Sweden is the home of bork, and what better way to mark it than with a huge example of digital signage that shows a GRUB message instead of an ad? Spotted by eagle-eyed Register reader Alexander, the GRUB in question is sadly not the delicious meatballs for which a well-known Swedish furniture maker is famed, but rather the bootloader familiar to Linux fans, usually when something is working as it should (since we can't imagine much call for selecting from multiple operating systems in the world of digital signage). GNU GRUB (the GRUB is short for Grand Unified Bootloader), according to GNU, "is responsible for loading and transferring control to the operating system kernel software." In this case, the user has some options. UEFI firmware is one. Some options for DMS are another. DMS might mean Dank Material Shell, unless you know better. It's an attractive enough desktop, but it seems like overkill for something that slings ads for the few seconds Stockholm commuters raise their gaze from their devices. Some enticing possibilities are on offer. Hitting "e" will edit the commands while "c" will drop the user into the command line. That's assuming, of course, that the user is carrying a keyboard to attach to the stricken screen, something we're sure every Register reader has in their backpack, but not something civilians would necessarily keep on their person. GRUB has featured in this column before, appearing on a UK bus after a filesystem became a bit poorly (motion sickness can clearly affect computers as well as commuters), but this is a wall-sized example of the breed. Judging by the passengers on the escalators opposite, it appears that nobody is rushing to the aid of the stricken signage. That's probably for the best – leave it for a few seconds (by the looks of things), and it'll have another go at booting. Still, it's always good to see GRUB putting in an appearance in a section often dominated by Windows and Android whoopsies. The era of the Linux desktop might not be upon us just yet, but judging by this Stockholm signage, bork is alive and kicking in the open-source world. ®

Agnieszka Holland maakte na haar misselijkmakende meesterwerk Green Border een ‘gekke’ film over het leven van Franz Kafka. Met kafkaëske beelden en penisrijke absurditeit voert ze je van Kafka’s geboorte naar zijn dood, en daar ver voorbij.

De Turks-Duitse regisseur Ilker Çatak won de Gouden Beer met Yellow Letters, waar een huwelijk kraakt door politieke repressie. „Idealisme is ook een luxe.”

De Turkse staat keert zich tegen een kunstenaarskoppel. Hoe principieel blijven ze onder hoge druk? Ilker Çatak zet de handeling op scherp door die naar Europa te verplaatsen – als waarschuwing.

AMSTERDAM (ANP) - De 37-jarige man die vorige maand een gevangenismedewerker zou hebben doodgeschoten op de NDSM-kade in Amsterdam blijft ook de komende drie maanden vastzitten. Zijn hechtenis is met negentig dagen verlengd, liet de rechtbank in de hoofdstad dinsdag weten. De Amsterdammer wordt verdacht van moord.

Het slachtoffer (61) zat met zijn gezin op een terras in Amsterdam-Noord, toen hij werd belaagd door iemand die langsliep. Die man had enkele jaren vastgezeten in de gevangenis bij Zaandam, waar het slachtoffer destijds werkte. De voorbijganger kwam korte tijd later terug en schoot meerdere keren op het slachtoffer. De man overleed ter plekke. De 37-jarige verdachte werd korte tijd later op de kade aangehouden. Duikers vonden later een vuurwapen in het water.

Volgens het Openbaar Ministerie had de schutter de gevangenismedewerker aangesproken op een "gebeurtenis uit het verleden", maar het is niet bekend om wat voor gebeurtenis het gaat.

De naaktfoto's en privégegevens van honderden Nederlandse en Belgische vrouwen worden verhandeld op het dark web, het verborgen deel van het internet. Dat melden RTL Nieuws en het Vlaamse VTM Nieuws. Een website biedt daar kant-en-klare pakketten aan met intieme foto's, contactgegevens en socialemediaprofielen, waarmee de vrouwen kunnen worden lastiggevallen en afgeperst.

Het gaat om 190 slachtoffers uit Nederland en 28 uit België. Sommige beelden zijn meer dan tien jaar oud, andere zijn recent gemaakt. In totaal worden op de website 'afperspakketten' van meer dan 10.000 vrouwen wereldwijd aangeboden.

Op de website staan meer dan 850.000 beelden van slachtoffers. Per land krijg je een lijst met namen van vrouwen en hoeveel beelden er van hen beschikbaar zijn. Elk slachtoffer heeft zijn eigen profielpagina met daarop hun naam, woonadres, geboortedatum, telefoonnummer en e-mailadres. Ook alle socialemediaprofielen staan erbij vermeld, zoals Instagram en LinkedIn.

WASHINGTON (ANP) - De Verenigde Staten hebben hun langeafstandsbommenwerpers van de Britse militaire basis Fairford gehaald vanwege zorgen over een mogelijke aanval met Iraanse drones. Dat meldden diverse Amerikaanse media waaronder Axios en The Wall Street Journal. De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump sprak ook van een dreiging, meldt de BBC.

Er bestonden ernstige zorgen over een mogelijke complexe aanval in opdracht van de Iraanse Revolutionaire Garde, zo berichtte The Wall Street Journal op gezag van Amerikaanse en Europese functionarissen die op de hoogte zijn van de kwestie. De geplande aanval zou onderdeel zijn geweest van een breder Iraans complot dat erop gericht was om op de basis vliegtuigen en personeel te raken, waaronder Amerikaanse piloten.

De nieuwssite Axios meldde op basis van Amerikaanse functionarissen dat inlichtingen over een mogelijke aanval met Iraanse drones aanleiding vormden om in het weekend ongeveer twaalf B-1-bommenwerpers te verplaatsen.

Dreiging

President Trump heeft bevestigd dat sprake was van een specifieke dreiging. "Ja, dat kunnen we volgens mij wel zeggen. Ze zijn niet per ongeluk weggevlogen", aldus Trump volgens de BBC. "Er waren wat dreigingen. En in plaats van de vijand in de verleiding te brengen, zullen we de vijand gevangennemen en de vijand verslaan. Maar waarom zouden we ze daar laten staan? Dus we hebben ze een beetje verplaatst. Niet zo ver." De president zei ook te weten wie er achter zit, maar gaf geen details.

Het Amerikaanse leger had de langeafstandsbommenwerpers in maart naar het Verenigd Koninkrijk gestuurd om meer flexibiliteit te hebben in de oorlog tegen Iran.

Euro extends last week’s 1.2% drop amid French debt fears and political uncertainty in Europe

Informa, the FTSE 100 events business, has struck a £2.2bn deal to buy the US events organiser Clarion from the private equity firm Blackstone.

The £2bn takeover will add more than 100 events to Informa’s portfolio – from the defence and security exhibit DSEI held at London’s ExCel, to the comic book and pop culture themed AwesomeCon in Washington.

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A billion meals a year are wasted in this country. We need food businesses and government to make redistribution the default route

• Charlotte Hill is chief executive of the food redistribution organisation Felix

How often does this happen? You open the fridge and find some ingredient you meant to use but didn’t get round to, and even though it’s still edible you think perhaps it’s just easier to throw it away. In the UK it’s estimated that an average household wastes about three meals a week, or 156 meals a year.

Household fridges are one thing. But across the food sector more than 1bn meals’ worth of easily accessible surplus food is wasted each year in the UK for the same reason: because it is easier to throw it away. That equates to 470,000 tonnes – enough to feed every child in the UK three meals a day for a month. When so many people are struggling to afford food, that is a staggering amount, and what’s even more shocking is that it is good quality and nutritious.

Charlotte Hill is chief executive of the food redistribution organisation Felix

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In a squad with 17 nationalities from five continents, communication is key – and the Danish club enjoyed a bumper summer transfer window

If there is a secret to Midtjylland’s success in the transfer market then it starts in the classroom. Before this summer the Danish club renowned for an innovative approach had banked more than €200m (£170m) in sales since 2018, and they have just enjoyed the most profitable window in their short history.

The departure of the Guinea-Bissau striker Franculino Djú for Trabzonspor and the Chile forward Darío Osorio’s move to Crystal Palace on loan with an obligation to buy will potentially bring in €62m (£53.2m), with both deals completed in 48 hours at the end of the window. That followed the departures of the homegrown winger Aral Simsir and South Korean defender Lee Han-beom for Club Brugge for another €25m. The next batch of recruits included David Martínez, a 20-year-old Venezuela international from the MLS side LAFC. “I think hectic will be a good word,” says the technical director, Kristian Kjær, of the past couple of months.

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Our cartoonist on the 25th anniversary of the England midfielder’s one-man rescue act at Old Trafford

• Buy a cartoon | Some of David’s favourite works

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

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Four members of disgraced ex-president Jair Bolsonaro’s family have been elected to office, most notably his wife and son Flávio, who won the first round of voting to be Brazil’s new president

The weekend’s elections in Brazil not only put Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Flávio Bolsonaro, in the lead in the presidential race, but also underscored how far the former president has come in building a political dynasty.

As his far-right senator son heads into a runoff against the leftist incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a sweeping far-right victory in congressional races also secured seats for Jair Bolsonaro’s wife, two of his sons and one of his brothers.

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Researchers argue incorrect binding of Voynich manuscript radically changes ideas about its drawings and indecipherable text

It has been called the world’s most mysterious manuscript: a medieval set of pages filled with botanical drawings, astronomical diagrams, pictures of nude women and indecipherable text. Claimed at various times to be a book in a lost language, a musical score, an instruction manual or just an elaborate hoax, the so-called Voynich manuscript’s true meaning has defied cryptographers and codebreakers for centuries.

Now, new research offers an explanation for why a scholarly consensus over this enduring puzzle has been so hard to come by: not only because its truth is so profoundly mysterious – but because everyone has been reading its pages in the wrong order.

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Former Duke of York is attempting to quash search warrants that led to his arrest in February

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been warned not to use the king’s private money to fund his legal action against Thames Valley police.

The former Duke of York is attempting to quash search warrants that led to his arrest, with a private high court hearing due to take place on Thursday.

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The country’s 85-medal haul included athletes who trained with limited money and borrowed equipment. Plus, the Mumbai performer turning everyday absurdities into comedy

In a country where cricket eclipses every other sport, the recently concluded Asian Games offered a much-needed reminder of India’s breadth of sporting talent. In this edition of the games, in Japan, India won 85 medals: 21 golds, 27 silver and 37 bronze medals. I admit I did not know many of the players competing, or even some of the sports they play before putting this piece together. Learning about the stories, I wonder why not.

There were individual breakthroughs, records broken and history made. There were also hard-fought team victories, including the Indian women’s hockey team gold medal after a 44-year wait.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: As bipartisan backlash against Flock grows, some cities are asking anti-surveillance advocates and media outlets to pay eye-popping fees -- including charging tens of thousands or even millions -- to get information about how police departments are using and potentially abusing AI-enabled camera systems that track every vehicle that passes them. On Monday, the Texas Tribune reported that city officials in a Fort Worth suburb, North Richland Hills, asked one group to pay $2.3 million before it would fulfill a public records request for Flock data. To reach that high fee, officials claimed that searching "about a terabyte worth of communications about errors, misuse, and effectiveness of the Flock system" would take approximately 14 years of labor at a rate of $15 per hour.

Phil Mynona, who filed the request using a pseudonym on behalf of his group, the Texas Privacy Coalition, told the Tribune that the fee seemed "ludicrous" and designed to stifle his public records searches. Mynona has sought similar records from more than 200 law enforcement agencies across the US, and he said it was impossible to predict how cities assessed fees for Flock records. Some cities provided more than 400,000 pages of documents for free, while others charged $5,000. Other groups, including a Houston news station called KPRC, have seen officials quote up to $121,000 for Flock records, the Tribune reported. The high price tags may be hiding data that anti-surveillance groups note have triggered audits, arrests, and changes in how law enforcement uses cameras, including decisions to get rid of cameras. Further reading: Flock Blamed for Wrongful 13-Day Imprisonment and a Police Stalking Incident in Florida

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Many years ago, DJ got his start doing odd web development jobs for a low hourly rate. He was only 19 when he got started, and what he lacked in experience he made up for in being cheap to hire.

As I said, that was many years ago, and he has since learned a lot. But he still has some code from his very first "someone paid me for this" project. This particular function needed to pick a random bit of content from their database to display in the "right side" banner area. This is how DJ implemented it.

// Create an array of all the ID's used
$int = array();
$query = $sql->query("SELECT * FROM rightside");
while($row = $sql->objects('',$query)) {
    $int[ $row->id ] = $row->id;
    if ($row->id > $max) {
        $max = $row->id;
    }
}
                
// Find a random ID that has been used
$x = false;
while ($x == false) {
    $rand = rand(0,$max);
    foreach ($int as $thing) {
         if ($thing == $rand) {
 $x = true;
         }
    }
}

$query = $sql->query("SELECT * FROM rightside WHERE id = ".$rand);

We start by building an array. Then we query the database for all the content. We get all the rows and columns, butw e only are interested in one- the id. We create a sparse array, where the index of the item is the item's value. We also track the max.

Once we've got that, we start a loop. Inside that loop, we generate a random number, check if it's in our array by doing a foreach across the array, and if it is, we break the loop- we've found our random content. If it's not, we keep trying until we score a hit.

Finally, we construct our query with string concatenation and grab the content we want to display.

Now, as a true confession, there's an element of caveat emptor here; if you're hiring the kid from the local college and paying them a few bucks an hour, this is the kind of thing you get.

Is the code terrible? Yes, even by early-00s PHP standards. Is it really DJ's problem, though? No. I'd hope any of us would look back at the code we wrote when we were 19, and shudder. It means we've learned something in the interim.

For this confession, I say there's no need to atone. Hopefully everyone learned a lesson, especially the company trying to hire programmers on the cheap.

In moeilijke tijden voor vrouwen schiet de man te hulp, biedt hij haar bescherming en loopt hij aankomende zaterdag speciaal voor de vrouw een mannenmars door Amsterdam. Maar hoe edelmoedig de man ook is, hoezeer hij zijn best ook doet, een man doet het NOOIT goed. Want van Dolle Mina's tot Tradwives hebben vrouwen één ding gemeen, en dat is dat ze altijd en overal alleen maar lopen te zeiken op mannen. De mannenmarsmannen waagden 't namelijk te schrijven: "Het wordt tijd dat wij ook weer beschermers worden - bieders van veiligheid, in plaats van bedreiging - en dat we elkaar ook op die verantwoordelijkheid aanspreken." Nul keer raden hoe vrouwen reageren: "Wij juichen toe dat mannen zich uitspreken over gendergerelateerd geweld. Maar de term beschermen, daar hebben wij moeite mee. Ik krijg er een beetje jeuk van. Beschermen ligt dicht bij bezitten." Één verkeerd woordje, meteen mis. Lieve mannen van Nederland, ga nou massaal naar die mannenmars en loop die heerlijke mannenbenen uit uw mannelijke mannenlijf, maar doe dat niet voor de vrouw, doe dat voor de échte onderdrukten: mannen. En daarna weer lekker naar huis, koken.