Notices by petersuber (petersuber@fediscience.org)

From @MichaelEMann: “I push back on [#climate] doomism because I don’t think it’s justified by the science, and I think it potentially leads us down a path of inaction. And there are bad actors today who are fanning the flames of climate doomism because they understand that it takes those who are most likely to be on the front lines, advocating for change, and pushes them to the sidelines, which is where polluters and petrostates want them.”
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/04/forget-doomers-warming-can-be-stopped-top-climate-scientist-says/

#ClimateChange

Update. #Colorado governor signs tractor #RightToRepair law opposed by John #Deere.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/04/colorado-governor-signs-tractor-right-to-repair-law-opposed-by-john-deere/

Update.

The #RightToRepair Is Law in #Minnesota. #California Should Be Next
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/right-repair-law-minnesota-california-should-be-next

Update. There's a strong #RightToRepair bill in #Michigan with grassroots support from #farmers.
https://michiganadvance.com/2023/08/23/michigan-farmers-urge-state-lawmakers-to-pass-right-to-repair-legislation/

Update.
#Scientology opposes the #RightToRepair. Wants to shield its E-Meter.
https://www.404media.co/scientologists-ask-government-to-make-hacking-e-meters-illegal/

#StreisandEffect

Update. "#California Lawmakers Unanimously Pass #RightToRepair Legislation."
https://www.404media.co/california-assembly-unanimously-passes-right-to-repair-legislation/

Update. From @pluralistic: #Apple's public support for #California's #RightToRepair legislation masks deep and effective opposition.
https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

Update. #Maine has a #RightToRepair initiative on the November 7 ballot.
https://ballotpedia.org/Maine_Question_4,_%22Right_to_Repair_Law%22_Vehicle_Data_Access_Requirement_Initiative_(2023)

#Referendum

Update. #Maine's #RightToRepair ballot initiative passed yesterday with an overwhelming 83.4% of the vote.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/11/07/us/elections/results-maine-question-4-right-to-repair.html

Inspiring #RightToRepair story from #Poland. Or perhaps it will be a #NoRightToRepair story.
https://www.404media.co/polish-hackers-repaired-trains-the-manufacturer-artificially-bricked-now-the-train-company-is-threatening-them/

"Three white-hat hackers helped a regional rail company in southwest Poland unbrick a train that had been artificially rendered inoperable by the train’s manufacturer after an independent maintenance company worked on it. The train’s manufacturer is now threatening to sue the hackers who were hired by the independent repair company to fix it."

Update on the train-fixing Polish hackers and the train company's allegations of copyright infringement. Plus the hacker's "overwhelming evidence" that the company deliberately used artificial locks to disable the train.
https://www.404media.co/polish-hackers-explain-exactly-how-they-fixed-trains-that-the-manufacturer-bricked/

#RightToRepair

Update. #Google supports the #RightToRepair bill in #Oregon, even as applied to #Pixel phones.
https://9to5google.com/2024/01/11/pixel-right-to-repair/

But it adds this proviso: "Legislation should acknowledge the risks borne by unskilled repairers and allow original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to provide parts assemblies rather than individual components to reduce the risk of injury."

Primary source
https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/right-to-repair.pdf

Update. "#Apple might’ve backed a #RightToRepair bill in #California, but it was spotted lobbying 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 a new bill in #Oregon that tries to ban the practice known as parts pairing."
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/9/24067957/apple-right-to-repair-oregon-bill-parts-pairing-ban

Update. The #RightToRepair law approved by #Maine voters last November (by 84%) was limited to cars. A new bill in Maine would extend the right to electronic devices (with some exceptions). More details.
https://www.themainewire.com/2024/02/maine-lawmakers-consider-right-to-repair-for-electronic-devices/

Update. "#Oregon’s legislature just passed a #RightToRepair bill over the objection of #Apple lobbyists, and which would require Apple to change an anti-repair design in the iPhone and other devices. If signed by the governor, it will become by far the strongest repair law in the nation."
https://www.404media.co/oregon-passes-right-to-repair-bill-that-would-make-apple-redesign-the-iphone/

More reasons to love #Libraries and #Librarians.

I posted this to Twitter a few years ago. Re-upping it light of recent #BookBans, #Censorship, and threats to #Libraries.
https://twitter.com/petersuber/status/1366409548567703552

What would #Google give to be a player in today's #SocialMedia ferment of creative disruption?

I'm one of those kooks who think that Google was way too fast to pull the plug on #GooglePlus, even for a company with a penchant for plug-pulling.
* And that it was wrong to lose interest and drop features years before killing it.
* And that it botched the death blow by deleting G+ posts instead of preserving them as it did with the #Usenet posts it painstakingly hunted down and reposted.

🧵

#Retractions matter for #law and public policy, not just for science.

"Papers used by judge to justify abortion pill suspension retracted"
https://retractionwatch.com/2024/02/06/papers-used-by-judge-to-justify-abortion-pill-suspension-retracted/

#Abortion #Mifepristone

From a survey of @penn_state #students: "72% …reported they had not purchased a course’s required #textbook, and 33% said they had not registered for a specific course because of its cost of required course materials. In addition, 33% said they had earned a poor grade because they couldn’t afford to purchase a course textbook, and 17% dropped a course because of the cost of materials required for the course."
https://www.psu.edu/news/university-libraries/story/students-may-avoid-paying-textbooks-expense-academic-success/

#Academia #OER #OpenAccess
@academicchatter

"Following the controlled demolition of Al-Israa University, Israeli army footage of which was widely shared on social media, every single higher education institution in #Gaza is believed to have either been destroyed or severely damaged since the invasion began."
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/academia-gaza-has-been-destroyed-israeli-educide
(#paywalled)

#Academia #Universities
@academicchatter