𝕿𝖊𝖈𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 Bulletin for Saturday, November 14, 2020 ┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅┅ Generated Sun 15 Nov 01:00:06 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): QmZ3Yy7uWVtMyGfgaCQYtpcJZBxS2LoLEFZPgRSiYBF73w QmUzg7gYUYeQZnNpRqRFQDoWcbEZUSphfYKmDhSpEWWSMS QmZqXrn8HKzFhZxbxuxfob86u5iANXocM81qQoKops1KiF QmQjedfsHmNZWLhwmpa4tVdn76zcDGmMHAfJ4E11EuRhwJ QmPig3jMNnY2dzVgb9rcw8eJRYDRT4SsxYBZN3RMqf3h2h QmaZdkrm9QhwhS3ABAKPm8Sfe1zDFKWnB61w7JaC1AEAZx QmTVK9B2YvX97kQJqZEpTKfC2nhjXd4cwa59eQ2Xbazok2 ╒═══════════════════ 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐗 ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ Bulletin articles (as HTML) to comment on (requires login): http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/a-covid-cash-cow/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/drm-loves-centralisation/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/epo-corruption-with-microsoft/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/epo-invalid-practices/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/epo-monologue/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/epo-shtf/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/intel-linux-drm/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/irc-log-131120/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/removing-monopoly/#comments http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/upc-and-early-november/#comments Followed by Daily Links (assorted news picks curated and categorised): http://techrights.org/2020/11/14/kodachi-7-6/#comments ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** Inside_the_EPO_During_Corona:_The_EPO’s_Fat_Cash_Cow_is_Decreasing Salaries_of_Staff_During_a_Public_Crisis ***** Posted in Europe, Patents at 2:58 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz No dialogues needed, apparently. Just make ordinary staff pay, as usual. [Cow dialogues] Summary: “We demand that the salaries of the EPO should respect the principle of parallelism based on the cost of living in each of the Places of Employment,” the staff union of the EPO (SUEPO) writes, “which is a real salary adjustment method – as used throughout international organisations – and not a Salary Erosion Procedure which we will be getting soon.” THE working conditions of EPO staff, not to mention their salaries, have been under constant attacks by the Benoît_Battistelli regime; this isn’t what examiners signed up for and typically relocated the whole family to another country for. António_Campinos is just more of the same; Mr. Fanta. Different branding,_same_abuses. Even worse abuses. “Did the EPO give/extend any courtesy/respect to actual facts over the past decade?”SUEPO, the staff union of the Office, published the following back in April, noting that “presenting our previous Salary Adjustment Procedure as an automatic increase is an extremely single-minded view, devoid of any facts.” Did the EPO give/extend any courtesy/respect to actual facts over the past decade? Or just lies and buzzwords like “Hey Hi” (AI), along with euphemisms such_as_"social_dialogue"? Here’s the publication from SUEPO: 24 April 2020 su20020cp **** Salary adjustment method: which inflation is relevant? **** From the emails we receive, we conclude that there are several open questions relating to the inflation in the EU, Eurozone or national level with respect to the cost of living in our Places of Employment. This publication tries to answer these questions. It must be added that, whether or not you will like the result, the President is fully aware of the consequences and it was his deliberate choice. *** Introduction *** In a nutshell, following from the Mercer Financial Study, the President neglected some € 9 billion (sic.) of EPO assets in a financial study to find a “funding gap” of € 3.8 billion – on top of which another € 2 Billion ‘buffer’ were magically added, which should now be filled with a cut of about € 2.7 billion from our salaries over the next 20 years1. This is equivalent to several hundred thousand Euros in loss of purchasing power for each of us. The tool for implementing this cut is the new salary erosion method as proposed by management. In this new salary erosion method, a number of safeguards that existed in the previous salary adjustment method are deleted, e.g. to account for unexpected inflation or double counting. It also removes the retroactive correction from July to December. Finally, the President’s method will apply an overall cap based on the inflation of the Eurozone. This last step is the core element that will gradually erode our purchasing power by hundreds of thousands of Euros for each of us. Everyone can verify to themselves using the salary simulator2 created for that. *** The inflation: an important element for the cap *** The President claims that the impact of the cap in the salary erosion procedure is about € 2 billion – but this is actually misleading. Indeed the € 2 billion he is mentioning3 is based on the EU inflation4 (as used in the financial study), but the method as now proposed actually uses the Eurozone inflation. This little detail is worth billions of Euros: the annual EU-HICP (EU-inflation) is currently at 1.6% while the Eurozone inflation is at 1.2%5. The cap according to the salary adjustment method, which is Eurozone inflation +0.2% (plus 0.2%), corresponds to an EU-inflation – 0.2% (minus 0.2%). When looking at past data, the EU-inflation is consistently above the Eurozone inflation, which only reflects the fact that the Eurozone contains mainly stable, old economies while ______ 1 “What does Campinos’ SAP do?” 2 https://suepo.org/salarysimulator 3 “Salary Adjustment Method” intranet publication dated 9.4.2020 4 Financial Study Phase II, CA/83/19, page 123 5 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/hicp/data/database ===================================================================== the EU contains also countries which are attributed to the European Emerging Markets which have a higher economic growth which comes along with higher inflation. Changing the inflation basis from EU-HICP to Eurozone HICP has as a consequence that the impact of the cap will be much closer to € 3 billion than to € 2 billion6. Still, the President continues to communicate € 2 billion on the basis of an EU inflation +0.2%, thus entirely misleading staff. By applying the salary erosion method proposed by the President to the last six years (2014-2019 – which were prosperous years), the erosion of the salary scales would be around 7% or the equivalent of some 3 steps, lagging the evolution of the cost of living in our Places of Employment by around 4 %. Having said that, neither the EU-HICP nor Eurozone-HICP are in any way representative for the evolution of the cost of living in any of the Places of Employments. Over the last 6 years the cost of living in Munich and The Hague as calculated by Eurostat increased around 5% faster than EU-HICP, and almost 6% faster than Eurozone-HICP. *** Why do we need the correct cost of living (inflation) in the Places of Employment? *** One of the important elements of remuneration of international civil servants is the so-called parallelism. The parallelism stipulates that the salary evolution of international civil servants should develop in parallel with the national civil servants. Since the member states have vastly different inflation, simply taking the average of the nominal salaries will lead to arbitrary results. Therefore, the average of the real salary development (thus the nominal reduced by the inflation) of the national civil servants is calculated. This average is the so-called specific indicator (SI). The SI is frequently negative in economic crisis, meaning that the national civil servants receive a salary adjustment below inflation. We expect it to be negative this year, too. Since the SI is net of inflation, the inflation or cost of living must be added again. It is evident that the inflation is thus only a base line from where the SI is added to reflect an adjustment of our salaries in parallel with the salaries of the national civil servants. It is, however, also evident, that for the method to yield correct results, an inflation must be used, which is relevant for the real life of the employee in a particular duty station. For our salary adjustment, the SI must be added to the evolution of the cost of living in the respective place of employment. *** What is the cost of living in the Places of Employment? *** Everybody who lives in one of our Places of Employment (PoEs), some of the most expensive cities in Europe, can confirm that the cost of living there has nothing to do with the average cost of living (inflation) in that country. This is the very nature of an average. Unfortunately, the inflation in the PoEs, for example, Munich is not available directly. However, there is solid data prepared by Eurostat to calculate it indirectly7. What we do have is the evolution of the purchasing power of Munich and Brussels. This is calculated by Eurostat for these cities. It yields the purchasing power parity between these places (PPMM/B), which is equivalent to the inflation in Munich divided by the inflation in Brussels8. ______ 6 Financial Study Phase II, CA/83/19, page 9 7 To show the mechanism, we use Munich as an example. The same is done with The Hague and Vienna. 8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity ===================================================================== Thus, when multiplying this PPPM/B with the inflation in Brussels one obtains the inflation in Munich9. Therefore, the best available proxy for the cost of living in Munich is10: cost of living in Munich = HICPBE * PPPM/B When adding the Specific Indicator (SI) the adjustment in Munich is: adjustment in Munich = HICPBE * PPPM/B * SI The Munich local inflation (HICPBE * PPPM/B) increased over the last 6 years close to 6% faster than the EU-inflation (EU-HICP). With respect to the German or Eurozone inflation, the difference is even higher. *** What does the use of another inflation do? *** From the above it is apparent that we can calculate the best available figure for the cost of living in Munich, The Hague and Vienna. Globally capping the adjustment as proposed by the President based on an inflation almost entirely unrelated with the reality of the evolution of the cost of living at the PoEs will almost always lead to a loss of purchasing power for the people living there. Only in and after severe crisis it will have no impact because in such situations the member states normally reduce the salaries of their national civil servants. In line with the principle of parallelism we will follow these cuts, too. *** Conclusion *** The President and his management state that we were used to an automatic salary increase, however, the salary adjustment method is there to adjust the salaries in line with the salary development of national civil servants. It may be an increase (i.e. above inflation) if the national civil servants receive an increase (above inflation), or conversely a decrease (i.e. below inflation) if the national civil servants receive a decrease. The latter happened particularly in and after economic crisis11. Presenting this as an automatic increase is an extremely single-minded view, devoid of any facts. We demand that the salaries of the EPO should respect the principle of parallelism based on the cost of living in each of the Places of Employment, which is a real salary adjustment method – as used throughout international organisations. The ability of the EPO to recruit among the most skilled candidates is at stake: on top of the 5-year contracts, the worst career system in International Organisations, we now get the worst salary adjustment system. Recruitment was already challenging – soon the EPO will be entirely unable to hire the best engineers of Europe. SUEPO CENTRAL ______ 9 For example: If the inflation in Munich and Brussels were the same, the PPPM/B would not change and it would remain at 100%. If on the other hand, the Inflation in Munich is lower than in Brussels, this would mean that 1 Euro could buy more in Munich than in Brussels. The PPPM/B would immediately compensate for this “imbalance”. It would decrease below 100% to compensate the diverging evolution. 10 The current SAP, uses the HICP of Belgium as the inflation in Brussels. Some years ago, it was still the Brussels International Index. The latter would probably better reflect the cost of living of international civil servants in Brussels. But since Brussels is the heavy weight in the Belgian economy, using the HICP of Belgium is not too bad. Contrary to that, if we took the German HICP as the local inflation for Munich, the deviation would be significant. 11“What does Campinos’ SAP do?” Discussion about salary increases and decreases may seem boring on the surface, but it’s important to remember that the EPO sits on a big pile of cash it’s not even supposed to have; it could easily (fiscally) afford to just let the staff rest at home (like a paid leave) until the worst of the COVID-19 crisis is over. At the moment the EPO loses skilled staff as the quality of the work nosedives, reducing if not outright discrediting/nullifying the justification for this whole system. Examiners who cannot properly decide on patents can do more harm than good, no matter if it’s due to lack of time or lack of relevant skills. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** [Meme]_DRM_Loves_Wintel/Microsoft/Centralisation/Monopoly ***** Posted in DRM, Free/Libre_Software, Microsoft at 6:02 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz “DRM is the future.” –Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO [You can't 'hack' Silicon. But you can boycott Intel.] The latest: [Google's DRM in GitHub] Summary: Free software is under attack and Microsoft is a prime facilitator of it (with its GitHub dominance) ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** Inside_the_EPO_During_Corona:_More_Microsoft_and_More_Corruption/Nepotism From_António_Campinos_(Loyal_Friends_Get_Top_Jobs_to_Cover_Up/Perpetuate Scandals) ***** Posted in Europe, Microsoft, Patents at 11:07 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz [EUIPO and EPO - narrow] [EUIPO and EPO] Summary: The corrupt EPO continues to violate the privacy of staff — even right inside their own homes — exploiting a public health crisis to justify these illegal practices while hiring some more friends to cover up crimes THE EPO‘s Central Staff Committee is seeing all the same crimes and abuses of Benoît_Battistelli mirrored by the regime of António_Campinos. Just like Battistelli brought in (‘imported’) lots of former colleagues from INPI, Campinos brings his colleagues from EUIPO and the list of these colleagues is getting too long to keep abreast of. What is this, Mafia Family? Even Donald Trump didn’t appoint that many personal confidants in spite of no/lacking qualifications. “Notice how much of the Office is being outsourced to an American mass surveillance company (Microsoft), best known for crimes including bribery (notorious examples in Munich).”“With the COVID-19 crisis,” the Central Staff Committee wrote 7 months ago, “Mr Campinos pushed a number of decisions that surprised staff and that many of us do not understand. In an open letter to Mr Campinos, the Central Staff Committee (CSC) questions: the mandatory registration of teleworking in MyFIPS, the obligation to provide the Office with private mobile phone numbers in the context of using MIR3 for emergency messaging, the use of iLearn on LinkedIn and the paperless dossier treatment. To this effect, the CSC has also addressed the new Data Protection Officer (DPO) freshly arrived through the talent pipeline from the EUIPO in Alicante.” Notice how much of the Office is being outsourced to an American mass surveillance company (Microsoft), best known for crimes including bribery (notorious_examples_in_Munich). Nothing has changed since the_1990s, but the EPO acts like a business partner of those thugs; we suppose criminals attract other criminals. What’s referred to as “talent pipeline from the EUIPO in Alicante” is Ms Mariya Koleva. Here’s the full letter. Reference: sc20066cl-0.3.1/5.3 Date: 16.04.2020 European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY Mr António Campinos President of the EPO ISAR – R.1081 Changes may be necessary, but there’s a proper way for doing it Dear Mr President, We would like to follow up some points raised under any other business during last week’s virtual GCC-meeting. COVID-19 brought with it a need to act, which the Office duly did. We are experiencing changes that we would not have thought possible. Some of the decisions you took surprised staff and many of us do not understand why they were taken. We briefly touched the wavetops during the GCC-meeting. Registration of teleworking in MyFIPS With your instruction, given in the absence of any consultation, you compel staff to register teleworking in MyFIPS and to provide full contact details including their private mobile phone number. As already argued in the GCC, managers know from where their staff is working and how they can be contacted, so there is no need for registering teleworking in the system. Staff working from home logs into VPN as teleworking and Security knows from the use of the badges who is in the building. But you did not limit yourself to that. You also requested the distinction between teleworking and mandatory teleworking. The sense of that distinction and the use of any data gathered with such registration does not reveal itself to staff. In brief, there is a lot of explaining, convincing and formal consulting to be done. Providing private mobile phone numbers in the context of using MIR3 for emergency messaging Since the GCC meeting it transpired that apparently no corners are being cut on data protection and data storage issues and that the Office’s checks reliably kick in. We also understand better why the Office wants such an emergency messaging system, but compelling staff to give a private mobile phone number is a bridge too far. In the recent past there has been too much abuse of staff’s trust, so a certain reticence in providing private numbers is to be understood. From what we have gleaned since the GCC-meeting, the arguments for providing that private phone number appear to be convincing. Here, too, transparency and involvement would get most of staff to volunteer their number. It cannot be anything but voluntary, based on an informed decision, if trust isn’t going to be eroded any further. Case law in Germany has confirmed the voluntary nature of divulging private phone numbers to the employer. iLearn on LinkedIn (not mentioned during the GCC-meeting) The recent initiative of launching e-learning opportunities on LinkedIn appears to provide full EPO user data to LinkedIn and colleagues who registered are confronted with LinkedIn services they do not appreciate, such as networking suggestions. We see a need for consultation on data protection issues here. As it stands, if asked by a staff member, we at present would not be able to recommend registering for this new opportunity. Paperless dossier treatment – Signing out production Here, too, as pointed out, we have data protection concerns regarding the access to production data of a directorate to staff other than directors. The way forward Consultation is overdue, which may imply GCC consultation or, in some cases, transparent information from the Office’s experts to the Staff Committee experts. In view of the recent appointment of Ms Koleva as DPO a good start could be for her to meet a CSC-delegation to get to know each other and to address the data protection aspects of the above issues in preparation of further consultation. We have separately addressed Ms Koleva to that end. We look forward to your positive response to our request. Yours sincerely, Joachim Michels Chairman of the Central Staff Committee cc.: Ms Mariya Koleva; Data Protection Office Does anyone seriously think Koleva is there to protect privacy rather than protect Campinos and his corrupt regime? It’s a coverup rather than effort at compliance. This is ‘third-world country’ standards right before our eyes. With staff being forced to give tons of personal data to Microsoft. Yes, not even a European company. A company that breaches GDPR (EU law) routinely… The EPO, as well as EUIPO (lots of cross-pollination), rapidly gets a “rogue” status — a great source of shame and embarrassment to Europe. The EU covers_up for_them, so it is not helping the EU either. Those of us who like the concept of the EU are increasingly concerned. This kind of corruption will lead to collapse. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** Inside_the_EPO_During_Corona:_The_EPO_Recklessly_Breaking_the_Law_With Videoconference_(ViCo)_for_European_Patents ***** Posted in Europe, Law, Microsoft, Patents at 10:11 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz Funnelling_Microsoft_some_EPO_money to spy on everyone while engaging in technically and legally invalid practices [Romanian Money ] Summary: The Central Staff Committee (CSC) of the most corrupt patent office (run by autocrats with no relevant qualifications and experience) rightly bemoans yet more illegal practices being adopted in a rush to prioritise rich monopolists at the expense of already-besieged EPO staff SEVEN months ago the Central Staff Committee of the EPO wrote to António Campinos (and his cohorts) about the illegal practices adopted by the Office in the wake of the pandemic sprawling across Europe. “In an open letter to Mr Campinos,” they said, “the Central Staff Committee (CSC) raises (legal) concerns and points to those of our users regarding the generalisation of oral proceedings by video-conference with the possibility of distributed divisions.” “We’ve decided that now the time is right for the CSC’s letter to be put in the public domain…”For the rest of this month we shall be focusing on the coronavirus and lock-down-related labour/legal aspects at the height of this deadly pandemic — which more patents will definitely not save us from. Contrary to what the unfit-to-serve EPO management is trying to imply… (as if giving out monopolies would somehow scare away microorganisms that spread in the air/ phlegm). We’ve decided that now the time is right for the CSC’s letter to be put in the public domain (seeing how deadly the virus is becoming and how fast). It’s reproduced verbatim below. Reference: sc20060cl-0.3.1/1.3.1 Date: 15.04.2020 European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY Mr António Campinos President of the EPO ISAR – R.1081 Open letter Oral proceedings by videoconference with distributed divisions Dear Mr President, On 1 April 2020, you made an advance announcement in the Official Journal about your upcoming decision concerning oral proceedings (OP) by videoconference before examining divisions, which should now be by default held by videoconference1. In a communication of 26 March 20202 VP1 had already announced the possibility to hold oral proceedings as a videoconference (ViCo) with one or more members of the division participating at a different location in the Office or at home, in both examination and opposition proceedings. We presume the object is to enhance social distancing of staff. We note that many high and lower courts in our member states have suspended all oral proceedings which are not absolutely urgent, see e.g. Bundesverfassungsgericht3 (until end of April 2020), Bundesverwaltungsgericht4 in Leipzig, Amtsgericht in Munich or all Dutch courts5. The German patent office _____ 1 See the Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 1 April 2020 concerning oral proceedings by videoconference before examining divisions https://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/official-journal/ president-notices/archive/20200401.html 2 Oral Proceedings as Video Conference, http://my.internal.epo.org/portal/private/epo/organisation/dg1/ ?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/epo/intranet/organisation/dg1/vp1_org/ announcements/2020/1585242422850_work_from_home_op_vico 3 Maßnahmen zur Aufrechterhaltung der Funktionsfähigkeit des Bundesverfassungsgerichts, https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/ Pressemitteilungen/DE/2020/bvg20-019a.html 4 Eingeschränkte Tätigkeit des Bundesverwaltungsgerichts ab dem 18. März 2020, https://www.bverwg.de/pm/2020/16 5 Dutch courts closed until 6 April 2020, ===================================================================== DPMA will be closed to the public until further notice, no further summons to oral proceedings or invitations to interviews will be issued ex parte and inter partes and already agreed oral proceedings and interviews will be cancelled6. Generally speaking, it would make sense to align the Office with the practice as well as with emergency provisions of its host countries. This would also appear mandated by the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities. Also the EPO Boards of Appeal7 have suspended all oral proceedings until 17 April 2020 at least. DG1 nevertheless tries to uphold business as usual at the expense of the examiners and of quality and in disregard of legal, technical and practical problems associated with the holding of hearings as ViCos, or even as “distributed ViCos”. The Office is even ignoring the high risk that the Boards of Appeal might later set aside decisions which would rest on these new regulations. Consultation issues Holding oral proceedings as distributed videoconferences with the members of the division participating at different locations in the Office or at home is part of your initiative of generalising and making teleworking mandatory, which constitutes a fundamental change in the working conditions of an major part of staff. It must therefore be subject to statutory consultation with the COHSEC and the GCC in accordance with Articles 38(2) and 38a(3) ServRegs. Since it has been decided to extend the new procedures for oral proceedings in examination beyond the current Corona crisis, in-depth consultation is necessary. The same applies to opposition oral proceedings for which this new procedure appears likewise here to stay. The Institute of Professional Representatives before the EPO (epi) has also expressed its concerns and advocates much more extensive testing and extensive consultation as to the long-term effects before adopting the measures8. Legal issues Opposition oral proceedings are by law public proceedings, cf. Article 116(4) EPC. It is not at all clear how this is guaranteed if the hearing is conducted as a ViCo (see e.g. T1266/07, points 1.2 and 1.3). The preliminary guidance given in VP1’s announcement (cf item 2.3, last bullet point) states that if the division “receive[s] requests of public to attend opposition proceedings performed via ViCo” it should “contact [its] line manager”, presumably that of the first examiner. Aside from the fact that the line manager is not competent for interfering with the _____ https://www.gtlaw-amsterdamlawblog.com/2020/03/dutch-courts-closed- until-6-april- 2020/ 6 Hinweis vom 18. März 2020 [...], https://www.dpma.de/dpma/veroeffentlichungen/hinweise/hinweise2020/ hinweis_18032020/index.html 7 https://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/communications/ 2020/20200320.html 8 See the epi letter of 31 March 2020: https://patentepi.org/assets/uploads/documents/news/ 200331_epi%20letter-to-EPO-President_videoconference.pdf ===================================================================== discretionary decisions of the Divisions, the public does not need to “request” attendance, or to announce it in advance. A possibility for the public to attend should therefore be guaranteed in all cases, regardless of any advance request. The guidance thus brings examiners into a conflict between the expectations of management and the requirements of the EPC. Moreover, in VP1’s announcement, only agreement of all parties to rearranged opposition OPs by ViCo is mentioned (cf item 2.3, 2nd bullet point) and no clear guidance is given as to future OPs which need yet to be arranged. However, apparently a “strong preference” is noted (same item, immediately preceding bullet point). epi sees in making OPs by ViCo without the agreement of all parties a breach of the fundamental right to be heard codified in Article 113 EPC, which must give a party the means to present its case properly. A problem of breach of confidentiality might further arise if members of divisions were not able to adequately isolate themselves, especially during examination non-public OP’s and during deliberations. Further technical / practical problems In the letter mentioned above, epi draws your attention to practical and efficiency issues on the parties’ side. The lengthy technical instructions given by VP1 to staff make it clear that each distributed OP is prone to mishaps and failures, especially in opposition proceedings. Examiners acting from home are faced with challenges similar to parties’ challenges. No training and sufficiently staffed testing similar to that available to external participants is available9. For instance, problems with the speed and bandwidth of the connections often arise when multiple participants from different locations join a Skype-for-Business meeting. Already invested time and work might get wasted due to slow or aborted ViCos and could lead to procedural violations. Moreover, a yet unknown number of examiners cannot establish simultaneously both a Skype-for-Business connection and an EPO network connection via Pulse-VPN, as would be required for ViCo OPs, because the network hosts the application documents and the EPO email account. Only either connection works fine by itself. Those and other practical problems must be solved before the measures are implemented full-scale. Recognition of the work of examiners The suggestion of replacing members of the divisions in case of unsuitable private accommodation (see e.g. the summary section, 4th bullet point) or in case of technical issues shows a lack of knowledge and recognition for the work of the members of the divisions. In an intervention in the mock meeting of the Administrative Council on 25 March 2020, epi has warned that the practice of replacing a primary _____ 9 Oral proceedings held as a video-conference at the European Patent Office – technical guidelines, https://www.epo.org/applying/online-services/proceedings/ technical-guidelines.html ===================================================================== examiner or a chairperson would put quality at risk. We agree. In addition, replacing a member at short notice is clearly inefficient. If the member concerned is the primary examiner, the “product” would even be missing in their statistics, despite considerable work and time investment. Conclusion At present there are no clear laws, no guidelines and no technical facilities to allow distributed oral proceedings in examination and opposition proceedings. In the latter case, even “non-distributed” ViCos with divisions on the Office premises would at present not rest on a solid legal basis. The measures presently foreseen should be immediately halted and reviewed, also involving the Staff Representation. In view of the additional strain on the examiner’s mental health, we can at present only advise divisions to judiciously choose, weighing all circumstances, whether to conduct oral proceedings by ViCo or rather to postpone them to a later date until circumstances for conducting them either as a classical ViCo from the Office premises or as “standard” proceedings in person are restored. We also refer to our communication_to_staff_in_this_respect10. Yours sincerely, Joachim Michels Chairman of the Central Staff Committee cc.: Mr Stephen Rowan; Vice-President GD1 [sic] Ms Nellie Simon; Vice-President DG4 Mr Christoph Ernst; Vice-President DG5 _____ 10 See CSC publication: “Distributed oral proceedings in times of a pandemic” Will the EPO’s management listen? Readers (probably all of them) can predict the outcome, seeing how as_recently_as_last_week the EPO publicly gloated about these illegal practices. No sense of shame. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** Inside_the_EPO_During_Corona:_The_António_Campinos_Monologue,_Talking Inwards_While_Pretending_to_Represent_the_EPO’s_Interests ***** Posted in Deception, Europe, Patents at 2:07 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz [Interpersonal dialogue]Summary: SUEPO (EPO union) and the Central Staff Committee are not happy about fake “social dialogues” being presented as participation by staff in decision-making; in practice, EPO management besieges the staff in illegal ways and merely pretends there’s consensus and understanding THE autocrats of the EPO keep misusing words like “social” and “democracy” (or both in conjunction). They’ve been doing this for more than half a decade, so why stop now? English isn’t their first language, but that’s hardly an excuse. The words in French (Campinos was born in France; it’s his mother’s tongue) are almost the same. “English isn’t their first language, but that’s hardly an excuse.To Benoît Battistelli, for instance, “social democracy” meant neither “social” nor “democracy” (as per dictionary definitions). SUEPO and the Central Staff Committee repeatedly complained about misuse of these words and under António Campinos the exact same is happening. Back in April the Central Staff Committee wrote the following about so-called “dialogue” with staff representation: Munich, 17.04.2020 sc20067cp – 0.2.1/4.6 Social Dialogue Agenda 2020 – Only ticking boxes? Dear colleagues, The President regularly updates us with intranet publications, the most recent of which is the one on the Social Dialogue Agenda 2020 – Priorities for 2020. It has the air of a factual report but stands in stark contrast to our idea of what a social agenda should cover with which priorities. (Use of) terminology In the contact of the social partners, the terms dialogue, agenda and priorities would benefit from common definition. The lack thereof is a major impediment.   The President’s The Staff Committees’ interpretation interpretation Exchanging information and dialogue Pushing decisions, and sometimes points of view, joined-up information thinking to influencing decisions agenda To be unilaterally set To be agreed priority What looks best in reports What is best for staff Dialogue does take place, but we feel that the occasions are created for statistical purposes. The President pushes a defined line which does not follow a problem/solution approach. It is bound to fail, but succeeds in frustrating staff representatives to an extent that they chuck in the towel. But it looks good when the President reports to the AC that the administration had more than a hundred meetings with staff representatives. Agendas, especially when they call themselves social, need to be agreed. When we managed to get some few points added and claimed health as a top priority we almost had a sense of achievement. Silly us. Priority-wise, the President and his merry (wo)men and staff representatives live in parallel universes. Never the twain shall meet. Let us look at the two example topics – Health and the situation of the staff recruited after 2009 Somewhere towards the end of the President’s publication, hidden under Ongoing social dialogue, references are made to statutory consultation in the COHSEC, purporting that “matters such as health” are “always a priority regardless of the agenda items for any given year”. To give you an insight into statutory consultation we will use a The Hague example. The air quality in the new Main building appears to have aggravated existing respiratory problems and triggered new ones. This was brought to the LOHSEC’s attention. Measurements were promised, the results of which we have never seen. The problems persist, making colleagues working in New Main vulnerable to pulmonary infections, which is a real issue at times of COVID-19. We are not observing remedial action. Instead, now the heating is also failing to provide adequate working conditions. We see no initiative from the Office to meaningfully tackle the lack of motivating career progression for the generation presenting the future of the Office. So, based on the experience gained with social dialogue under Mr Campinos’ presidency we have to conclude: - The respective lists with the President’s priorities and the CSC priorities may have some promising overlap on the topic titles, but content and understanding are miles apart. - A process analogous to the joint agenda building to mutually agree on the problems to be solved and how to solve them is sadly missing. - We would appreciate if the interaction between President and the Staff Committees would no longer be called Social Dialogue. - When the President refers to something as a priority, staff may safely conclude that it is – at least not entirely – shared by staff representatives. So, we flag issues – but to no avail The Coronavirus task force is a closed society. Its members are not known, the information it works from is not shared, the reasons for any decisions taken are not known and staff input is not sought. We had claimed membership to that group, to be able to influence management’s decisions. Instead now two nominees have the privilege of being informed by delegated members of the task force. Are you being listened at? Looking at senior management’s decisions, it appears that they are oblivious of the reality that our colleagues live every day – and the striking difference between the priorities of the CSC and the President are yet another indicator in that same direction. But, hey, there’s hope! Social dialogue is now “a specific SP2023 programme run by the Chief of Staff in the President’s Office“. Fear not, all the right boxes will be ticked to make it look good for the Council. Albeit by now absolutely disillusioned as regards any effect we can have as staff representatives without staff rising, we will continue to bring the real priorities of staff to the table, even if the President repeatedly keeps wiping them off. Meanwhile, define your priority: Stay healthy and look after yourselves and your loved ones. The Central Staff Committee With behaviour and attitude such as this, no wonder Campinos is even less popular than Battistelli (lower ranking among staff) after 2 years at the Office. Yet we’re expected to think that things have improved because European media is totally silent (regarding Europe’s second-largest institution). Remember that the text comes from workers of the EPO; these members of the Central Staff Committee take personal risk for saying the truth. Great risk. “Your support to your staff representation is your best defence of your rights and working conditions,” they noted. “We keep you posted on any developments.” They did, indeed, for months, even as the risk of indefinite unemployment grew. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** Something_About_to_Hit_the_Fan_at_the_EPO ***** Posted in Site_News at 8:52 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz [Slingshot] Summary: We keep hearing that French media is investigating the rogue and corrupt EPO management; there’s growing public outcry over the unjustified immunity enjoyed by organisations that front for rich and powerful corporations (and those who run them) THE EPO_scandals never stopped; it’s media coverage that stopped, at least temporarily. The EPO bribed and blackmailed publishers. Even the very big ones (and that’s really expensive, but we know who’s paying!). Then it insisted that replacing Benoît_Battistelli with his_younger_friend would miraculously solve all the problems. Staff representatives were gagged (we’ve produced further proof of this), Techrights is still blocked Office-wide (3 countries), and we’re told that everything is OK, even if only_3%_of_EPO_staff_trust_their 'new'_and_'improved'_President. “The EPO bribed and blackmailed publishers.”Worry not, however, as brushing dirt under a rug/carpet is a short-term strategy. That broom can’t sweep everything indefinitely and politicians_raise_increasingly_uncomfortable questions that Battistelli’s allies are unable and unwilling to answer (because it would reveal them too to be complicit). [Chair isolated]“I just came across an article in Mediapart and it is about the death of an employee at ESA, the European Space Agency located in the Netherlands, just a few kilometers away from the EPO,” a reader told us today. “The article is beyond [behind] a paywall, however the important thing is that the French tribunal acknowledges the total immunity of an international organisation even if it is held responsible for the suicide of an employee.” “As it turns out, there’s more on the way regarding the EPO.”Remember what the Dutch court said. And contrary to what they want us to think/believe, ILO’s toothless tribunal, EPO DCs etc. are no safeguards, either. “Bad time, bad news,” our reader called it, “but it might open new perspectives for the defence of the employees: the Far West law.” As it turns out, there’s more on the way regarding the EPO. “It is a good thing that Mediapart shows a journalistic interest for international organisations,” the reader noted. “AFAIK, they are preparing a series of articles about the EPO.” We’ve heard that several times this month. Let’s wait and see. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** Intel_Worked_to_Eradicate_Supposedly_‘Offensive’_Words_From_Linux_While Inserting_More_and_More_Technically_Offensive_DRM_Into_Linux_(Back_Doors_as Well) ***** Posted in Deception, DRM, GNU/Linux, Kernel at 5:24 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz Wait until they find out the meaning of the word “git” (worse than these_words) [Christmas horse] Summary: Companies that do technically abhorrent things want us to look away and get angry over the supposedly ‘racist’ connotation of words (which they themselves have long used if not coined) TODAY in IRC we had a very, very long discussion about DRM and GNU/Linux. The upcoming IRC logs will contain the debate on the matter. We aren’t going to explain why DRM is bad for GNU/Linux. We assume our readers already understand why it’s a negative thing (and not just for GNU/Linux in case that matters). “…we’re dealing with a growing threat from the likes of Intel and its engineers, who put back doors and DRM in just about everything, not just multimedia stacks.”We already wrote a number of articles about Google’s role in Linux DRM (on the software side) and Intel/AMD likewise (on the hardware side). Microsoft and Google are now liaising to remove/censor projects in GitHub to protect DRM from simple tools, leveraging DMCA as usual. YouTube-DL was just the beginning. See “Google_Takes_Down_Repositories_That_Circumvent_its_Widevine DRM” (we’ve talked a lot about Widevine in IRC). If that does not convince developers to abandon GitHub, maybe nothing can/will. Either way, we’re dealing with a growing threat from the likes of Intel and its engineers, who put back doors and DRM in just about everything, not just multimedia stacks. The chipsets thus become rather difficult if not impossible for users to trust. As Michael Larabel has_just_put_it (using Intel’s euphemisms, e.g. “Protected”): “Intel PXP is about providing a hardware-protected session for clients running Intel Xe Graphics. The Intel Protected Xe Path is backed by encrypted video memory and leverages a TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) for protecting PXP sessions from other clients.” [Wise]AMD isn’t without its problems, either. As Mr. Larabel noted further down (alluding to AMD’s equivalences, which go beyond ME/PSP): “Given the timing of the PXP patches and the launch this week of the first Intel Server GPU that is focused on Android cloud gaming and other video purposes, PXP is presumably more about security where as AMDGPU TMZ at least to date is focused just on DRM’ed playback and other encrypted content as opposed to possible protected multi-user scenarios.” “About half a dozen new comments on Phoronix currently point out that it’s ridiculous to expect universities to also rename their degrees. How much confusion would be caused and for little/no benefit.”The worrying thing about it all is that few are speaking out against it. Much of the outrage/attention has been diverted into the “master” conundrum. Just look at all these new comments (pretty much all of them, almost 40 as of this moment). As one person put it: “By your definition then Git is offensive too because it is an insult.” We wrote several dozens of articles about this attack on words, even where they’re perfectly innocuous (non-racist contexts, not even by remote connotations). More importantly, we wrote several articles about Intel’s unique role in this push. Yes, Intel often sat at the very forefront of these campaigns, even in prior years when the F word became “hugs” and “hugging”. IBM and Microsoft have also played a leading role (and still do), contrary to their own track record on racial matters [1, 2]. Look over there! “Censorship”. But forget about DRM. Nothing to see here, folks, please move along. Just let is be merged into master main branch and move on. Go somewhere else while we add another million lines of obscure code to already-bloated_Linux. Maybe I’m lucky not to have a “Masters” degree (they let me leap past it… right into a Ph.D. just because of my grades). About half a dozen new comments on Phoronix currently point out that it’s ridiculous to expect universities to also rename their degrees. How much confusion would be caused and for little/no benefit. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** IRC_Proceedings:_Friday,_November_13,_2020 ***** Posted in IRC_Logs at 2:50 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___________________| |QmZNvfqy6mFW3W4bsCbGAn8Q7vv3P2p5djjkjtfKMvHFPB|IRC log for 131120 (full IRC | |______________________________________________|log)__________________________| |QmP14Gq1rsx3cg1c2v7aRM2478qtatpDdjfECeuhfDiQc3|IRC log for social-131120 | |______________________________________________|(full_IRC_log)________________| |QmUcKNxmeeRvtxU7BcRCcMApJLwopHxRZM8oEnsMvHgTPb|IRC log for techbytes-131120 | |______________________________________________|(full_IRC_log)________________| |QmQ6YBEztdbiojpMUCmbvnC5LyEa8vBHDS1QeUh83yhXoC|IRC log for techrights-131120 | |______________________________________________|(full_IRC_log)________________| [IPFS logo] **** Bulletin for Yesterday **** Local_copy | CID (IPFS): QmTVK9B2YvX97kQJqZEpTKfC2nhjXd4cwa59eQ2Xbazok2 ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** The_Surest_Path_to_Freedom_is_Removing_Your_Software ***** Posted in Free/Libre_Software, GNU/Linux at 7:00 am by Guest Editorial Team By figosdev [Notes] Summary: “Microsoft HATES users. They love (exploiting) Linux. They love getting money for “patents” on things WE created without them, specifically to get away from them.” The Free Software movement has failed. Its goal was not just to create software, which is a necessary step — but to give the user control of their own computing. But users don’t control their computing, organisations do — if those organisations were DOING THEIR JOB, that would help. But then those organisations get bribed by the same companies who controlled your computing before. And then those organisations stop fighting for your freedom, paying it lip service only. The FSF becomes FSFtv, and it just makes commercials for the freedom you used to have. They don’t fight at all, in fact they bend over for monopolies on your behalf. Couldn’t you do that well enough without paying for the privilege? Okay, if you need the tax write-off I understand — but wouldn’t the SPCA do just as well? “GNOME and Emacs developers both make more things depend on HarfBuzz, which is controlled by Microsoft.”You won’t find any organisations fighting for your freedom now, only individuals. Sometimes Eben Moglen cares — he still says things that would help if people listened. Often Richard Stallman cares. He still tries to liberate your Pi (surprising, you would think he would just give up. But more power to him). Bruce Perens says he cares. Sure, maybe he does. I think Perens has done enough to us already, as well-intentioned as he seems on YouTube. Most of these organisations are stabbing users and developers in the back though. Debian tortures developers and treats them like Amazon warehouse workers. KDE silences developers not unlike the Linux Foundation. The Linux Foundation stole the kernel, and is now putting all kinds of horrors into it. [A prison]GNOME and Emacs developers both make more things depend on HarfBuzz, which is controlled by Microsoft. The FSF allows coups and censorship against itself, its founder and even its supporters. SFC has betrayed everyone. The GNU Project is partnering piece-by-piece with Microsoft, and already relies on it heavily for more than it admits or cares about. I used to believe in Debian. So long as you don’t enable the non-free repos, I considered Debian the very best way to be free. I tried supporting many other options, but Trisquel followed Ubuntu and GnewSense had a version that was closer to Debian-based, but GnewSense took forever to update (compared to either Debian or Ubuntu. Or Trisquel). In the short run, Trisquel was superior to GnewSense but GnewSense was better in the long run — but it was so slow to update. Ridiculously slow. The differences between Debian (without non-free repos added in sources.list) and GnewSense are very, very small. But then things went absolutely to hell — and sticking with FSF-approved distros really didn’t help at all. Super-arrogant (or possibly even narcissistic or sociopathic) developers like Lennart Poettering (just one major example) don’t care about your freedom, or you having control over your computer. They do everything based on the idea of making people use their software. They “technically” can’t create lock-in, because hey, the source is free, right? But they can design software using methods that Microsoft was famous for using, which make forking (or compatibility) impractical if not deliberately impossible, and push users really hard to be stuck with a single offering — not even a real choice. For something with a small number of users, this is a non-issue. When such things are moved in to replace mainstream software, it’s more like an attack. Systemd tried very, very hard to be the only init system. They gloated about it. They mocked anybody who hated either the software or the attitude behind it. Systemd developers hate your freedom. They aren’t alone. GNOME, which has spent years attacking Free Software on several levels (and both historically and recently) has taken over various components that used to be independent and added others, not unlike systemd did. Some projects give you choices, other projects really try to corral users. “GNOME, which has spent years attacking Free Software on several levels (and both historically and recently) has taken over various components that used to be independent and added others, not unlike systemd did. Some projects give you choices, other projects really try to corral users.”Users know this, and these developers along with their insidious fanboys (or fangirls, sometimes) gaslight the hell out of them — responding to protests (not unlike Microsoft has) even ones from people who were already familiar with the Free Software ecosystem 10 or more years ago with lies and half-truths and corporate propaganda. These corporate people take over communities, then control them — they add policies that give large donors control over the project (rather than even the project founders or original authors) and then they kick out the people who made it what it was. This is exactly what IBM and Microsoft do to proprietary vendors, but to simulate those takeovers with communities of (mostly) volunteers has taken 20 years to perfect. Now you see it everywhere, from Debian to Python to Mozilla to Linux — to GNU itself. You’re being lied to about this Every. Single. Day. And nobody fucking cares that you’re constantly being lied to about your freedom. And they aren’t even new lies — the strategy had to be retrofit to communities (this is the what “Open Source” really is) but the lies are just recycled from everything Microsoft used to throw at “Linux” (including calling it Linux, which over time has itself become a backdoor for the takeover of GNU, which GNU actually realised and once protested). And when this was just beginning to happen, We Told You it was. Now it’s everywhere, it’s getting much worse, and the tech press is crowing “We Won!” But we said they would do that too. The reason this stuff is so easy to predict, is the tactics only change on the surface. These are old games, takeovers don’t really ever change the rules of how takeovers work — they just tailor them to the latest target. We know what the beginning of a takeover looks like. We know what it looks like in the next stages. We know what the “death” looks like. These aren’t really predictions, they’re prognoses. And being scam artists, the shills and marketers constantly lie to protect the scam in progress. That’s supposed to be proof they’re not doing it. “We smile and clap our hands while someone makes a nifty new graphic that says “there is no Cloud, it’s just someone else’s computer” — but Richard Stallman is telling you to get code from Microsoft’s computers. Jami and BigBlueButton are both developed on GitHub.”Richard Stallman was at LibrePlanet last year, talking about how you should switch to Jami or BigBlueButton. While I don’t deny that either of those are better than Microsoft Teams or Zoom, they are still controlled by Microsoft. The FSF used to care about that, but now they gave Stallman’s job to someone who loves GitHub, and Richard Stallman is promoting software with source code you have to get from Microsoft’s “Cloud”. We smile and clap our hands while someone makes a nifty new graphic that says “there is no Cloud, it’s just someone else’s computer” — but Richard Stallman is telling you to get code from Microsoft’s computers. Jami and BigBlueButton are both developed on GitHub. On the mailing lists, the stewards of GNU are not even fighting this. There is no move to censure GNU Radio or other projects for moving to and staying on Github, even when Stallman warned them not to go there in the first place. Sure, he couldn’t stop them. And now he can’t even say how destructive it was. He has to be careful, because nobody gives a shit about his freedom either. He is not only an activist, but the founder of an entire activist movement. And he has to be careful speaking about a cause he himself started, because a bunch of fucking backstabbers and traitors have finally figured out how to control him. Mother fucker. Emacs just incorporated HarfBuzz. It didn’t need HarfBuzz before. This is a needless dependency on one of the original high profile Free Software projects, and Microsoft can stick its flag in Emacs now — heck, it was already based on Lisp, and most of the libraries are already on Microsoft GitHub. It already needed libFFI and zlib1g (both controlled by Microsoft). This is a mockery of freedom. Guix is becoming the GNU Project’s answer to Snap — what do I mean? Snap exists largely to put Canonical in charge of an app store, which brings in whatever non-free garbage Canonical wants to. Guix is doing the same thing with Lisp, but they’re hovering under the radar, bringing about questions from people who know better — and stabbing Richard Stallman in the back and trying to take over the GNU Project at the same time (along with traitors running GNOME). There are no organisations at this point that aren’t somehow dirty. And the thing is — as users, we have essentially zero leverage. “Python selling out (first to Google, now to Microsoft) is particularly tragic, because if you want to learn a mainstream programming language as a beginner, Python is (both in theory and in practice) the easiest one to learn.”The FSF doesn’t let members vote, but it has (clearly) let corporations take over. OSI had a coup and is now run by Microsoft, along with traitors like Deb Icaza. But similar has happened at the FSF. And they can’t even bother to mention the issue with Youtube-dl (Techrights has to do it for them, finding old footage of Free Software supporters, including Stallman and former FSF board member Lessig protesting the DMCA). They’re probably too busy making another pointless video for a GitHub-based project. All those corporate (buyout) donations have to go somewhere. I don’t know what the FSF spends their money on, and I really don’t give a shit either. We know where they get it from, and we know what they’ve done — and that’s bad enough. Python selling out (first to Google, now to Microsoft) is particularly tragic, because if you want to learn a mainstream programming language as a beginner, Python is (both in theory and in practice) the easiest one to learn. BASIC has morphed over the years into a retro game development platform, and isn’t mainstream anymore — Python (along with the occasional Logo variant) has filled the niche purpose that BASIC once served — and does so much more. Users have no say over what they run on their computer. GNOME (run by wannabe Microsoft devs), Python Foundation (owned by Microsoft) and the Linux Foundation (owned by Microsoft) and OSI (owned by Microsoft) oh! and Red Hat (owned and run by IBM and Microsoft) have the final say on who contributes, what changes, what gets dropped and what is supported. This is NOT freedom. This is corporate rule. And if the Free Software movement can’t admit that, then the Free Software movement is nothing but a bunch of spineless cowards. That’s a far cry from what it was — when it really was Free Software. There was a time where if you didn’t like X, you said Fuck It, and ran Y in protest. Or maybe you created Z yourself. That’s what I did when I got tired of BASIC making beginner coding too complicated. Then I got tired of distros doing stupid things, so I automated remastering them. It’s not like I haven’t tried. Remastering manually is a pain in the ass, and error-prone. You couldn’t have paid me to create a distro that way. Nor was I interested in doing LFS (OLPC wasn’t either — they use automated remasters). “Microsoft HATES users. They love (exploiting) Linux. They love getting money for “patents” on things WE created without them, specifically to get away from them.”But now, everything (Window Managers, Font rendering libraries, Compression libraries, Spell checking, Programming languages, most libraries for those libraries, Web browsers, most command line utilities, most init systems) all of that is on GitHub. Users have no choice but The Cloud, and you need to download sources from GitHub just to compile GNU Icecat (Tom tried it. And I know he’s right anyway, because I’ve seen the script that gets the Jasmine library using Wget). Alexandre Oliva, who many people (including Oliva and myself, possibly) thought would eventually replace Stallman upon retirement (and who to his credit, still watches over the shifty Guix devs) really doesn’t get the problem of GNU being so dependent on infrastructure which is run by GNU’s oldest and most determined enemy. Even when we show him the memos where Microsoft planned this move, he just doesn’t get it. And that’s bad, because if Oliva doesn’t get it, and Stallman doesn’t get it (or won’t say anything about it) then nobody (least of all the GitHub- contributing FSF president) gets it. FSF works for Microsoft. OSI works for Microsoft. Python Foundation works for Microsoft. Linux Foundation works for Microsoft. Mozilla works for Microsoft. None of these organisations work for USERS. “Join the FSF today and become an unpaid Microsoft intern, developing software you’ll never have control of again without their permission!”Microsoft HATES users. They love (exploiting) Linux. They love getting money for “patents” on things WE created without them, specifically to get away from them. They love co-opting all software through GitHub. They love the tech press saying nice things so much, they keep bribing them. But they hate users. They love control. They plot constantly (as their very business model) against your freedom. The only freedom they love is their own. And Richard Stallman wants you to use Jami and BigBlueButton, and GNU Icecat (which you have the freedom to study, use, modify and share — but if you want to do that with the latest version you have to get permission from Microsoft). This isn’t Freedom, it’s Bullshit! So what can you do? You can take Stallman’s advice and Oliva’s advice, and throw more money at this corruption. If people are doing dumb, dirty shit, the best way to stop them is to throw money at it. It’s not enough money for them to listen, but join anyway! What’s the worst that could happen? Nothing ever changes, and you have less money. Suck it up! Your money will then subsidise the takeover of Free Software — turning the software into Microsoft products, advocacy into advertising for Microsoft (even Stallman is doing it, it must be OK now) and volunteer work into profits for Microsoft. Join the FSF today and become an unpaid Microsoft intern, developing software you’ll never have control of again without their permission! Fuck All Of That. “I think we should delete the software these people put on our computers. It’s really the only leverage we have.”So once again, what can you do? I started running software (from cassette tapes) on a computer at age 4. You had to type LOAD (at least) and then maybe a name, to run what was on the cassette. The manual had ridiculously simple instructions (if you could read, you could do it, and I was hyperlexic) and if you pressed a few keys exactly like they were written, the program would start. It wasn’t difficult. If you were too young to read, someone would have to tell you what keys to press. But then most of the things you could do once a program loaded involved some words anyway. So I’ve been playing with computers for a long time. I’m not likely to stop doing that now. I started writing programs at age 6. They were small and simple and ridiculous, just like the first program Torvalds wrote at 11. (He became a MUCH more talented coder, and much, much faster, obviously. I can’t even write a driver, though I’m sure it’s not as impossible as I think it is). The point is, I love computers. They’re the only hobby I’ve kept since I was a kid. I think we should delete the software these people put on our computers. It’s really the only leverage we have. When I was 10, all I had to do to install an operating system was this: SYS A: B: I haven’t run that in a decade or more (I may have done something like it in FreeDOS at some point, but I always installed FreeDOS to the hard drive — and I didn’t install it often, it probably has a different install script) though I know that’s how you do it. After that you want to: COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT B: and probably also COPY CONFIG.SYS B: And your operating system is installed. If you have a hard drive, then it’s C: instead of B:. My third computer (second PC) was an AT clone, and it had a 90mb MFM hard drive. It had a black metal casing and was the height of two floppy drives. It went to a sibling when I got a 386. I had that until Windows 95 came out. My first laptop was a 486DX Compaq with Windows 3.1. When the screen got too many dead pixels, I removed the lid and used an external monitor. Windows 3.1 installs from (up to) 6 floppies. “But when I ran Windows, if there was something I didn’t like I removed it.”While people complained about Windows 95, I was running Calmira on Windows 3.1. I didn’t like 95, and I resisted it for years. I even used an ISP that supported 3.1, and I didn’t even have to bother with Winsock. Just install the dialer (no, not AOL, gross…) and click the icon. Years later I did decide that I wanted USB support. I had an external IDE drive enclosure that let me connect any IDE drive to the parallel port, but though it was pointless at first, USB had proven itself to not be a stupid fad peripheral component. This was before I had regular Internet access, heck, this was before Wikipedia existed. I had to judge products by what I knew and what I was asked to abandon. But when I ran Windows, if there was something I didn’t like I removed it. That includes_Internet_Explorer. So I wrote a program (in QBasic) that lists every file on the computer (dir c: \ /b /a /s, the DOS equivalent of find / run as root) and let you move up/down (and probably PgUp/PgDn) and highlight any file. If you hit enter, it would rename any .dll to .lld, any .vxd to .dxv, any .bat to .tab and any .exe to .xex. Basically, it disabled executable files. The dir command didn’t hide extensions the way that Windows sometimes did (I always turned that stupid security vulnerability off though) and whenever I read about a vulnerability (say in quartz.dll) I would disable it and then go on about my computing for a while. You had to boot to DOS mode to be able to run this on any file, so I was already rebooted when I was trying to run Windows again. After a while, if that Microsoft .dll wasn’t needed, I just deleted it. I know a LOT of removal tricks, enough to get Windows 95 down to 10mb (with a GUI. But by the 10mb mark even Control Panel won’t open). I would disable groups of things systematically, using my program to “rename” them, and then only re- enable what I had to. Sure, it was breaking things (but it was breaking features I didn’t care about). When I started running GNU/Linux distros, I was still interested in removing what I didn’t need and replacing slower tools with faster ones. KDE 3.5 was actually stupidly fast. GNOME 2 was slower, but worth it for some people (my first wife loved GNOME 2, I didn’t think it was terrible — MATE deserved more respect from Debian than it got). IceWM was a favourite, but I switched to dwm (I’m running it now) because IceWM too is controlled by Microsoft. For most people, I stuck them with LXDE (Microsoft) and if they didn’t like that, I upgraded them to XFCE — especially since GNOME 3 exemplified the same relentless douchebaggery we would all soon experience with systemd. When I became expert at removing ALL of Windows, from many different machines, I did that. And until Debian jumped the shark and became evil, I relied on it as the distro of all distros. Then I became expert at removing systemd bullshit. And you know what? I did that for literally years, even created a distro in the process, and that fucking thing is woven into EVERYTHING. Fuck systemd! Yes, in just one day I modified a script I originally designed for Puppy Linux to remaster Debian Live so that it booted with sysvinit instead of systemd, but if that was all it really took, then Devuan and antiX wouldn’t be a big deal to anybody. AntiX does an incredible job, too bad its devs use Github. “Python is also based on GitHub of course, and that’s what my own language is implemented in. So I moved to PyPy.”I thought about continuing with the remastering, but the thing is systemd just keeps eating features and shitting out — well, shit. You run systemd, you let IBM make the rules. That’s not freedom, it’s corporate rule. Then people lie to you about it. Finally I decided to start removing GitHub-based components (as much as possible) and try to get a somewhat modular GNU/Linux (remember when it really was modular?) running again. We can quibble about what that means, though for me the most GitHub-free distro was Tiny Core. There is still hope for Hyperbola (it’s largely the reason I’m running BSD now) but either way, after all these years of removing Windows and replacing it with GNU/Linux, I’m now Linux-free. But this isn’t just about getting rid of a kernel that has gone evil. This is about how Free Software isn’t free, because nearly all of it is controlled by corrupt organisations that hate users and lie to them to get bigger donations (and for Guido, a job at Microsoft stabbing every fan he ever had in the back). Some of you LIKE being treated like shit, I get that, but it’s still abuse. So I went and removed features from MY OWN programming language. I removed the Pygame library from my FAVOURITE project in the world, because Fuck GitHub. Already Pygame was optional (to the point where if it wasn’t installed, you would just get simulated graphics with ANSI escapes) but this removed support altogether. I didn’t delete the old versions, so people can fork those if they want. But I don’t support Pygame anymore. I even increased the colour support for the ANSI escapes to make up for the lack of Pygame. (And that was just to maintain the support for a 24-bit colour hack that was never officially part of the language). Because if Pygame cares so little that they will force their users to go back to Microsoft (a company that exploits users and tries to destroy Free Software year after year) then I don’t want to support Pygame IF I CAN HELP IT. And I could, so I did. It’s partly symbolic/philosophical, partly practical, partly follow-my-own-advice. Python is also based on GitHub of course, and that’s what my own language is implemented in. So I moved to PyPy. I checked PyPy compatibility years ago, but I actually moved the direct support from CPython to PyPy. Because I don’t want to support CPython more than I have to. What about Youtube-dl? Does it run on PyPy? Sadly, not that I know of (let me know if you manage it). So if I need CPython just for that, then maybe if PyPy becomes popular enough, someone will either fix or fork Youtube-dl to be compatible. I run very little software that needs Python at all, and that’s partly because I run very little software. I run what I need to, and the rest I get rid of. “I run what I need to, and the rest I get rid of.”I can assure you, most people are not trying to remove software they don’t need. And since the FSF will only fight for Microsoft, and Richard Stallman thinks you should trust Jami or BigBlueButton or GNU IceCat even though Microsoft has root (hopefully not when you run the software, but maybe you are building it with lower privileges than that, I wouldn’t know) and most organisations are lying to you on behalf of the same companies that Free Software was intended to free you from control by… Is all this telemetry not a problem then? DRM in the Linux kernel? Do we really have to compile all this stuff ourselves? If so, why aren’t we forking GNU? Until that time, I’m afraid that the best advice I can give you — if you want to be free, is avoid all the software you can. Before I was capable of running GNU/Linux (I was certainly interested) I told people to replace their programs with smaller and lighter ones. It made Windows faster, and it gave people more control over their computing. Not as much as the source code and a good license would give them, though today organisations are doing a pretty good job of working around those “freedoms” to control the user. That’s what they’re doing in practice, in reality, but in theory you have all 4 Freedoms. It says so right in the license — and the thing about licenses is that even if you do nothing at all, the language in software licenses magically bends the universe and reality itself to conform to the language — like a very powerful spell. So you can just slap a license on software and never stand for anything at all, and voila, that’s freedom. I guess… Sort of like when people go door to door asking you if you’ve heard the Good Word… for too many people it’s not about loving your neighbour or tending to the sick and needy, it’s really more about going door to door and telling people to join. More’s the pity. So you take your (hypothetical) freedom and your organisations that are (hypothetically) fighting for you, and actually taking money from your enemies and silencing people who dissent in practice — And I’ll install a Linux-free operating system (certainly nothing from GIAFAM) with way fewer lines of code and less corporate influence (more than none, much like in the earlier days of the GNU Project). “You’ll never give people more control of their computing by selling out to GIAFAM. Never.”And I will hope that more people care about this stuff, enough to salvage the GNU Project and make a next-generation copylefted OS like Hyperbola could do if enough people support it. But if you don’t care about this stuff, there’s not much of GNU to salvage. Users aren’t free, and nobody is fighting for you anymore. Okay, a few individuals. But Free Software is slowly and surely becoming as much of a broken promise as Open Source was from Day 1. And nobody really seems to give a shit about that. That’s alright, I rarely install new software anymore. You don’t care about my freedom, I don’t care about your software. It’s the only leverage I’ve got left. Throwing money at the FSF will only benefit GitHub, it seems. And liars. No, I don’t mean Richard Stallman. I don’t think he’s sold out, I think he’s been sold out. You can laugh if you like, but I’m doing more to have control of my computing, while you’re cutting people’s limbs off and saying “here, have a bandage for it”. Shit, that’s really generous. This is why I don’t give people Free Debian computers anymore — I don’t hate users that much, never did. I want users to have more freedom — not more corporate lies replacing one evil with another and calling it progress. You’ll never give people more control of their computing by selling out to GIAFAM. Never. “And I’m not optimistic, (You don’t say?) nor hopeful anything will change the course at this point.”Remove whatever software you can manage without — minimalism was a path to emancipation as far back as Thoreau, if not Moses. Thoreau practiced voluntary poverty to avoid paying more money that would go to wars he didn’t support. You can do similar for your computing. There’s a lot less e-waste (and less intrusive, technofascist panopticon corporate fuckery) if you install less of this technofascist, corporate crap software with a “free as in freedom” license for many of the components. Forget the spoonful of sugar, stop eating their shit. I do of course, still recommend using a free software license if you write software, both as a practical matter and a matter of principle. Just as importantly, I recommend not lying to, exploiting and trying to control your users. There’s no need for an ironclad standard there — users of Free Software were free enough in 2010. Most of the shit that’s gone wrong has done so since that time. I was still very happy about the way things were going in 2013, except for shit Intel was doing. (AMD, too). And I’m not optimistic, (You don’t say?) nor hopeful anything will change the course at this point. Freedom is for the vigilant, and people generally don’t give a shit. This is for the five or six of you that want to do something anyway. I used to say start a better organisation, and that’s a good idea too — for the five or six of you. It’s better than none. It’s at least five or six, though. Tom makes at least 3, and that’s why I recommended him for the board instead of myself. And you know what? Unlike the entire fucking board, Tom actually gets it. Long live users, long live freedom, and fuck fake (corporate bribed) organisations — sure, that’s practically everything… and I meant it, too. █ (This article is released by its author to the public domain) ╒═══════════════════ 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** Monday_Will_Not_be_“Early_November” ***** Posted in Deception, Europe, Patents at 8:18 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz “October” became “early November” and now what? Is it still coming along? For Team UPC, what’s the next broken promise (lie)? It’s always_"Real_Soon!"_and "Coming_Shortly..." (it’s going to be Nov. 16th very soon, come Monday) [UPC prediction] [UPC prediction] Summary: Another false/broken promise from Team UPC is largely predictable and more of the same; jingoistic ‘media’ (lobbying apparatus) will keep misleading readers, hoping to trick politicians into betrayal and abandonment of the public interest (not to mention constitutions and constitutional courts) WE barely mention the UPC anymore. Even EPO insiders keep telling us that it’s dead (and thus not worth the time); just like the career prospects of Benoît Battistelli and the credibility of António_Campinos (whose own staff rejects him; only_3%_of_those_surveyed_trust_their_President!). “The UPC Preparatory Committee Chair, Alexander Ramsay, might as well pursue a career in telemarketing as the requirements are largely the same.”The UPC was intended as a Trojan horse for international conglomerates, patent trolls, and purveyors of software_patents_in_Europe. But it failed. It’s not getting off the ground. The promises are made by those whose career depends on it. They don’t want to be rendered unemployed during the pandemic. The UPC Preparatory Committee Chair, Alexander Ramsay, might as well pursue a career in telemarketing as the requirements are largely the same. Lie and lie and lie. And cash in while doing so. █ ╒═══════════════════ 𝐃𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒 ════════════════════════════════════════╕ ****** 11.14.20 ****** ***** Links_15/11/2020:_Linux_App_Summit_2020,_SlackEX_Linux_Release,_and Kodachi_7.6 ***** Posted in News_Roundup at 7:51 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz [GNOME bluefish] **** Contents **** * GNU/Linux o Distributions o Devices/Embedded * Free_Software/Open_Source * Leftovers * **** GNU/Linux **** o **** Desktop/Laptop **** # ** Linux_desktop:_The_one_moment_in_2020_that_is_key_to_its success ** If I reveal the Linux desktop information right from the jump, that would be in poor form. After all, I have to build up tension, add a little drama, and make you work for it. This is open source we’re talking about–you’re used to waiting for the payoff. You’ve been using Linux as your desktop operating system for decades, all the while wondering why the masses have yet to adopt the platform you know is ideal for the average user. Let’s get to the topic at hand before you revolt. (Hint: Linux has been working toward this moment for a very long time, and it’s quite obvious to anyone who has been paying attention.) o **** Audiocasts/Shows **** # ** Bspwm:_Manual_Tiling_With_Receptacles…_Kind_Of_–_YouTube ** Bspwm is normally an automatic tiling window manager, but it doesn’t have to be and that’s where things like receptacles come into play. These allow you to place your windows exactly where you want them, effectively giving you the first step to manual tiling. o **** Kernel Space **** # **** Graphics Stack **** # ** Mesa_21.0_Adds_EGL_EXT_platform_xcb_Support_– Phoronix ** The newly-opened Mesa 21.0 development window has merged support for EGL_EXT_platform_xcb. EGL_EXT_platform_xcb is one of the newest EGL extensions and allows for creating EGL resources from native X11 resources via EGL_EXT_platform_base and without encompassing Xlib. o **** Applications **** # ** Super_Productivity_is_an_extremely_powerful_To_Do_app_for Linux ** Being productive is not the same as being busy all the time. You can be productive in a smart way by optimizing the scarce time you have in your work. There are lots of theories on how to be productive in a sane and healthy way while still being able to deliver stuff. There are also all kind of supporting ideas to optimize your productivity and balance it with your physical and mental health, like Pomodoro timers and automated breaks. For me the basis for optimized productivity can be found in the Gettings Things Done (GTD) approach, that I already discussed in depth in one of my previous articles “How I manage my productive life in Linux“, which is inspired by the worldwide known and widely appreciated approach of David Allen, which he describes in his book “getting Things Done”. To optimize your productivity, one of the things that is important to realize is that it is better not to use your brain to remember things, but to develop new ideas. If you don’t have to remember everything, you have more room in your head to create things. Therefore it is very important to directly bring over your ideas to some kind of storage or second brain, so you can forget them for the time being, and come back to them later to organize, prioritize and plan these ideas into actionable items. You could say that the GTD method supports all of this. David Allen explains in his book five important steps that can help to set up and master your GTD workflow from idea to result, whch are Capture, Clarify, Organize, Reflect and Engage. # ** Martin_Michlmayr:_beancount2ledger_1.3_released ** I released version 1.3 of beancount2ledger, the beancount to ledger converter that was moved from bean-report ledger into a standalone tool. o **** Instructionals/Technical **** # ** How_to_root_a_Fairphone_3 ** Before installing those kind of ROM (official or not) you must root your phone2. And, all the tutorials I found on the web drives me crazy. But I succeeded. There is how I made it, with more details as possible. # ** Hunting_for_Malicious_Packages_on_PyPI ** About a year ago, the Python Software Foundation opened a Request for Information (RFI) to discuss how we could detect malicious packages being uploaded to PyPI. Whether it’s taking over abandoned packages, typosquatting on popular libraries, or hijacking packages using credential stuffing, it’s clear this is a real issue affecting nearly every package manager. # ** Everyone_Talks_About_Insecure_Randomness,_But_Nobody_Does Anything_About_It ** I think machine learning provides the bridge here. The thought has hung in my mind for a few years, in fact; I’ve picked the brains of everyone I know remotely related to the field, and I’ve even hired some people to take a crack at it. So far, I haven’t seen any prior literature suggesting that it’s been possible or done, and nobody was really sure how to approach it. Finally, thanks to a generous grant from the Phil Brass Weird Ideas FoundationAKA DirectDefense who was happy to sponsor this research while I was not busy bug hunting for them! I was able to take a few weeks to think about it methodically. The rest of this blog is structured in a pretty straightforward way: I talk about how numbers are generated at random in a computer, then talk about how to transform that notion of randomness into a learnable problemA basic knowledge of machine learning, and especially gradient descent will be helpful for understanding some of my thought process through this blog.. Not surprisingly, I will then solve that problem, and propose a roadmap for how to continue chipping away at the distance between my current progress and a usable attack. # ** How_to_play_Phasmophobia_on_Linux ** Phasmophobia is an indie survival horror video game released on Steam for Windows in September of 2020. In the game, the player takes control of one member of a group of ghost hunters as they hunt for ghosts. Here’s how to play it on Linux. # ** How_To_Install_VNC_Server_on_Ubuntu_20.04_LTS_–_idroot ** In this tutorial, we will show you how to install VNC Server on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, VNC (Virtual Network Computing) server is a free and open-source software which is designed for allowing remote access to the Desktop Environment of the server to the VNC Client whereas VNC viewer is used on the remote computer to connect to the server. This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step by step installation of the VNC Server on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian based distribution like Linux Mint. # ** How_to_Install_PowerShell_7.1.0_via_Apt_Repository_in Ubuntu_20.04,_18.04 [Ed: Very bad idea and hard to see why anybody would wish to do this] ** # ** How_To_Remove_Docker_Images,_Containers_&_Volumes_– LinuxBuz ** Docker is an open-source tool that helps you to build, test and deploy the applications in the containerized environments. However, there are lots of unused containers, images, volumes and networks may reside in your system. They consume a significant amount of disk space of the host operating system. Docker does not remove those objects without clean up it manually. It is a good habit to clean up these unused disk space regularly and keep your system organized. Docker has several commands to clean up those unused objects. # ** How_To_Install_Gitea_on_Ubuntu_20.04_LTS_–_idroot ** In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Gitea on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Gitea is a free, open-source, and self-hosted version control system alternative to GitHub and GitLab. Gitea comes with a rich set of features including time tracking, repository branching, issues tracking, file locking, merging, and much more. Gitea can be installed on all popular operating systems like Windows, macOS, Linux, and ARM. This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step by step installation of GlassFish on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian based distribution like Linux Mint. # ** How_to_Compress_Archives_Using_All_CPU_Cores_with_Tar_– Make_Tech_Easier ** If you’ve ever had to compress large volumes with tar, you’ll know how much of a pain it can be. It often goes very slowly, and you find yourself hitting Ctrl + C to end the task and just forget about it. However, there are some other tools that tar can use, and they’re a great way to make use of today’s heavily multi-threaded CPUs and speed up your tar archiving. This article shows you how to make tar use all cores when compressing archives in Linux. # ** How_to_install_PokeMMO_launcher_on_a_Chromebook ** Today we are looking at how to install PokeMMO launcher on a Chromebook. Please follow the video/ audio guide as a tutorial where we explain the process step by step and use the commands below. If you have any questions, please contact us via a YouTube comment and we would be happy to assist you! # ** Using_mini_Switch_Button_with_Raspberry_PI_and_Python ** # ** How_to_run_graphics_(X11)_applications_in_the_Kali_LXD container_–_Mi_blog_lah! ** LXD gives you system containers and virtual machines, usable from the same user interface. You would rather use system containers as they are more lightweight than VMs. Previously we have seen how to use the Kali LXD containers (includes how to use a USB network adapter). There is documentation on using graphics applications (X11) in the Kali LXD containers at the Kali website. In this post we see again how to use graphics applications (X11) in the Kali LXD containers. The aim is to simplify and make the instructions more robust. The following assume that you have configured LXD on your system. o **** Games **** # ** Steam_Play_Proton_5.13-2_compatibility_layer_is_out_now with_improved_Direct3D_12_support_|_GamingOnLinux ** The Proton compatibility layer used with Steam Play on Linux has a brand new release out with Proton 5.13-2. This release follows on from some Release Candidate builds earlier this week, to clean up some issues after the big initial Proton 5.13- 1 release that went up in the middle of October. # ** Proton_5.13-2_Released_With_A_Variety_Of_Game_Fixes, VKD3D-Proton_2.0 ** In time for the weekend Linux gamers is an updated Proton release from Valve and CodeWeavers for powering Steam Play to enjoy the latest Windows games on Linux. Proton 5.13-2 is the newest version of this Wine 5.13 based software that combined with the likes of DXVK and VKD3D-Proton do a pretty darn good job at allowing modern Windows games to often run rather gracefully on Linux. Most notable with Proton 5.13-2 is pulling in VKD3D-Proton 2.0 in offering better Direct3D 12 on Vulkan support. VKD3D-Proton 2.0 should work with games like Death Strandling, Devil May Cry 5, Resident Evil 3, Metro Exodus, and others. # ** Check_out_Linux_porter_Ethan_Lee_show_off_how_Linux_games are_built_and_packaged_|_GamingOnLinux ** You’ve heard a lot about various packaging systems on Linux from deb to rpm and the next generation with Snap and Flatpak, but what about how games get built and packaged up? Well, that’s what Linux game porter Ethan Lee wanted to talk about and show off during the Linux App Summit 2020. Interestingly, it sounds like Ethan Lee put in their talk plan after seeing us announce the event. For those who aren’t familiar with Ethan Lee you can check out their port portfolio here which shows just how many games they’ve shipped including the likes of: Streets of Rage 4 which just recently released, VVVVVV, Owlboy, FEZ, TowerFall Ascension, Dust: An Elysian Tail and a vast many more. Ethan Lee also created and maintains FNA, which is a reimplementation of the Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0 Refresh libraries. # ** Collabora_give_an_overview_of_their_work_with_Valve_at_the Linux_App_Summit_2020_|_GamingOnLinux ** Interested in all the work the open source consulting firm Collabora are doing with Valve to help improve Linux gaming? We’ve got you covered. We’ve already been over a few bits of what they’re doing together, like their Linux Kernel work that will hopefully be live with Linux 5.11 and also their work on the Steam Linux Runtime Container system. Collabora have been doing a lot of other work in the open source space too that we’ve been following, like the Monado runtime for VR and AR (XR) and their work on the Panfrost driver for Mali. During the Linux App Summit 2020, Collabora developer Vivek Das Mohapatra did a presentation giving a whistle-stop tour of their work to give an overview of all the bits and pieces. It’s about 28 minutes, so it won’t take you long to go through if you want a nice way to catch up. o **** Desktop Environments/WMs **** # **** K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt **** # ** Video:_KDE_Neon_with_Plasma_Mobile_on_the_PinePhone ** One of the things that makes Linux smartphones different from Android or iOS devices is the same thing that makes desktop Linux different from Windows or macOS – support for completely switching the user interface by changing the desktop environment or user interface. This week the Plasma Mobile team described some of the progress made during October, so I figured it was time to take Plasma Mobile for a spin on my PinePhone. The easiest way to try out Plasma Mobile on a PinePhone is by installing a recent build of Neon, postmarketOS or Manjaro ARM downloaded from the Plasma Mobile install page. I opted for Neon, because it’s the “recommended” option, and because it was the OS with the most recent nightly build available. # ** Jonathan_Riddell:_Linux_App_Summit_2020 ** For those who don’t follow KDE’s instagram feed, get with the programme chicos! Here’s some pics from the Linux App Summit 2020 you’ll find there [...] MyGNUHealth is a useful system for health records with an app using Kirigami. There’s also talks on Saturday. You can watch the live stream on Youtube. Or register and join in directly. # ** KDE_Frameworks_5.76_Released_with_More_Improvements for_Plasma_Desktop_and_Apps ** KDE Frameworks 5.76 is packed with numerous improvements and bug fixes designed to make your Plasma desktop experience more enjoyable, as well as more stable, secure and reliable. Highlights include support for 16- bit PSD files for thumbnails and previews throughout KDE apps, full support for the KIO library to preserve extended attributes during common file manipulation operations, as well as the ability for the file Open/Save dialogs to correctly handle file names containing the “#” character and to redirect users to an existing folder instead of showing an error message when they try to create one with the same name. # ** Maui_1.2.0_Release ** Today, we are pleased to announce the release of MauiKit and Maui Apps 1.2!. 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. If you are interested in testing this project and helping out with translations or documentation, you are also more than welcome. The Maui Project is free and open-source software incubated by the KDE Community and developed by Nitrux Latinoamericana S.C. # ** This_week_in_KDE:_Tons_of_improvements_to_our_core apps ** A bunch of KDE apps received many lovely new features, bugfixes, and user interface improvements this week! And Plasma too, of course. # ** KDE_Sees_A_Number_Of_Fixes_To_Dolphin,_Plasma_On Wayland ** It’s been another busy week of bug fixing in the KDE space along with other feature work, including on the Plasma Wayland front. This past week saw a number of fixes for KDE, including a number of crash fixes, as even with the ongoing pandemic the open-source developers remain as busy as ever. # **** GNOME Desktop/GTK **** # ** Linux_App_Summit_2020_Videos_Now_Available_From Steam/Valve_To_GNOME_Circle ** The 2020 Linux App Summit just concluded as a conference focused on the Linux user-space/ applications. Given the pandemic, it was a virtual conference and the video recordings are now available. [...] There was also a talk on “GNOME Circle”. GNOME Circle is “a new initiative by the GNOME Foundation to support independent developers who are using our technologies and to accelerate the grow of our community and software ecosystem.” # ** Patently_Obvious:_The_Year_The_Lawyers_Came_To_FOSS ** The GNOME foundation was sued by Rothschild Patent Imaging on August 28th, 2019. The lawsuit alleged that the GNOME Shotwell photo manager was infringing on Rothschild patents. The GNOME foundation eventually settled with the Rothschilds in March 2020. Neil McGovern, Executive Director of the GNOME foundation, went through the entire process in a 25 minute presentation at the Seattle GNU/Linux conference this weekend. o **** Distributions **** # **** New Releases **** # ** Kodachi_7.6 ** Linux Kodachi operating system is based on Xubuntu 18.04.5 it will provide you with a secure, anti-forensic, and anonymous operating system considering all features that a person who is concerned about privacy would need to have in order to be secure. Kodachi is very easy to use all you have to do is boot it up on your PC via USB drive then you should have a fully running operating system with established VPN connection + Connection established + service running. No setup or knowledge is required from your side its all been automated for you. The entire OS is functional from your temporary memory RAM so once you shut it down no trace is left behind all your activities are wiped out. # **** SUSE/OpenSUSE **** # ** MicroOS_Is_Immutable_Linux ** Linux finds a lot of uses in computers that aren’t desktops. But there is a problem. What happens if your mission-critical control computer or retail kiosk gets an update and then fails? Happens all the time with Windows and it can happen with Linux, too. The openSUSE project has an answer: MicroOS which bills itself as immutable. Aimed at container deployment, the operating system promises atomic updates with no disk changes during runtime. If an update does break something, the BTRFS file system allows you to roll back to a previous snapshot. [Tyler] installs the OS and gives it a walkthrough in the video below. As [Tyler] found, there are not many applications installed by default. Instead, you are expected to install flatpaks so the applications live in their own containers, isolated from the operating system and each other. Of course, this isn’t for everyone. On the other hand, there is something seductive about having a computer that is very reliable even in the face of updates. Of course, you can do snapshots with BTRFS or ZFS anywhere those are supported, but unless you are very careful, you might have problems with dependencies for applications and the wrong update can still ruin your day. The OS supports GNOME or KDE, with system requirements that claim you can run it in 1GB of RAM and 20GB of disk space. We’d imagine you’ll be happier if you have more, of course. # **** Slackware Family **** # ** Slackware-Based_SlackEX_Linux_Now_Ships_with_Latest Enlightenment_Desktop ** Based on Slackware 14.2, the new SlackEX Linux release drops the lightweight Xfce desktop environment for the even more lighter and beautiful Enlightenment desktop environment/window manager. In fact, SlackEX appears to be the only live system that uses the latest Enlightenment release, version 0.24.2. But that’s not all that’ new in the latest SlackEX Linux release, which is now powered by the Linux 5.9 kernel series. This not only means better hardware support, but it also means you won’t find another Slackware-based live system running Linux kernel 5.9. # **** IBM/Red Hat/Fedora **** # ** What_Is_the_Social_Responsibility_of_Business? ** On September 13, 1970, the NY Times Magazine published an essay by University of Chicago economist and 1976 Nobel Prize recipient Milton Friedman – “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits.” Friedman’s essay turned out to be one of the most influential ever published in the world of business. To mark its 50th anniversary, the NY Times reached out to 22 business leaders and top economists and asked their opinion on what Friedman got right and wrong in his essay. “Friedman, who died in 2006 at the age of 94, was no mere economist; he was a kind of celebrity,” noted Andrew Ross Sorkin, NY Times financial columnist and editor. “He became a regular on the talk-show circuit. PBS even gave him a 10-part series. His economic theories, among the most consequential of the 20th century, still hold sway over large parts of corporate America, maybe none more so than this 1970 manifesto on corporate governance.” “In a free-enterprise, private-property system, a corporate executive is an employee of the owners of the business,” wrote Friedman in his 1970 essay. “He has direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom.” Business concerns beyond making profit, – such as “promoting desirable social ends,” or “providing employment, eliminating discrimination, avoiding pollution and whatever else,” – amounted to “preaching pure and unadulterated socialism.” # ** How_I_channel_my_inner_Star_Trek_character_at_work ** In a recent Twitter thread, I self-identified as “some days Deanna, some days Riker.” Others shared their own “Star Trek Spectrum,” from Worf to O’Brien and McCoy to Neelix. That led me to think more about Deanna Troi: the half-human, half-Betazoid empath who served as Lieutenant Commander and the ship’s counselor for most of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Ever since my middle school days, I felt a kinship with her as I watched her observe and respond to situations and the people in them. Today, as an open source community manager, I think about how these traits are vital to the role of nurturing and guiding a group of people. Here’s how I channel my inner Deanna Troi at work. # ** Fedora_program_update:_2020-46_–_Fedora_Community Blog ** Here’s your report of what has happened in Fedora this week. Elections voting begins next week. I have weekly office hours in #fedora- meeting-1. Drop by if you have any questions or comments about the schedule, Changes, elections, or anything else. # **** Debian Family **** # ** Debian_11_bullseye_–_Default_Theme_Revealed ** The Debian project revealed the Debian 11 bullseye default theme. # ** Nyxt ** There is a new application available for Sparkers: Nyxt What is Nyxt? Nyxt is a keyboard-oriented, extensible web- browser designed for power users. Conceptually inspired by Emacs and Vim, it has familiar key-bindings (Emacs, vi, CUA), is fully configurable and extensible in Lisp, and has powerful features for productivity. Nyxt supports GNU/Linux, macOS, and Guix with engine support for WebKit and WebEngine/ Blink. Attention: Nyxt is under active development. Feel free to report bugs, instabilities or feature wishes. # **** Canonical/Ubuntu Family **** # ** Top_5_Linux_Snaps_of_2020:_Arch,_CentOS,_Debian, Fedora,_Manjaro,_and_Ubuntu ** All Linux users are the same, right? No way, José! Linux users are a diverse bunch, with differing opinions, tastes, and personalities. In fact, that is probably a contributing factor to the fragmentation of the Linux community. Linux users have lots of options between distributions, desktop environments, and more — they are not stuck in a box like Windows 10 users. To highlight how different Linux users can be, Canonical has released some data about the installation of Snaps, categorized by distro. It chose six of the most popular Linux-based operating systems for its analysis — Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, CentOS, Arch Linux, and Manjaro. It then shared the top five most popular snaps for each distribution in 2020. “If we look across the six distributions, we can see that people still care a great deal about communication and productivity, without compromising on entertainment. The adoption of Microsoft Visual Code is also quite telling, and it stands out among the other trends we’ve observed here. It points in the direction of greater collaboration and perhaps a need for a more common path between Windows and Linux when it comes to applications,” explains Igor Ljubuncic, Canonical. o **** Devices/Embedded **** # ** Raspberry_Pi_4_Review:_Is_Raspberry_Pi_4_Worth_Buying? ** When it comes to single-board computers, nothing can beat the popularity of the Raspberry Pi. These tiny boards are not only affordable but also very user-friendly and offer excellent performance. Among these Pi models, the latest version, the Raspberry Pi 4, is supposed to be the most powerful and best of all. Since its launch, the 4k resolution display and the higher speed ethernet port have caught our attention, and we were inspired to give it a try. We have to say that this model is highly satisfying and the best tiny desktop computer you can get. However, like most other things, Pi 4 has some disadvantages, like getting heated or not compatible with older software. This article will give you a thorough explanation of all the changes, performance, and disadvantages of Pi 4. Stick to the end to know whether this new version is worth your money or not. # ** The_10_Best_Raspberry_Pi_Starter_Kits_for_Beginners ** Since it’s first launch, Raspberry Pi has been gaining more and more popular among kids and other tech enthusiasts. In fact, there are a whole bunch of opportunities for you to try with this low-cost single board computer. However, if you think about doing exciting projects or learning to code with pi, you will need some other components that do not come with the Pi. Luckily, many brands have brought a complete package of pi accessories, including a version of the Pi to help you get started, commonly known as the Raspberry Pi starter kits. # ** PRIMM:_encouraging_talk_in_programming_lessons ** # **** Open Hardware/Modding **** # ** Arduino_Blog_»_This_DIY_domino_clock_tells_the_time using_three_LED-lit_tiles ** After coming across Carbon Design Group’s Domino Wall Clock, which uses electronic magnetic coil motors to reveal white dots, Instructables member “Kothe” decided to create a simplified version of their own. The clock is comprised of three custom dominoes — the first tile for hours, the second and third for minutes. Unlike its inspiration, Kothe’s device uses addressable RGB LEDs as dots that allow for a variety of colors to shine through. # ** Turn_$1.5_Blue_Pill_STM32_board_into_a_Sigrok compatible_logic_analyzer ** “Blue Pill” is a popular STM32 development board thanks to its low cost – now as low as $1.50 on Aliexpress – and Arduino compatibility via the STM32duino project. People have created all sorts of projects around the tiny STM32 board, but I find Mark (aka thanks4opensource) buck50 test and measurement firmware very interesting as it turns the Blue Pill board into a logic analyzer compatible with the open-source Sigrok command-line tool and PulseView GUI. # **** Mobile Systems/Mobile Applications **** # ** Top_10_Best_Music_Streaming_Android_Apps ** # ** How_to_Record_Slow-motion_Videos_on_Android_Devices? ** # ** How_to_Manage_Your_Android_Location_Settings ** # ** Old_Android_Devices_might_face_this_issue_now ** # ** Could_the_iPhone_12_mini_mean_we_get_more_small,_but premium,_Android_phones? ** # ** These_Are_the_New_Android_Auto_Wallpapers_Google Will_Launch_in_a_Future_Update ** # ** New_Google_Maps_Updates_Now_Available_for_Android and_Android_Auto_Users ** # ** Google_Finally_Announces_Android_Auto_Fix_for Everybody’s_Favorite_Music_App ** # ** MIUI_12_based_on_Android_11_hits_Redmi_K30_Pro_Zoom ** # ** Millions_of_TCL_Android_smart_TVs_have_a_critical security_flaw ** # ** TCL_Android_Smart_TVs_Breached_By_Backdoor_Security Exploits_Allowing_Critical_System_Access ** # ** Android_Auto_5.8_Supposed_to_Fix_Loading_Error_in Some_Cars ** # ** news_digest:_Android_Platform_to_migrate_build systems_to_Bazel,_Databricks_launches_SQL_Analytics, and_Secure_Code_Warrior_Missions ** # ** tech.mn_–_FAQ_Friday:_Android_Development_Tips_For_a Fragmented_Ecosystem ** # ** How_to_pair_a_PS5_DualSense_controller_with_an Android_phone ** # ** How_to_remove_screen_lock_on_Android_with_Dr.Fone_– Android_Screen_Unlock ** # ** The_6_Best_Score-Counter_Apps_for_Android ** # ** Google_Play_Services_preps_to_sync_Wi-Fi_passwords between_Android_and_Chrome_OS ** # ** OPPO_starts_rolling_out_ColorOS_11_based_on_Android 11_for_the_F17_Pro_and_Find_X2 ** # ** Sling_TV_Black_Friday_deals:_Free_Android_TV streamer_or_free_month_of_service ** # ** The_OnePlus_5/5T’s_long-overdue_10.0.1_update_is finally_rolling_out ** # ** TCL_TAB_review:_An_excellent_8″_Android_tablet_for media_consumption ** # ** Download_Meizu’s_Flyme_OS_8_live_wallpapers_on_any Android_device ** # ** Android_users_are_about_to_lose_one_picture-perfect advantage_over_iPhone_owners ** o **** Free, Libre, and Open Source Software **** # **** Web Browsers **** # **** Mozilla **** # ** New_Release:_Tor_Browser_10.5a3 ** Tor Browser 10.5a3 for Desktop platforms is now available from the Tor Browser Alpha download page and also from our distribution directory. Note: This is an alpha release, an experimental version for users who want to help us test new features. For everyone else, we recommend downloading the latest stable release instead. # ** Preloading_Intermediate_CA_Certificates_into Firefox_–_Mozilla_Security_Blog ** Throughout 2020, Firefox users have been seeing fewer secure connection errors while browsing the Web. We’ve been improving connection errors overall for some time, and a new feature called Intermediate Certificate Authority (CA) Preloading is our latest innovation. This technique reduces connection errors that users encounter when web servers forget to properly configure their TLS security. In essence, Firefox pre-downloads all trusted Web Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) intermediate CA certificates into Firefox via Mozilla’s Remote Settings infrastructure. This way, Firefox users avoid seeing an error page for one of the most common server configuration problems: not specifying proper intermediate CA certificates. For Intermediate CA Preloading to work, we need to be able to enumerate every intermediate CA certificate that is part of the trusted Web PKI. As a result of Mozilla’s leadership in the CA community, each CA in Mozilla’s Root Store Policy is required to disclose these intermediate CA certificates to the multi-browser Common CA Database (CCADB). Consequently, all of the relevant intermediate CA certificates are available via the CCADB reporting mechanisms. Given this information, we periodically synthesize a list of these intermediate CA certificates and place them into Remote Settings. Currently the list contains over two thousand entries. When Firefox receives the list for the first time (or later receives updates to the list), it enumerates the entries in batches and downloads the corresponding intermediate CA certificates in the background. The list changes slowly, so once a copy of Firefox has completed the initial downloads, it’s easy to keep it up-to- date. The list can be examined directly using your favorite JSON tooling at this URL: https:// firefox.settings.services.mozilla.com/ v1/buckets/security-state/collections/ intermediates/records For details on processing the records, see the Kinto Attachment plugin for Kinto, used by Firefox Remote Settings. Certificates provided via Intermediate CA Preloading are added to a local cache and are not imbued with trust. Trust is still derived from the standard Web PKI algorithms. # ** Robert_O’Callahan:_rr_Repository_Moved_To Independent_Organisation ** There have been no changes in intellectual property ownership. rr contributions made by Mozilla employees and contractors remain copyrighted by Mozilla. I will always be extremely grateful for the investment Mozilla made to create rr! # **** SaaS/Back End/Databases **** # ** insideBIGDATA_Latest_News_–_11/10/2020 ** YottaDB Announces Octo 1.0, a YottaDB Plugin for Using SQL to Query Data in YottaDB YottaDB, the database for transactional systems where data integrity is paramount, announced production-grade Octo 1.0, a YottaDB plugin to query YottaDB application data using popular SQL tools. YottaDB excels for transactional systems, where data integrity and application robustness are paramount – applications that effect database state change to provide mission-critical functionality, such as electronic health record systems, core banking systems, library systems, and election systems. # **** Productivity Software/LibreOffice/Calligra **** # ** If_you_updated_your_mac_to_macOS_Big_Sur_then_you have_problems_with_LibreOffice ** First problem – only LibreOffice 7.0 and newer works on macOS 11 Big Sur. Nobody knows why. So if you use older version you should update your LibreOffice to 7.0.3 # ** [LibreOffice]_Detecting_0-byte_files_based_on extension_in_Impress_and_elsewhere ** We regularly see customers wanting minimal templates, which are language independent and have no content. Such files are handy if your workflow is to first name an empty document (create it) and only then edit it (and not the other way around: first create the document, then save it by giving it a name). This is easy for .txt files: if it’s zero bytes, it’s empty. But then this approach is also expected to work for other file formats as well, where our original approach was more technical: if it’s an empty file, that that can be only plain text, so we (almost) always opened it in Writer, not matching the user expectations. Instead of explaining the problem to people again and again (that a literally empty PPTX file is not a PPTX template), there is value in just adapting the code instead to “do what I mean”. # **** FSF/Freedom **** # ** macOS_11_–_Big_Sur ** Jeffrey Paul wrote an excellent article on the day of Big Sur release: Your Computer Isn’t Yours. It’s scary. Please read the whole article. This seems like a pretty big deal. Even on Catalina I noticed how until my desktop/ laptop connects to network, a lot of apps from startup list won’t work. I assumed it’s some weird local hostname/DNS dependency I introduced myself – but it seems related to OCSP and trustd daemon. Big Sur launch caused slowdown on Apple infrastructure and this made the scale of this issue apparent: every app launch must dial back into Apple servers before it proceeds with the start. It doesn’t look to be anything like app blocking just yet, but privacy concerns are real enough to think twice before upgrading to Big Sure – apparently you can’t easily disable trustd/ OCSP there. # ** Macs_are_a_privacy_nightmare_–_OSnews ** Almost nine years ago, I wrote an article titled “Richard Stallman was right all along“, still one of the most popular, if not the most popular, articles ever posted on OSNews. [...] Yesterday, every Mac user got a taste of what happens when you don’t actually own the computers you pay a lot of money for. Because Apple wants to control everything you do with the computer you rent from them, and because Apple wants to know everything you do while using the computer you rent from them, a random server somewhere going down meant Mac users couldn’t open their applications anymore. # ** Apple_Users_Got_Owned ** You’ll often hear hackers say that they “owned” (or sometimes “pwned”) a computer. They don’t mean that they have the computer in their physical possession, what they mean is that they have compromised the computer and have such deep remote control that they can do whatever they want to it. When hackers own a computer they can prevent software from running, install whatever software they choose, and remotely control the hardware–even against the actual owner’s wishes and usually without their knowledge. [...] Applications often use code-signing as a way for the user to detect tampering. The developer signs the software with their private key and the user can test that signature against a public key. Only software that hasn’t been changed will match the signature. In the free software world, distributions including PureOS include public keys on the local computer and software updates automatically test whether the signatures match before the update is applied. When used in this way, you can test an application for tampering before you install it and the user has full control over the process. Apple has taken code-signing a step further with the inclusion of this notary service. Any signed applications–even those not from Apple–must get permission from the remote notary service to run. This means that Apple not only knows which applications you have installed, it knows each time you run them. While in the past this was an optional service, now it’s mandatory and starting with Big Sur, you can no longer use a tool like Little Snitch to block this service, or route it through Tor for some privacy. Apple (and anyone who can sniff this plaintext communication) can know when you launched Tor browser or other privacy tools, or how often you use competitors’ applications. While I imagine most people were surprised to discover this feature, I also suspect many accept it in the name of security. Yet like with so many Apple features, security is a marketing term when the real motivation is control. While code signing already gave Apple control over whether you could install or upgrade software, this feature grants Apple control over whether you can run applications. Apple already has used code signing on iOS to remove competitor’s applications from the App Store and also remotely disable apps in the name of security or privacy. There’s no reason to think they won’t use the same power on macOS now that it can no longer be bypassed. Apple’s ultimate goal with code signing, their secure enclave, and their proprietary silicon is to ensure full control–full ownership–of the hardware they sell. # **** FSF **** # **** GNU Projects **** # ** GNUnet_0.14.0_released ** We are pleased to announce the release of GNUnet 0.14.0. This is a new major release. It breaks protocol compatibility with the 0.13.x versions. Please be aware that Git master is thus henceforth INCOMPATIBLE with the 0.13.x GNUnet network, and interactions between old and new peers will result in issues. 0.13.x peers will be able to communicate with Git master or 0.13.x peers, but some services – in particular GNS – will not be compatible. In terms of usability, users should be aware that there are still a large number of known open issues in particular with respect to ease of use, but also some critical privacy issues especially for mobile users. Also, the nascent network is tiny and thus unlikely to provide good anonymity or extensive amounts of interesting information. As a result, the 0.14.0 release is still only suitable for early adopters with some reasonable pain tolerance. # ** 8_tech_freebies_and_goodies_you_can_try_out online_without_paying ** GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a professional-grade photo editor that looks and works like Adobe Photoshop. Unlike the real Photoshop, it doesn’t cost $9.99 per month to use. It’s the closest thing to Adobe’s software you can get without a subscription. GIMP has almost every tool Photoshop does, including advanced filters, layer masks and text settings. All of the tools are found in pop-up boxes that surround the image. If you’re new to image-editing software, there may be a learning curve when you start using GIMP. Thankfully, the online instructions are easy to follow. You’ll be an expert in no time. # **** Licensing/Legal **** # ** What_is_the_value_of_Open_Source?_Preliminary results_of_the_Commission’s_study ** The first results of the study on the impact of Open Source Software and Open Source Hardware conducted for the European Commission were presented. It found that increasing the number of commits to Open Source projects would translate to a boost of over €95 billion per year to the EU’s GDP. The final report will be available at the beginning of 2021, but the consortium consisting of Fraunhofer ISI and OpenForum Europe presented preliminary takeaways on the economic impact of Open Source in Europe at the “Europe’s Digital Decade: Empowered by Open Source” event on 5 November. As Manuel Mateo Goyet, the Deputy Head of Unit – Cloud and Software at the European Commission highlighted during the event, Open Source together with reinforcing Europe’s cloud computing capacity can significantly contribute to increasing competition and innovation in the European Union and this research is a significant step towards finding the best path to achieve these goals. All presented data is available here. The research methodology uses data available on GitHub, the largest Open Source Software platform with over 260.000 European contributors. # **** Programming/Development **** # ** PGP::Sign_1.04_(2020-11-14) ** The refactor of PGP::Sign in the 1.00 release to use IPC::Run instead of hand-rolled process management code broke signing large files, which I discovered when trying to use the new module to sign checkgroups for the Big Eight Usenet hierarchies. There were two problems: IPC::Run sets sockets to talk to the child process to non- blocking, and when you pass a scalar in as the data to pass to a child socket, IPC::Run expects to use it as a queue and thus doesn’t send EOF to the child process when the input is exhausted. # ** LLVM_Has_Fleshed_Out_Its_Plan_For_Replacing_“Master” With_“Main”_–_Phoronix ** Back during the summer LLVM developers began devising plans for a new default branch name in Git for fostering the development of the open-source compiler stack. Like a growing number of open-source software projects, they have been working to move away from Git’s current default of “master” as the main development branch. Beginning next month, that should now be a reality. While back in June some were calling for “immediate” action in LLVM ceasing use of the “master” Git branch name, the LLVM Foundation and other stakeholders have been spending the past few months not only deciding on the new branch name but how to make the transition as painless as possible. # ** 100_Useful_Vim_Commands_That_You’ll_Need_Every_day ** No matter whether you’re a sysadmin by profession or just an old school tech enthusiast like me, if you ever find yourself in love with the awe-inspiring Unix OS, chances are you’re gonna feel the need for a versatile terminal-based Linux text editor at one point or another. For today’s guide, we’ll keep our focus on Vim, considered the best by many, if not all, as the best Linux code editor ever. So, let’s just skip on all those holy wars among you Vim vs. Emacs pundits and just keep our eye’s on the 100 best Vim commands, today’s topic. Emacs fanatics, however, please don’t get upset; we’ll cover that extensible editor of yours definitely in some time future. # ** OpenMP_5.1_Released_With_Better_Interoperability_For CUDA_/_AMD_HIP_/_OpenCL ** For the Supercomputing SC20 week there is the release of the OpenMP 5.1 specification with some exciting additions. # ** 10_JavaScript_Console_Methods_–_TecAdmin ** A JavaScript method is a property containing a function definition. A Console method is an object used to access browsers debugging console. With the help of console methods, we can print messages, warning, and errors to browser console, which is helpful for debugging purpose. The developer console in a web browser is a tool which logs the information associated with a web page, such as JavaScript, network requests, and security errors etc. To open the developer console window on Google Chrome, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + J (on Windows) or Ctrl + Option + J (on macOS). # **** Python **** # ** Python_swallows_Java_to_become_second-most popular_programming_language…_according_to_this index ** Python has surpassed Java to become the second-most popular programming language in the TIOBE index, one of several imprecise yardsticks used to rank what’s in vogue among coders. # ** 19_Best_Free_and_Open_Source_Python Visualization_Packages_–_LinuxLinks ** Python is a very popular general purpose programming language — with good reason. It’s object oriented, semantically structured, extremely versatile, and well supported. Programmers and data scientists favour Python because it’s easy to use and learn, offers a good set of built-in features, and is highly extensible. Python’s readability makes it an excellent first programming language. Data visualization is an important method of exploring data and sharing results with others. When it comes to this field, Python is rubbing shoulders with R as the language of choice. Unfortunately, Python’s visualization landscape is pretty difficult to fathom without some serious digging. In part, this is because there are so many good open source Python visualization libraries available. Some of the packages are suitable for any field, others excel at a specific task. If you wish to visualize some data in Python, you’ll want to choose an appropriate package. Python has a fantastic range of packages to produce mesmerizing visualizations. Popularity inevitably brings lots of decisions and choices to make. Don’t be bamboozled by that choice! matplotlib emerged as the main data visualization library. It’s been in development for 17 years and is definitely the most mature library recommended here. However, it’s not necessarily the ideal solution, given that the best library is often determined by your own specific requirements. For example, let’s say you wish to analyze and visualize big data. In this scenario, VisPy and Datashader are my recommended Python solutions. When working with large datasets, visualizations are often the only way available to understand the properties of that dataset — there are way too many data points to examine each one. This article focuses on the finest Python visualization packages. All of them are released under an open source license. Some of them are in a fairly early stage of development. Each recommended package is given a thorough breakdown. * **** Leftovers **** o ** On_Losing_and_Winning ** This isn’t meant to be the doom and gloom opening to a lugubrious reflection on living through the Sixth Mass Extinction and anthropogenic climate crises. While it may be true that spending too much time mired in reports of species die-off events, catastrophic wildfires, and ever- increasing CO2 emissions doesn’t necessarily breed optimism nor hope, there are some important lessons to be learned and practices to be implemented from living as a loser. And the results of these lessons and practices seem to be, at least in my experience thus far, generative of tremendous gains. In some strange Zen-like twist, I am winning through losing. I started losing the fall semester of my senior year at the University of New Mexico. I was finally on track to wrap up my undergraduate degree nearly 17 years after graduating high school. I had enrolled in an introductory class in the Art and Ecology Department on the Sixth Mass Extinction, which, for those not familiar, is currently unfolding before our very eyes, and for the first time in global history, humans are driving the extinction bus. Our end-of-year project was to create an artistically- inspired work about something locally related to the Sixth Mass Extinction. I ended up using story mapping software to develop a narrative about a geographic feature just west of where I grew up, called the Pajarito Plateau. Pajarito is the Spanish word for “little bird”, and the plateau, which lies at the foot of the Jemez Mountains, had long been known for its diverse and abundant bird populations. o ** Tweaking_the_NFL’s_Rooney_Rule_Is_Not_Enough ** The Rooney Rule has always been a case study in the NFL “telling on itself.” In a league that is made up of roughly 75 percent Black Americans, this multibillion- dollar operation has needed to have a special rule just to get its almost entirely all-white franchise owners to interview candidates of color for head coaching positions. (Shahid Khan of the Jacksonville Jaguars is the only majority NFL owner who is not white. Given that the Jaguars are barely an NFL team, this almost doesn’t count.) o **** Science **** # ** History_and_Science_as_Candles_in_the_Dark ** Then again, on Fox News they are promoting President Trump’s lies about the election is “not” over?! Moreover, Trump is tweeting: “I WON THIS ELECTION, BY A LOT!” All in caps. It is at this point difficult to imagine how President Trump will gain the electoral votes he needs to win the presidential election. But millions of those who voted for Trump believe the election was somehow stolen and made illegitimate by the Democrats, a true political fantasy created by the president himself and perpetuated by his followers. As if the Democrat donkey symbol also grew a unicorn horn on the day of election and Biden and Harris became fantastical figures out of a Harry Potter novel and magically stole the election because of their secret magic powers and because of the magic cabal they are part of. Such are the conspiracy theories of Trump and his supporters. For many, Biden/Harris may not have been their first choices, especially many on the liberal left. Of course, we must consider half the country who voted for Trump as well and we must somehow reconcile with these Americans too. More than 70 million Americans voted for Trump and because of this we must hope Biden/Harris bring the country together and bring the Trump voters into the fold of American democracy and treat them as our fellow Americans, which they are. # ** “Censorship!”:_The_common_bogus_complaint_of_science deniers ** One of the interesting (and, to some extent, satisfying) things about having followed the antivaccine movement and other science denialist movements for so long is that, when COVID-19 came along, to some extent I knew what to expect. I knew that the conspiracy theories would come flying fast and furious about the virus, and so they did, with my taking note of them as early as January in the form of a conspiracy theory that the influenza vaccine was responsible for the initial outbreak of the then-novel coronavirus that has since been named SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China. There were many other such conspiracy theories, of course, such as that the rollout of 5G was somehow causing COVID-19 (or at least facilitating its spread) to blaming glyphosate (because, you know, GMOs somehow have to be involved) to calling the pandemic a “plandemic,” that was planned and due to the release of a bioengineered coronavirus from a lab near Wuhan, all while launching a pre-emptive disinformation war against any COVID-19 vaccine. Predictably, the “plandemic” narrative took on bizarre forms, such as when über-quack Mike Adams updated his previous “vaccine holocaust” conspiracy theory to become the “oblivion agenda,” in the world’s “elite” (e.g., Bill Gates and others) were conspiring with aliens—yes, aliens!—to introduce a binary bioweapon, of which SARS-CoV-2 was the first stage and a putative coronavirus vaccine will be the second stage, all to depopulate the earth by 94% (he was very precise about this) so that the aliens and the elite could enslave the survivors and exploit the earth’s resources. Of course, at the time, he was, as all cranks do, crying “censorship!” or that he was being somehow “censored” for revealing “The Truth.” I will, admit, however, that even I was surprised at how fast antivaxxers teamed up with QAnon, along with the COVID-19 cranks. o **** Health/Nutrition **** # ** Alito_Attacks_Marriage_Equality,_COVID_Orders,_and Reproductive_Rights_in_Speech ** # ** COVID_Horror:_The_Holiday_Edition ** On November 11th, 142,856 Americans tested positive for COVID-19, the highest single-day total since the pandemic began. A month ago, on October 11th, that number was 44,783. According to the COVID Tracking Project, “Hospitalizations in the country also topped records for the second day in a row. On Wednesday, 65,368 people were hospitalized, up from Tuesday’s record of 61,964,” doubling the total number of hospitalizations from one month ago and 5,000+ more than the previous peak hospitalization day, April, 15th (59,940). Lauren Sauer, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University, recently told NPR, “We have legitimate reason to be very, very concerned about our health system at a national level,” noting that many states have reached a “tipping point” when it comes to hospitalizations. In fact, 18 states are “at or nearing capacity.” # ** With_Covid-19_Infections_at_All-Time_High,_Azar_Thanks Trump_for_His_“Leadership_That’s_Gotten_Us_Where_We_Are Today” ** There were over 177,000 new cases reported in the U.S. on Friday. # ** ‘Pathetic’:_Sanders,_Khanna_Slam_Trump_and_GOP_for Spreading_Election_Lies_as_Pandemic_Surges ** “Every day without a new Covid relief bill is an outrage beyond words.” # ** Campus_Pandemics,_Then_and_Now ** After today the university goes into ten days of “semi-finals” during which no classes meet, but many courses (mostly in the sciences) conduct exams. After this period the students head back home before Thanksgiving and stay away from Cornell until February, thus minimizing travel to and from campus and therefore inhibiting the spread of the virus. The remaining two-and-half weeks of this semester’s classes will be conducted on Zoom: for the first time all term we’ll be able to see each other’s faces. We’ve been posting some of our work on our blog called Ezra’s Ear with longer pieces (profiles, obituaries, book reviews) still to be filed after the semi-finals caesura. The blog’s banner image is a panoramic photo that I took by climbing up the imposing bronze statue of the university’s founder, Ezra Cornell. Wearing frock coat, sporting an Abe Lincoln beard, wielding a walking stick (a reference to Hercules’ club?) and hat in one hand, and resting the other on a conveniently placed bronze stump, Ezra gazes possessively out over his Arts Quad. Though my clinging pose—one arm straining around the founder’s neck and shoulders the other operating an iPhone—was the opposite of socially-distanced, at least some health-conscious wag had kitted out the Great Man in a surgical mask. # ** Covid_Ignoramuses ** It’s also a good bet that most of those Trump voters would guffaw in belligerent disbelief at the news that countries like left-governed New Zealand, semi-socialist Vietnam, vaguely communist China and other non-white countries like South Korea and Taiwan eradicated this plague and that people in those lands get to lead normal lives. Their children go to school, they go to work, they frequent bars and restaurants, their hospitals are not swamped by critically ill patients, nor do they run the risk of contracting a potentially lethal, chronic and disabling disease every time they visit the supermarket. How to account for such American ignorance, stupidity and insularity? Well, back in the early twentieth century, H. L. Mencken dubbed the U.S. a boobocracy. He was right then, and his verdict holds up today. American morons are everywhere. Their views on covid prove it. On November 4, while all eyes were riveted on election results, this plague killed over 1600 Americans, and there were over 100, 000 new cases. Two days later, there were 121,000 new cases. Later, over 135,000 new cases in one day. And new infections and deaths zoomed up and up at that pace, or faster, thereafter. At this rate, according to one medical expert, we could have one million dead by late February. For that you can thank Trump’s mass murdering policy of herd immunity, and the one third of voters who told pollsters that they believed the economy’s urgency drubbed the pandemic’s. Roughly 50 percent of Americans wear masks; that’s not enough to stop the virus. But those unmasked multitudes don’t care, so long as their God-given right to infect others is not infringed. # ** Fighting_the_Pandemic_Can’t_Wait_for_Inauguration_Day ** A nation could not have been more poorly positioned to fight COVID-19 than by the Trump administration. # ** Roaming_Charges:_After/Math ** + Even the FoxNews poll this week showed 70% support for Medicare for All. But Biden continued to distance himself from it as the campaign went on. Now, the most likely scenario is that the Barrett-Kavanaugh Supreme Court strikes down ObamaCare and Biden negotiates something even worse with McConnell as its replacement. # ** The_Enraging_Deja_Vu_of_a_Third_Coronavirus_Wave ** There’s a joke I’ve seen circulating online, over and over during this pandemic, that goes along the lines of, “Months this year: January, February, March, March, March, March, March…” My lips pull into a smile, but my heart’s not in it. # ** Mink_Strains_of_Covid_Show_the_Potential_Folly_of_a Vaccine ** Even WHO wants to ignore the cruel, unsanitary wet wildlife instant slaughter markets. According to the Hill, WHO food safety and animal diseases expert Peter Ben Embarek says the live animal markets “play a key role in providing food and jobs to millions of people.” So do opium and heroin markets. Walden Bello, a columnist for Foreign Policy in Focus, wrote in Counterpunch that China is the center of the wildlife trade and that “scores of both licensed and illegal commercial breeding centers supply tigers, porcupines, pangolins, bears, snakes and rats.” In 2016, the industry employed 14 million people and made $74 billion, he notes. # ** Trump_attacks_N.Y._gov,_says_he’ll_withhold_Covid_vaccine from_state_until_Cuomo_approves ** He was referring to comments Cuomo made in September, where he said he planned to have a panel of experts review a vaccine because he was concerned that Trump was trying to rush one out ahead of the presidential election. o **** Integrity/Availability **** # **** Proprietary **** # ** Siebel’s_C3.ai_Files_for_IPO_on_Heels_of_Microsoft Partnership ** C3.ai last month formed a partnership with Microsoft Corp. and Adobe Inc. for a new customer-relationship management software seeking to combat Salesforce.com Inc. # ** M1_Memory_and_Performance ** So Apple’s focus on keeping memory consumption under control, which includes but is not limited to going all-in on reference counting where pretty much the rest of the industry has adopted tracing garbage collection, is now paying off in a majory way (“bigly”? Too soon?). They can get away with putting less memory in the system, which makes it possible to make that memory really fast. And that locks in an advantage that’ll be hard to duplicate. It also means that native development will have a bigger advantage compared to web technologies, because native apps benefit from the speed and don’t have a problem with the memory limitations, whereas web-/electron apps will fill up that memory much more quickly. # ** Software_vendor_says_data_breach_exposed_nearly_28 million_Texas_driver’s_license_records [iophk: Windows TCO] ** The company, Vertafore, said in a statement posted on a website set up to address the breach that the data was exposed between March and August and affected licenses issued before February 2019. Exposed data included driver’s license numbers, addresses, dates of birth and vehicle registration history, according to the company. The group said that no Social Security numbers or financial account information were compromised. The breach happened after three files were accessed by an unauthorized user after the files were “inadvertently stored in an unsecured external storage service,” Vertafore said in its statement. # ** [Old] Vertafore_to_be_Acquired_by_Roper_Technologies ** Vertafore, the leader in modern insurance technology, today announced that it will be acquired by Roper Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ROP), a leading diversified technology company. Roper will acquire Vertafore from Bain Capital Private Equity and Vista Equity Partners with the acquisition expected to close in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. # ** [Old] Vertafore_and_Microsoft_Partner_for_Insurance Solutions ** Vertafore, a provider of insurance technology, today launched Vertafore Agency SalesTrack, a customer relationship management (CRM) system built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. # **** Security **** # ** US_Cybersecurity_Director_Expecting_To_Be Fired_After_Refusing_To_Edit_Page_Debunking Election_Hacking_Myths ** One of the few parts of the federal government that hasn’t dissolved into a complete partisan trash heap was the newly created Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a division of Homeland Security that was created as part of the problematic CISA bill five years ago. While we were disappointed in many aspects of the bill itself, as an organization CISA has done some pretty good work in coordinating and dealing with cybersecurity threats. Throughout the tech industry I’ve heard nothing but good things about CISA as a government organization, and its director Chris Krebs (as well as the staff of CISA). Indeed, I’ve heard from many companies preparing for this year’s election how useful CISA has been in providing clear and useful information regarding potential cybersecurity threats. # ** That_first_CVE_was_a_fun_find,_for_sure. ** In the late 90s, hackers who discovered vulnerabilities would sometimes send an email to Bugtraq with details. Bugtraq was a notification system used by people with an interest in network security. It was also a place that might have been monitored by employees of software companies looking for reports of vulnerabilities pertaining to their software. The problem was – there wasn’t an easy way to track specific vulnerabilities in specific products. It was May 1999. Larry Cashdollar was working as a system administrator for Bath Iron Works under contract by Computer Sciences Corporation. Specifically, he was a UNIX Systems Administrator, level one. His team managed over 3,000 UNIX systems across BIW’s campuses. Most of these were CAD systems used for designing AEGIS class destroyers. This position gave me access to over 3,000 various flavors of UNIX ranging from Sun Solaris to IBM AIX. # **** Privacy/Surveillance **** # ** TikTok_Is_Granted_15-Day_Extension_on Forced-Sale_Deadline ** The sale deadline was one element of an array of threats aimed at TikTok by the Trump administration. For months, the app faced the prospect of a U.S. ban that was also set to go into effect on Nov. 12. But federal judges in Washington and Pennsylvania have blocked those prohibitions. The Commerce Department said on Thursday that it would comply with those orders, even as the government appeals the decisions. # ** Alphabet’s_Google_Is_Planning_a_New Campus_Near_Seattle ** Google bought a 10-acre plot close to its existing campus in Kirkland, Washington, and plans to use it to expand in the area, according to a memo sent to employees earlier this week that was seen by Bloomberg. Business Insider reported earlier on Friday that the company had bought an old car dealership in the area, citing property records. In July, Google paid $40 million for another piece of land nearby. # ** TikTok_Survives_For_Now_as_Commerce Department_Holds_Off_on_Shutdown ** The Department of Commerce announced that it would not seek to shut down TikTok on Thursday, and would abide by a court order blocking the move. The shutdown had been scheduled to go into effect on Thursday. But a U.S. district judge in Philadelphia issued an injunction on Oct. 30, granting a request from three TikTok creators who argued that the shutdown would infringe their First Amendment rights. # ** As_Governments_Seek_Encryption Backdoors,_Bitcoin_Becomes_Critical ** It goes on to call for a “better balance” between communication encryption and lawful access of that communication, both ensuring the continued implementation of strong encryption technology while also ensuring that “competent authorities must be able to access data in a lawful and targeted manner.” # ** CNAME_Cloaking_and_Bounce_Tracking Defense ** ITP now detects third-party CNAME cloaking requests and caps the expiry of any cookies set in the HTTP response to 7 days. This cap is aligned with ITP’s expiry cap on all cookies created through JavaScript. o **** Defence/Aggression **** # ** Trump_Moves_to_Involve_U.S._Businesses_and_Academics_in the_Occupation_of_Palestine ** For the past several decades, U.S. businesses and academic institutions have been able to apply for grants from the U.S. government, but they have not been able to use the money for work in illegal Israeli settlements. Under the new policy, U.S. institutions will now be able to receive funding for work in the settlements. Several U.S. and Israeli officials have praised the move, insisting that it will accelerate growing U.S.-Israeli cooperation in science and technology. During a signing ceremony last month, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that he “couldn’t be happier or more proud” to approve the new policy on behalf of the United States. # ** Hey_Joe:_a_Memo_to_Biden_on_Palestine ** Through ages long of war and strife, Of rapine and of woe, We fought the bitter fight of life, Against the Saxon foe, Our fairst hopes to break thy chains, Have died in vain regret, But still the glorious truth remains, Though art not conquered yet. Thou art not conquered yet, dear land, Thy sons must not forget, The day will be when all can see, Thou art not conquered yet # ** As_Trump_rejects_US_election,_Biden_signals_continued regime_change_abroad ** # ** Donald_Trump_Has_Never_Understood_the_Military—and_He’s Not_Going_to_Be_Able_to_Co-opt_It_for_a_Coup ** Every Veterans Day, my social media feeds fill with military content—photos of men and women I served with, decked out in various uniforms and reflecting on their pride in service and love of country. On Wednesday, those posts were interrupted by another kind of military content: news that Trump had installed loyalists in several top Pentagon positions, in an apparent bid to consolidate control of the armed forces. The irony—selfless service and service to self, juxtaposed—was palpable. # ** America_in_Transition:_Why_I’m_Not_Worried_About_the Biden/Harris_“Gun_Control”_Talk ** “Panic buying” before a big election, just in case, is the norm. That means booming business for gun dealers, but there’s just not much reason for gun owners or would-be gun owners to worry. Other than some ineffectual tinkering around the edges for propaganda purposes, “gun control” just ain’t gonna happen in America. Not because the right to self-defense (and the corollary right to possess the means of self- defense) is an unalienable and non-negotiable human right, though it is. # ** Pakistani-Indian_Military_Clashes_Kill_13_in_Kashmir ** Pakistan and rival India say fierce military clashes across their frontier in disputed Kashmir have killed at least 13 people and wounded many more on both sides, with each country accusing the other of initiating the fight. The two nuclear-armed South Asian nations routinely trade fire across the cease-fire boundary, known as the Line of Control (LoC), which splits the Indian- and Pakistani-administered parts of the Himalayan region. Officials and Kashmiri villagers reported that Friday’s skirmishes, however, were among the worst and most widespread they had witnessed in recent months. # ** Delusional_Trump_Staffers_Threw_Victory_Party:_‘Enjoyed Drinks,_Clinked_Glasses_to_a_Second_Term,’_Report_Says ** Last week while Joe Biden whittled away Donald Trump’s initial electoral-college lead, staff members of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel “threw a victory party in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building,” serving drinks and making toasts in honor of a fantasy second Trump term, according to a Thursday report by CNN. The report goes on to say that Trump feels “dejected” over his loss to President-elect Biden, so his staff “feel obliged to continue their work and even celebrate Trump’s perceived victory.” Staff are acting as though a second Trump term is an actual thing, budget plans for federal agencies are ongoing, and staffers were told “to stay put, even though nearly everyone knows the gig will end eventually.” # ** Trump_Appointee_Stonewalls_Congress_on_Transition_Progress ** After GSA Administrator Emily Murphy refused to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory last week, a move that typically takes place immediately after a winner is declared, three House Democrats, Reps. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, Gerry Connolly of Virginia, and Dina Titus of Nevada, requested answers by Wednesday as to why the outcome was not apparent, what actions the agency had taken to ascertain the victor, and whether President Donald Trump or the White House had directed the agency to block a potential transition. But Murphy failed to respond to the letter, sent on Monday, or to provide an immediate briefing to Congress on efforts made to initiate the transition, a silence that could prompt further questions from Capitol Hill. “If the GSA does not recognize President-elect Biden’s victory, the House is looking at its options to stop GSA’s dangerous games,” a House aide said. The aide did not respond to follow-up questions. # ** Far-right_groups_plan_DC_rallies_for_Trump_as_tensions grow ** The only group to receive a permit by the city was Women for America First. The permit was issued for 10,000 people at Freedom Plaza on Saturday at noon. The group, spearheaded by former Tea Party activist Amy Kremer, was one of the first to promote the March for Trump. Kremer told USA Today that her organization is not coordinating with any groups planning activities in D.C. on Saturday. # ** The_far_right_is_cracking_up,_as_their_violent_fantasies of_Trump’s_fascist_takeover_evaporate ** But even though Trump is half-heartedly still trying to steal the election, he has so far disappointed the Proud Boys by not calling on them to commit violence against his enemies in a glorious coup. (Mostly, Trump is hiding from public view, tweeting out articles from fringe right-wing sites and playing golf.) So, as often happens with marginal subcultures full of deeply unpleasant people, the Proud Boys are breaking apart, torn asunder by infighting. At heart is a fight between two figureheads, Kyle Chapman and Enrique Tarrio, over whether the Proud Boys should stick by their dubious claim that there is nothing racist about the ideology of “Western chauvinism,” or should openly embrace white nationalism and anti-Semitism. Chapman is representing the blatant-racism side, declaring himself the new president of the splinter group calling themselves, no kidding, the “Proud Goys.” Tarrio is insisting that Chapman is a flunkey, failing to understand that the same can be said of anyone associated with the Proud Boys. ~ o **** Transparency/Investigative Reporting **** # ** Dissenter_Weekly:_The_Biden_Transition_And_The_War_On Whistleblowers ** On this edition of the “Dissenter Weekly,” host and Shadowproof editor Kevin Gosztola highlights some of the individuals on President-elect Joe Biden’s agency review teams, which he appointed for his transition to the White House who previously participated in the war on whistleblowers when Barack Obama was president. Later in the show, Gosztola covers the closing argument that was submitted by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s legal team. He obtained a copy and covered it earlier in the week. o **** Environment **** # ** An_earth_system_model_shows_self-sustained_melting_of permafrost_even_if_all_man-made_GHG_emissions_stop_in_2020 ** The possibility of points-of-no-return in the climate system has been discussed for two decades1,2,3. A point-of-no-return can be seen as a threshold which, once surpassed, fundamentally changes the dynamics of the climate system. For example, by triggering irreversible processes like melting of the permafrost, drying of the rainforests, or acidification of surface waters. Recently, Lenton et al.4 summarized the global situation and warned that thresholds may be closer in time than commonly believed. The purpose of this article is to report that we have identified a point-of-no-return in our climate model ESCIMO—and that it is already behind us. ESCIMO is a “reduced complexity earth system” climate model5 which we run from 1850 to 2500. In ESCIMO the global temperature keeps rising to 2500 and beyond, irrespective of how fast humanity cuts the emissions of man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The reason is a cycle of self-sustained melting of the permafrost (caused by methane release), lower surface albedo (caused by melting ice and snow) and higher atmospheric humidity (caused by higher temperatures). This cycle appears to be triggered by global warming of a mere + 0.5 °C above the pre-industrial level. # ** Food_system_causes_one_third_of_greenhouse_gases ** How we eat causes dangerous climate heating. It’s time to change not only our diet, but the entire global food system. # ** Biden’s_Climate_Change_Plans_Can_Quickly_Raise_the_Bar, But_Can_They_be_Transformative? ** The day Joe Biden becomes president, he can start taking actions that can help slow climate change. The question is whether he can match the magnitude of the challenge. # ** On_Environmental_Protection,_Biden’s_Election_Will_Mean_a 180-Degree_Turn_from_Trump_Policies ** With a closely divided Senate, Biden will need to rely primarily on executive actions and must-pass legislative measures like the federal budget and the Farm Bill to further his environmental agenda. # **** Energy **** # ** ‘This_Is_a_Really,_Really_Big_Deal’:_Michigan_Gov. Moves_to_Shut_Down_Line_5_Pipeline_to_Protect_Great Lakes ** “Enbridge has imposed on the people of Michigan an unacceptable risk of a catastrophic oil spill in the Great Lakes that could devastate our economy and way of life.” # ** DamNation_|_The_Problem_with_Hydropower ** # ** In_Promoting_New_Nuclear_Power,_Biden-Harris_Back Fiction_Over_Science ** As Paul Gipe points out in his recent blog, the Biden-Harris climate plan uses the word “revolution” right in the headline — a bit of a departure from the usual cautious rhetoric of the centrist-controlled Democratic Party. But ‘revolution’ is proceeded by two words which let us know we are still lingering in conservative ‘safe’ territory. They call it a “clean energy revolution”, which Gipe rightly refers to as “focus-group shopped terminology.” He goes on: # ** Georgia_Sen._David_Perdue_Ready_to_Save_His_Ocean- Front_Mansion_From_Rising_Seas_While_Voting_to_Burn More_Oil_and_Gas ** Perdue, who is worth between $13 million and $39 million, is worried about rising sea levels. But he votes like he isn’t worried, because he is sure he has the wealth to protect his own property from the worst effects, at least in his lifetime. # ** Norway’s_Supreme_Court_to_Decide_on_Climate_Lawsuit Challenging_Offshore_Arctic_Oil_Drilling ** Hearings before the country’s Supreme Court in the case, dubbed The People v. Arctic Oil, began on November 4 and concluded on November 12; a decision is expected within the next few months. # **** Wildlife/Nature **** # ** Linda_Cayot:_Lessons_From_a_Life_in_Conservation ** o **** Finance **** # ** Can_Multinationals_be_Responsible? ** Before deciding on the pros and cons of what’s on the ballot, we should consider the nature of corporate responsibility. Responsibility is both a legal and moral term that we use for individuals or groups. But in the case of multinationals, which more often than not hold the legal status of a Société Anonyme (S.A.), or corporation, we are being asked to judge the behaviour of an anonymous legal entity. Is this possible? We know there are people in the corporations who make decisions. There are organisational charts depicting the corporate hierarchy that help us understand how decisions are made. When we talk about corporate social responsibility, however, we are not talking about individuals being held responsible; we are talking about the entire legal entity. Although we refer to the legal fiction in human terms – called methodological individualism – we cannot forget that a multinational is more than the totality of its employees and stockholders. # ** Julie_Hollar_on_Moving_Democrats_to_the_Right,_Josh_Bivens on_Pandemic_Unemployment ** This week on CounterSpin: After a historic election turnout, driven by mobilizations like Black Lives Matter, that signaled the longed-for end of the Trump presidency, it’s sad to see corporate Democrats leap to blame the left, including activists, for denying the party a landslide—and call for immediate, compensatory overtures to the right. Sad, but not surprising, as that’s been the practice of elite Democrats and their media abettors for decades. # ** 14_Successful_Ballot_Initiatives_to_Reduce_Inequality ** # ** The_New_Elite:_Dark_Nights_Rising ** The old elite was defined by what Thorstein Veblen called leisure and conspicuous consumption (1899). The new elite is a working elite. It has to work – mostly in elite professions – to earn money. The new elite’s employment is located in a relatively narrow spectrum of occupations separating the new elite from non-elite, i.e. white-collar workers in middle-class employment. The new elite finds employment mainly in three main categories: in management – CEOs (cf. JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon got $31.5 million in 2020), CFOs, top-management, etc.; in finance (hedge fund managers such as Jim Simons with a net worth of $23.5bn – not million – billion!); and in elite law firms like Wachtell, for example. Having gone to elite day-care centres, elite kindergartens, elite pre-schools, elite primary schools and elite high-schools, the new elite arrives at elite colleges as a jumping-board to elite postgraduate universities. For example, at Harvard and Yale, more students come from households in the top 1% of the income distribution than from the entire bottom half, writes Daniel Markovits in The Meritocracy Trap. Markovits also sees the new elite as being trapped because of its constant exposure to elite training, prep-schools, private tutors, etc.; the relentlessness of examinations and assessments; and eventually, the harshness of stressful burn-out jobs at the top of the income pyramid. o **** AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics **** # ** Blame_the_Democrats,_Not_Socialism ** In the wake of disappointing Democratic down-ballot losses in both the House and the Senate last Thursday, ex-CIA spy and current Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger unloaded on the progressive wing of the party, pitting the loss of the House supermajority squarely on them and their constituents. “We need to not ever use the words ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again,” Spanberger screamed on a caucus call. “Because while people think it doesn’t matter, it does matter. And we lost good members because of it.” # ** Airports_and_Rallies ** Countless Germans also waited, full of angst, for final numbers from distant Ohio, Wisconsin, Arizona – while many puzzled over the mysteries of the Electoral College. (Does it have dormitories or offer a degree?) Or why, until January 20th, a weird fowl called a lame duck can keep squawking about foundless, featherless “Fouls”! But as the figures rolled in from Pennsylvania there was a collective German sigh of relief (and a few may have wondered whether Germantown, PA also played a part). The media here are full of speculation: How much friendlier will Biden be toward Germany and Europe? There will certainly be far less friction. Is that good or bad? Federal Germany was a compliant buddy of every US government – until 2016. Its growing independence since then was partly due to dictatorial White House insistence that Germany buy American fracking gas instead of cheaper Russian pipeline gas. Also due to pressure because Germany never spent quite the giant sum on armaments demanded by NATO, also largely imported from the USA. Nor did it join heartily in provoking trouble with Iran. Will Germany now revert to its long, cosy relationship with the Pentagon, Langley and the billionaire transatlantic gang? Or will it prefer to build up its own strength as the biggest bully in its European playground, with heavy- muscled domination of a new European army and the European economy, now free of British competition – plus growing power in other continents? With the witch gone, will Germany again be caught between the devil and the deep blue (Baltic) Sea? # ** In_Detroit;_In_America ** It was a disgrace, ugly as sin, redeemed only by the everyday s/heroism of the poll workers who implemented the essential administrative function of our supposedly democratic republic in the face of vile, racist opposition that they refused to allow intimidate them. Some incidents from recent history involving racialized violations of citizenship and death help frame this event with clarity… # ** Trump_Campaign_Gets_Laughed_Out_Of_Court_For_Claiming_A Bunch_Of_Unvetted_Webform_Submissions_Is_‘Evidence’_Of_Voter Fraud ** The Trump Campaign is back in court, hoping to reclaim a presidency Donald Trump has lost. It spent plenty of time in court prior to the election, hoping to prevent as many people as possible from voting. Now, it’s doing the same thing, insisting (without evidence) there’s voter fraud everywhere. # ** America_Rejoins_the_World? ** The soon-to-be-former president has gotten high marks in the Philippines and Israel, a passing grade in a couple African countries and India, and dismal reviews pretty much everywhere else. U.S. allies in Europe and Asia are particularly relieved that Joe Biden will be taking the helm in January. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo summed up world sentiment with a pithy tweet: “Welcome back, America.” The international community is happy that the American people have taken down the world’s biggest bully. The heads of international organizations – from the World Health Organization to Human Rights Watch – are delighted that soon Trump won’t be undermining their missions. Perhaps the 2020 presidential election will inspire people elsewhere to dethrone their lesser bullies – Viktor Orban in Hungary, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Narendra Modi in India, even Vladimir Putin in Russia. Short of that, however, the removal of Trump from the international scene will restore a measure of decorum and predictability to global affairs. # ** Against_Populism_? ** Indeed Donald Trump has captured the American media precisely because he has shifted discourse completely out of politics and completely into culture. The end result of such a game is the media calling Donald Trump a populist while he refuses to engage in democracy. One of the problems with populism is that unlike democracy it does not rely on direct representation by law but rather with a loose definition of class interests. In just about all analysis of populism the interests of “working people” are confused with the interests of the anti-intellectual. Donald Trump is a good case study of how populism is too loose to be held down by facts, much like Trump himself. # ** Massive_Protests_in_Peru_Against_‘Legislative_Coup’_That Ousted_President_Martín_Vizcarra ** “All of Peru is fired up, we’re all very angry,” said one protester.  # ** Absolving_Trump_Means_Erasing_the_Harm_Done_to_Millions ** Disturbing as it is to see politicians and pundits advising a Biden administration to vehemently reject progressive policy goals, there’s more. As Eoin Higgins notes in a piece for Business Insider (10/30/20), a concurrent strain of argument is that Trump himself should face no real public reckoning. Higgins cites a column by historian Jill Lepore in the Washington Post (10/16/20)—heralded as “eloquent” by the New York Times‘ Nicholas Kristof (Twitter, 10/18/20):  “Let History, Not Partisans, Prosecute Trump.” # ** Welcome_to_Trump’s_Last_Act,_the_Most_Dangerous_Show_on Earth ** # ** The_77/72*_Phenomenal_World_Divide ** About 72 million voters would accept these leading sentences as fake or corrupted, even as to the vote count. Once that count goes through the courts and maybe as far as the Supreme Court when all the “legal” votes are counted and the “illegal” ones thrown out, Trump wins. But what about the description of the man and what he’s about? Some or perhaps all who voted for Trump perceive him as pushing hard against those who oppose their own personal freedom, who relegate American interests to foreign interests and foreign migration, who wish to replace free enterprise with a socialist domination by Big Government, who push to replace God with a Liberal’s atheism and secular values, who obstruct Trump in his effort to bring back a former middle class prosperity, and who seek to muzzle Americans with standards of political correctness and force them to accept those who live in ways alien to American values. Trump’s confrontation of all this requires him not to assume the traditional role of the president but rather to upend the habits of heart and mind of an established order, created by Liberals, which has destroyed the economic, social and personal well being of some 72 million Americans, not counting those too defeated in mind and heart to vote. # ** President-Elect_Biden’s_New_COVID-19_Task_Force_Gives_the US_a_Fresh_Chance_to_Turn_Around_a_Public_Health_Disaster ** As an infectious disease epidemiologist, I’m looking forward to research-based guidance at the federal level that I hope will help get the coronavirus under control. # ** Progressive_Coalition_Demands_‘No_Corporate_Nominees’_for Biden_Cabinet ** “Biden will need to appoint high-energy, creative officials who wake up every morning determined to do all they can to advance the public interest, not those who remain beholden to corporations and private profit.” # ** Biden_Given_Roadmap_to_Revitalize_Rural_America ** The plan “lays a foundation for bringing economic vitality to rural communities in the face of racial injustice, economic decline, climate change, and a devastating pandemic.” # ** ‘Playing_for_Time’:_The_Non-Strategy_of_Mahmoud_Abbas ** These were the words of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh, during a virtual meeting with European legislators on November 3. While some may agree with Shtayyeh’s assessment, such utterances by a top Palestinian official are hardly reassuring. This was not the first time that Shtayyeh used the phrase, “May God help us,” with reference to US President, Donald Trump. Nor were these the only instances in which the Palestinian leadership employed such inconsequential political discourse to counter Trump’s pro-Israel bias throughout his first term, allowing Tel Aviv to entrench its military occupation in Palestine, while denying Palestinians the meager financial handouts secured under previous political agreements. # ** Biden_Should_Shake_Hands_With_Nicolás_Maduro ** The United States—under Republican and Democratic administrations—has tried to use anti-democratic means to overthrow the governments in Venezuela since the election victory of Hugo Chávez in 1998. In January 2019, Idriss Jazairy, the UN special rapporteur on the impact of sanctions, said that he was “concerned to hear reports that these sanctions are aimed at changing the government of Venezuela”; this, Ambassador Jazairy said, “is in violation of all norms of international law.” None of this seems to matter to Biden, whose loose language echoes Trump’s worse phrase—“shithole countries.” The UN has called for all sanctions to be rescinded during this crisis. These sanctions, the UN has said, “are in fact killing people and depriving them of fundamental rights, including the rights to health, to food and to life itself.” # ** Billionaire_GOP_Donors_Positive_for_Covid-19_After_White House_Election_Watch_Party ** The Uihleins, who have opposed public health guidelines, tested positive after attending the White House election eve watch party. # ** Damn_Moderates ** Needless to say, this is not how liberal media see it. As soon as the election was called, they went on the offense. Within a day or two, watching MSNBC and CNN became unbearable, worse even than listening to NPR or reading the drivel of most New York Times and Washington Post columnists. Stephanie Rule, Claire McCaskill, Dana Bush and a few others were among the first to go on the attack, but within hours and with very few exceptions, they all followed suit – blaming not themselves and their politics, but the politics of leftists within the Democratic fold for the fact that the “blue tsunami” they were all expecting failed to materialize. # ** How_to_Combat_Trumpism_(Even_After_Trump_Is_Gone) ** This story—that a few extreme-libertarian billionaires like the Murdoch family use media like Fox News to enrich themselves at viewers’ expense—needs to be told over and over again, in every possible venue. # ** Biden_Further_Solidifies_Victory_With_Arizona_as_Election Officials_Counter_Trump’s_Fraud_Lies_in_Joint_Declaration ** “In an extraordinary rebuke, a federal agency releases statement from federal, state, and local officials saying Trump is totally full of it when he claims large-scale election fraud.” # ** Revisiting_“Seven_Days_in_May” ** Let’s start with a president (Donald Trump) who suffered an unexpected election loss and decided to use his political party (the GOP) to contest the results, thus far without any sign of success.  The president then brings the power of the government into his scheme.  He orders his enabler-in-chief (Attorney General William Barr), who happens to be the country’s senior law enforcement officer, to have his Election Crimes Division search for (non- existent) evidence of crimes in the electoral process. The veteran head of the division (Richard Pilger) immediately resigns his post to protest the unprecedented use of the Department of Justice to search for evidence rather than respond to charges based on evidence.  State officials—both Democrats and Republicans—emphasize there is no substantiation for such charges.  Federal judges—appointed by both Democrats and Republicans—have rejected all cases that have come forward. # ** Trump’s_Reichstag_Fire ** An urban legend is beginning to spin: come January 20, 2021, President Donald Trump will wall himself into the White House, with a few of those gilded sofas wedged up against the Oval Office door, and refuse to come out when the Joe Bidens come calling for the ceremonial ride to the Capitol and the presidential inauguration. Remember the scene four years ago, when Don and Melania showed up gripping that egg-shell blue box from Tiffany & Co. (“Can’t we just give them that platter we got last year?”), with Trump leaving his wife behind to struggle with the limousine door while he did his bear-walk toward the waiting Obamas and, more to the point, White House power? # ** The_Problem_of_Capitalist_Politics,_Nukes_and_Climate Change_Edition ** The stakes— the continued existence of the species, was the background chatter in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s when the ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation was taught from pre-school through working life. The push-pull of capitalist democracy was the fear of imminent annihilation tied to the promise of a better future through shared prosperity and technological advances. Capitalism was to provide the shared prosperity. Politics was to assure that the accumulated technological and military might of the U.S. would go toward productive uses. That it didn’t illustrates the nature of the problem still unfolding. Both MAGA (Make America Great Again) and the ‘restoration of decency’ relied on this image of a steady-state that never was. The industrial economy of MAGA was given away three or more decades ago. China made the investment in industrial infrastructure, and now has an insurmountable cost advantage in industrial production within the capitalist frame that MAGA references. And the restoration of decency has a hollow ring for children of the Vietnam and Iraq wars. The façade of gentility from the architects of genocidal carnage was perfected by the Brits two centuries ago, rendering the current version downright Trumpian. # ** F*#k_the_Trumpenleft_and_Obama_Too ** I’m not referring to liberals, moderates, and progressives who have taken umbrage at my radical Left criticism of Clinton-Obama-Pelosi Democrats (hereafter “COP Dems”)’ nauseating fealty and service to capital and empire. I never had friends, real or virtual, among such folks. Any chance that I would have disappeared when I started writing about and against their beloved Obama in the summer of 2004. I mean people on “the left” so sickened by the fake-progressive COP Dems as to become de facto supporters and in some cases even open backers of Obama’s fascistic and malignant-narcissist successor Donald J. Trump, “the most dangerous criminal in human history.” # ** Biden_Will_Fail_to_Bring_Back_‘Normal’_Politics._What’s Needed_Now_Is_a_Populism_of_the_Left ** The neoliberal “normal” isn’t coming back because the economic circumstances that generated it—the post-war boom of seemingly endless growth—have disappeared. # ** What_Biden’s_election_means_for_Venezuela ** # ** Eat_the_2020_Election ** An article by Rachel Sugar that appeared in New York magazine proclaimed, “This election makes meal planning impossible.” That wasn’t the story I heard from friends and family, some of whom, like my brother Daniel, dined alone. He served himself boneless, skinless chicken thighs and bok choy. “ST,” my long time girlfriend, who comes from a Libertarian family in California’s Central Valley, told me that her father wrote the name “Mike Pence” on his ballot because, as she explained, “he felt the Vice President would do a better job than Trump himself.” My girlfriend had dinner at the home of a hippie caterer whose food usually looks better than it tastes. ST explained that the caterer made “a pumpkin stuffed with an exotic African grain.” I’m glad I wasn’t invited. # ** Trumpty_Dumpty_Falls ** Yes indeed, Trumpty Dumpty had a great fall… complete with egg on his spray-tanned face. The predatory Trumpus has had America in a chokehold for four long years. Now finally, we are free (or so it seems)—on Max’s birthday! # ** Evicting_Trump_From_the_White_House ** As this is written, the trump’s  Republican minions who are not encumbered by convictions of any sort, have mostly refused to contradict the trump’s insistence that he has won the election, fearing such admissions would incur his wrath.  By their subservience, they have helped the trump take steps that make this the first transition from one administration to another that was deliberately made difficult by the outgoing administration. Pursuant to the Presidential Transition Act that was signed in 1963, the administrator of the General Services Administration  is supposed to take all the necessary steps to enable the new administration to smoothly transition into running the government. That includes signing the necessary documents to give the incoming administration access to government officials, office space, equipment,  and millions of dollars, all to help insure a smooth transition.  When the transition from the Bush to the Obama administration was made, for example,  at one in the morning on the day following the election,  the Bush transition director notified the incoming Obama transition director that he  had signed all the necessary documents to enable the Obama administration to begin its work. # ** Marijuana_Was_the_Clear_Winner_on_Election_Night ** On Election Day, voters in states across the country approved a series of ballot proposals legalizing the use and distribution of marijuana for either medical or adult-use purposes. Their voices were unmistakable and emphatic. Majorities of Americans decided in favor of every marijuana-related proposition placed before them — a clean sweep — and they did so by record margins. # ** Living_in_Borat’s_America ** When Sacha Baron Cohen sprang Borat on the American public in 2006, a midterm election year, I thought I was clever to observe that nimble, improvisational, disrespectful laughter had won a landslide victory over the deep emotions and classical filmmaking of Clint Eastwood’s World War II diptych, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. Like a blind seer, I had no idea how horribly right I was. # ** Low_Income_Voters_Turned_Out_for_Biden,_Now_They_Need Relief ** While higher-income voters swung further towards Donald Trump compared to four years ago, increased support from poor and low-income voters helped push the former vice president over the top. According to early polls, voters with household incomes of less than $50,000 in 2019 broke for Biden by 55 to 43 percent — a 12 point margin, compared to 8 four years ago. This helped overcome Trump’s gains among households with incomes above $100,000 — from 45 percent in 2016 to just over half in 2020. # ** Two_Face_America:_73_Million_Trump_Party_Apparatchiks Guarantee_Turmoil_Over_the_Coming_Years ** The soul of America is like the character Two Face in the Batman movie series. One defeat of the Party of Trump and its 73 million apparatchiks is not enough. In Trump, the United States has bred its own dictator in waiting and he’s got an army of servile apostles willing to fight and die for him. Vigilance by his opponents has never been more important. # ** 2020_Was_the_‘Precarity_Election’ ** While Joe Biden will be America’s next president, the Democrats’ narrow election victory hardly represented the vaunted “blue wave” predicted by many pollsters. Indeed, the most striking takeaway from the 2020 result is how much it mirrored the profound splits of the 2016 election—literally, give or take the shift of a hundred thousand votes or so in a few key Rust Belt and Sun Belt states. And despite charges of racism, more than a quarter of Donald Trump’s votes came from nonwhite Americans, the highest percentage for a GOP presidential candidate since 1960. # ** Joe_Biden’s_Presidency_Depends_on_Georgia ** As he prepared to claim the presidential victory he secured by more than 4 million votes, Joe Biden said, “What is becoming clearer each hour is that record numbers of Americans—from all races, faiths, regions—chose change over more of the same.” But his ability to deliver that change is still to be determined by the voters of Georgia. # ** Donald_Trump,_Rudy_Giuliani,_and_Fantasy_Island:_An Imagined_Conversation ** Interview with owner of Fantasy Island, adult bookstore and sex shop in Philadelphia, down the street from Four Seasons Landscaping What follows is a fictitious transcript of the conversation between Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani in the immediate aftermath of the Philadelphia press conference: # ** That_‘_Waterfront_Mail_In’_to_Donald_You’ll_Never_See ** This small article is as would be to some parallel, though not nearly as funny. It merely reflects these small quarters trying to make sense of what just happened in the USA by way of Election 2020, and a striving to quantify the lesser of two evils. To be clear; one does not admire either Donald Trump or Joe Biden. That both are heavily compromised as creatures of the swamp go, and that the election equivalent to some professional wrestling match as some tragicomic parallel to Arnold Rothsteins infamous fixing of the 1919 World Series is taken for granted, alas. # ** Where’s_Plan_B? ** # ** Why_the_Florida_Polls_Were_So_Wrong_(Hint:_It_Wasn’t_the “Shy”_Voters) ** The explanation for the failure in 2016 – an overcount of college educated voters – doesn’t work this time, because all the major pollsters made the necessary corrections. Another reason frequently given is that Trump voters were shy about their allegiances (or more accurately ashamed) and told polling organizations they weren’t going to vote for the president when they were. But given the obvious vociferousness of Trump’s base, especially in rural areas and red states like Florida, this explanation doesn’t wash either. When Republican voters arrive at rallies dressed in camouflage, and carrying semi-automatic weapons, the only voters likely to be shy are Democratic ones. The reason for the failure of polling organizations to accurately predict the result in Florida isn’t the undercounted shy voters, or the overcounted educated voters. It’s another, overlooked demographic: old male grumpy voters (OMGs). To better understand them, I need first to tell you a little about the small town where I live in north- central Florida and my experience with OMGs. Micanopy is a village of 600 located about 20 miles south of Gainesville, home of the University of Florida. The population is about 75 percent white, 20 percent Black and 4 percent Latinx. With a median age of 47, we are about six years older than average in Florida, which is four years older than the nation as a whole. My wife and I moved to Micanopy for the weather and the natural beauty, and for its proximity to many of the Gulf and Atlantic Coast communities we support with our climate justice non-profit, Anthropocene Alliance. # ** GOP_leaders_in_4_states_quash_dubious_Trump_bid_on electors ** # ** Election_Day_Problems,_Newark:_Delayed_Openings,_Confusion Forced_Potential_Voters_Away_From_Polls ** # ** You_Say_Divĭsive,_I_Say_Divīsive ** Voice 1: You say divĭsive, I say divīsive. Voice 2: You say derīsive, I say derĭsive. Voice 1: Divīsive Voice 2: Divĭsive. Voice 1: Derīsive. Voice 2: Derĭsive. Both voices, loudly: Asshole. ** The_Trump_Campaign_Can’t_Find_a_Judge_Who_Will_Ignore_Facts_—_but_It’s Trying ** The reelection campaign of President Donald Trump, having failed to persuade the majority of American voters, is now making its case to the American courts. The campaign and its allies aren’t doing much better in the latter quest than they did in the former. Close to half of the two dozen or so cases brought since Election Day in key swing states have already been withdrawn or tossed by judges, with many of the rest seemingly destined for a similar fate. American politics may be notoriously divided, but inside the halls of justice, at least one example of unanimity seems to be prevailing: Whether the judges are liberal or conservative, working for state or federal courts, they’ve overwhelmingly demanded that the Trump and Republican plaintiffs deliver evidence to back their claims and they’ve been quick to reject what they consider baseless lawsuits. One pattern has emerged in the fusillade of lawsuits: a frenzied search for a sympathetic judge. In each of four states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona — the Trump campaign and its allies have filed a succession of suits that make essentially the same claims before several different state and federal judges. ** Trump’s_Final_Dereliction_of_Duty ** Many liberals are afraid Donald Trump is planning a coup. The reality is much stranger. Trump is daydreaming about a coup. All the bizarre machinations since Election Day, the repeated airing of conspiracy theories about vote rigging, and the spate of poorly supported lawsuits spring not from a mastermind plotting to destroy democracy but rather a delusional and self-obsessed man who cannot come to grips with the reality of rejection. As The New York Times reports, Trump, while conversing with his advisers, has been “floating one improbable scenario after another for staying in office while he contemplates his uncertain post-presidency future.” ** Can_Trump_Pardon_Himself?_Jane_Mayer_on_Trump’s_Desperate_Bid_to_Stay_in Power_&_Avoid_Prosecution ** President Trump has only made one brief public appearance since the election was called for Joe Biden, and his Twitter feed is filled with conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud, which state elections officials have repeatedly rejected. His refusal to concede has complicated President-elect Biden’s transition, and senior Republicans have mostly aligned behind Trump or stayed silent as he continues his desperate legal campaign to overturn the election results in several key states that won Biden the presidency. New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer says Trump has a lot at stake due to the litany of lawsuits and criminal investigations he faces. “He has many reasons to be concerned,” she says. “If he leaves the White House, he’s going to lose the immunity that goes along with being president.” ** The_Trump-Shaped_Stain_on_American_Life ** My Uncle Harry has seen it all, and he has the years to prove it: He turned 100 on November 1. (In case you were wondering, he attributes his longevity to family, love, curiosity, and ice cream every day.) When Donald Trump was elected, Uncle Harry predicted that the next four years would be awful but there would be only two things that couldn’t be undone even if the Democrats won in 2020: the destruction Trump would wreak on the environment and the justices he would put on the Supreme Court. ** Mark_Zuckerberg_defends_decision_to_keep_Steve_Bannon_on_Facebook_after violent_post ** In the video in question, which Facebook removed, Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon suggested that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Director Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray be decapitated for their supposed disloyalty to Trump. ** Zuckerberg_defends_decision_to_not_suspend_Bannon_after_Twitter_move:_report ** After the video, Twitter suspended Bannon’s account over violating the platform’s policy on the “glorification of violence.” The video was removed from Facebook, but his page is still active. Facebook spokesman Andy Stone told Reuters that the company would take additional action against Bannon “if there are additional violations.” ** Zuckerberg_defends_not_suspending_ex-Trump_aide_Bannon_from_Facebook: recording ** Zuckerberg acknowledged criticism of Facebook by President-elect Joe Biden but said the company shared some of the Biden team’s same concerns about social media. He urged employees not to jump to conclusions about how the new administration might approach regulation of social media companies. ** QAnon’s_Dominion_voter_fraud_conspiracy_theory_reaches_the_president ** But QAnon is far from done. The movement’s recent evolution and activity around the Dominion conspiracy theory highlight how even Joe Biden’s election win and the disintegration of the broader QAnon narrative do not spell the end of the broader conspiracy ecosystem it has built. ** How_One_Firm_Drove_Influence_Campaigns_Nationwide_for_Big_Oil ** All three appeared to be separate efforts to amplify local voices or speak up for regular people. On closer look, however, the groups had something in common: They were part of a network of corporate influence campaigns designed, staffed and at times run by FTI Consulting, which had been hired by some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world to help them promote fossil fuels. An examination of FTI’s work provides an anatomy of the oil industry’s efforts to influence public opinion in the face of increasing political pressure over climate change, an issue likely to grow in prominence, given President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s pledge to pursue bolder climate regulations. The campaigns often obscure the industry’s role, portraying pro-petroleum groups as grass-roots movements. ** New_EU_drive_to_remove_extremist_web_content ** Both German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer and EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson called for an agreement by Christmas on the new “regulation on terrorist content online (TCO)”. The ministers’ joint statement called for a “rapid and effective instrument to counter terrorist content online within an hour or less of its being reported”. **** Censorship/Free Speech **** * ** Facebook_is_now_using_AI_to_sort_content_for_quicker_moderation ** Facebook has always made it clear it wants artificial intelligence to handle more moderation duties on its platforms. Today, it announced its latest step toward that goal: putting machine learning in charge of its moderation queue. * ** Federal_judge_moves_E._Jean_Carroll’s_defamation_lawsuit_against_Trump forward ** A federal judge on Thursday signaled columnist E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against President Trump can move forward, scheduling a telephone conference in the case for Dec. 11. Carroll sued Trump for defamation after he accused her of lying when she alleged he sexually assaulted her in her 2019 book “What Do We Need Men For?” The Justice Department sought to take over the case in September, claiming Trump called Carroll a liar in his capacity as president. Judge Lewis Kaplan denied the motion to intervene in October. **** Freedom of Information/Freedom of the Press **** * ** About_to_Have_His_Day_in_Court,_This_American_Journalist_Wants_to_Know If_He’s_on_the_US_‘Kill_List’ ** Award-winning war reporter Bilal Abdul Kareem, who says he has been the target of numerous U.S.-led airstrikes, was also wounded by Syrian tank fire while covering the country’s civil war. * ** Farcical_Coverage_of_Julian_Assange’s_Farcical_Hearing ** US corporate media have buried coverage of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition hearing in the UK, despite its being the media “Trial of the Century” (FAIR.org, 9/25/20). But even in the scarce coverage that does exist of this unprecedented case with immense implications for freedom of expression, one would hardly get the impression that the US and British governments are involved in an illegal conspiracy—in violation of their own laws—to punish Assange for the “crime” of journalism. **** Civil Rights/Policing **** * ** A_Hole_in_One ** * ** From_Fear_and_Anger_to_Collective_Purpose ** What greater purpose and meaning is there than working together to create a world that secures the health of Earth and the well-being of families and communities? * ** Advocacy_Groups_Slam_‘Shameful’_Deportation_of_ICE_Medical_Abuse Survivors ** “Congress must investigate and immediately put an end to this injustice,” said one attorney.  * ** Voting_Activist_Desmond_Meade_on_Re-enfranchising_People_&_Why_“Ex- Felon”_Is_a_Dehumanizing_Label ** In Florida, tens of thousands of newly eligible voters who were previously disenfranchised due to their criminal records turned out to the polls for the 2020 election. Amendment 4, a measure that in 2018 overturned a Jim Crow-era law aimed at keeping African Americans from voting, restored voting rights to people with nonviolent felonies who have completed their sentences and was hailed as the biggest win for voting rights in decades. However, hundreds of thousands of people in Florida remain disenfranchised due to a modern-day poll tax that requires formerly incarcerated voters to pay all fees and fines to courts before they can cast a ballot. We speak with Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy, about the ongoing fight to re-enfranchise people. He voted for president for the first time ever this year. “That act of voting gave me a deeper appreciation for what I was engaged in,” Meade says. “The right to vote is sacred.” * ** Child_Emergency:_Souls_in_ICE ** These are many years of reeling about the treatment of children: Madeline Albright’s justifying the killing of ½ million Iraqi children, Obama’s paying the Mexican government to keep refugee children from the U.S. border at the exact time of the Ayotzinapa disappeared children, residential schools for indigenous children, Israel’s hugely disproportionate killing and intentional maiming of Palestinian children. And now, “Report Finds 25,000+ Migrant Children Locked Up for More Than 100 Days over Past 6 Years”. The United States is sterilizing women who are in refugee detention centers, robbing them of being able to bear children. [1] From a 2018 report: “….at least 250 migrant infants, children and teenagers have been locked up for nearly a month without adequate food, water or sanitation at a Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, near the city of El Paso. Lawyers who visited the facility described a scene of chaos and sickness, with children unable to shower or change into clean clothes for weeks on end. The AP report came the same week that the Trump administration argued in federal court that the government is not required to provide toothbrushes, soap or beds to children detained at the border, and as other reports found similarly squalid conditions at a number of immigration jails. “ A worker who found the treatment of children unbearable spoke about rules that prohibited distraught siblings from hugging each other for solace. **** Internet Policy/Net Neutrality **** * ** How_Our_Biggest_ISPs_Are_Failing_Students_During_COVID-19 ** Early in the pandemic, one of our MediaJustice Network members reached out to us in hopes we could support a group of high school students in Baltimore who were trying to amplify their campaign. The students are leaders in a Latinx and immigrant student organization called Students Organizing for a Multicultural and Open Society (SOMOS), and this was their first time organizing for digital equity. * ** Govt_accepts_less_than_half_of_5G_inquiry_recommendations ** The Australian Government has accepted six of the 14 recommendations made by the 5G inquiry conducted by the House Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts, assessing the deployment, adoption and application of 5G in Australia. * ** FCC_Boss_Pai_Urged_To_Accept_Trump_Loss,_Pause_Dumb_Attack_On_Social Media ** With the Biden victory, FCC boss Ajit Pai is being urged to pause all controversial rulemaking, including the agency’s absurd and now likely doomed attempt to regulate social media and undermine Section 230 via the FCC. With a Biden win, Pai’s guaranteed to lose his spot as top commissioner, and is likely to exit the agency altogether. **** Digital Restrictions (DRM) **** * ** Google_Takes_Down_Repositories_That_Circumvent_its_Widevine_DRM ** GitHub has removed several repositories that helped to bypass Google’s Widevine DRM, which is used by popular streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon. Google requested the code to be removed as it would violate the DMCA. The company also sent a sensitive data takedown request for the associated RSA key which, ironically, remains easy to find through Google. * ** Why_Netflix_Is_Experimenting_With_Linear_Programming_in_France ** The linear channel, named Direct, will offer a mix of French, international and U.S. feature films and TV series that are available on the streaming service. Dixon says that Netflix’s measurement of Direct’s impact will likely examine total view time (does it increase for the people using it?); dwell time (how long do users of Direct spend with it?); churn (do users stay with Netflix longer?) and usage rate (on the content featured on Direct, do they see an increase in viewership of those shows outside of Direct?). **** Monopolies **** * ** FOSS_Patents:_Google_brings_motion_to_dispose_of_Epic_Games’_antitrust complaint_over_Android_app_distribution_terms_at_earliest_procedural stage ** On Friday evening (Pacific Time), Google brought a motion it had already announced more than two months ago: a motion to dismiss Epic Games’ antitrust complaint in the Northern District of California over Google’s Android app distribution terms. At the same time, Google seeks to shot down a consolidated class action complaint brought on behalf of some smaller app developers. Google also faces class actions by consumers. In fact, the latest one of them, Gamble v. Google, was filed on Thursday. But yesterday’s motion relates only to claims brought by Epic and other developers. Unlike Google, Apple decided not seek the outright dismissal of Epic’s claims. Part of the reason might have been that a motion to dismiss causes considerable delay, but Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (who is presiding over all those Apple App Store antitrust cases, while Judge James Donato is in charge of the Google Play cases) wanted to put Epic’s August 2020 case on a schedule that was basically dictated by the decade-old Pepper v. Apple class action, which had meanwhile already reached the Supreme Court. The Pepper opinion is at the heart of one part of Google’s attack on the developer class actions it’s facing, as I’ll discuss further below. * **** Copyrights **** o ** Meet_CC_India,_Our_Next_Feature_for_CC_Network_Fridays! ** The Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) consists of 45 CC Country Chapters spread across the globe. They’re the home for a community of advocates, activists, educators, artists, lawyers, and users who share CC’s vision and values. They implement and strengthen open access policies, copyright reform, open education, and open culture in the communities in which they live. o ** Hollywood,_Netflix_&_Amazon_Agree_$40m_Judgment_With_Pirate_IPTV Provider_Crystal_Clear_Media ** During the summer, members of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment which include Hollywood studios, Netflix and Amazon, sued pirate IPTV service Crystal Clear Media for mass copyright infringement. According to documents now filed with the court, two Florida residents have agreed to pay the entertainment companies $40 million to end the lawsuit. ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛