I just saw @ZachWeinersmith and Kelly Weinersmith's book "A City on Mars" is on sale on kobo right now for $1.99
Apple has introduced a new security feature in iOS. While it may not be entirely new to those in IT, it functions similarly to rebooting a device to resolve issues. This feature automatically reboots iPhones after three days of inactivity if the device has not been unlocked for 72 hours. This measure helps prevent attacks, such as attempting various combinations to unlock the phone or attempting to install remote backdoors by actors. That's my guess on its purpose. More https://www.404media.co/police-freak-out-at-iphones-mysteriously-rebooting-themselves-locking-cops-out/
'time is a flat circle'? what are you talking about, all circles are flat
After a difficult election loss, Canadian social democratic icon Tommy Douglas would often share this quote with supporters: “I am hurt, but I am not slain. I shall lay me down and bleed a while, then rise and fight again.”
And he would follow that with “Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world.”
“Many other networks force algorithms on users that degrade their experience — like downranking posts that include links to other websites — but increase their profits. Bluesky does not impose those kinds of restrictions on users.” https://open.substack.com/pub/popularinformation/p/want-to-quit-x-heres-your-guide-to
#OnThisDay, 14 Nov 1960, Ruby Bridges goes to school.
She is the first African-American child to attend the all-white William Frantz school in Louisiana, USA. It is a symbolic act, breaking the segregation of education in the state.
Her 2022 autobiographical picture book, I Am Ruby Bridges, is in Scholastic’s ‘diverse’ collection, meaning school librarians can opt out of including them in school book fairs.
#WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory #AmericanHistory #Histodons
I haven't used Spotify for some time now, but just came across https://www.tunemymusic.com/transfer (h/t @davidbisset), which lets me transfer/export my playlists and favorites.
Pretty neat!
The Guardian is no longer posting on X due to "the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism."
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/nov/13/why-the-guardian-is-no-longer-posting-on-x
Are Alternate Timelines Real? Quantum Physics Explains
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-alternate-timelines-real-quantum-physics-explains/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Scientific American @scientific-american-SciAm
Today, one of the graduate students I was mentoring asked me what target audience to have in mind when writing their first research paper, which combined ideas from two different mathematical fields - for instance, how much detail to spell out for a lemma which would be basic and well known to experts in one of the fields, but not the other. After discussing some hypothetical readers with strengths in one field but not the other, the framework that seemed to generate a "lightbulb" moment in the student's head was the suggestion to take as the model reader a version of the student's past self from about twelve months ago when first learning the subject, and to try to write to specifically address any confusions that the student had that could have had been resolved if only there was a text that had explained these basic points clearly. It was clear that the student had several such points come to mind immediately, and almost instantly had a much clearer plan for how to write the paper.
FOIA docs obtained by @josephcox show the Secret Service talking about how they don't need a warrant to track phone locations because people "willingly" gave it away by agreeing to long terms of service docs for random apps
This morning for no obvious reason, I remembered the Fuel Rats.
Elite:Dangerous is an MMO space sim game, with a big galaxy in which you fly a spaceship doing stuff. Spaceships need fuel, which you buy at stations, or if you have a fuel scoop you can skim the surface of certain stars to get usable fuel.
Space is big though, and it's quite possible to run yourself low on fuel in a way that you can no longer warp to any inhabited system to refuel. At which point you're screwed.
My god, someone implemented tic tac toe in a single (looped) call to printf: https://github.com/carlini/printf-tac-toe
it’s fascinating watching the latest migration to Bluesky and how much instant network rebuilding is facilitated by “starter packs” and also how much of the dynamics involves people who had accounts, then left, then tried again, left, and are now back again…
it may well stick this time as critical mass is reached, but it seems to me that the same meta-tools that make moving easy can, in principle, make moving elsewhere easy too and we might never see network stability like Twitter or FB again
Trump has vowed to deport millions of immigrants and jail his political enemies. Conservative groups who helped elect him want more restrictions on abortion and a crackdown on protest.
All of that requires surveillance. We put together a guide to protect yourself. https://www.wired.com/story/the-wired-guide-to-protecting-yourself-from-government-surveillance/
The Internet Archive donation page, with its subscription and various payment options, is back and functioning. If you wanted to help but avoid Paypal, this is the time.
Absolute shots fired.
From: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360319924043957
Theoretical physicist by training (PhD in quantum open systems/quantum information), University lecturer for a bit, and currently paying the bills as an engineer working in optical communication (implementation) and quantum communication (concepts), though still pursuing a little science on the side. I'm interested in physics and math, of course, but I enjoy learning about really any area of science, philosophy, and many other academic areas as well. My biggest other interest is hiking and generally being out in nature.