Hackaday – Pi 5 and SDR Team Up for a Digital Scanner You Can Actually Afford

Feb 112024
 

Listening to police and fire calls used to be a pretty simple proposition: buy a scanner, punch in some frequencies — or if you’re old enough, buy the right crystals — and you’re off to the races. It was a pretty cheap and easy hobby, all things considered. But progress marches on, and with it came things like trunking radio and digital modulation, requiring ever more sophisticated scanners, often commanding eye-watering prices.
Having had enough of that, [Top DNG] decided to roll his own digital trunking scanner on the cheap. The first video below is a brief intro to the receiver based on the combination of an RTL-SDR dongle and a Raspberry Pi 5. The Pi is…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://hackaday.com/2024/02/10/pi-5-and-sdr-team-up-for-a-digital-scanner-you-can-actually-afford/

 2024-02-11  Comments Off on Hackaday – Pi 5 and SDR Team Up for a Digital Scanner You Can Actually Afford

jwz – Hostile Architecture Survey

Jan 082024
 

The Mission’s response to homelessness: More than 2,000 planters:

There are some 2,078 planters across the neighborhood, according to a block-by-block count conducted by Mission Local reporters. About 200 of these are the large metallic containers and another 400 are wooden barrels. There are 155 wooden troughs. The remaining 1,307 are a mixture of receptacles ranging in size from tiny clay pots to massive sidewalk gardens filled with an assortment of vessels.

Kudos to the web designers for making this article be both: an interactive scrolling 3d-ish map thingy; and also, completely legible in Reader Mode! One usually does not get both.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2024/01/hostile-architecture-survey/

 2024-01-08  Comments Off on jwz – Hostile Architecture Survey

Deeplinks – Kids Online Safety Shouldn’t Require Massive Online Censorship and Surveillance: 2023 Year in Review

Dec 282023
 

There’s been plenty of bad news regarding federal legislation in 2023. For starters, Congress has failed to pass meaningful comprehensive data privacy reforms. Instead, legislators have spent an enormous amount of energy pushing dangerous legislation that’s intended to limit young people’s use of some of the most popular sites and apps, all under the guise of protecting kids. Unfortunately, many of these bills would run roughshod over the rights of young people and adults in the process. We spent much of the year fighting these dangerous “child safety” bills, while also pointing out to legislators that comprehensive data privacy legislation would be more likely to pass constitutional muster and address many of the issues that these…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/12/kids-online-safety-shouldnt-require-massive-online-censorship-and-surveillance

 2023-12-28  Comments Off on Deeplinks – Kids Online Safety Shouldn’t Require Massive Online Censorship and Surveillance: 2023 Year in Review

LWN.net – Debian statement on the Cyber Resilience Act

Dec 272023
 

The Debian project has completed a
general-resolution vote, adopting a statement expressing concern about
the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) pending in the European Union.

Even if only “commercial activities” are in the scope of CRA, the Free Software community – and as a consequence, everybody – will lose a lot of small projects. CRA will force many small enterprises and most probably all self employed developers out of business because they simply cannot fulfill the requirements imposed by CRA. Debian and other Linux distributions depend on their work. If accepted as it is, CRA will undermine not only an established community but also a thriving market. CRA needs an exemption for small businesses and, at the very least,…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://lwn.net/Articles/956187/

 2023-12-27  Comments Off on LWN.net – Debian statement on the Cyber Resilience Act

Techdirt. – How Copyright Hinders The Preservation Of Modern, Digital Culture

Dec 262023
 

A recent Guardian interview with the British Library’s head of digital publications, Giulia Carla Rossi, reveals the problems caused by copyright for those tasked with preserving modern culture. In some respects, the British Library finds itself in a fortunate position, as Rossi explains:

Because we collect under non-print legal deposit [the regulation that grants the British Library a copy of every work published in the UK], the idea is we collect everything that is published.

However, there is a fundamental difference between collecting analogue publications such as books, and those that are born digital. Where the former can be appreciated directly, the latter require a platform of some kind. That might be an operating system, a browser plug in,…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/12/26/how-copyright-hinders-the-preservation-of-modern-digital-culture/

 2023-12-26  Comments Off on Techdirt. – How Copyright Hinders The Preservation Of Modern, Digital Culture

Ballot Access News – North Carolina Green Party Chooses Not to Use its Presidential Primary

Dec 262023
 

According to this story, the Green Party of North Carolina did not submit any presidential candidates for inclusion on its 2024 presidential primary. The decision does not affect the ability of the party to list its presidential nominee in November.

In 2020, the North Carolina Green Party did have a presidential primary, and the ballot listed Howie Hawkins and uncommitted.

The article also says the No Labels Party isn’t using its presidential primary either, but the law does not permit a new party to have a primary, so even if No Labels had wanted a presidential primary, it could not have had one.

External feed Read More at the Source: https://ballot-access.org/2023/12/26/north-carolina-green-party-chooses-not-to-use-its-presidential-primary/

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Hackaday – China’s Nuclear-Powered Containership: A Fluke Or The Future Of Shipping?

Dec 262023
 

Since China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) unveiled its KUN-24AP containership at the Marintec China Expo in Shanghai in early December of 2023, the internet has been abuzz about it. Not just because it’s the world’s largest container ship at a massive 24,000 TEU, but primarily because of the power source that will power this behemoth: a molten salt reactor of Chinese design that is said to use a thorium fuel cycle. Not only would this provide the immense amount of electrical power needed to propel the ship, it would eliminate harmful emissions and allow the ship to travel much faster than other containerships.
Meanwhile the Norwegian classification society, DNV, has already issued an approval-in-principle to CSSC Jiangnan…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://hackaday.com/2023/12/26/chinas-nuclear-powered-containership-a-fluke-or-the-future-of-shipping/

 2023-12-26  Comments Off on Hackaday – China’s Nuclear-Powered Containership: A Fluke Or The Future Of Shipping?

TorrentFreak – Authors & Copyright Scholars Back ‘Internet Archive’ in Landmark Legal Battle

Dec 252023
 

The Internet Archive (IA) is a non-profit organization that aims to preserve digital history for generations to come.
The digital library is a staunch supporter of a free and open Internet and began meticulously archiving the web over a quarter century ago.
In addition to archiving the web, IA also operates a library that offers a broad collection of digital media, including books. Staying true to the centuries-old library concept, IA patrons can also borrow books that are scanned and digitized in-house.
Publishers vs. Internet Archive
The self-scanning service is different from the licensing deals other libraries enter into. Not all publishers are happy with IA’s approach which triggered a massive legal battle two years ago.
Publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, John…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://torrentfreak.com/authors-and-copyright-scholars-back-internet-archive-in-landmark-legal-battle-231222/

 2023-12-25  Comments Off on TorrentFreak – Authors & Copyright Scholars Back ‘Internet Archive’ in Landmark Legal Battle

Ars Technica – Corvids seem to handle temporary memories the way we do

Dec 252023
 

Enlarge / A jackdaw tries to remember what color it was thinking of. (credit: Frans Buiter / 500px)
Humans tend to think that we are the most intelligent life-forms on Earth, and that we’re largely followed by our close relatives such as chimps and gorillas. But there are some areas of cognition in which homo sapiens and other primates are not unmatched. What other animal’s brain could possibly operate at a human’s level, at least when it comes to one function? Birds—again.
This is far from the first time that bird species such as corvids and parrots have shown that they can think like us in certain ways. Jackdaws are clever corvids that belong…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://arstechnica.com/?p=1992736

 2023-12-25  Comments Off on Ars Technica – Corvids seem to handle temporary memories the way we do

Richard Stallman’s Political Notes – Facial recognition being used on customers

Dec 252023
 

Albertsons and Macy’s uses facial recognition on customers, but this article gives us little information on how.

We must reject the idea that businesses deserve the freedom to do
facial recognition on video images in and around their premises, or
the freedom to make videos and transmit them elsewhere, or regularly
save them for more than a few weeks, This supposed freedom conflicts with the privacy that humans beings deserve, and it facilitates the repression
than US cities and agencies are already eager to commit. These include
Atlanta
and Florida.

External feed Read More at the Source: https://stallman.org/archives/2023-sep-dec.html#24_December_2023_(Facial_recognition_being_used_on_customers)

 2023-12-25  Comments Off on Richard Stallman’s Political Notes – Facial recognition being used on customers

Hackaday – Absorbing Traffic Noise With Bricks Using Helmholtz Resonators

Dec 252023
 

One inevitable aspect of cities and urban life in general is that it is noisy, with traffic being one of the main sources of noise pollution. Finding a way to attenuate especially the low-frequency noise of road traffic was the subject of [Joe Krcma]’s Masters Thesis, the results of which he gave a talk on at the Portland Maker Meetup Club after graduating from University College London. The chosen solution in his thesis are Helmholtz resonators, which are a kind of acoustic spring. Using a carefully selected opening into the cavity, frequencies can be filtered out, and extinguished inside the cavity.
Basic functionality and formula used to determine the dimensions of a Helmholtz Resonator.
As examples of existing…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://hackaday.com/2023/12/24/absorbing-traffic-noise-with-bricks-using-helmholtz-resonators/

 2023-12-25  Comments Off on Hackaday – Absorbing Traffic Noise With Bricks Using Helmholtz Resonators

INDY Week – New Test Results from NC State Building Show PCB Levels Up to 38 Times Higher Than EPA Standards

Dec 222023
 

This story originally published online at NC Newsline. Five rooms in Poe Hall at NC State University are contaminated with PCBs at levels up to 38 times greater than EPA standards for building materials, according to sampling results obtained by Newsline this week under Public Records law.  The results are here, and Newsline has annotated them to explain what they mean. University officials last month temporarily closed the seven-story building after initial tests showed the presence of PCBs, a probable carcinogen in various building materials, including in several air handling units. Poe Hall houses the College of Education and the Department of Psychology. Raleigh’s WRAL first reported on the building’s closure.   Several people who worked…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://indyweek.com/news/wake/new-test-results-from-nc-state-building-show-pcb-levels-up-to-38-times-higher-than-epa-standards/

 2023-12-22  Comments Off on INDY Week – New Test Results from NC State Building Show PCB Levels Up to 38 Times Higher Than EPA Standards

Deeplinks – Internet Archive Files Appeal Brief Defending Libraries and Digital Lending From Big Publishers’ Legal Attack

Dec 172023
 

SAN FRANCISCO—A cartel of major publishing companies must not be allowed to criminalize fair-use library lending, the Internet Archive argued in an appellate brief filed today. 
The Internet Archive is a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) non-profit library which preserves and provides access to cultural artifacts of all kinds in electronic form. The brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Morrison Foerster on the Archive’s behalf explains that the Archive’s Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) program is a lawful fair use that preserves traditional library lending in the digital world. 
“Why should everyone care about this lawsuit? Because it is about preserving the integrity of our published record, where…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.eff.org/press/releases/internet-archive-files-appeal-brief-defending-libraries-and-digital-lending-big

 2023-12-17  Comments Off on Deeplinks – Internet Archive Files Appeal Brief Defending Libraries and Digital Lending From Big Publishers’ Legal Attack

jwz – Dark Rock of Mothrir Unsealed: Mickey Mouse Is Public Domain

Dec 172023
 

The doors slam open. Cory Doctorow enters, papers streaming from his unlatched briefcase. “I have been preparing for this blog post for my entire life!” he exclaims: Now, if you’ve heard anything about this, you’ve probably been told that Mickey isn’t really entering the public domain. Between trademark claims and later copyrightable elements of Mickey’s design, Mickey’s status will be too complex to understand. That’s totally wrong. […] The copyrightable status of a character used to be vague and complex, but several high-profile cases have brought clarity to the question. The big one is Les Klinger’s case against the Arthur Conan Doyle estate over Sherlock Holmes. That case established that when a character appears in…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2023/12/dark-rock-of-mothrir-unsealed-mickey-mouse-is-public-domain/

 2023-12-17  Comments Off on jwz – Dark Rock of Mothrir Unsealed: Mickey Mouse Is Public Domain

World Socialist Web Site (en) – University of Michigan permanently bans student resolution against genocide in Gaza

Dec 132023
 

What is really behind the suppression of the anti-genocide resolution is the fact that it was headed for victory, something the billionaire donors and regents, Democratic and Republican politicians, and Pentagon, CIA and State Department officials who collectively run the university would not allow.

External feed Read More at the Source: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/12/13/sgyt-d13.html

 2023-12-13  Comments Off on World Socialist Web Site (en) – University of Michigan permanently bans student resolution against genocide in Gaza

Hackaday – x86 ENTER: What’s that Second Parameter?

Dec 132023
 

[Raymond Chen] wondered why the x86 ENTER instruction had a strange second parameter that seems to always be set to zero. If you’ve ever wondered, [Raymond] explains what he learned in a recent blog post.
If you’ve ever taken apart the output of a C compiler or written assembly programs,  you probably know that ENTER is supposed to set up a new stack frame. Presumably, you are in a subroutine, and some arguments were pushed on the stack for you. The instruction puts the pointer to those arguments in EBP and then adjusts the stack pointer to account for your local variables. That local variable size is the first argument to ENTER.
The reason you rarely see it…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://hackaday.com/2023/12/12/x86-enter-whats-that-second-parameter/

 2023-12-13  Comments Off on Hackaday – x86 ENTER: What’s that Second Parameter?

LWN.net – The end of vger.kernel.org

Dec 132023
 

Konstantin Ryabitsev has announced
that the movement of kernel mailing lists away from the venerable
vger.kernel.org system is nearly complete:

Over the past few months we’ve migrated all of the vger.kernel.org mailing lists, with the exception of the Big One (linux-kernel, aka LKML). This list alone is responsible for about 80% of all vger mailing list traffic, so we left it for the last.

This Thursday, December 14, at 11AM Pacific (19:00 UTC), we will switch the MX record for vger to point to the new location (subspace.kernel.org), which will complete the mailing list migration from the legacy vger server to the new infrastructure.

External feed Read More at the Source: https://lwn.net/Articles/954783/

 2023-12-13  Comments Off on LWN.net – The end of vger.kernel.org

Planet PostgreSQL – Bruce Momjian: Is SQL Good?

Nov 202023
 

The Postgres mailing lists are full of practical discussions, but two years ago there was a
77-email thread titled “The tragedy of SQL” that questioned the utility of the SQL query
language; t is worth a review. While opening with “A fun philosophical discussion,” it states:

The world’s economic output would be substantially higher (5%?) if our industry had settled on almost anything other than SQL for relational databases.

It disparages object-relational mappers and suggests Datalog as an alternative query
language.

Continue Reading »

External feed Read More at the Source: https://postgr.es/p/6ch

 2023-11-20  Comments Off on Planet PostgreSQL – Bruce Momjian: Is SQL Good?

Richard Stallman’s Political Notes – Google remote attestation system

Nov 132023
 

Google says that it will use its remote attestation system (“Web
Environment Integrity”) only in the most oppressive scenario: as DRM.

Making Google drop the rest of the plan is a tactical advance, but it
is not victory. Google still plans to prevent playing “embedded
video” through an application that users can trust. Why could users
trust that application? Precisely because Google could not trust it
to impose Google’s control over the users.

As long as companies have a way to control whether we use applications
that we have modified, we are not safe! Our goal should be to
prohibit the sale or distribution of computer systems that allow
remote servers to do remote attestation of the software you choose to
run on your computer to…

External feed Read More at the Source: https://stallman.org/archives/2023-sep-dec.html#12_November_2023_(Google_remote_attestation_system)

 2023-11-13  Comments Off on Richard Stallman’s Political Notes – Google remote attestation system
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