Too many laws passing without 'proper scrutiny', Geoffrey Palmer says
A former Labour Prime Minister says Parliament is passing too many laws without proper scrutiny.
Sir Geoffrey Palmer told Nine to Noon the government was increasingly pushing through legislation under urgency, which allowed it to skip stages such as public consultation and select committees.
But Leader of the House Chris Bishop said just nine Bills have been passed in that way, and there were good reasons for all of them.
Palmer said the normal checks and balances were stripped out when laws were made at pace.
"Urgency has become the default mechanism for dealing with Parliamentary legislation and the standing orders are not followed and you also have extended sittings - and both of those mean the Government's agenda is completely at the will of the Government," he said.
Palmer said the Fast-Track Approvals Act 2024 - and its amendment - was a classic example of a trend that "ministers know best" and was "ministerial dictatorship".
"It was criticised by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment then, Simon Upton, the amendment bill puts the process that was enacted in 2024 on steroids.
"It gets faster and faster. It will be a fast-track to environmental degradation, [more] than it already is."
Bishop was approached for further comment.
The legislation, which passed under urgency at the end of last year, is back before Parliament with an amendment that the government intended to push through by the end of 2025.
It said the amendment to the Act would increase competition in the supermarket sector.
Despite being open for just over 10 days, it received 2158 submissions, with about 95 percent opposed.
Palmer said legislative checks and balances - which he already considered lacking - were further reduced when legislation was made at pace.
"What is the hurry? Legislation is law-making. You want to get it right. You have to analyse it, you have to do proper research, you don't bang it through because a minister has an idea.
"It needs to be properly drafted by Parliamentary council. We have had a degradation of our legislative system in New Zealand in recent years."
Bishop said the government had a big legislative agenda and limited hours in ordinary house time to get it done.
Regarding the use of urgency, he said: "I am reluctant to use urgency to avoid select committees outside of the standard Budget urgency process, and it is only done so when there are good reasons."
Too many laws passing without 'proper scrutiny', Geoffrey Palmer says
Sir Geoffrey Palmer says the government is increasingly pushing through legislation under urgency and skipping consultation.Ninetonoon (RNZ)
like this
Ripping Blu Rays is way deeper than I expected
I didn't think I'd spend hours reading about this today, but some things surprised me:
- Just using a Playstation sounds like it won't work or will be a huge time sink.
- Blu ray optical drives are way more expensive than I thought
- The copy protections on Blu rays are exceptionally annoying, to the extent where there is really only one closed source software -- MakeMKV -- that can work around them.
This post goes into some interesting details. - Finding a drive that is known to work with MakeMKV is a pain. There's a brand called Pioneer that seems promising but they have stopped producing bluray drives ~~went out of business last year~~. I have no idea which model works, and it's common that secondhand sellers will swap enclosures and pass it off as a different model.
- Sometimes you need to flash the firmware on the drive to make it work with 4K UHD discs.
I was going to try ripping a Blu-ray that I bought recently, since I couldn't find a quality rip anywhere, but I'm pretty turned off from the whole prospect at this point.
Anyway I'm not really asking for a specific reply, I just thought this topic was interesting and I'm curious what people think about Blu rays and optical media in general. Does the future seem bleak? Are we going to be stuck with shitty WebDLs for most new content? Or is physical media here to stay?
like this
GE-Proton10-26 Released
Github workflows:
- fixup automatic building and attachment of GE-Proton release tarballs.
Proton:
- changes imported for upstream proton
- changes imported for upstream build environment
- changes imported for upstream lsteamclient
- changes imported for upstream steamvr
- FEX now builds as part of proton as per upstream changes
- wine-wayland/em-10 patches rebased
- wine-staging patches rebased
- SDL dummy controller will no longer be active when steam input is inactive (such as when wine-wayland is enabled, in which case steam input doesn't work)
- ffxvi (16) crash with wayland enabled fixed
- DLSS Scaling now available
- add PROTON_DLSS_INDICATOR to enable DLSS hud
- add PROTON_FSR4_INDICATOR to show FSR4 watermark
- docs: Update Readme for scaling _UPGRADE variables:
fsr4 PROTON_FSR4_UPGRADE Automatically download amdxcffx64.dll and upgrade games with FSR 3.1 to use FSR 4. Version to download can be specified by supplying it as a value, like so PROTON_FSR4_UPGRADE="4.0.1", instead of 1. Downloads version 4.0.2 of the required DLL by default. This option also disables AMD Anti-Lag 2 currently due to various issues.
fsr4hud PROTON_FSR4_INDICATOR Enable the FSR4 watermark at the top left portion of the screen.
fsr4rdna3 PROTON_FSR4_RDNA3_UPGRADE Identical to PROTON_FSR4_UPGRADE but for RDNA3 GPUs. Enables some required compatibility options and downloads version 4.0.0 of the DLL by default.
fsr3 PROTON_FSR3_UPGRADE
dlss PROTON_DLSS_UPGRADE Automatically download and use newer versions of nvngx_dlss(d|g).dll DLLs. Version to download can be specified by supplying it as a value, like so PROTON_DLSS_UPGRADE="310.2", instead of 1, to download version 310.2.1.0. This option also sets DXVK_NVAPI_DRS_SETTINGS to use the latest preset. If you provide your own config for it through this environment variable, your configuration is going to be applied..
dlsshud PROTON_DLSS_INDICATOR Enable the DLSS overlay at the bottom left portion of the screen. This is exactly the same as FSR4_WATERMARK=1
xess PROTON_XESS_UPGRADE
Protonfixes:
- yet another fix for space engineers
- fix for the outer worlds 2
- ntsync disabled for SOMA
- upscaler download handler utility added
- Check if a directory is readable before attempting to map it.
- fix for Zeit 2 added
- fixes added for Death end re;Quest series from GOG
- Add fix for "They Are Billions" crash when using Russian localization
- Add fix for "Not For Broadcast" and "Not For Broadcast: Prologue"
- Fix CEF issues in Duet Night Abyss
Release GE-Proton10-26 Released · GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom
Github workflows: fixup automatic building and attachment of GE-Proton release tarballs. Proton: changes imported for upstream proton changes imported for upstream build environment changes impo...GitHub
Protect your mental health from capitalistic thought as much as possible
like this
Does Anyone Use their Phone without a SIM Card?
This is something I've been thinking about for a while. I've decided to get a Pixel with GrapheneOS as my next phone and I'm trying to decide the pros and cons of putting a SIM card in it. Convenience vs privacy, public wifi with a VPN vs using phone data, etc.
I can't get a SIM card where I live without ID and I'm looking to reduce being tracked as much as possible. Does anyone else do the same thing?
like this
13 years later, the bold and terrifying sci-fi game Routine is finally here
13 years later, the bold and terrifying sci-fi game Routine is finally here
The sci-fi horror game Routine is finally out now on Steam and Xbox, after more than a decade in development.Lewis Gordon (The Verge)
KDE Plasma black screen with white flashes problem
Video description: after trying to select volume control option at bottom right the screen turned black with white flashes.
This issue arises in two ways. First when booting the initial ASUS logo will show and then straight this black, flashing screen and second way it happens is when I try to select wifi, volume, network options present at bottom right area.
When this happens, pressing the power button also doesn't work, so I have to force power off the laptop by holding the power button for some seconds.
This doesn't happen every time i.e most of the times it boots correctly and most of the time trying to select options work as expected.
Operating System: Fedora Linux 43
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.20.0
Qt Version: 6.10.1
Kernel Version: 6.17.8-300.fc43.x86_64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i5-8300H CPU @ 2.30GHz
Memory: 8 GiB of RAM (7.6 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor 1: Intel® UHD Graphics 630
Graphics Processor 2: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Product Name: TUF GAMING FX504GD_FX80GD
System Version: 1.0
like this
Thai military launches airstrikes on Cambodia as cross-border clashes erupt
Thai military launches airstrikes on Cambodia as cross-border clashes erupt
Both nations accuse each other of opening fire firstStaff Writer (Nikkei Asia)
like this
Selfies of Endangered Sumatran Tigers Expose a Robust Population
Selfies of Endangered Tigers Expose a Robust Population
Selfies of Endangered Sumatran Tigers Expose a Robust Population: Array of camera traps captures surprising images of tigers in the wild.Devin Reese (Nautilus)
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues EPIC to stop Muslim housing project
The East Plano Islamic Center has pitched a residential development, formerly called EPIC City, with more than 1,000 residential units, a mosque, a K-12 faith-based school and retail shops outside of Dallas. The project drew numerous state investigations earlier this year — some for unclear reasons — including one from Paxton, who said in March he was looking into potential violations of consumer protection laws.
...
“The leaders behind EPIC City have engaged in a radical plot to destroy hundreds of acres of beautiful Texas land and line their own pockets,” Paxton said in a statement, vowing to stop the development. “I will relentlessly bring the full force of the law against anyone who thinks they can ignore the rules and hurt Texans.”
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues to stop Muslim housing project in North Texas
Paxton began investigating the East Plano Islamic Center in March for potential violations of consumer protection laws.Alejandro Serrano (The Texas Tribune)
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues EPIC to stop Muslim housing project
The East Plano Islamic Center has pitched a residential development, formerly called EPIC City, with more than 1,000 residential units, a mosque, a K-12 faith-based school and retail shops outside of Dallas. The project drew numerous state investigations earlier this year — some for unclear reasons — including one from Paxton, who said in March he was looking into potential violations of consumer protection laws.
...
“The leaders behind EPIC City have engaged in a radical plot to destroy hundreds of acres of beautiful Texas land and line their own pockets,” Paxton said in a statement, vowing to stop the development. “I will relentlessly bring the full force of the law against anyone who thinks they can ignore the rules and hurt Texans.”
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues to stop Muslim housing project in North Texas
Paxton began investigating the East Plano Islamic Center in March for potential violations of consumer protection laws.Alejandro Serrano (The Texas Tribune)
essell likes this.
Immigrants approved for citizenship ‘plucked out’ of line moments before pledging allegiance: report
Immigrants were moments away from pledging allegiance to the United States in Boston — the final step of the long process to becoming a U.S. citizen — when government officials pulled them out of line, according to a new report.
The scene unfolded at Boston’s Faneuil Hall on Thursday, Dec. 4, according to the report from WGBH, a National Public Radio member station.
As people who were already approved to be naturalized — having completed the lengthy U.S. citizenship process — lined up to pledge allegiance, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials told them they could not continue due to their countries of origin, the outlet reported.
like this
Why fossil fuel influence in children's education is a democratic problem, not just a climate problem
Why fossil fuel influence in children's education is a democratic problem, not just a climate problem
Australia’s children deserve the truth about climate change. They deserve to learn science that is free from corporate spin, especially when it comes to industries driving the crisis that will shape the rest of their lives.thepoint.com.au
reshared this
Bulldozed, crushed and buried — fate of missing aid-seekers
cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/6959949
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1196…
What Skwawkbox-Canary and other independent news outlets, together with local journalists and international activists have been reporting for months, has finally made it into the ‘mainstream’ media. A CNN ‘investigation‘ ‘revealed’ that the Israeli military bulldozed some of the bodies of aid-seekers slaughtered at so-called ‘aid’ stations into unmarked Gaza mass graves. Others were simply left […]By Skwawkbox
From Canary via This RSS Feed.
GP Abu Dhabi, l'analisi: Norris campione, ERA ORA! E grazie a un superbo Max
GP Abu Dhabi, l'analisi: Norris campione, ERA ORA! E grazie a un superbo Max
Pino Allievi analizza l'andamento del Gran Premio di Abu Dhabi, ultima gara del mondiale 2025 di Formula 1 che ha incoronato Lando NorrisPino Allievi (FormulaPassion.it)
Hegseth Defends Boat Bombings as New Details Further Undermine Administration's Justifications
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1217…
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday defended the Trump administration's policy of bombing suspected drug-trafficking vessels even as new details further undermined the administration's stated justifications for the policy.
According to the Guardian, Hegseth told a gathering at the Ronald Reagan presidential library that the boat bombings, which so far have killed at least 87 people, are necessary to protect Americans from illegal drugs being shipped to the US.
"If you’re working for a designated terrorist organization and you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you," Hegseth said. "Let there be no doubt about it."
However, leaked details about a classified briefing delivered to lawmakers last week by Adm. Frank Bradley about a September 2 boat strike cast new doubts on Hegseth's justifications.
CNN reported on Friday that Bradley told lawmakers that the boat taken out by the September 2 attack was not even headed toward the US, but was going "to link up with another, larger vessel that was bound for Suriname," a small nation in the northeast of South America.
While Bradley acknowledged that the boat was not heading toward the US, he told lawmakers that the strike on it was justified because the drugs it was carrying could have theoretically wound up in the US at some point.
Additionally, NBC News reported on Saturday that Bradley told lawmakers that Hegseth had ordered all 11 men who were on the boat targeted by the September 2 strike to be killed because "they were on an internal list of narco-terrorists who US intelligence and military officials determined could be lethally targeted."
This is relevant because the US military launched a second strike during the September 2 operation to kill two men who had survived the initial strike on their vessel, which many legal experts consider to be either a war crime or an act of murder under domestic law.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, watched video of the September 2 double-tap attack last week, and he described the footage as “one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.”
“Any American who sees the video that I saw will see its military attacking shipwrecked sailors,” Himes explained. “Now, there’s a whole set of contextual items that the admiral explained. Yes, they were carrying drugs. They were not in position to continue their mission in any way... People will someday see this video and they will see that that video shows, if you don’t have the broader context, an attack on shipwrecked sailors.”
While there has been much discussion about the legality of the September 2 double-tap strike in recent days, some critics have warned that fixating on this particular aspect of the administration's policy risks taking the focus off the illegality of the boat-bombing campaign as a whole.
Daphne Eviatar, director for security and human rights for Amnesty International USA, said on Friday that the entire boat-bombing campaign has been "illegal under both domestic and international law."
"All of them constitute murder because none of the victims, whether or not they were smuggling illegal narcotics, posed an imminent threat to life," she said. "Congress must take action now to stop the US military from murdering more people in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific."
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
'All of Them Constitute Murder,' Amnesty Says of Trump Boat Bombings
"Congress must take action now to stop the US military from murdering more people in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific."brad-reed (Common Dreams)
In New Orleans and across U.S., anger over ICE raids sparks a 2nd American Revolution
Everyday folks are rising up to resist immigration raids with whistles, car chases, and noisy protests. Revolution is in the air.
like this
Billionaire Palantir Co-Founder Pushes Return of Public Hangings as Part of 'Masculine Leadership' Initiative
cross-posted from: news.abolish.capital/post/1218…
Venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of data platform company Palantir, is calling for the return of public hangings as part of a broader push to restore what he describes as "masculine leadership" to the US.
In a statement posted on X Friday, Lonsdale said that he supported changing the so-called "three strikes" anti-crime law to ensure that anyone who is convicted of three violent crimes gets publicly executed, rather than simply sent to prison for life.
"If I’m in charge later, we won’t just have a three strikes law," he wrote. "We will quickly try and hang men after three violent crimes. And yes, we will do it in public to deter others."
Lonsdale then added that "our society needs balance," and said that "it's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable."
Lonsdale's views on public hangings being necessary to restore "masculine leadership" drew swift criticism.
Gil Durán, a journalist who documents the increasingly authoritarian politics of Silicon Valley in his newsletter "The Nerd Reich," argued in a Saturday post that Lonsdale's call for public hangings showed that US tech elites are "entering a more dangerous and desperate phase of radicalization."
"For months, Peter Thiel guru Curtis Yarvin has been squawking about the need for more severe measures to cement Trump's authoritarian rule," Durán explained. "Peter Thiel is ranting about the Antichrist in a global tour. And now Lonsdale—a Thiel protégé—is fantasizing about a future in which he will have the power to unleash state violence at mass scale."
Taulby Edmondson, an adjunct professor of history, religion, and culture at Virginia Tech, wrote in a post on Bluesky that the rhetoric Lonsdale uses to justify the return of public hangings has even darker intonations than calls for state-backed violence.
"A point of nuance here: 'masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable' is how lynch mobs are described, not state-sanctioned executions," he observed.
Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll argued that Lonsdale's remarks were symbolic of a kind of performative masculinity that has infected US culture.
"Immaturity masquerading as strength is the defining personal characteristic of our age," he wrote.
Tech entrepreneur Anil Dash warned Lonsdale that his call for public hangings could have unintended consequences for members of the Silicon Valley elite.
"Well, Joe, Mark Zuckerberg has sole control over Facebook, which directly enabled the Rohingya genocide," he wrote. "So let’s have the conversation."
And Columbia Journalism School professor Bill Grueskin noted that Lonsdale has been a major backer of the University of Austin, an unaccredited liberal arts college that has been pitched as an alternative to left-wing university education with the goal of preparing "thoughtful and ethical innovators, builders, leaders, public servants and citizens through open inquiry and civil discourse."
From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
Joe Lonsdale Calls For Public Hangings
Silicon Valley radicalization escalatesGil Duran (The Nerd Reich)
A new storm is brewing in South-East Asia. This time it's in the halls of power
ABC News
ABC News provides the latest news and headlines in Australia and around the world.Karishma Vyas (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
like this
RRF Caserta Sport. Calcio Serie C. Cerignola Casertana 1 a 1
Firefox Account
Maybe a silly question - but is it unwise to use Firefox for getting torrents, or saving any bookmarks in firefox? Is there benefit to using a private window (doubtful as I believe this only affects your device).
I know we generally can trust Firefox but they could turn quickly.
like this
🔥AGORA: Multidão ocupa o Rio de Janeiro contra o feminicídio 🔥
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.youtube.com
RRF Caserta. Sport. Basket Serie B. Juve Caserta 71 Imola 62
"Yes"
Where i used to work we had a lot of Chinese students in the city, with varying degrees of skill with English. No problem, English is my main but also not my first language. This story is from about 20 years ago.
A customer comes in for help with their computer. I ask my troubleshooting questions to triage the problem.
"My computer can't connect to the Internet"
OK what happens when you try?
"Nothing"
At home, at work?
"At home"
Have you checked all the connections?
"Yes"
Restarted everything? PC, router?
"Yes"
Have you contacted your ISP?
"Yes"
And?
"No problem"
OK do you see link lights on the network socket?
"Yes"
Is it just websites? Are you having problems with email, MSN messenger or Skype or any other chat clients?
"Yes"
(We are at this for a good 10 minutes but I'll skip the unnecessary bits)
Have you tried a new network cable?
"Yes"
OK bring it in, we can test it here for you.
"Oh but it works in Starbucks"
What? You mean its a laptop? Wireless?
"Yes"
And you connect wirelessly at home too?
"Yes"
But you said.. the cable, the link lights?
"Yes"
And then it hits me. Waves of memories wash over me. My Japanese father talking to clients, head bobbing up and down constantly nodding and bowing.
"Hai, hai, hai, haaaa, hai, hai, kashikomarimashita"
Yes. Yes. Yes. Oh yes. Yes. Yes. I understand.
Yes in japanese doesn't necessarily mean "correct". We say it to show we're listening and being attentive, following the conversation. Yes doesn't always mean "yes that's right", it can means "yes please continue". And now I assume its similar in Chinese too. Like in English you might say "aw yeah! Aw hell yeah!" while listening to a story.
Right. Forget everything we've just said and start from the beginning.
Can you see your SSID in the list at home?
"Yes"
(Fuck. Thats on me)
And what name is your SSID in the list when you connect at home?
"[ISP]-XYZ123"
OK good and...
reshared this
RRF Caserta. Cultura. La Prima storica al San Carlo il 6 dicembre 2025 della Medea di Cherubini
Sam Mraiche was investigated by Elections Alberta over alleged illegal political donations
archive.is/w03hg#selection-275…
The elections regulator’s director of compliance and enforcement said in an affidavit that Mr. Mraiche was being investigated in connection with an alleged straw donor scheme – an illegal practice in which an individual circumvents donation limits by providing money through others.“Mr. Mraiche is alleged to have given funds to other people for the purpose of having those people make contributions to a registered party,” Diane Brauer, the official, said. The alleged donations were made in the two months prior to the May, 2023, provincial election, according to her affidavit, which was filed in support of the contempt request.
Besides Mraiche joining the UCP's Smith in a hotel suite to watch provincial election results in May 2023, and the Edmonton Oilers hockey games with the notorious skybox photo, keep in mind that Mraiche has also allegedly been tied to McFee, Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis, and Dr. Jayan Nagendran.
thetyee.ca/News/2025/02/14/AHS…
thetyee.ca/News/2025/02/26/UCP…
Sam Mraiche was investigated by Elections Alberta over alleged illegal political donations
Regulator says Mraiche was being investigated this year in connection to an alleged straw donor schemeTom Cardoso (The Globe and Mail)
Sunday, December 7, 2025
Share
The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]
Over 25,000 members make our journalism possible. Can we count on you, too? Joining is easy and safe.
Olga Rudenko, editor-in-chief
of the Kyiv Independent
Russia’s war against Ukraine
A woman mourns among graves of Ukrainian servicemen at the Lychakiv cemetery on the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in Lviv on Dec. 6, 2025. (Yuriy Dyachyshyn / AFP via Getty Images)
Explosions reported in Kremenchuk as Russia launches barrage of missiles, drones towards central Ukraine. Russian forces launched a large-scale attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk overnight on Dec. 6, officials reported.
‘Happy Ukrainian Armed Forces Day’ — hackers deface website of Russian company delivering military goods, HUR source claims. The cyberattack took down over 700 computers and servers and deleted accounts of more than 1,000 Eltrans+ users, HUR claimed.
End to war ‘depends on Russia’s commitment to peace,’ Ukraine, US agree. Over the course of 2025, Ukraine has repeatedly agreed to ceasefire proposals put forward by the White House. Russia has refused to agree to a single one.
Zelensky reports ‘long and substantive call‘ with Witkoff, Kushner. “Ukraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace. We agreed on the next steps and formats for talks with the United States,” Zelensky wrote on Dec. 6.
Your contribution helps keep the Kyiv Independent going. Become a member today.
Ukraine will not accept any peace deal requiring territorial concessions, Syrskyi tells UK broadcaster. “There are no pauses, no delays in (Russia’s) operations. They keep pushing their troops forward to seize as much of our territory as possible under the cover of negotiations,” Syrskyi said.
Chornobyl protective shield ‘lost its primary safety functions’ after Russian drone strike, UN nuclear agency warns. Russia’s drone strike caused a fire that burned the outer cladding of the shelter.
G7, EU mull ban on Russian oil maritime services, but experts sceptical. If the ban goes through, Russia would likely have to expand its shadow fleet to transport crude oil instead.
Read our exclusives
Opinion: Ukraine’s lights still burn, even if not all the time
After three winters in Ukraine, I (and every Ukrainian) have become adept at dealing with the constant power cuts resulting from Russia’s relentless missile, bomb, and drone attacks.
Photo: Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images
Learn more
Kyiv Independent event in New York to hold live stream, photo exhibition
The Kyiv Independent on Dec. 9 will host its first live event in New York City, an evening dedicated to storytelling, investigative journalism, and frontline storytelling.
Photo: The Kyiv Independent
Independent journalism is never easy, and it’s even harder in wartime
Yet we can do it without paywalls, billionaires, or compromise — because of our community.
Human costs of war
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,179,790 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The number includes 1,180 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Why Ukraine rejects Russia’s 600,000 army cap demand
International response
Zelensky to visit London amid push for peace. Zelensky will also meet with the leaders of France and Germany in the British capital on Monday.
This newsletter is open for sponsorship. Boost your brand’s visibility by reaching thousands of engaged subscribers. Click here for more details.
Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Dominic Culverwell, Chris York, Olena Goncharova, Sonya Bandouil, and Dmytro Basmat.
If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider joining our membership program. Start supporting independent journalism today.
Share
Abu Shabab’s death signals the inevitable failure of Israel’s plan for Gaza
Throughout the war, Abu Shabab’s name was synonymous with collaboration with Israel. He was a key partner in Gaza in securing safe passage for Israeli troops, searching for Israeli captives, killing Palestinian resistance members, and, most infamously, looting aid trucks. Before he was killed, Abu Shabab was reportedly being considered for the position of governor of Rafah to be appointed by Israel.His death deals a massive blow to Israel’s efforts to establish a new Palestinian administration in Gaza that responds to its wishes and oppresses the Palestinians. It is yet another proof that the Palestinian people will never accept colonial rule.
Abu Shabab’s death signals the inevitable failure of Israel’s plan for Gaza
The Israeli efforts to establish Palestinian rule in Gaza loyal to the occupation are doomed.Said Alsaloul (Al Jazeera)
The pincer movement of authoritarianism: Europe is under pressure from Trump & Putin at a crossroads
Share
They once formed opposing poles of the political world order, but today the US and Russia speak almost the same language – especially when it comes to Europe.
The fact that the government of Donald Trump, of all people, speaks of censorship of free speech in Europe, while imposing draconian penalties on universities, firing employees who display rainbow flags, denigrating the free press as “enemies of the people,” calling female journalists who ask questions “pigsties,” and actively promoting disinformation technologies—this demonstrates the perfidy of the argument.
In a reversal of perpetrator and victim typical of modern authoritarian movements, the US is now blaming European governments for the poor relations with Russia
Full article in German: riffreporter.de/de/internation…
English version of full article in PDF version for download:
The pincer movement of authoritarianismDownload
Share
Zangengriff des Autoritarismus: Europa steht unter Druck von Trump und Putin am Scheideweg
Kommentar: Die USA sagen in ihrer neuen außenpolitischen Strategie der EU in ähnlicher Sprache den Kampf an wie Putins Russland. Doch noch immer schlafwandeln die europäischen Lenker, statt schnell und entschieden zu handeln.Christian Schwägerl (RiffReporter)
When Musk joined Trump, countries rolled out the red carpet for Starlink
On April 7, Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser of Bangladesh, sent Trump an urgent letter. He listed all the ways that his country was trying to comply with Trump’s agenda and asked him to delay tariffs. The note included a curious addition: “We have executed the necessary steps to launch Starlink in Bangladesh.”Since Starlink launched its first satellites in 2019, the internet provider owned by billionaire Elon Musk has attempted to expand into markets around the world, often facing regulatory red tape in doing so. But with Musk playing a high-profile role in Trump’s White House from January through May, Yunus and other leaders seemed to recognize that accommodating Starlink could be one means of appeasing the new administration.
The same day Yunus sent his letter, Starlink applied for a license with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. Three weeks after Yunus’ letter to Trump, the BTRC approved Starlink’s application. The service launched in Bangladesh the following month.
Bangladesh became the latest country around the world to expedite its regulatory approval process for satellite internet providers while Musk took part in Trump’s second administration. During the first five months of the year — as Musk assumed his lead role in the Department of Government Efficiency — Starlink announced it had become available in at least 13 countries, while its applications were approved in two more. In the six months since Musk broke ties with the administration, Starlink announced its entry into an additional 13 countries, totalling at least 26 countries in 2025.
In some cases, Starlink found quick success in countries it sought to enter for the first time. In others, Starlink’s applications had stalled for years until they were suddenly greenlit.
How Starlink benefited from Elon Musk’s Trump ties - Rest of World
The satellite internet service cut through red tape to enter new countries while Musk led DOGE.Kate Bubacz (Rest of World)
Doesn't matter.
The initial suggestion was of a ban in 2030 from 10 countries that already had plans of banning fossil fuels from 2030 or sooner.
The 2035 deadline was a compromise to allow the car manufacturers to get up to speed.
If they try to prolong that, some countries might just go back to their local legislation and ban the cars even sooner.
EU can potentially claim that such bans are against the free trade in EU and force it through, but they can never actually force anyone to buy the cars.
The decision of switching to EVs is entirely up to the local drivers, regardless of what arbitrary deadline the manufacturers try to lobby through EU.
Even in France and Germany, who produce fossil fuel cars, there are cities with environmental zones banning fossil fuel cars. Just as it today doesn't make any sense for people near Berlin to buy a diesel car that they can't drive in Berlin, every potential car buyer in all of EU are going to have to consider if they can even use or resell a fossil fuel car in their local area within the expected lifetime of a car.
like this
New haptic display technology creates 3D graphics you can see and feel
New haptic display technology creates 3D graphics you can see and feel
This technology could one day enable high-definition visual-haptic touch screens for automobiles, mobile computing or intelligent architectural walls.The Current
adhocfungus likes this.
Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV: Wikipedia’s most-read articles of 2025
Including two popes, the Prince of Darkness, and MrBeast.Wikipedia will mark its 25th anniversary on January 15, 2026. No one could have predicted 25 years ago that Wikipedia would grow into the backbone of knowledge on the internet it is today—powering search engines, voice assistants, and generative AI tools.
Today, nearly 250,000 volunteers generously give their time and energy to update Wikipedia, add citations, build consensus, and more. They keep knowledge human. In 2025, people spent an estimated 2.4 billion hours reading English Wikipedia articles, according to data from the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia and other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. The top 20 most-read English Wikipedia articles of 2025 outlined below focus on politics, popular culture, and loss.
Announcing Wikipedia's most-read articles of 2025 – Wikimedia Foundation
New Wikipedia data shows the events, people, movies, and more that captured global attention in 2025.Wikimedia Foundation
BrikoX doesn't like this.
Judge hints Vizio TV buyers may have rights to source code licensed under GPL— Tentative ruling signals a potential win for SFC’s copyleft enforcement push
Judge hints Vizio TV buyers may have rights to source code licensed under GPL
: Tentative ruling signals a potential win for SFC’s copyleft enforcement pushThomas Claburn (The Register)
adhocfungus likes this.
Trains cancelled over fake bridge collapse image
Trains cancelled over fake bridge collapse image
Rail services were cancelled after a 'hoax' picture of a damaged bridge appeared on social mediaZoe Toase (BBC News)
like this
reshared this
A BBC journalist ran the image through an AI chatbot which identified key spots that may have been manipulated.
This is terrifying. Does the BBC not have anyone on the team that understands why this does not, and will never work?
AI creating jobs by requiring more human intervention for validation of previously reliable forms of information?
Okay cool, I'm here for it.
The new media weapons of war
The new media weapons of war
Open access // by Benoît Bréville (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)Le Monde diplomatique
copymyjalopy likes this.
Why Does A.I. Write Like … That?
Actually decent article from the New York Crimes on AI generated text.
My Saint Bernard Stole the Toy Drive
So today was the annual Toy Lift at the Ohio Valley Mall, which basically means a bunch of us show up in the freezing cold to prove we’re still decent humans who can do something other than complain on the internet. And because life is a cosmic joke with a dark sense of humor, I brought Jersey. Yes, my 150-pound Saint Bernard dressed like an elf who lost a bet to a lumberjack. She strutted through that parking lot like she owned the whole rescue operation, and honestly, she kind of did. Kids were losing their minds, adults were taking photos like she was some kind of canine celebrity, and I was just there trying not to slip on the ice and eat pavement in front of the sheriff’s department.
At one point I’m standing there talking to a FedEx driver who looks like he walked straight out of a beard-oil commercial, and Jersey decides to flop dramatically onto the asphalt like a Victorian woman fainting on a couch. Meanwhile, the Chick-fil-A cow strolls over, looking like it escaped from a holiday fever dream. Jersey gives it this expression like, “I’m not paid enough to engage with mascots,” and honestly, same. Somehow this turns into a full photo-op with firefighters, sheriff’s deputies, utility crews, and random mall stragglers. My dog had more range than a Hollywood actor and more patience than anyone working retail in December.
By the end of the day, my toes were numb, my caffeine buzz was fading, and Jersey was still prancing around like she was running for office. But we did it. We showed up, froze our butts off, and helped collect toys so some kids have a better Christmas. And yeah, I’ll complain about everything because it’s my calling in life, but doing something good with my giant goofball of a dog? I’ll take that chaos any day.
Tech-tinkering geocacher who questions everything and dodges people on a purpose. Introverted agnostic, punk at heart, and a self-taught dev who learned things the hard way because nothing else ever sticks.
Eric Foltin
Geocacher / Pessimist / Agnostic / Introvert / Archivist / Punker / Self-Taught DevEric Foltin
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – „Fargo“ (1996)
Der absolut perfekte Film zur Jahreszeit. Ein kalter, klarer Kristall. Und ein früher Höhepunkt, der die Handschrift seiner Regisseure nachhaltig definiert hat. Ich bin da einfach ein Fan. Deshalb sehen Sie es mir bitte nach, wenn ich diesen Film einfach absurd feiern möchte, für das, was er immer noch ist. Ein Geniestreich von Joel Coen & Ethan Coen und ein frühes Weihnachtsgeschenk in der Mediathek. (ARTE, Wh.)
Zum Blog: nexxtpress.de/mediathekperlen/…
Ich glaub da war der server mal kurz down? Bekam bis eben garnix, nun wieder da..
Allerdings fargo konkret nicht, vermutlich rechtebedingt.
@taktiktafel @mediathekperlen
Ein Browserplugin für Fire/Librefox tut da zwischendurch wirklich gute Dienste: addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/…
@stubenhocker @taktiktafel @mediathekperlen
Video DownloadHelper – Holen Sie sich diese Erweiterung für 🦊 Firefox (de)
Laden Sie Video DownloadHelper für Firefox herunter. Die einfache Möglichkeit, Webvideos von Hunderten von YouTube-ähnlichen Websites herunterzuladen und zu konvertieren.addons.mozilla.org
Apparent coup attempt in Benin, govt claims army has situation 'under control'
cross-posted from: lemmy.eco.br/post/18878447
A group of soldiers on Sunday appeared on Benin's state television claiming to have removed President Patrice Talon from office and dissolved all state institutions. Talon's office, meanwhile, said that loyalist forces had managed to get the situation "under control".
TIL: Active sort is the New Comments of PieFed
Currently getting familiar with PieFed as my new main platform after using Lemmy for more than 2 years.
I was missing the New Comments filter from Lemmy that shows you posts that had recent comments.
After some digging on Codeberg, I found this issue and found out that the Active sort on PieFed shows you posts with recent comments.
tl;dr New Comments on Lemmy is Active on PieFed
"New comments" filter
Hello everyone, Opening a dedicate issue from the discussion on https://codeberg.org/rimu/pyfedi/issues/142 In a nutshell, would it be possible to have a "New comments" filter on PieFed? Lemmy does it already, and that's a feature I use a lot t…Codeberg.org
like this
From the Lemmy docs:
Active (default): Calculates a rank based on the score and time of the latest comment, with decay over time
La UK en 2027 okazos en Aŭstralio
La Estraro de Universala Esperanto-Asocio decidis, ke la 112-a Universala Kongreso de Esperanto en 2027 okazos en Melburno, Aŭstralio.
liberafolio.org/2025/12/07/la-…
This Month’s Quote
Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.
Bill Nye
Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man's Meta Smart Glasses on Subway
A New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses. She was later hailed as a hero.
like this
Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man's Meta Smart Glasses on Subway
cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/54484549
A New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses. She was later hailed as a hero.
Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man's Meta Smart Glasses on Subway
A New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses. She was later hailed as a hero.
adhocfungus likes this.
Keep talking with US, Turkey’s Erdogan tells Venezuela’s Maduro » Borneo Bulletin Online
BRICS Film Festival In Fortaleza Shows How Global South Cinema Is Quietly Rewiring Influence
- Free BRICS film festival in Fortaleza turns a cultural event into real soft power.
- Brazil uses its BRICS presidency to market itself as a pragmatic, business-friendly creative hub.
- Films and panels bypass traditional Western gatekeepers and build direct ties among emerging-market industries.
BRICS Film Festival In Fortaleza Shows How Global South Cinema
Key PointsFree BRICS film festival in Fortaleza turns a cultural event into real soft power.Brazil uses its BRICS presidencyAdele Cardin (The Rio Times)
Optimus is now in its early release program and available to approved customers.
Optimus is now in its early release program and available to approved customers.
Musk had said at the start of 2025 that the company would build at least 5,000 robots this year, but The Information reported in July that production totaled only a few hundred units through the first eight months.
Musk has set a target of 5,000 to 10,000 units in 2025 and 50,000 to 100,000 in 2026. Enrollment is open, but capacity is limited. I already secured early access with the Optimus Exclusive Card. Anyone can secured there's also.
reshared this
Mirage 2000 is old. Like, 1980s vintage.
Modern ones are Rafale and EF Typhon. Those are completely made in France or Europe respectively.
Gripen E is mostly made in Sweden and Europe. But the engine is made in USA by GE.
Geohot: Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop
Tldr: he wants a non-upgradeable laptop that is maxed out from day one. I'd want a bit more upgrade path than he does, but he has some interesting thoughts.
Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop
I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels Apple’s quality is degrading. I spend 10 hours a day on my laptop and would spend any amount of money within reason for a better one. However, everything comes with tradeoffs.the singularity is nearer
Two or one PGP key when sending via addy.io?
I want to use PGP in Addy.io so I can at least encrypt the subjects (full encryption strips HTML) before it sends onto my receipt address @customdomain.tld in mailbox.
I also want to encrypt everything received to mailbox (encryption at rest, but not zero knowledge)
I'll won't use the mailbox web app and will use the private key(s) in my mail client.
Should I use one key for both services, or two keys?
I know both services could make a copy before they encrypt with the key, but I'm ok with thst risk. I also know about proton and simple login, but I'm not a fan of proton at this stage.
A followup. I might want others to send an encrypted email to name@customdomain.tld hosted at Addy.io
Should I make an individual public key linked to the email address I give the sender?
Although new to PGP I understand the basics of i, and that a key can have any email address. I'm just not sure what's best practice in this setup.
Tesla Optimus
reshared this
stoy
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •Pioneer is a well known Japanese electronics company, they are still going strong, but have exited the optical disc drive business.
So no, Pioneer has not gone out of business, they have however changed focus from optical drives.
like this
joshg253, aramis87, adhocfungus, DaGeek247, yessikg e Scrollone like this.
tatterdemalion
in reply to stoy • • •like this
adhocfungus likes this.
Ulrich
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •How old are you? 😅 I think their name is bigger in the audio business, they made/make audio equipment, car stereos, CD Players, etc but you certainly don't see their name as often as you used. But then, people aren't really buying home/car audio equipment like they used to.
like this
yessikg e Scrollone like this.
MeThisGuy
in reply to Ulrich • • •xxce2AAb
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •HandBrake: Open Source Video Transcoder
handbrake.frlike this
aramis87 likes this.
henfredemars
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •I think optical media is a dead platform. Hence, there is an apparent lack of interest I think in implementing alternative solutions. I’ve had success with MakeMKV using the docker container approach, but never tried to rip UHD.
The Corpo-inspired future is that you should not get to own any of your media outright. They will decide when you can stream it and to which devices. Piracy is quickly becoming the only viable option if you value your freedom, and it’s a very unfortunate state of things.
like this
toothpaste_sandwich, Scrollone e iagomago like this.
tatterdemalion
in reply to henfredemars • • •like this
DaGeek247 e yessikg like this.
henfredemars
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •Even in terms of story, the content is no longer optimized for quality. It’s optimized for watchability which generally refers to the ease of viewing even when you’re not completely paying attention.
They somehow found a way to even further commercialize and mass produce the moving picture.
hobovision
in reply to henfredemars • • •Ulrich
in reply to henfredemars • • •I disagree. You can still find almost every new movie with a disc release. If you actually want the highest quality home video, this is still it.
like this
yessikg likes this.
SolarPunker
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •Because Blu-Ray is the format for enthusiasts and collectors. A burned one don't have the same collection value, and many times even the same content since you don't have extras or alternative version of the movie. USB or Streaming is just more convenient for mosts.
Still would be nice to see more FLOSS support in this sense. We used to make custom art for our burned CD in the 90s.
I always prefer dedicated physical media for the stuff I really care and/or can afford: people underestimate the value of something you can easily show, gift, play, sell, etc. Digital contents don't have this intrinsic value in our physical world, so I don't think physical media will disappear in the next future.
like this
DaGeek247 likes this.
J-Bone
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •For mainstream content and somewhat well known content, both regular BD and 4K BD rip are widely posted shortly after release.
You do have some truly niche content and non-english content where it's difficult to find BDRips / BD Remuxes, but you can usually access older DVDRips. If you're into this kind of content (as I am), you might as well just buy the BD (or stick to the DVDRip which is fine as far as I am concerned).
like this
yessikg likes this.
cassandrafatigue
in reply to J-Bone • • •Not unless the artist is selling directly
J-Bone
in reply to cassandrafatigue • • •More often than not, for niche and/or non-english content, this is indeed the case. I also don't see the big deal with supporting a smaller publisher.
like this
DaGeek247 e yessikg like this.
sobchak
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •I think there are probably enough collectors, AV nerds, and people without consistent high bandwidth unlimited internet to keep physical going for a while. It'll just be niche, like vinyl, I suppose.
It is kinda weird that optical stopped advancing. You can fit more data on a MicroSD card than BluRay. You can fit something like 240 blurays on a consumer HDD (and much more if you further compress).
tatterdemalion
in reply to sobchak • • •like this
unknownuserunknownlocation likes this.
Brickfrog
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •Not quite, RedFox formerly SlySoft (RIP) used to market their own Blu-ray ripper and it worked quite well. What it used to do is on-the-fly decryption so you'd run it in the background and could use any other software to read the decrypted Blu-ray (e.g. using Handbrake or whatever). It did also have an option to just rip to a file IIRC. Unfortunately they randomly disappeared so their software is pretty much done. (some background on wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RedFox)
That aside they always a competitor, DVDFab, that still exists today. Their Passkey software is the rough equivalent of what the old RedFox/SlySoft software used to do but they also sell a standalone Blu-ray ripper if that's more your thing (see dvdfab.cn/).
But yeah, in some ways you're stuck with MakeMKV, DVDFab, and maybe some others (?).
I'd have to dig it out but I actually bought a Blu-ray drive a while back that was on the list of drives compatible with these rippers but honestly it's been a few years since I've tried using it. Most times someone else already ripped a Blu-ray I'd be interested in.
Speaking of - If anyone knows offhand, how do people do this stuff on Linux? Does the Linux version of MakeMKV work well for this and/or are there other tools (?)
DVDFab – Complete Multimedia Solutions
DVDFablike this
DaGeek247 likes this.
tatterdemalion
in reply to Brickfrog • • •cmnybo
in reply to Brickfrog • • •like this
yessikg likes this.
Son_of_Macha
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •tatterdemalion
in reply to Son_of_Macha • • •like this
yessikg likes this.
ramble81
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •I bought a modified BD drive from a person who was flashing libredrive supported firmware and then got a registered copy of MakeMKV.
It’s been stupid simple for me to rip any BD or 4K disc that I can get my hands on. If you choose the “backup” option it spits it out to a folder structure which then use mkisofs to create an iso of things.
Honestly my biggest problem is constantly running out of hard drive space because I want to keep the original, uncompressed isos. What’s nice though is once i have the iso I can pop it back into MakeMKV and just extract what I want. I can then run that through Handbrake and compress to my exact specifications.
like this
adhocfungus e DaGeek247 like this.
far_university1990
in reply to ramble81 • • •ramble81
in reply to far_university1990 • • •Cooper8
in reply to ramble81 • • •ramble81
in reply to Cooper8 • • •I’ve honestly never used it for playback but since it can rip 4K at 2x-4x playback speed I would assume it’d be just fine. The issue is the system you build would have to have a card that can output Atmos bitstreams as well as HDR.
As for ripping performance I’m over 500 DVD, BD, 4K and it’s doing great. You do have to give it 30 minutes between 4K discs to cool down.
Zomg
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •Look on the makemkv forum for Libre Drives and what models are usable.
ASUS BW-16D1HT is a valid drive for libre drive and is what I use and can be sourced on Amazon. The pop it in an external enclosure if needed and flash the firmware for it on one of the pinned posts.
I personally don't pirate, but want to power my media server with the movies I buy, libre+makemkv does the trick for me.
like this
adhocfungus e yessikg like this.
Mobile
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •I recently got into the rabbit hole of digitizing my DVDs after discovering that disc rot is very real. I bought an LG blu-ray external driver, followed steps to flash firmware, bought a MakeMKV license to support the software, and bought a NAS to run a RAID 1 configuration to hold the backups of the DVDs.
I do think with Netflix buying out Warner Bros, optical media will take a hit. But companies like the Criterion Collection keeps optical media alive. Also CDs are alive and well when it comes to music.
like this
adhocfungus, IHeartBadCode e Scrollone like this.
floquant
in reply to Mobile • • •like this
IHeartBadCode e Scrollone like this.
fakeaustinfloyd
in reply to floquant • • •like this
IHeartBadCode likes this.
Mobile
in reply to floquant • • •I've stored them in a TV cabinet for years. Nothing special. I've created a Jellyfin server so if I was burning my DVD and blu-ray already, I may as well back up to files. And to point out austinfloyd's comment, disc rot was the other reason to back up the DVDs.
Also don't go with an Asustor 1102TL. I can't access the BIOS so I can't flash open media vault. I had a whole plan to have an automated Borg backup script running on the NAS but alas, I guess not. If someone can prove me wrong, please let me know.
MDCCCLV
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •like this
adhocfungus likes this.
CCMan1701A
in reply to MDCCCLV • • •MDCCCLV
in reply to CCMan1701A • • •CCMan1701A
in reply to MDCCCLV • • •Mobile
in reply to MDCCCLV • • •Hey @MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca, I just wanted to let you know that I bought a 4k UHD movie the other day and my blu-ray player that I updated the firmware on could not play the disc as well.
I found answers online pointing to updating the date volume unique keys (VUK). These keys are necessary to decrypt the discs. To make a long story short, there is a database online that you can use to update your keys to read your 4k UHD disc. I used this script in particular because I was able to echo the output the HTTP website. I didn't want to click on a link that is not using HTTPS.
I'm using linux so this was the solution that worked for me. I think there are other ways to update these keys. If you do go this route of using this bash script, please keep in mind that it's going to be a few hours. The transfer speed was in the kilobytes. Towards the end of my patience, I just hit ctrl-c to skip the keys for other nations that I don't see myself using.
Once all was done, I was able to get VLC to run my 4k film on my PC 😀
GitHub - ILPlais/GetFindVUKOnllineDB: Get the Blu-ray database from FindVUK Onlline Database
GitHubWolfLink
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •like this
yessikg likes this.
jarmitage
in reply to WolfLink • • •tatterdemalion
in reply to WolfLink • • •WolfLink
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •I think the one I have is the BP60NB10 LG Slim Portable. It looks like prices are at around $100-$130 for it online now though, I think they are not made anymore. I got mine up at a local computer store a long time ago.
I strongly recommend this webpage: forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewto…
Ultimate UHD Drives Flashing Guide Updated 2025 - www.makemkv.com
forum.makemkv.comrumba
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •I ripped a ton of my stuff back in the day, guess I've been lucky, every generic BD drive i've used just worked.
But once you get past the "works" hurdle, the real struggle begins.
It's slow, like really slow. Assuming you can find the right titles and convince makemkv extract them, it's a start the process and go brew a cup of coffee slow. But hey, I've got time and you don't need to watch it ... mostly.
Depending on the disk, it's still either crap quality or it takes up an ungodly amount of space. Even a decent sized drive buckles sooner or later if you're generating 20GB images.
Unless you're up on your network game, your streaming sticks/tv's can hardly handle the throughput to stream the video.
So you encode the video. HEVC (which is getting dicey starting january as the royalties go up and processors stop support hardware decoding) or hopefully AV1, which still has spotty support in places. and the re-encode? The easy software isn't free, the free software isn't easy, but FFMPEG isn't that hard to work with.
OR, you find an ISO provider and download it.
like this
Scrollone likes this.
d-RLY?
in reply to tatterdemalion • • •I guess I lucked out when I bought my BD-R drive before I was aware that MakeMKV needed extra stuff like firmware. But my LG WH16NS60 is one that took the flash (never had to mess with firmware on an optical drive and was worried I would brick it). But the process was pretty easy and getting into ripping BR after so long meant that the easy option was around to handle the steps. Kind of considering getting a back-up drive to have around if/when the one I have dies (especially since big brands are dropping out or may do so in the coming years).
While not as easy as just using torrents or other P2P. I have found it kind of fun to get back into ripping CD/DVD/BD and learn/re-learn how things work these days. Also nice to have all the options I can to be able to have access to media in the event any of them are down. The only super frustrating thing is that so much of modern releases don't get physical (or even purchasable digital) releases. And in some cases where a physical release is an option, they are DVD and not even a 720p BD. Digital options are even worse in a lot of random cases where a store might have just part of a show (or even episodes in a season not part of it).
Currently the only real issue that I have is that I really really need to build a new main PC and finally turn my current PC into only being for ripping and hosting what I have. And to get large HDDs to replace the 2TB and 4TB SSDs I currently have for it all of course. I really would like to have good copies of 4K stuff without having to worry about going with bad encodes that look worse than many 1080p releases that my TV upscales.