Brian Beach has moved @bwbeach@qoto.org

Harvard University graduate student Yue Sun won an award from the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics for her video on the hydrodynamics of marbled paper. https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/12/marbled-paper-frosty-fireworks-among-2023-gallery-of-fluid-motion-winners/ via @Researchbuzz

LAWSUIT UPDATE: Earlier today, we filed our opening appellate brief in Hachette v. Internet Archive, reaffirming our commitment to preserving knowledge and defending the digital rights of all libraries. Join the fight: https://blog.archive.org/2023/12/15/internet-archive-defends-digital-rights-for-libraries/

This is cool: we kicked off a new Network Stats blog series today with a post explaining how #Backblaze is connected to the Internet, and how we joined the #Equinix Silicon Valley (SV1) Internet Exchange, bringing us closer to thousands of our customers. https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-network-stats/

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/14/climate/california-water-crisis-drought.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F00.yTX-.mcgbVjemAraS&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare Contrary to the lede, it wasn’t who got there first who got the water rights, it was who murdered and enslaved and terrorized First Nations Californians off their land, denied them standing in courts, and hunted them down for bounties paid by State and Federal funds, who claimed the water rights. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/14/climate/california-water-crisis-drought.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F00.yTX-.mcgbVjemAraS&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare Tell the actual history, every time. #Water #California

I would like to see a law which makes companies responsible for any errors their AI makes. Since their key appeal is for passing accountability to a black hole, I think it ought to transfer to them instead.

If they had to manage that risk I think we would see more responsible use.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/12/humana-also-using-ai-tool-with-90-error-rate-to-deny-care-lawsuit-claims/

The first library I looked at gave, as its first argument for why you should use it, "because it is 2017" and I did not find this argument convincing

Graph the parabola \(y = x^{2}\) on a floor with an infinite square grid. If we stand on the \(y\)-axis below the origin where we can see the entire parabola, it looks like an ellipse tangent to the horizon or -- from just the right vantage point -- a perfect circle.

This is likely either surprising or obvious, or perhaps one followed by the other.

https://diffgeom.com/products/parabolic-ascent-wall-art-poster

#mathematics #mathart

I’m in the process of moving all of a parent’s credit, banking, online ordering, and medical accounts over to my phone number bc they (my parent) can no longer deal with five-step logins and mandatory SMS codes across wildly inconsistent patterns and hoooooo boy are the tech companies and systems unprepared for what is about to hit them, generationally.

It took five phone calls, three codes, and two emails to change just one account over.

As an occasional journalist, I just love the way Ed Yong closes his latest OpEd at NYTs & couldn’t agree more. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/11/opinion/long-covid-reporting-lessons.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FE0.aHg1.KLP-3qDCnjtp&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare #GiftArticle #writing #journalism

“Journalists can act as a care-taking profession that soothes & nurtures. We are among the only professions that can do so at a scale commensurate with the scope of the crises before us. We can make people who feel invisible feel seen. We can make everyone else look.”

This blew up. Great ideas and comments in thread.

To clarify some points - a lot of traditionally “women’s” clothes and accessories pose an industrial safety hazard that isn’t discussed much. Spandex can melt to your skin in a fire or electrical accident. Metal hairpins and ties can conduct electricity and heat up. Even hair spray can be flammable. So having the conversations is really important, as well as alternatives for stuff, including underwear, pants, and shoes that fit a wide range of shapes and sizes properly (fit without loose or dangling clothes can be important for safety too).

The worst industrial injury I ever got was due to a lack of discussion or communication of hazards. I worked on aircraft components doing constant soldering back in the day of much more toxic stuff. I wore gas permeable contacts at the time and even though I wore eye protection, I ended up with severe burns to my eyes. I would hate to see someone require skin grafts or worse because suppliers don’t stock clothes that fit safely or discussions are not had about the risks of typical undergarments, etc.

"Here’s a stark way of thinking about the problem: If the U.S. had made as much progress reducing vehicle crashes as other high-income countries had over the past two decades, about 25,000 fewer Americans would die every year."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/11/briefing/us-traffic-deaths.html

It's worth reading the definition of genocide[1] — it's very specific and quite clear. If you find yourself supporting people who are actively committing one — regardless of who they are, regardless of why the day they are, regardless of what anyone else has done to them, you should seriously rethink the choices that have led you to this point. There is no such thing as a justifiable genocide.

And yes, those people may have also done good things, may have done things you agree with, may be the less bad choice among many terrible choices. But in all of those cases, you do not need to support the genocide, and if you feel the need to still side with them, you have a moral responsibility to very clearly condemn that genocide, at the very least.

https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/learn-about-genocide-and-other-mass-atrocities/what-is-genocide

TIL about Star Trek Continues https://odd.blog/2023/12/09/til-about-star-trek-continues/

❝ The key point we tried to make is that so much of the arguments being thrown back and forth are really about who it is that gets to determine how a website moderates: should it be the government or should it be the website? If those are the only two options there are, then it already does seem obvious that it should be the website, not the government.
But, the key to our brief is pointing out that this assumes, falsely, that this is the only possible model out there. Instead, we highlight, that it is possible to envision a world in which users themselves get to decide, and any ruling that says the government gets to decide would fundamentally make that kind of user freedom and empowerment impossible. ❞ https://disobey.net/@yawnbox/111546021151675706