Society Foundations. o **** Internet Policy/Net Neutrality **** # ** There_Is_No_‘Race_To_5G.’_And_The_U.S._Wouldn’t_Be_Winning Even_If_There_Was ** Data continues to indicate that despite ridiculous oodles of hype, U.S. 5G networks aren’t much to write home about. According to a recent study by OpenSignal, the U.S. ranked dead last in terms of 5G speeds in a 14-country comparison, largely due to our failure to make mid-band spectrum available for public use. Other reports have repeatedly shown that many initial 5G networks are actually slower than existing 4G networks. Not a great look given the months of DC rhetoric about how the U.S. is in an urgent “race to 5G.” In reality, it’s less of a race and more of a drunken stumble. # ** Digital_Rights_Advocates_Warn_Trump’s_FCC_Nominee—Who Backs_Plan_to_Censor_the_Internet—Is_‘Even_Worse_Than_Ajit Pai’ ** Former telecom lawyer Nathan Simington, a Republican, was tapped by the president after an incumbent balked at a plan to weaken online protections granted under a key law.  # ** Tim_Berners-Lee’s_Inrupt_Launches_Enterprise-Ready_Privacy Platform ** According to the Inrupt website, “Solid is a technology for organizing data, applications, and identities on the web,” offering the ability to secure your systems with auditing, end-to-end TLS encryption, and OIDC/OAuth access control features and support. Berners-Lee says the release of the Solid privacy platform “marks a huge milestone in Inrupt’s journey to deliver on my vision for a vibrant web of shared benefit and opportunity. … These technologies will fundamentally change how organizations connect people with their data and create value together.” o **** Digital Restrictions (DRM) **** # ** Netflix_Gets_Cute_Using_DMCA_Notices_To_Take_Down_Tweets Critical_Of_‘Cuties’ ** Cuties, the stupid non-controversy against Netflix that simply will not go away. The film, which won awards at international film festivals, centers on a pre-teen and is a coming of age story about a young lady growing up in both a strictly conservative upbringing combined with living in the hyper-sexualized Western culture. While the whole story is about this juxtaposition, Netflix rather stupidly promoted the film using images that focused on the latter. The result was chaos, with large swaths of Quaker-Twitter screaming about boycotting Netflix entirely and one pandering prosecutor in Texas bringing an indictment against Netflix for promotion of lewd visual material depicting a child. # ** Disney_Reorganizes_TV_and_Streaming_Content_Units_Under Peter_Rice ** In an internal memo to staff from Peter Rice, chairman of the recently rebranded Disney General Entertainment Content (DGE) division, he elaborated on the company’s decision to split off its content creation team from its distribution and commercialization efforts, and outlined its leadership and publicity structures. o **** Monopolies **** # ** Amazon_accused_of_EU_antitrust_violation_over_Marketplace data ** The EU is accusing Amazon of misusing the data it collects from third-party sellers on its platform, European commissioner Margrethe Vestager announced today. The European Commission says Amazon is “systematically” using non-public marketplace seller data to unfairly compete with sellers in France and Germany. The accusations are the result of an investigation that was announced last year which looked at how Amazon uses sales data to compete with the platform’s independent merchants. # ** FOSS_Patents:_Court_throws_out_tort-based_part_of_Apple’s counterclaims_against_Epic_Games ** Epic Games just reduced the potential risk it incurs from its antitrust dispute with Apple over its App Store business terms: Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted an Epic motion for judgment on the pleadings on some of Apple’s counterclaims. As a result, Apple’s counterclaims (unless an appeals court revives the ones the judge just threw out) are limited to breach of contract, which Epic already acknowledged in October it would be liable for should it lose its antitrust case against Apple. Punitive damages, which Apple was seeking, are not available on this basis, so they won’t have to be discussed at next year’s trial. The court viewed the tort-based ones of Apple’s counterclaims skeptically from the beginning. Nevertheless, Apple defended them, presumably in an effort to preserve them for an appeal. # **** Patents **** # ** Valeant_Pharmaceuticals_North_America_LLC_v._Mylan Pharmaceuticals_Inc._(Fed._Cir._2020) ** Somewhat remarkably, there is no settled Federal Circuit precedent regarding where a patentee can bring suit against a generic competitor in Hatch-Waxman litigation under 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(2). While recognizing that this situation has arisen in large part to the disruption created by the Supreme Court in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Grp. Brands LLC of prior Federal Circuit interpretations that venue was coincident with personal jurisdiction, last Thursday the Federal Circuit arrived at a decision regarding where proper venue does not lie in ANDA litigation, in Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLC v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. The issue arose in ANDA litigation brought in the District of New Jersey by Valeant Pharmaceuticals against a trio of Mylan entities: Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (MPI) “a West Virginia corporation with a principal place of business in Morgantown, West Virginia”; Mylan Laboratories Ltd. (MLL), “Indian corporation with a principal place of business in Hyderabad, India”; and Mylan Inc., “a Pennsylvania corporation with a principal place of business in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.” The underlying dispute involves Dow Pharmaceutical Sciences’ anti- fungal drug Jublia® (efinaconazole) protected by nine Orange Book-listed patents. Because geography is important to the venue issue, the opinion notes that MPI “executed” its ANDA in its West Virginia corporate headquarters and filed at the FDA in White Oak, Maryland. [...] Finally, the Federal Circuit reversed the District Court with regard to the MLL defendant, on the grounds that a foreign defendant can be sued in any judicial district, and remanded for the District Court to consider whether this defendant was sufficiently involved to overcome the motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). # ** Patent_Rules_amended_again,_major_changes_in_fee structure_for_small_enterprises;_WIPO_launches_new patent_information_tool ** On 4th November 2020, The EPO signed a ‘Reinforced Partnership agreement’ with the Superintendent of Industry and Commerce of Colombia with the objective of strengthening co-operation. According to the official notification on the EPO website, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the President of EPO, António Campinos and Colombia’s Superintendent of Industry and Commerce, Andrés Barreto, during a virtual meeting. The MoU allows the Superintendence to use EPO’s products, tools and practices, for the next five years, when granting national patents. The EPO President said “This agreement will not only improve the quality and efficiency of handling patent applications, which is key as Colombia moves to strengthen its knowledge economy, but will also help align our patent systems to better support the global technology market.” # **** Software Patents **** # ** Federal_Circuit_Usurps_Judge_Albright’s Judicial_Power ** The Federal Circuit has granted Apple’s petition for writ of mandamus and ordered the infringement lawsuit against the tech-giant be moved from W.D. Texas (Waco) to N.D. Cal. — finding that the company’s convenience is paramount. The majority opinion was written by Chief Judge Prost and joined by Judge Hughes. Judge Moore wrote in dissent. Judge Albright was the W.D. Tex. Judge who had refused to transfer the case. [...] Still, writ of mandamus is viewed as “an extraordinary remedy available [only] to correct a clear abuse of discretion or usurpation of judicial power.” Slip. Op. Note here that the standard of “clear abuse of discretion” goes beyond an ordinary “abuse of discretion.” As judge Moore wrote in dissent: “there is no more deferential standard of review than clear abuse of discretion.” The appellate panel found that high standard met. In my experience, § 1404(a) arguments have become highly-formal and fairly divorced from the “interest of justice” command found in the statute. The majority opinion here nitpicks its way through Judge Albright’s case- management style and opinion in a way that goes beyond even typical de novo review of claim construction on an issue that is traditionally fully within the district court’s discretion. In particular, the majority appears to take real issue with Judge Albright’s express and actual focus on moving his docket forward quickly and efficiently. # **** Copyrights **** # ** Kim_Dotcom_Set_to_Win_Damages_Over_NZ_Government Privacy_Act_Requests ** In 2015, Kim Dotcom asked dozens of ministers and multiple government departments to urgently disclose information to help his case, requests that were ultimately denied by then-Attorney General Chris Finlayson. After a five year legal battle, the Court of Appeal has ruled that the process was flawed, meaning that Dotcom is now entitled to a damages award. # ** RIAA_and_MPA_Want_Domain_Registries_and_Njalla_on_US Piracy_Watchlist ** The RIAA and MPA have flagged several domain name companies, including Njalla and the .TO registry, as notorious piracy markets. Their latest submission to the US Government also lists hosting providers, apps including Telegram, CDN services, and advertisers that work with pirate sites. ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛