from the ncose-is-a-threat-to-free-speech dept

In totally sane and not-crazy anti-pornography activism news, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) considers online pornography a national security threat. This may be the stupidest thing NCOSE has ever claimed in its decades’ long fascistic fight against sexuality. 

The group’s president and chief executive officer, Marcel van der Watt, wrote for the Washington Times about cases of sexual exploitation that could potentially harm individuals who are a part of the military-industrial complex. However, he offers no clear example of such cases and simply relies on the organization’s standard talking points that all sexual expression is bad. 

He writes:

Adults are often an underreported victim group because of shame and fear of social repercussions, yet they are deemed high-value targets by exploiters because of their financial resources.

This claim is meant to apply to military and government employees with security clearances who could be subject to coercion, extortion, and other legitimate forms of exploitation if they post nudes consensually or if they were legitimately victimized by criminals. All of these are real issues, but, in true NCOSE form, van der Watt falsely conflates activities that are illegal with those that are lawful. Van der Watt likens this exploitation as a “symptom” of pornography’s ubiquity in national culture, despite the resurgence of white Christian nationalism.

The argument can be summed up that military personnel have private lives, and sometimes those private lives involve pornography, and because of that, they may be coerced into sharing nudes, which means that the government must outlaw porn as a national security threat.

There are a few logical leaps in there.

He calls for the U.S. Justice Department to stand up its long-dormant obscenity task force that once went after legal pornography producers who released hardcore content. Van der Watt’s calls echo a recent attempt by Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana urging acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to reinstate the task force while singling out the $3.15 billion-valued OnlyFans.com. 

And it’s clear that the real threat here is just… van der Watt doesn’t like the idea that some people enjoy pornography:

Yet the national security threat posed by pornography is incubated on a far more granular level.

Pornography corrodes the exact social foundation that supports national strength. It normalizes sexual objectification and fosters impersonal, consumeristic attitudes toward sex. Over time, its use may lead to habituation, where users require increasingly extreme content to achieve the same level of sexual arousal.

Such rhetoric is part of the far-right’s project to eliminate legal and consensual pornography. This has long been a core tenant of NCOSE’s mission. This is the organization that used to be called “Morality in Media.” Remember, this is the same organization that called for the magazine Cosmopolitan to be removed from Walmart checkout lines because the publication was “pornographic.” NCOSE once went after academic database provider EBSCO for not blocking students from accessing anatomically correct sexual education materials. NCOSE is also one of the central groups to argue the pseudo-scientific claim that pornography is addictive like a drug and serves as a public health crisis. NCOSE persists in these claims, despite no evidence of such. And now it wants you to believe its a “national security” threat?

Michael McGrady covers the tech and legal sides of the online porn business.

Filed Under: marcel van der watt, national security, pornography

Companies: ncose

Compact 4K laser projectors are having a moment, and not because everyone suddenly wants to bolt a giant chassis to the ceiling again. More buyers are looking for serious big-screen performance in smaller, more living-room-friendly designs that can fit into real homes without turning the space into a demo room at an AV trade show. Leica clearly sees the same shift.

In 2023, Leica entered the ultra-short-throw projector category with the Hisense-built Cine 1, a $9,000 UST model bundled with either a 100-inch or 120-inch ALR screen. In 2024, it followed with the Cine Play 1, a lifestyle-focused standard-throw projector priced at $3,795. For 2026, Leica is expanding the lineup again with the Cine Compact 1.

Priced at $2,000, the Leica Cine Compact 1 is now the smallest projector in the company’s range, borrowing much of its concept and feature set from the Cine Play 1 but placing it in a smaller, more compact chassis.

That makes it less of a “take it anywhere” projector and more of a smaller premium 4K laser option for buyers who want the Leica badge without handing over Cine 1 money.

Smaller Leica, Still Big-Screen Ambitions

Like the Cine Play 1, the Leica Cine Compact 1 combines RGB laser light source technology with Leica’s premium imaging approach and support for 4K resolution via pixel shifting. The key difference is scale. While the Cine Play 1 can project images up to 300 inches, the Cine Compact 1 tops out at 220 inches, which is still absurdly large for most living rooms unless your sofa came with its own ZIP code.

Leica is positioning the Cine Compact 1 as a more convenient home cinema option for both indoor and outdoor use, helped by built-in smart features and user-friendly setup tools. That outdoor angle comes with the usual projector reality check: it will work best after dark and away from ambient light. Daytime backyard cinema still belongs in the same fantasy file as affordable Leica lenses.

RGB Laser, Leica Optics, and the Usual Brightness Reality Check

The Leica Cine Compact 1 uses a triple RGB laser light source rated for up to 25,000 hours of operation, which should cover a lot of movies, streaming binges, and questionable franchise reboots before anyone starts worrying about the light engine.

Leica rates the Cine Compact 1 at up to 1,700 ANSI lumens, which means it should be capable of producing a clear, high-contrast image in darker rooms or outdoor spaces with minimal ambient light. That last part matters. This is still projection, not witchcraft. If you aim it at a wall during a bright afternoon barbecue, the sun is going to win.

HDR support is also broad, with compatibility for Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. The Cine Compact 1 also includes Leica Image Optimization, or LIO, which uses image-processing algorithms designed to improve color rendition, color gradation, and contrast.

And because Leica is not going to put its name on a projector without making the lens part of the story, the Cine Compact 1 incorporates a genuine Leica Summicron zoom lens. That gives the projector a real optical talking point beyond the badge, which matters at $2,000.

Audio

For the best listening experience with the Leica Cine Compact 1, an AVR and surround sound speaker system would still be the preferred option. At minimum, a good soundbar makes sense, especially since HDMI eARC connectivity is supported. That said, a full external audio setup is not always practical with a compact projector designed to move more easily between rooms or support occasional outdoor use.

To make the Cine Compact 1 more self-contained, Leica includes a 2 x 10-watt onboard audio system with DTS Virtual:Xprocessing. That will not replace a proper surround system or a serious soundbar, but it should provide a more spacious and usable listening experience than the tiny speaker systems found in many lifestyle projectors.

Streaming, AirPlay, and Just Enough Physical Connectivity

The Leica Cine Compact 1 is not just about image quality and onboard sound. It also includes both wireless and physical connectivity, which matters if the goal is to make the projector easy to use without adding a stack of external boxes.

With built-in smart TV features, users can access streaming services directly from the projector, provided it is connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Leica uses Hisense’s VIDAA streaming platform, which provides access to major apps, including Netflix. The remote control also includes direct-access buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and YouTube.

Wireless support includes Apple AirPlay and Bluetooth. AirPlay allows users to stream compatible content from Apple devices, while Bluetooth can be used for wireless audio streaming from smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

Physical connectivity is more limited. The Cine Compact 1 includes one HDMI port and one USB port. The HDMI connection supports eARC, making it easier to connect the projector to a compatible AVR or soundbar. The USB port can be used to play compatible media files stored on a USB flash drive. 

Flexibility

The Leica Cine Compact 1’s biggest advantage is flexibility. Weighing under 10 pounds, it can be moved from room to room and set up without a permanent installation.

Its integrated 360-degree rotation system allows projection from multiple angles onto walls, ceilings, or other suitable surfaces, while automatic zoom, autofocus, keystone correction, and intelligent screen framing help align the image with minimal manual adjustment. Because spending 20 minutes fixing geometry before the movie starts is nobody’s idea of premium.

For added placement options, the Cine Compact 1 can also be used with the same optional stand as the Cine Play 1, with a stand adapter included.

Comparison

The Bottom Line 

The Leica Cine Compact 1 is the company’s most accessible projector so far, but “entry-level” is doing some heavy lifting at $2,000. What makes it unique is the combination of RGB laser projection, broad HDR support, automatic setup tools, built-in streaming, DTS Virtual:X audio, and a genuine Leica Summicron zoom lens in a smaller sub-10-pound chassis.

What is missing? More HDMI inputs, higher light output, and a price that does not immediately invite comparisons with Hisense’s own M2 Pro, which costs $1,299.99 and offers a very credible alternative, albeit with slightly lower brightness. Leica’s advantage remains optics and image refinement, but buyers are still paying a premium for the red dot. Funny how that works.

Price & Availability

The Leica Cine Compact 1 will be available for $1,995 beginning June 18, 2026 with optional floor stand priced at $495 through Leica Authorized Dealers.

For more information: leicacamerausa.com

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Global data on math achievement is revealing a dismaying trend: Girls are doing worse than boys — and the margins are huge.

In 2023, fourth-grade boys outperformed their female peers in a vast majority of schools, growing the gender gap that existed prior to the pandemic, according to an international study released last week.

Among eighth-graders, the rate of boys scoring higher than girls increased exponentially since 2019, rolling back gains in math equity that had been shaping up for more than a decade. Matthias Eck, a program specialist for UNESCO’s Section of Education for Inclusion and Gender Equality, tells EdSurge that prior data showed girls were catching up with boys in math achievement.

“But in the latest data, we see that the gap is widening again between girls and boys, and that’s at the detriment of girls, which is quite concerning,” he says.

This international trend echoes what U.S. analysts saw when data from the Nation’s Report Card was released last year.

The latest analysis is based on data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), a global study published every four years that measures math and science achievement among fourth- and eighth-grade students. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement performed the analysis in partnership with UNESCO.

Widening Achievement Gaps

The new data is part of the first set of TIMSS results that measure student performance following the onset of the pandemic. The analysis shows that among top performers in fourth grade, 85 percent of counties’ results skewed toward boys. Slightly over half of the countries and territories from which data was collected have an advanced math achievement gap that favors eighth-grade boys, while none are lopsided toward girls in either grade.

Eck, one of the report’s authors, argues the data shows a correlation between longer school closures and higher rates of learning loss in math, with some variation among countries and territories. “One of the hypotheses is really that those disruptions during the pandemic may have exacerbated existing disparities and have reduced learning opportunities for girls, and potentially those that were at risk of low achievement have been more affected,” Eck says. “The fact that girls were out of school and were not in the learning environment, it could have impacted their confidence, but that’s just the hypothesis.”

But the numbers contain other alarming signals.

For example, the share of regions with a gender gap among fourth-grade students who are failing to reach basic math proficiency is on the rise, and most of them have a higher proportion of struggling girls, according to the report. And while the gender gap in underperformance among eighth-graders is shrinking, the proportion of countries and territories where girls have a higher failure rate spiked.

Researchers are being cautious when it comes to drawing conclusions about the causes behind the results, but girls’ experience of gender stereotypes and confidence in their math abilities can play a role.

“Boys and girls are equally able in mathematics, but these learning outcomes can be shaped by a range of factors,” Eck explains, “and that can be persistent gender stereotypes, but also teacher expectations — and they’re based, of course, on those gender stereotypes.”

Targeted Solutions

UNESCO is pushing education systems across the globe to take a hard look at whether their gender equity strategies are working, especially efforts aimed at younger students.

Eck notes that the consequences of girls’ achievement in math can have far-reaching effects in their lives — and very real consequences in societies writ large. “We know that mathematics is quite foundational to learning across the school subjects, it’s also critical for pathways into science, technology, engineering, mathematics careers,” he says. “These sectors are at the center of innovation, technology advancement, inclusive growth and sustainable development, so that’s quite concerning in terms of those sectors.”

But there’s no widely accepted solution to this problem.

Increasing girls’ math performance will take work at the national policy level, local communities, within families and the culture of classrooms, Eck says. And changes have to include challenging gender stereotypes that limit how far girls think they can go in mathematics, he adds.

“I think what is really critical is that we see those large gaps emerging early, at the fourth grade level when students usually are around 9 or 10 years old,” he says. “That means that whatever we do, the action we take to address the issue must start quite early and must be very targeted.”

The company also announced a new €50,000 grant for five sports clubs across Ireland.

Last week, Huawei held its annual innovation day in Ireland at University College Dublin (UCD)’s O’Reilly Hall, bringing together senior decision-makers, engineers and energy experts to discuss the practical realities of Ireland’s transition to a sustainable and resilient energy supply.

The “real highlight” of the event, said Dennis Tossijn, the chief technology officer for west European multi-country ICT network solutions at Huawei, is getting the “ecosystem” together, including “end customers, the partners, technology partners, in one place to discover together the new technologies, the innovations”.

A key aspect of the day’s proceedings, he added, were new AI-related solutions the company wants to bring to its end customers.

On 3 June, O’Reilly Hall saw dozens in attendance visiting workshops and exploring the latest Huawei had to offer. Among a number of products on display were Huawei’s renewable energy and energy storage solutions.

David Minnis, the company’s senior solutions director for energy storage systems, said that Huawei’s grid-forming platform allows for the large scale adoption of solar energy as part of a wider renewable energy mix.

“So, businesses can adopt solar energy right up to utility scale, where we can deploy large-scale systems in megawatts and even at gigawatt level,” he said.

“Solar energy is one of the fastest growing types of energy generation. It can be deployed at scale. It’s the one of the most cost-effective ways of generating electricity.”

The company, which has had a presence in Ireland since 2004, also announced a new €50,000 sports grant for five sports clubs across the country.

“The sports scheme reflects Huawei’s broader commitment to the communities in which it operates,” the company said, adding that it has also invested more than €250m into its Irish R&D efforts between 2019 and 2023.

Speaking about the grant, Calvin Lan, the CEO of Huawei Ireland, said: “Sport is one of the most powerful forces in Irish community life.

“We are delighted to be awarding €10,000 to five sports clubs around the country to enhance facilities, expand participation or strengthen youth development programmes.”

Lan told SiliconRepublic.com, “It is one small way to giving something back.”

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

A viewer handed over a Reevo hubless electric bike with one clear condition. Fix it first, then bring it back better than before. The machine already carried a heavy reputation for every shortcut and oversight that can sink an ambitious design. Original plans leaned hard into a futuristic look. Large hubless wheels replaced traditional spokes. A sculpted body hid most of the mechanics. Nearly every useful function, from lights to wheel locks to performance modes, ran through a smartphone app. Once the company behind that app stopped supporting it, large parts of the bike simply stopped responding.

The construction of this bike mirrored the flaws in the software. Plastic panels were held up by inexpensive inserts that grew loose or broke with regular use. Exposed wires and unsecured shroud covers gave the frame the appearance of having been put together by someone who had never heard the term “professional job.” The motor was purposefully lowered in the first place, so even a minor climb would leave passengers pushing or walking. The brakes appeared rather feeble and frequently squeaked at you to let you know they were having troubles, and don’t get me started on the constant high-pitched whining from the extra headlamp component.

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Seth from the Berm Peak channel decided to tackle this disaster. He started by pulling everything up. The controller and circuit board were housed within the main motor housing, and the labels could be read in English, which was remarkable. That made a big difference in understanding how everything worked, which was before a mystery. A four-wire serial cable was connected to a laptop running simple terminal software at 115200 baud, and data started to flow in.

Next, he solved the Bluetooth problem; it turned out that the first pairing process merely spewed the password in plain text over the serial link, and one or two deliberate failed attempts yielded the code “696969”. With the key in hand, he had complete access of the bike’s internal controls. He could then look for an older Android app that explained what each button and sensor was intended to do in the first place. Button presses for assist levels, throttle, and brakes all produced consistent results that could be repeated and improved.

The bike’s OEM display was not working. Seth replaced it with a low-cost ESP32-S3 touchscreen board and wrote custom code to turn the small 2.8-inch LCD into a fully functional dashboard. Speed, battery percentage, and trip distance are all shown in a clear 7-segment format, and the touch screen allows you to adjust the headlight, badge light, kickstand lock, and pedal assist levels, ranging from basic eco mode to turbo. A PIN entry screen allows you to lock the bike when you park it, and extended brake squeezes now flash the lights to alert anyone nearby of a potential problem. To prevent the bike from starting moving on its own, an inactivity timer reduces help to zero after ten minutes.

Physical repairs addressed the bike’s deteriorated body. He glued the shattered brass inserts within the plastic panels back into place using 3D-printed adapters. Cracks and holes were repaired with strips of yellow reflector tape, and that was it. The original grips were replaced with new ones. A noisy electroluminescent headlight transformer was replaced with a basic 12-volt LED, and the twisted kickstand was secured with loctite. The original brake pads were replaced, but the builder kept them since the noise provided a good warning to anyone around.

The most significant change came from the motor controller, where a firmware update fixed the artificial power limits that had been holding the bike back in the first place, allowing it to deliver the full 750 watts it was supposed to, and hills that had previously required effort now move along with a steady pull. The same controller work also allowed the new screen to govern the kickstand servo, ensuring that when the stand is erected, the wheel lock is promptly engaged.

As he progressed, safety features were integrated throughout the interface, with warning flags on the screen screaming “turn off” if assist mode was left on and the bike was in risk of entering a terrifying runaway mode. You can simply adjust a few settings and send commands to the bike using the built-in wifi we configured, without having to redo the entire code, change the PIN, update the bluetooth key, or communicate whatever you want, all without installing any additional software. The good news is that most of these modifications will remain without having you to modify the firmware.

Tests confirmed that everything eventually added up. The panels stopped moving and rattling on their mounts. The screen would come to life when you touched it. Even after the issue with the app was resolved, the lights and signals continued to function properly. The power appeared adequate, and you could rely on it not to do anything foolish. Most importantly, the machine began to feel like a bike you could ride every day, rather than a dismal reminder of how much work needed to be done to make it perfect.
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