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The former mining community in Gwent has long prided itself on its close-knit character. Home to fewer than 5,000 people, it's the kind of place where everyone knows everyone.

He failed to meet the requirements of a court order

Iraqi Mohammed Yaseen was a member of the Al Qaeda group that beheaded Briton Ken Bigley, later joining Isis and a unit that carried out beheadings and mass executions.

The Free Software Foundation "has never supported Raspberry Pi," writes their deputy directory Sean O'Brien, "as it depends on nonfree software for the boot process, leaving an important part of the computer outside the user's control." But they're now decrying "an even more intrusive restriction on user freedom" — the binary-blob bootloader changes that limit your ability to upgrade RAM: The restriction is not new: the relevant checks were introduced in the device firmware around 2024. However, these hardware handcuffs have only recently received wider attention. Though a user can desolder the original memory and install electrically compatible RAM, the nonfree firmware may refuse to recognize the additional memory, or simply decide not to boot the computer at all. Even replacement RAM of the same capacity can be rejected. This is worse than Raspberry Pi's longstanding dependence on nonfree firmware in an important way. It is not only nonfree software, but it is Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), used in this case to prevent the owner of the computer from making a modification that the hardware is otherwise capable of supporting. That distinction matters. Soldered RAM is difficult for most people to replace since it is a physical characteristic of the hardware. In the case of Raspberry Pi boards, users have demonstrated that the hardware itself can be modified successfully.... Raspberry Pi justifies the use of DRM on the basis of being able to identify altered computers. There may be legitimate reasons for wanting to identify such altered computers. Unscrupulous sellers have reportedly replaced memory on lower-capacity boards and resold them as more expensive models, sometimes using unreliable or defective components. But preventing fraud and maintaining quality does not require taking control away from users. A Raspberry Pi could record its original factory configuration in a cryptographically verifiable form. Raspberry Pi could use free software that warns the user when the installed RAM differs from original factory configuration. Raspberry Pi could provide tools allowing buyers to verify what hardware originally shipped with a board. None of those measures requires a software-enforced limit on what an owner may do with the computer... If compatible hardware can be installed successfully, the manufacturer should not create restrictions to prevent the owner from using it. Restrictions on hardware upgrades are deeply troubling from an organization like Raspberry Pi that has stated their commitment to longevity as a guiding principle. Free software is ultimately about who controls the computer. The user should control it, not the manufacturer that sold it.... The people who own these computers must also have the freedom to modify, repair, and upgrade them, without restrictions imposed by nonfree software limiting their potential. Hackaday recently argued the restriction was "no big deal." noting there's ways to bypass the restriction" The bootloader is stored in the SPI flash chip, which can be reflashed using the built-in mask ROM over USB and rpiboot, and you are not prevented from flashing older versions of the bootloader, so far... If you have the skills to upgrade your RAM, you most certainly have the skills to downgrade the Raspberry Pi bootloader... My advice: don't lament Raspberry Pi RAM upgrades, especially given they're only slightly harder to perform now. Very few hackers ever performed them, the main audience for them turned out to be dodgy hardware resellers online... Think of the users that will no longer be fooled by a shady seller on Amazon, especially now that the perverse incentives for board mods and reusing harvested RAM chips are at their highest.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The blue and white porcelain vases, which stand one-metre tall, are believed to date back to the Kangxi period in 18th century China.

Netflix has been accused by sources close to the Duchess of Sussex of revealing her potential involvement with the black comedy series to boost its publicity.

Some say the roast is better than one that's homemade

Two men from Spalding arrested over suspected arson endangering life after a shop doorway fire in Stone Cross, Harlow, on October 18.

Two men from Spalding arrested over suspected arson endangering life after a shop doorway fire in Stone Cross, Harlow, on October 18.

It's an epidemic that any parent will be aware of. Cheap, colourful and creating sickly-sweet flavoured puffs of steam, e-cigarettes, or vapes, are now a mainstay of the British teen experience.

How do you solve a problem like Meghan and Harry, asks SARAH VINE. One imagines this is a common, if not entirely welcome, conversation over the King's morning Burford Browns.

BBC Bitesize encourages children to play an online game called Increasing Immigration, in which they are rewarded for choosing 'open borders' and granting an amnesty to illegal migrants.

On Friday evening, Donald Trump handed Vladimir Putin another reason to smile, writes PHILIP INGRAM.

The modest progress is partly the result of the natural resilience of British businesses, and partly because many of them seem to be rather good at deploying artificial intelligence to cut costs.

From fake tan and facelifts to smoking (but never inhaling), the interior designer, partygoer and arbiter of taste via tea towel NICKY HASLAM tells Maddy Fletcher how to be 87, his way

Foulness Island near Southend is Essex’s largest island, owned by the MOD for weapons testing. Discover restricted access, Heritage Centre visits and history.

Foulness Island near Southend is Essex’s largest island, owned by the MOD for weapons testing. Discover restricted access, Heritage Centre visits and history.

It was the drug-strewn room where Liam Payne spent his final hours before plummeting 40ft to his death from a balcony on October 16, 2024.

It's always difficult when life-changing drugs come with uncomfortable side effects. We see it all the time with crucial medicines such as blood pressure tablets and statins.

It's hard to imagine that it's been 20 years since Dexter landed on the box.