Vivaldi Browser

 Your Man in the Public Gallery – Assange Hearing Day 8 Craig Murray 

A local Czech politician tells China’s foreign minister not to “open your trap” again about his country’s relations with Taiwan.

WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT CHINESE PATIENCE, BUT LATELY WE’RE SEEING THE IMPATIENCE OF AN ELDERLY DICTATOR WHO KNOWS HE DOESN’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME: Europe Just Declared Independence From China: As the EU navigates an increasingly Sino-American world, it finally sees the need to stand together, even against Beijing.

Related:  Document of the Week: Czech Pol to China: Piss Off.

ICYMI:  Vitamin D deficiency raises COVID-19 infection risk by 77%, study finds.

Body cameras may have little effect on police and citizen behaviors: study PhysOrg

Portland, Oregon, passes toughest ban on facial recognition in US CNET 

Ireland To Order Facebook To Stop Sending User Data To US Wall Street Journal

Gizmodo: “If your Internet habits resemble anything like mine, you probably have 20-plus tabs open at once, maybe multiple windows too, because you want to keep that YouTube playlist or Gmail inbox separate for quicker access. But all overwhelming digital clutter can keep us glued to our screens anyway. Sometimes the best thing to do is step away from your desk, yet it’s not easy when there are a billion things on our screens to hold our attention. A lesser-used Internet browser, Vivaldi, has its own solution for that essentially let you put a pause on the whole thing Vivaldi fancies itself the new Opera—a polished alternative browser to the ones made by the biggest companies in tech. That’s quite fitting because Vivaldi Co-Founder and CEO Jon von Tetzchner was also the co-founder and CEO of Opera. Vivaldi launched in April 2016, and it’s a Chromium-based browser, which means it supports a lot of the same extensions as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Only its interface is very different—enough so that many Chrome and Edge user interface customizations will not work in Vivaldi. According to a recent announcementby von Tetzchner, the Internet browser received a few new features, including an interesting “Break Mode” feature, which according to von Tetzchner is a “new way to pause the Internet.”…

The Fight Over Section 230 and Beyond by Paul M. Barrett is the deputy director of the New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. “Recently, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 has come under sharp attack from members of both political parties, including presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The foundational law of the commercial internet, Section 230 does two things: It protects platforms and websites from most lawsuits related to content posted by third parties. And it guarantees this shield from liability even if the platforms and sites actively police the content they host. This protection has encouraged internet companies to innovate and grow, even as it has raised serious questions about whether social media platforms adequately self-regulate harmful content. In addition to the assaults by Trump and Biden, members of Congress have introduced a number of bills designed to limit the reach of Section 230. 

Some critics have asserted unrealistically that repealing or curbing Section 230 would solve a wide range of problems relating to internet governance. These critics also have played down the potentialy dire consequences that repeal would have for smaller internet companies. Academics, think tank researchers, and others outside of government have made a variety of more nuanced proposals for revising the law. We assess these ideas with an eye toward recommending and integrating the most promising ones. Our conclusion is that Section 230 ought to be preserved—but that it can be improved. It should be used as a means to push platforms to accept greater responsibility for the content they host…

In the Animal Kingdom, the Astonishing Power of the Number Instinct MIT Press Reader

Americans are observing nature during the pandemic, helping scientists with research National Geographic. Citizen science [pounds table]. Citizen science!

To survive frigid nights, hummingbirds cool themselves to record-low temperatures Science

Amazon Raised Prices on Essentials Amid Pandemic, Watchdog Says Bloomberg

Dozens of Amazon’s own products have been reported as dangerous — melting, exploding or even bursting into flames. Many are still on the market CNN. Wowsers, it’s hard to understand why Amazon’s leadership principles didn’t prevent this

The Coming Age of Disorder Will Favor Commodities John Authers, Bloomberg