Kissing is ubiquitous among many animals, especially primates, suggesting deep evolutionary roots of the behavior.#TheAbstract
Scientists Discover the Origin of Kissing — And It’s Not Human
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Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week.Kissing is one of humanity’s most cherished rituals—just think of the sheer variety of smooches, from the “wedding kiss” to the “kiss of death.” Now, scientists have discovered that the origins of this behavior, which is widespread among many primates, likely dates back at least 21 million years, according to a study published on Tuesday in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
In other words, our early primate relatives were sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, in the early Miocene period. Moreover, the deep evolutionary roots of kissing suggest that Neanderthals likely smooched each other, and probably our human ancestors as well. The new study is the first attempt to reconstruct the evolutionary timeline of kissing by analyzing a wealth of observations about this behavior in modern primates and other animals.
“It is kind of baffling to me that people haven't looked at this from an evolutionary perspective before,” said Matilda Brindle, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford who led the study, in a call with 404 Media. “There have been some people who have put ideas out there, but no one's done it in a systematic way.”
“Kissing doesn't occur in all human cultures, but in those that it does, it's really important,” she added. “That's why we thought it was really exciting to study.”
A collage of mouth-to-mouth contact across species. Image: Brindle, Matilda et al.
The ritual of the “first kiss” is a common romantic trope, but tracking down the “first kiss” in an evolutionary sense is no easy feat. For starters, the adaptive benefits of kissing have long eluded researchers. Mouth-to-mouth contact raises the odds of oral disease transfer, and it’s not at all clear what advantages puckering up confers to make it worth the trouble.“Kissing is kind of risky,” Brindle said. “You're getting very close to another animal's face. There could be diseases. To me, that suggests that it is important. There must be some benefits to this behavior.”
Some common explanations for sex-related kissing include mate evaluation—bad breath or other red flags during a smoochfest might affect the decision to move on to copulation. Kissing may also stimulate sexual receptiveness and perhaps boost the odds of fertilization. In platonic contexts, kissing could serve a social purpose, similar to grooming, of solidifying bonds between parents and offspring, or even to smooth over conflicts between group members.
“We know that chimpanzees, when they've had a bit of a bust up, will often go and kiss each other and make up,” Brindle said. “That might be really useful for navigating social relationships. Primates are obviously an incredibly social group of animals, and so this could be just a social lubricant for them.”
Though most of us have probably never considered the question, Brindle and her colleagues first had to ask: what is a kiss? They made a point to exclude forms of oral contact that don’t fall into the traditional idea of kissing as a prosocial behavior. For example, lots of animals share food directly through mouth-to-mouth contact, such as regurgitation from a parent to offspring. In addition, some animals display antagonistic behavior through mouth-to-mouth contact, such as “kiss-fighting” behavior seen in some fish.
The team ultimately defined kissing as “a non-agonistic interaction involving directed, intraspecific, oral-oral contact with some movement of the lips/mouthparts and no food transfer.” Many animals engage in kissing under these terms—from insects, to birds, to mammals—but the researchers were most interested in primates.
To that end, they gathered observations of kissing across primate species and fed the data into models that analyzed the timeline of the behavior through the evolutionary relationships between species. The basic idea is that if humans, bonobos, and chimpanzees all kiss (which they do) then the common ancestor of these species likely kissed as well.
The results revealed that the evolutionary “first kiss” likely occurred among primates at least 21 million years ago. Since Neanderthals and our own species, Homo sapiens, are known to have interbred—plus they also shared oral microbes—the team speculates that Neanderthals and our own human ancestors might have kissed as well.
While the study provides a foundation for the origins of kissing, Brindle said there is not yet enough empirical data to test out different hypotheses about its benefits—or to explain why it is important in some species and cultures, but not others. To that end, she hopes other scientists will be inspired to report more observations about kissing in wild and captive animal populations.
“I was actually surprised that there were so few data out there,” Brindle said. “I thought that this would be way better documented when I started this study. What I would really love is, for people who see this behavior, to note it down, report it, so that we can actually start collecting more contextual information: Is this a romantic or a platonic kiss? Who were the actors in it? Was it an adult male and an adult female, or a mother and offspring? Were they eating at the time? Was there copulation before or after the kiss?”
“These sorts of questions will enable us to pick apart these potential adaptive hypotheses,” she concluded.
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HOPE Hacking Conference Banned From University Venue Over Apparent ‘Anti-Police Agenda’#News #HOPE
HOPE Hacking Conference Banned From University Venue Over Apparent ‘Anti-Police Agenda’
The legendary hacker conference Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) says that it has been “banned” from St. John’s University, the venue where it has held the last several HOPE conferences, because someone told the university the conference had an “anti-police agenda.”HOPE was held at St. John’s University in 2022, 2024, and 2025, and was going to be held there in 2026, as well. The conference has been running at various venues over the last 31 years, and has become well-known as one of the better hacking and security research conferences in the world. Tuesday, the conference told members of its mailing list that it had “received some disturbing news,” and that “we have been told that ‘materials and messaging’ at our most recent conference ‘were not in alignment with the mission, values, and reputation of St. John’s University’ and that we would no longer be able to host our events there.”
The conference said that after this year’s conference, they had received “universal praise” from St. John’s staff, and said they were “caught by surprise” by the announcement.
“What we're told - and what we find rather hard to believe - is that all of this came about because a single person thought we were promoting an anti-police agenda,” the email said. “They had spotted pamphlets on a table which an attendee had apparently brought to HOPE that espoused that view. Instead of bringing this to our attention, they went to the president's office at St. John's after the conference had ended. That office held an investigation which we had no knowledge of and reached its decision earlier this month. The lack of due process on its own is extremely disturbing.”
“The intent of the person behind this appears clear: shut down events like ours and make no attempt to actually communicate or resolve the issue,” the email continued. “If it wasn't this pamphlet, it would have been something else. In this day and age where academic institutions live in fear of offending the same authorities we've been challenging for decades, this isn't entirely surprising. It is, however, greatly disappointing.”
St. John’s University did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hacking and security conferences in general have a long history of being surveilled by or losing their venues. For example, attendees of the DEF CON hacking conference have reported being surveilled and having their rooms searched; last year, some casinos in Las Vegas made it clear that DEF CON attendees were not welcome. And academic institutions have been vigorously attacked by the Trump administration over the last few months over the courses they teach, the research they fund, and the events they hold, though we currently do not know the specifics of why St. John’s made this decision.
It is not clear what pamphlets HOPE is referencing, and the conference did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the conference noted that St. Johns could have made up any pretext for banning them. It is worth mentioning that Joshua Aaron, the creator of the ICEBlock ICE tracking app, presented at HOPE this year. ICEBlock has since been deleted by the Apple App Store and the Google Play store after being pressured by the Trump administration.
“Our content has always been somewhat edgy and we take pride in challenging policies we see as unfair, exposing security weaknesses, standing up for individual privacy rights, and defending freedom of speech,” HOPE wrote in the email. The conference said that it has not yet decided what it will do next year, but that it may look for another venue, or that it might “take a year off and try to build something bigger.”
“There will be many people who will say this is what we get for being too outspoken and for giving a platform to controversial people and ideas. But it's this spirit that defines who we are; it's driven all 16 of our past conferences. There are also those who thought it was foolish to ever expect a religious institution to understand and work with us,” the conference added. “We are not changing who we are and what we stand for any more than we'd expect others to. We have high standards for our speakers, presenters, and staff. We value inclusivity and we have never tolerated hate, abuse, or harassment towards anyone. This should not be news, as HOPE has been around for a while and is well known for its uniqueness, spirit, and positivity.”
The Golden Age of Hackers in Vegas Is Over
After ransomware struck the strip, Vegas is more cautious and paranoid about hackers than ever, with businesses and casinos sending a clear message: hackers are not welcome here.Joseph Cox (404 Media)
“Most drivers are unaware that San Jose’s Police Department is tracking their locations and do not know all that their saved location data can reveal about their private lives and activities."#Flock
ACLU and EFF Sue a City Blanketed With Flock Surveillance Cameras
Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sued the city of San Jose, California over its deployment of Flock’s license plate-reading surveillance cameras, claiming that the city’s nearly 500 cameras create a pervasive database of residents movements in a surveillance network that is essentially impossible to avoid.The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network and Council on American-Islamic Relations, California, and claims that the surveillance is a violation of California’s constitution and its privacy laws. The lawsuit seeks to require police to get a warrant in order to search Flock’s license plate system. The lawsuit is one of the highest profile cases challenging Flock; a similar lawsuit in Norfolk, Virginia seeks to get Flock’s network shut down in that city altogether.
“San Jose’s ALPR [automatic license plate reader] program stands apart in its invasiveness,” ACLU of Northern California and EFF lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. “While many California agencies run ALPR systems, few retain the locations of drivers for an entire year like San Jose. Further, it is difficult for most residents of San Jose to get to work, pick up their kids, or obtain medical care without driving, and the City has blanketed its roads with nearly 500 ALPRs.”
The lawsuit argues that San Jose’s Flock cameras “are an invasive mass surveillance technology” that “collect[s] driver locations en masse.”
“Most drivers are unaware that San Jose’s Police Department is tracking their locations and do not know all that their saved location data can reveal about their private lives and activities,” it adds. The city of San Jose currently has at least 474 ALPR cameras, up from 149 at the end of 2023; according to data from the city, more than 2.6 million vehicles were tracked using Flock in the month of October alone. The lawsuit states that Flock ALPRs are stationed all over the city, including “around highly sensitive locations including clinics, immigration centers, and places of worship. For example, three ALPR cameras are positioned on the roads directly outside an immigration law firm.”
Andrew Crocker, surveillance litigation director for the EFF, told 404 Media in a phone call that “it’s fair to say that anyone driving in San Jose is likely to have their license plates captured many times a day. That pervasiveness is important.”
DeFlock's map of San Jose's ALPRs
A zoomed in look at San Jose
A search of DeFlock, a crowdsourced map of ALPR deployments around the country, shows hundreds of cameras in San Jose spaced essentially every few blocks around the city. The map is not exhaustive.The lawsuit argues that warrantless searches of these cameras are illegal under the California constitution’s search and seizure clause, which Crocker said “has been interpreted to be even stronger than the Fourth Amendment,” as well as other California privacy laws. The case is part of a broader backlash against Flock as it expands around the United States. 404 Media’s reporting has shown that the company collects millions of records from around the country, and that it has made its national database of car locations available to local cops who have in turn worked with ICE. Some of those searches have violated California and Illinois law, and have led to reforms from the company. Crocker said that many of these problems will be solved if police simply need to get a warrant to search the system.
“Our legal theory and the remedy we’re seeking is quite simple. We think they need a warrant to search these databases,” he said. “The warrant requirement is massive and should help in terms of preventing these searches because they will have to be approved by a judge.” The case in Norfolk is ongoing. San Jose Police Department and Flock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Flock Removes States From National Lookup Tool After ICE and Abortion Searches Revealed
Following 404 Media’s reporting and in light of new legislation, automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company Flock has stopped agencies reaching into cameras in California, Illinois, and Virginia.Joseph Cox (404 Media)
The move comes after intense pressure from lawmakers and 404 Media’s months-long reporting about the airline industry's data selling practices.
The move comes after intense pressure from lawmakers and 404 Media’s months-long reporting about the airline industryx27;s data selling practices.#Impact
Airlines Will Shut Down Program That Sold Your Flights Records to Government
Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), a data broker owned by the U.S.’s major airlines, will shut down a program in which it sold access to hundreds of millions of flight records to the government and let agencies track peoples’ movements without a warrant, according to a letter from ARC shared with 404 Media.ARC says it informed lawmakers and customers about the decision earlier this month. The move comes after intense pressure from lawmakers and 404 Media’s months-long reporting about ARC’s data selling practices. The news also comes after 404 Media reported on Tuesday that the IRS had searched the massive database of Americans flight data without a warrant.
“As part of ARC’s programmatic review of its commercial portfolio, we have previously determined that TIP is no longer aligned with ARC’s core goals of serving the travel industry,” the letter, written by ARC President and CEO Lauri Reishus, reads. TIP is the Travel Intelligence Program. As part of that, ARC sold access to a massive database of peoples’ flights, showing who travelled where, and when, and what credit card they used.
The ARC letter.
“All TIP customers, including the government agencies referenced in your letter, were notified on November 12, 2025, that TIP is sunsetting this year,” Reishus continued. Reishus was responding to a letter sent to airline executives earlier on Tuesday by Senator Ron Wyden, Congressman Andy Biggs, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Adriano Espaillat, and Senator Cynthia Lummis. That letter revealed the IRS’s warrantless use of ARC’s data and urged the airlines to stop the ARC program. ARC says it notified Espaillat's office on November 14.ARC is co-owned by United, American, Delta, Southwest, JetBlue, Alaska, Lufthansa, Air France, and Air Canada. The data broker acts as a bridge between airlines and travel agencies. Whenever someone books a flight through one of more than 12,800 travel agencies, such as Expedia, Kayak, or Priceline, ARC receives information about that booking. It then packages much of that data and sells it to the government, which can search it by name, credit card, and more. 404 Media has reported that ARC’s customers include the FBI, multiple components of the Department of Homeland Security, ATF, the SEC, TSA, and the State Department.
Espaillat told 404 Media in a statement “this is what we do. This is how we’re fighting back. Other industry groups in the private sector should follow suit. They should not be in cahoots with ICE, especially in ways may be illegal.”
Wyden said in a statement “it shouldn't have taken pressure from Congress for the airlines to finally shut down the sale of their customers’ travel data to government agencies by ARC, but better late than never. I hope other industries will see that selling off their customers' data to the government and anyone with a checkbook is bad for business and follow suit.”
“Because ARC only has data on tickets booked through travel agencies, government agencies seeking information about Americans who book tickets directly with an airline must issue a subpoena or obtain a court order to obtain those records. But ARC’s data sales still enable government agencies to search through a database containing 50% of all tickets booked without seeking approval from a judge,” the letter from the lawmakers reads.
Update: this piece has been updated to include statements from CHC Chair Espaillat and Senator Wyden.
Airline-Owned Data Broker Selling Your Flight Info to DHS Finally Registers as a Data Broker
It’s a legal requirement for data brokers to register in the state of California. ARC, the airlines-owned data broker that has been selling your flight information to the government for years, only just registered after being contacted by the office …Joseph Cox (404 Media)
A bipartisan letter reveals the IRS searched a database of hundreds of millions of travel records without first conducting a legal review. Airlines like Delta, United, American, and Southwest are selling these records to the government through a co-owned data broker.#arc #Privacy
IRS Accessed Massive Database of Americans Flights Without a Warrant
The IRS accessed a database of hundreds of millions of travel records, which show when and where a specific person flew and the credit card they used, without obtaining a warrant, according to a letter signed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers and shared with 404 Media. The country’s major airlines, including Delta, United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest, funnel customer records to a data broker they co-own called the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), which then sells access to peoples’ travel data to government agencies.The IRS case in the letter is the clearest example yet of how agencies are searching the massive trove of travel data without a search warrant, court order, or similar legal mechanism. Instead, because the data is being sold commercially, agencies are able to simply buy access. In the letter addressed to nine major airlines, the lawmakers urge them to shut down the data selling program. Update: after this piece was published, ARC said it already planned to shut down the program. You can read more here.
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Cloudflare va giù nel magnifico Cloud! incidente globale in fase di risoluzione
18 novembre 2025 – Dopo ore di malfunzionamenti diffusi, l’incidente che ha colpito la rete globale di Cloudflare sembra finalmente vicino alla risoluzione. L’azienda ha comunicato di aver implementato una correzione e di essere ora nella fase di monitoraggio attivo, dopo una giornata caratterizzata da disservizi, errori intermittenti e problemi sui servizi applicativi e di sicurezza.
L’incidente, iniziato alle 11:48 UTC, ha coinvolto varie componenti dell’infrastruttura Cloudflare, generando rallentamenti, timeout e blocchi a livello globale, con impatti anche su CDN, API, autenticazione e dashboard di gestione.
Di seguito la ricostruzione completa della giornata.
Timeline dell’incidente Cloudflare
11:48 UTC – Inizio dell’incidente
Cloudflare segnala un degrado interno del servizio. Diversi servizi risultano instabili a livello globale e viene avviata l’analisi del problema.
12:03 UTC – Indagine in corso
Cloudflare conferma che alcuni servizi continuano a essere colpiti da errori intermittenti.
12:21 UTC – Prime evidenze di ripristino parziale
Cloudflare osserva miglioramenti, ma i clienti sperimentano ancora errori più elevati del normale.
12:37 UTC – Indagine ancora attiva
Persistono anomalie diffuse sulla rete.
12:53 UTC – Indagine ancora in corso
I tecnici continuano a lavorare senza individuare ancora una soluzione definitiva.
13:04 UTC – Disattivato temporaneamente l’accesso WARP a Londra
Durante i tentativi di mitigazione, Cloudflare disattiva WARP nella region di Londra. Gli utenti locali non riescono a connettersi tramite il servizio.
13:09 UTC – Problema identificato
Cloudflare comunica di aver individuato la causa dell’incidente e di aver iniziato a implementare una soluzione.
13:13 UTC – Ripristino parziale di Access e WARP
Cloudflare ripristina Access e WARP, riportando i livelli di errore alla normalità.
WARP Londra torna operativo. Si continua a lavorare sui restanti servizi applicativi.
13:35 UTC – Problemi ancora presenti
I servizi applicativi non sono ancora stati ripristinati completamente.
13:58 UTC – Lavori in corso
Continuano gli interventi per riportare online i servizi rimanenti.
14:22 UTC – Ripristino dashboard
La dashboard Cloudflare torna operativa, anche se i servizi applicativi mostrano ancora instabilità.
14:34 UTC – Continuano i lavori di ripristino
Il team tecnico prosegue con le attività necessarie a ripristinare tutti i servizi.
14:42 UTC – Cloudflare: “Incidente risolto, monitoraggio in corso”
Cloudflare annuncia di aver implementato una correzione definitiva. Tutti i servizi dovrebbero tornare progressivamente alla normalità, ma rimane attivo il monitoraggio post-incident.
Impatti dell’incidente
L’incidente ha avuto un impatto rilevante su scala globale. Molti siti web serviti da Cloudflare (tra cui redhotcyber.com) hanno mostrato rallentamenti, pagine non raggiungibili, errori 502, 522 e 526, oltre a problemi di caching e routing.
I servizi di sicurezza e autenticazione, come Cloudflare Access e WARP, sono stati fortemente colpiti nella prima fase. In alcune regioni gli utenti non hanno potuto autenticarsi o accedere alle risorse protette.
Anche Downdetector ha mostrato malfunzionamenti, rendendo difficile monitorare l’ampiezza dell’incidente e contribuendo alla percezione di un blackout molto esteso.
L’infrastruttura globale Cloudflare ha registrato rallentamenti e instabilità, con ripercussioni a catena su servizi non direttamente ospitati sulla piattaforma.
Che cos’è Cloudflare WARP
Cloudflare WARP è un servizio sviluppato da Cloudflare con l’obiettivo di migliorare la sicurezza e le prestazioni della connessione Internet degli utenti. A differenza delle VPN tradizionali, che puntano principalmente a fornire anonimato instradando tutto il traffico attraverso server remoti, WARP è progettato per rendere la navigazione più veloce, stabile e protetta, senza appesantire la connessione.
Come funziona
WARP utilizza il protocollo WireGuard, noto per essere leggero, rapido e altamente sicuro. Il traffico viene instradato attraverso la rete globale di Cloudflare, che funge da “strato protettivo” tra l’utente e il web. Questo permette di:
- criptare le connessioni su reti non sicure (come Wi-Fi pubblici),
- ridurre la latenza grazie alla rete globale Cloudflare,
- filtrare automaticamente traffico malevolo o sospetto,
- proteggere da intercettazioni e attacchi man-in-the-middle.
Non mira all’anonimato totale come una VPN classica, ma si concentra su sicurezza e stabilità della connessione.
La differenza tra WARP e WARP+
Cloudflare offre due versioni del servizio:
- WARP: gratuito, utilizza la rete standard Cloudflare.
- WARP+: a pagamento, instrada parte del traffico tramite la tecnologia Argo Smart Routing, che sceglie dinamicamente il percorso più veloce tra i server Cloudflare, migliorando ulteriormente la velocità.
Situazione attuale
Secondo l’ultimo aggiornamento, la correzione è stata applicata con successo e i servizi stanno tornando alla normalità. Cloudflare è ora nella fase di monitoraggio attivo e nelle prossime ore potrebbero verificarsi residui di instabilità durante l’assestamento della rete
L'articolo Cloudflare va giù nel magnifico Cloud! incidente globale in fase di risoluzione proviene da Red Hot Cyber.
Humane Mousetrap Lets You Know It’s Caught Something
“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door,” so goes the saying, but VHS beat Betamax and the world hasn’t been the same since. In any case, you might not get rich building a better mousetrap, but you can certainly create something more humane than the ol’ spring’n’snap, as [nightcustard] demonstrates.
The concept is the same as many humane mousetraps on the market. The mouse is lured into a confined cavity with the use of bait, and once inside, a door closes to keep the mouse inside without injuring it. [nightcustard] achieved this by building a plastic enclosure with plenty of air holes, which is fitted with a spring-loaded door. When a mouse walks through an infra-red break beam sensor, a Raspberry Pi Pico W triggers a solenoid which releases the door, trapping the mouse inside. This design was chosen over a passive mechanical solution, because [nightcustard] noted that mice in the attic were avoiding other humane traps with obvious mechanical trigger mechanisms.
As a bonus, the wireless connectivity of the Pi Pico W allows the trap to send a notification via email when it has fired. Thus, you can wake up in the morning and check your emails to see if you need to go and release a poor beleaguered mouse back into the wild. This is critical, as otherwise, if you forget to check your humane trap… it stops being humane pretty quickly.
If you’re looking for more inspiration to tackle your mouse problems, we can help. We’ve featured other traps of this type before, too. Meanwhile, if you’ve got your own friendly homebrew solutions to pesky pest problems, don’t hesitate to hit up the tipsline.
Ministero dell'Istruzione
Dalle ore 12.00 di domani, mercoledì #19novembre, la piattaforma #CartadelDocente sarà accessibile per gli insegnanti che dispongano di eventuali residui dell’Anno Scolastico 2024/2025 e per i beneficiari di sentenze a cui è stata data esecuzione.Telegram
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Casting Metal Tools With Kitchen Appliances
Perhaps the biggest hurdle to starting a home blacksmithing operating is the forge. There’s really no way around having a forge; somehow the metal has to get hot enough to work. Although we might be imagining huge charcoal- or gas-fired monstrosities, [Shake the Future] has figured out how to use an unmodified, standard microwave oven to get iron hot enough to melt and is using it in his latest video to cast real, working tools with it.
In the past, [Shake the Future] has made a few other things with this setup like an aluminum pencil with a graphite core. This time, though, he’s stepping up the complexity a bit with a working tool. He’s decided to build a miniature bench vice, which uses a screw to move the jaws. He didn’t cast the screw, instead using a standard size screw and nut, but did cast the two other parts of the vice. He first 3D prints the parts in order to make a mold that will withstand the high temperatures of the molten metal. With the mold made he can heat up the iron in the microwave and then pour it, and then with some finish work he has a working tool on his hands.
A microwave isn’t the only kitchen appliance [Shake the Future] has repurposed for his small metalworking shop. He also uses a standard air fryer in order to dry parts quickly. He works almost entirely from the balcony of his apartment so he needs to keep his neighbors in mind while working, and occasionally goes to a nearby parking garage when he has to do something noisy. It’s impressive to see what can be built in such a small space, though. For some of his other work be sure to check out how he makes the crucibles meant for his microwave.
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Gipfel zur Europäischen Digitalen Souveränität: Kehrtwende für die „Innovationsführerschaft“
netzpolitik.org/2025/gipfel-zu…
Cheap VHF Antenna? Can Do!
The magnetic loop antenna is a familiar sight in radio amateur circles as a means to pack a high performance HF antenna into a small space. It takes the form of a large single-turn coil made into a tuned circuit with a variable capacitor, and it provides the benefits of good directionality and narrow bandwidth at the cost of some scary RF voltages and the need for constant retuning. As [VK3YE] shows us though, magnetic loops are not limited to HF — he’s made a compact VHF magnetic loop using a tin can.
It’s a pretty simple design; a section from the can it cut out and made into a C shape, with a small variable capacitor at the gap. The feed comes in at the bottom, with the feed point about 20 % of the way round the loop for matching. The bandwidth is about 100 MHz starting from the bottom of the FM broadcast band, and he shows us it receiving broadcast, Airband, and 2 meter signals. It can be used for transmitting too and we see it on 2 meter WSPR, but we would have to wonder whether the voltages induced by higher power levels might be a little much for that small capacitor.
He’s at pains to point out that there are many better VHF antennas as this one has no gain to speak of, but we can see a place for it. It’s tiny, if you’re prepared to fiddle with the tuning its high Q gets rid of interference, and its strong side null means it can also reduce unwanted signals on the same frequency. We rather like it, and we hope you will too after watching the video below.
youtube.com/embed/JYIU0Nxn8fg?…
Congratulations to the 2025 Component Abuse Challenge Winners
For the Component Abuse Challenge, we asked you to do the wrong thing with electrical parts, but nonetheless come out with the right result. It’s probably the most Hackaday challenge we have run in a long time, and you all delivered! The judging was tight, but in the end three projects rose up to the top, and will each be taking home a $150 DigiKey gift certificate, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give all of the projects a look.
So without further ado, let’s check out the winners and all the others that tickled the hacky regions of our judges’ brains.
Prize Winners
The component misuse is an old favorite: the diode’s forward voltage drop depends on the temperature, and if you measure the voltage across the current-limiting resistor, you can read this voltage and determine when someone is setting fire to your LED. A bonus of the single-LED configuration is that if you touch the LED’s leads, your finger shunts some of the current, and you can “snuff” the LEDs out. And while we’ve seen similar LED hacks before, the addition of actual fire to this one seems to have warmed our judges’ hearts.
[Luke J. Barker]’s Need an Electrical Slip Ring? is simplicity itself, and appears to have been born of the mother of invention. [Luke] was making a VertiBird helicopter toy, which spins around on the desk and rises and falls with joystick control. And for that, he needed a slip ring. Enter the humble audio jack, which fills the job nicely, transmitting power to the rotating helicopter without twisting up wires in the process. There’s not much magic here, but it’s a fantastic idea when you need something to spin.
On the other end of the spectrum, [Craig D]’s Boosting voltage with a cable looks like it shouldn’t work at first, but it does. In most step-up-voltage setups, you’re storing the energy in either a capacitor or inductor, and switching it in and out of the circuit to hop the voltage up. Here, the energy isn’t ever really “stored” as much as it’s “in flight”.
A circuit sends a pulse down a long length of coaxial cable that is left open at the other end. The pulse reflects off the open end and heads back toward the voltage driver, which then fires off another pulse at just the right time to make the travelling wave a little bit bigger, and this continues. It’s like pushing a swing – adding a little extra oomph at just the right time can build up. There’s a lot of cool physics here, a nice simulation that actually ends up corresponding very well with reality, and in the end the pulse timing isn’t rocket science, but rather figuring out the resonant frequency along the coax. And it works well enough to light up two neon bulbs in series (~140 V) off of a 15 V power supply.
Honorable Mentions
We got way more cool entries than we have prizes, so we try to round them up into categories and give them a little time in the sun.
Out of Spec
Normally, a 555 timer oscillator circuit relies on filling up a capacitor with a current that’s throttled through a resistor. How can you make it go faster? Make the capacitor smaller and the resistor less resistive. What happens when you get rid of them both entirely, relying on stray capacitance and the resistance of whatever wire you’re using? That’s what [MagicWolfi] aimed to find out with his Ludicrous 555 project.
The IC-Abusing Diode Tester is an absolutely horrible circuit. Nothing in it works like it should. The only reason the IC doesn’t burn up is that it’s more robust than the datasheet promises, and the battery used has such a high internal resistance that it can’t source that much current anyway. Parts are powered by leakage current, and below their minimum voltage. [Joseph Eoff] counts seven values that are out of spec in this single historical circuit, so that’s gotta count for something.
Junk Box Substitutions
Or maybe you’re working on self-assembling robots and you need some magic glue to hold different modules together. [Miana]’s Low-melt-solder connected robots is half research project, and half hack. Resistors are used to melt solder, magnets align the parts together, and when it all cools down, it’s as if two modules are brazed together. This one’s a lot more than a hack, but we’re honored to have it entered in the contest anyway!
Bizarro World
We honestly thought we’d get more entries that made use of the duality of most sensors / emitters. Instead, we got two. [Nick]’s Better Than Bluetooth does the LED-as-photosensor trick, and concludes that it’s better than Bluetooth if expense, limited range, and frustration are what you’re looking for in a data link. Meanwhile, [Kauz] proves that electromagnets are also pickups by building a guitar pickup out of six relays.
Side Effects
Most old op-amps oscillate out of control when given feedback, unless you damp it down a bit with a capacitor. [Adrian Freed] found an op-amp lousy enough that would do this at audio frequencies, and used it to reimagine a classic noisemaker.
Finally, while you should probably avoid the metastable middle-zones between digital one and zero, [SHAOS] combines unbuffered NAND and NOR gates to tease out a third logic state. [Bob Widlar] would be proud.
Thanks All!
As always, we had more great entries that we could feature here, so head on over to Hackaday.io and check them out. And thanks again to DigiKey for providing our top three with $150 gift certificates. If you’re looking for your chance to show off a project that you’re working on, hang on for a while because we’ll be starting up a new contest in early 2026.
Ministero dell'Istruzione
La XXIV edizione del #concorso nazionale “I giovani ricordano la #Shoah” per l’anno scolastico 2025/2026 è promossa dal #MIM, in collaborazione con l’Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane.Telegram
Interne Dokumente: EU-Staaten einigen sich auf freiwillige Chatkontrolle
netzpolitik.org/2025/interne-d…
Journalists’ cameras become targets at Oregon protests
You’ve probably seen the inflatable frogs, the dance parties, the naked bike ride. Maybe you’ve also seen the darker images: a federal officer aiming a weapon at protesters, or federal agents hurling tear gas and flash bangs into peaceful demonstrations at a Portland, Oregon, immigration facility.
Local journalists have been attacked for bringing images like these to the world. They’re being tear-gassed and shot with crowd-control munitions by federal agents simply for doing their jobs.
Photojournalist John Rudoff is among them. He’s been covering these protests since June, photographing both peaceful marches and violent responses from federal officers that often follow.
On Oct. 11, while documenting a protest, Rudoff was struck by a stinger grenade, even though he was clearly identifiable as press. He was bruised, but not deterred.
“If you cover protests, you’re going to have discomfort and hazard. Period. That’s just the way it is,” Rudoff told us. “They shoot 20-year-old girls, and they shoot 70-year-old men, and they shoot people in wheelchairs, and they shoot blind people,” he added, referring to federal agents using crowd-control munitions. “The word impunity seems to be coined for them.”
Despite the danger, Rudoff refuses to stop documenting. “The entire media ecosystem has been covered with the administration’s rantings about the war-ravaged hellscape of Portland, and the city is burning down, and ICE officers are being attacked, and on and on and on,” he said. “I feel some obligation to try and counter this frankly preposterous narrative that the city’s burning down. It isn’t.”
Independent journalist Kevin Foster, who has also been covering the Portland protests, shares that sense of duty and outrage. “It’s clear the Trump administration wants to paint Portland as a war zone to seize more control, but it’s a lot harder to do that when I’m showing you all the dancing inflatable frogs,” he told us. “At the end of the day, someone needs to be there to document abuses of power.”
Foster has felt the danger up close while reporting from protests. “I’ve seen other press members shot with pepper balls, I’ve had flash bangs go off at my feet, and tear gas canisters explode above my head,” he said. But he continues to work to keep the public informed, reporting on federal agents’ heavy use of force and escalatory tactics at the protests.
For Foster, the concerns go beyond federal agents at protests. “Right-wing influencers and agitators have reportedly doxxed people,” Foster said. “With the state of the presidency and the history of authoritarianism, I do sometimes worry about persecution as well, especially given that a lot of my coverage subverts the narrative produced by right-wing media.”
The incident in Portland that got the most attention involved Katie Daviscourt, a reporter for the conservative news site The Post Millennial. She reported being hit in the face by someone swinging a flagpole at a protest, blackening her eye. Police let the suspect go, prompting feigned outrage from the White House.
Holding federal agents accountable
Violence against the press, from any direction, is an attack on the First Amendment itself, especially when enabled by law enforcement. Unfortunately, those purportedly appalled by the Daviscourt incident have not shown similar concern over federal law enforcement attacks on journalists who don’t further their preferred political narratives.
Since the Portland protests began in June, for instance, photojournalist Mason Lake has been struck by crowd-control munitions twice, pepper-sprayed, and had a rifle aimed at him. Yet federal officials haven’t condemned these attacks, or the attack on Rudoff.
“It’s very disconcerting to see how free press has been trampled,” Lake told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a project of Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF). “The best we can do is push back and make sure the truth isn’t run over.”
In other cities, like Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, federal court orders protect journalists from such assaults. But Portland currently has no such order. Legal precedent from 2020 protests in Portland recognized reporters’ First Amendment right to cover protests and shielded them from dispersal orders. But it has done little to rein in federal agents today.
“They have to be sued, and they have to be enjoined, and they have to be criminally prosecuted until they stop doing it,” suggested Rudoff.
Until that happens, however, journalists must keep speaking up, not just about what they see, but also for being attacked for witnessing it. “Most attacks on journalists aren’t reported,” explained Rudoff. But, he added, “I don’t know a single journalist out there who hasn’t been shot or hit or knocked over or tear-gassed or pepper-sprayed. It’s everybody.”
Foster put it even more bluntly: “Many Americans seem to have this impression that brutalizing protesters and targeting the press only happens in other countries. If that notion hasn’t shattered for you yet, wait until your ears are ringing from flash bangs and you’re enveloped in a cloud of tear gas so thick you can’t see 15 feet.”
This isn’t some distant dictatorship. It’s the city of Portland. And the First Amendment is under siege.
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#Ucraina: l'utopia e la realtà
Ucraina: l’utopia e la realtà
La realtà dei fatti, da una parte, e il comportamento del regime ucraino e dei suoi sponsor europei, dall’altra, continuano a muoversi su strade totalmente divergenti, con decisioni, prese da parte di questi ultimi, che non hanno nessuna giustificazi…www.altrenotizie.org
Paolo Berizzi: “Vi racconto misteri e legami di CasaPound”
@Giornalismo e disordine informativo
articolo21.org/2025/11/paolo-b…
Da poco in libreria con un testo che sta facendo particolarmente discutere (“Il libro segreto di CasaPound”, Fuoriscena editore), Paolo Berizzi ha deciso di devolvere alla nostra associazione una parte
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"I.A. BASTA!”: l’appello dei docenti contro l’intelligenza artificiale a scuola - L'INDIPENDENTE
lindipendente.online/2025/11/1…
Un appello, una mozione e un questionario per dire “basta” all’intelligenza artificiale nella scuola. È questo il cuore della mobilitazione lanciata dal gruppo auto-organizzato di lavoratrici e lavoratori della scuola, che vede la partecipazione di docenti, personale ATA, rappresentanti del sindacal
La militarizzazione dell’AI è già iniziata. Ma dove arriverà?
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Molti analisti parlano ormai dell’uso bellico dell’Intelligenza Artificiale in guerra come del vero “momento Oppenheimer” della nostra epoca. Un termine che indica l’idea che, come accadde con il nucleare a metà Novecento, stiamo varcando una soglia dalla quale sarà difficile tornare indietro. Un
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Il direttore del Parlamento Ue in Italia a TPI: “Senza rafforzare l’Europa la nostra indipendenza è a rischio”
@Politica interna, europea e internazionale
Oggi l’Europa è sotto attacco? «Assolutamente sì, l’ha ricordato in plenaria al Parlamento europeo, nel momento istituzionale più delicato e importante, la presidente della Commissione Ue Ursula von der Leyen. Le sue prime parole
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Caselli torna in antimafia e spazza il campo dalla falsa valanga di “mafia appalti”
@Giornalismo e disordine informativo
articolo21.org/2025/11/caselli…
Lo “spazza-neve” Caselli torna in Antimafia e finisce il lavoro: sgombrato completamente il campo dalla falsa valanga di “mafia
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Dal dominio cognitivo a quello cibernetico. L’Italia sotto attacco ibrido nel dossier Crosetto
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Presentato durante la riunione del Consiglio Supremo di Difesa, il “Non-paper sul contrasto alla guerra ibrida” del ministro della Difesa, Guido Crosetto, parla chiaro: l’Italia è già in un conflitto sottosoglia, quotidiano, mutevole
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fanpage.it/wamily/quando-torni…
ma perché? le donne devono occuparsi dolo di fare figli e crescere la prole... sono sicura che c'è un sacco di gente (più uomini) che concorderebbe infatti con questa affermazione. questa è una donna santa....
Ucci ucci, è in vendita la villa di Angelo Balducci
@Politica interna, europea e internazionale
Un annuncio, apparso in questi giorni su uno dei principali portali immobiliari, ha destato la curiosità dei frequentatori di salotti e circoli romani: in vendita esclusiva villa con parco e piscina nel cuore di Roma, in via delle Mura Latine 44. Così recita l’inserzione di Idealista, che ripropone quella originaria di
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Perché non posso scrivere di tutto (anche se mi sta a cuore.)
noblogo.org/transit/perche-non…
Perché non posso scrivere di tutto (anche se mi sta a cuore.)
(181)
Spesso sui social capita che, se parli sempre e solo di una certa causa (per esempio la #Palestina) qualcuno ti accusi di non interessarti ad altri drammi, come quelli che succedono in #Sudan o in altri luoghi del mondo.Questa è una questione che merita un po’ di chiarezza, perché il punto vero è un altro: nessuno di noi è un’agenzia di stampa, e non parlare di una cosa non significa affatto fregarsene. La verità è che tutti noi abbiamo dei limiti: di tempo, di energie, ma anche di capacità emotiva.
Non possiamo essere costantemente presenti su ogni emergenza, su ogni ingiustizia, su ogni tragedia che si presenta nel mondo. E, sinceramente, provarci significherebbe anche rischiare di annullare noi stessi, perdendo quella sensibilità che ci spinge a interessarci davvero di alcune questioni.
La partecipazione emotiva è inevitabilmente selettiva: ci sentiamo più vicini e coinvolti in certe storie perché le conosciamo meglio, le capiamo, o semplicemente perché in quel momento sentiamo di poter fare qualcosa di più concreto.
Non è una questione di indifferenza verso le altre cause, ma una scelta, consapevole o meno, di dove concentrare le nostre forze, anche per proteggere la nostra salute mentale. E poi, diciamolo: sui #socialmedia la pressione è fortissima. Se non ti vedi parlare di tutto, c’è chi pensa che non ti importi. Ma questa è una falsa aspettativa.
La responsabilità di dare voce a ogni singola emergenza non spetta a noi singoli individui, ma a un sistema di informazione ben più complesso.Noi partecipiamo con ciò che possiamo, con quello che sappiamo, con quello che ci muove davvero.
Quando vedi qualcuno che si concentra spesso su una sola causa, non darla per scontata: può significare un impegno profondo, non una mancanza di interesse per il resto. E chi ti conosce sa che dietro quel silenzio ci sono comunque solidarietà, preoccupazione e rispetto. Non serve parlare di tutto per esserci davvero.
In fondo, la vera indifferenza è un’altra cosa: è non provarci nemmeno, è non farsi toccare da niente, è voltare le spalle senza nemmeno chiedersi come si potrebbe fare la differenza. La partecipazione selettiva, invece, è umana, corretta e spesso necessaria. Insomma, non siamo agenzie di stampa, ma persone. E va bene così.
#Blog #SocialMedia #Opinioni #EmpatiaSelettiva #PartecipazioneEmotiva
Mastodon: @alda7069@mastodon.unoTelegram: t.me/transitblogFriendica: @danmatt@poliverso.orgBlue Sky: bsky.app/profile/mattiolidanie…Bio Site (tutto in un posto solo, diamine): bio.site/danielemattioli
Gli scritti sono tutelati da “Creative Commons” (qui)
Tutte le opinioni qui riportate sono da considerarsi personali. Per eventuali problemi riscontrati con i testi, si prega di scrivere a: corubomatt@gmail.com
(N.B. Il titolo dell’iniziativa non ha nulla a che vedere con il libro.)
CONDIVIDI PARTECIPA DIFFONDI
📅 Martedì 18 novembre, ore 18:00
PEDAGOGIA HACKER — con Collettivo C.I.R.C.E.
Un’esplorazione su come costruire relazioni più consapevoli con il digitale.
Rivolto a chi educa, crea, si prende cura o semplicemente vuole abitare la tecnologia con un’attitudine critica e conviviale.
Per ridurre l’alienazione tecnica e sperimentare forme di immaginazione liberatoria.
📍 Via Fontanellato 69, al Che Guevara Roma
roma.convoca.la/event/spaghett…
MEMO: OGGI POMERIGGIO A ROMA (ZONA MONTAGNOLA)!
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🍝Spaghetti Hacker👩💻 pensare e praticare un rapporto diverso con la tecnologia(N.B. Il titolo dell’iniziativa non ha nulla a che vedere con il libro.)
CONDIVIDI PARTECIPA DIFFONDI
📍 Via Fontanellato 69, al Che Guevara Roma
roma.convoca.la/event/spaghett…
Processo al leader di Do.Ra. per la diffamazione di Berizzi, il pm aggiunge altre accuse
@Giornalismo e disordine informativo
articolo21.org/2025/11/process…
L'imputato si è presentato in udienza con una maglietta nera recante la scritta “Spiriti Armati”
L'articolo
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Brasile: leader guarani ucciso in un attacco alla sua comunità
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Mentre alla COP30 si discute di tutela climatica e diritti dei popoli originari, l’assalto armato contro la comunità di Pyelito Kue rivela la realtà quotidiana dei Guarani Kaiowá: terre usurpate, demarcazioni bloccate e violenze sistematiche nell’impunità dello Stato brasiliano.
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Riceviamo e pubblichiamo: Comunicato stampa
Con il continuo peggioramento del maltempo e della crisi umanitaria nella Striscia di Gaza, centinaia di migliaia di famiglie Gazawi vivono in tende logore che non offrono alcuna protezione dal freddo e dalle piogge, causando una situazione catastrofica che colpisce soprattutto bambini, donne e anziani.
Riteniamo la comunità internazionale responsabile del proprio silenzio e sottolineiamo che il persistente divieto di far entrare gli aiuti essenziali – in particolare tende adeguate, caravan e materiali di riparo – rappresenta una grave violazione degli obblighi umanitari e una minaccia diretta alla vita di centinaia di migliaia di sfollati.
Chiediamo alle Nazioni Unite, alle organizzazioni internazionali e all’UNRWA di intervenire immediatamente e di esercitare una pressione concreta per garantire l’ingresso immediato degli aiuti e l’avvio della ricostruzione, ponendo fine alle restrizioni che aggravano la sofferenza e spingono Gaza verso un inverno disastroso.
La situazione è ormai insostenibile: ogni ritardo vuol dire mettere a rischio altre vite.
17/11/2025
Associazione dei Palestinesi in Italia (API)
FREE ASSANGE Italia
Riceviamo e pubblichiamo: Comunicato stampa Con il continuo peggioramento del maltempo e della crisi umanitaria nella Striscia di Gaza, centinaia di migliaia di famiglie Gazawi vivono in tende logore che non offrono alcuna protezione dal freddo e da…Telegram
Usa, il Pentagono vuole accelerare sulle tecnologie disruptive. Ecco come
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Gli Stati Uniti definiscono la loro prossima agenda tecnologica militare. Emil Michael, sottosegretario alla Ricerca e Ingegneria del Dipartimento della Difesa, ha presentato le sei aree che guideranno gli investimenti e lo sviluppo dei sistemi d’arma nei prossimi anni, con
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simona
in reply to simona • •simona
in reply to simona • — (Livorno) •