Nick has moved to Mathstodon @internic@qoto.org

This thread has some beautiful celebrations of learning & JOYFUL BREAKING THINGS hehehe and this is exactly the kind of conversation Change, Technically aims to spark @analog_ashley @danilo

https://mastodon.social/@b0rk@jvns.ca/113654259176312592

As the prophecy foretold.

the amount of money linux saved and provided industry-strength solutions is mind-blowing. i'm so glad corporate greed doesn't control the linux kernel fully.

My blog got featured on a computer computerphile video about path tracing, neat!
Video: https://youtu.be/3OKj0SQ_UTw?si=Qn9oXAll5l8gzM6j
Blog post: https://blog.demofox.org/2016/09/21/path-tracing-getting-started-with-diffuse-and-emissive/

"Women are NOT for Engineering," claimed a 1956 NSF article. Pearl Young proved them wrong, earning triple majors and joining NASA's predecessor in 1922. An aerospace professor reflects on her trailblazing legacy: https://theconversation.com/pearl-young-the-first-woman-to-work-in-a-technical-role-at-nasa-overcame-barriers-and-raised-hell-her-legacy-continues-today-242873
#WomenInSTEM #WomensHistory

@pluralistic

^ Some good news from the EU:

Irish reunification has to happen in the next couple of weeks if we're going to stay in line with Star Trek canon. Just saying.

Astrodon Needs Your Support!

For 2 years, Astrodon.social has been a home for space enthusiasts across the Fediverse. With over 4,000 members and a growing, active community, it’s been amazing to see how this little experiment has turned into something so vibrant and meaningful.

But running Astrodon isn’t free - hosting costs have grown to €260/month, and it’s no longer sustainable for me to fund it alone. To keep Astrodon independent and ad-free, I’m launching a funding campaign!

How You Can Help:
- Check out the new Astrodon Store for space-themed merch: https://store.astrodon.social
- Read more about our funding journey here: https://sebinthestars.ghost.io/new-merch
- Share this post with your network!

Every little bit helps keep our cosmic corner of the Fediverse thriving. Thank you for being part of this incredible journey!

Headlines for news articles too long for you to read in your busy day?

Why not have an LLM probabilistically “summarise” them into something even shorter that’s easier to take in at a glance, and … might or might not say the same thing as the original.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0elzk24dno

I was really curious what would be this article, based on the title. The answer was, oddly, that there was not much there. I really don't understand what the point of the article was. But it brings up an odd question in my mind: what does the phrase "artificial gravity" really mean?

I think both phenomena discussed in the article are situations where momentum or stress exerts non-negligible gravitational influence, instead of mass, but that's just what general relativity predicts, so should that really be considered "artificial" gravity? What about the apparent gravity experienced inside, say, a rotating space station? Arguably that's not gravity at all.

I guess I'd just never before appreciated how odd the notion of "artificial gravity" is. I think if you look at how it's often used, "artificial gravity" probably usually means any phenomenon where people or objects experience having weight which is not due to the presence of mass nearby (which means it can include things that are not artificial and things that are not gravity).

After a week of tinkering I have, I think, finally finished standing up my own #Mastodon instance. I was surprised by how straight forward it was and I thought it might be useful to share my approach, for those who may be considering doing the same.

I should make it clear that there are far more useful guides out there and I am by no means an expert - I am just a mathematician who enjoys tinkering with things. There will be nothing profound in the thread below, but I hope it is useful.

1/N

Incredible essay about the importance and challenges of digital archival by Maxwell Neely-Cohen, as well as the various imperfect strategies to achieve “century-scale” digital archives.

https://lil.law.harvard.edu/century-scale-storage/

"We picked a century scale because most physical objects can survive 100 years in good care. It is attainable, and yet we selected it because the design of mainstream digital storage mediums are nowhere close to even considering this mark."

1/

#archival

Three weeks ago I wrote "How decentralized is Bluesky really?" https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/

Shortly thereafter, @bnewbold wrote his response: https://whtwnd.com/bnewbold.net/3lbvbtqrg5t2t

I have written my (final) response blogpost: https://dustycloud.org/blog/re-re-bluesky-decentralization/

And as last time, . Buckle up.

Multifaceted, high-precision campaign targets malicious and benevolent hackers alike.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/12/yearlong-supply-chain-attack-targeting-security-pros-steals-390k-credentials/?comments-page=1#comments

Apple AI is writing wrong headlines and making up false stories. Here are BBC AND NYT iPhone screenshot of the misleading BBC/NYT notification https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0elzk24dno.amp

h/t to @johnshier

Yesterdays link to the Let‘s Encrypt blog dragged in some people who seem to think that CAs are unnecessary or even evil.

LE is s very small group who set out to improve the terrible CA situation and the fucking middle box corruptions.

They did that successfully with a budget that a medium sized city spends on its department for car license plates.

So, my advice: don‘t yell at people who made the world somewhat better or you‘ll soon run out of ones who try.

A reminder to all who may have Visa, AmEx, or Master Card gift cards now and in the future. Often you'll wind up with a small balance on them that doesn't make it worthwhile to make a purchase with it online or in a store. Something like US$1.60 or less.

Go to Wikipedia, Archive.org, your local animal shelter, or just about any worthwhile nonprofit and donate that odd amount on their web page.

#donations #nonprofit #giving #Holidays #Christmas #Kwanza

"Memory-safe PNG decoders now vastly outperform C PNG libraries"

https://www.reddit.com/r/rust/comments/1ha7uyi/memorysafe_png_decoders_now_vastly_outperform_c/