bandersnatch @Bandersnatch@qoto.org

PSA: in case anyone decides to try nyxt browser, please note that the tarballs they distrubute are tarbombs.

Now hold on, I know that sounds bad. For those who don't know, tarbombs are archives that don't contain a root dir to hold all the files.

So instead of:
example/folder1
example/folder2

You get:
folder1
folder2

I hate it when I come across tarbombs, so I figured I'd let you guys know.

Game AI that sends taunts in the in-game chat when it thinks it's winning.

My neighbor is nice. They don't want to annoy us with loud noises so they wait until night when everyones asleep so they don't annoy anyone.

All possible outcomes of human history can be divided into those where we terraform both Mercury and Venus out of spite and those where we are cowards.

Some Hard information on #COVID19 as compared to other epidemics in recent history.

==COVID-19==
R0 = 2.2
Global Mortality: 7%
Death Toll = 4,718 (and rising)

== 2009 Swine-flu ==
R0 = 1.5
Global Mortality: 0.04%
Death Toll = 500,000

== 2002 SARS ==
R0 = 3
Global Mortality: 9.6%
Death Toll = 349

== 1920 Spanish Flu ==
R0 = 2
Global Mortality: 2.5%
Death toll = 100 million

For those who don't know R0 is the average number of people who will contract the disease from an infected individual.

As you can see the numbers are very concerning. The only disease that had the same potential for damage as this would have been the SARS epidemic in 2002. Luckily it was contained early on and never spread. The big difference seems to be the 2002 SARS epidemic had very few if any asymptomatic individuals. So it was easy to stop the disease before it spread (artificially lowering the R0 effectively).

However the COVID-19 has a large portion of people with the disease whoa re asymptomatic. This causes the spread to go unhindered. Despite having a lower R0 and lower mortality rate the death toll is already more than 10x what it was for 2002 SARS.

The numbers are scary, it suggests to me, we are in for some really nasty times ahead...

#coronavirus #science #SARS

Got a thermometer to check a fever. Took it out of the box. Will not take a reading.

It doesn't work without a smartphone app, which wouldn't install on the first phone we tried and requires an account.

They designed a thermometer that literally doesn't work when you buy it. That could kill someone if you get unlucky.

And it probably also sends your temperatures to their service so they can sell information about people with fevers.

RT @Aero_Jenna@twitter.com

Invisible Rube Goldberg machine.
Another example of exact same refractive index of materials.

#Physics #Science

IQ approximates a normal distribution; 15 points is one standard deviation. This means that "one IQ point" is not really a meaningful quantity; the difference between 100 and 101 is not the same as the difference between 101 and 102. 100 points is, by definition, the median score. Most tests cannot produce a score above a certain amount, usually somewhere below 200.

IQ is not a linear factual attribute of a person. It is a relative measurement used to approximately evaluate intelligence.

me: i wonder what would happen if i trained the neural net gpt-2 on christmas carols?

me: ...

me: oh NO
https://aiweirdness.com/post/189845472982/the-ais-carol

beautiful self-documented PCB on this project
https://www.hackster.io/news/the-open-book-an-open-feather-compatible-ebook-2011bffe9ddc

I did a detailed privacy check of the Tiktok app and website. You can read my article æt Süddeutsche Zeitung. Tiktok commits multiple breaches of law, trust, transparency and data protection. Here are the technical and legal details
Long thread⤵️

A lot of people still haven't fully grasped the severity of speculative execution vulnerabilities like Spectre and Meltdown.

> All Intel processors manufactured since circa 1995 are thought to be vulnerable, except some specific/old models, such as some early Atoms.

These vulnerabilities affect almost all modern CPUs in very serious ways, and they can only be partially defended against in software.

Install the patches and take the hit. It's better than losing a private key or something.

Holiday wishlist:

Tour NASA's biggest rocket factory
View @NASA_SLS w/ its 4 engines before flight
Talk to experts about the Artemis I launch

Sound about right? Apply to our #Artemis Day @NASASocial & this could be you! Deadline Nov. 17: https://go.nasa.gov/2OkseEM pic.twitter.com/knpPUS8l3O https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1195825125200932864