Mastodon Feed: Posts

xor@tech.intersects.art ("Parker Higgins") wrote:

"chesterton's fence" gets weirder when the answer can be "a fence was included because comparable roads were likely to contain a fence"

xor@tech.intersects.art ("Parker Higgins") wrote:

a lot of good programmers develop a healthy instinct to ask "why did they solve the problem this way?" when looking at unfamiliar code. vibe-coded codebases completely upend that

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

You'll notice that each site operated on multiple frequency pairs across the HF spectrum. This was for two reasons. First, each channel could only handle one call at a time, and so this allowed for more simultaneous traffic. Second, not all frequency bands were usable (due to atmospheric and geomagnetic conditions) at any given time. So in practice, at most half a dozen or so ships PER OCEAN could use the system at any moment.

Multiple transmitters shared the antennas using tuned combiners.

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

By the way, here's what I believe was the final published frequency list and schedule for the AT&T high seas service, (a souvenir of one of my visits to the station before it went off the air).

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

I should note that while the site (and its cousins) had a number of large discone antennas like this one, they were mostly there as backups in case the main antennas (which included truly massive wire rhombics oriented toward various oceanic regions) or transmitter combiners failed.

The old Bell System did not mess around.

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Ships on the high seas still occasionally make some use of shortwave radio, but its importance has greatly diminished over the last few decades. The Coast Guard still maintains a "watch" on emergency shortwave frequencies, listening for distress calls, but most transoceanic ships are now equipped with more modern, higher-bandwidth satellite communications systems.

Places like this are what the Internet looked like a century ago. Infrastructure is often heroic, and occasionally looks the part.

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

There were three AT&T radiotelephone sites in the continental US, each with its own transmit and receive antenna farms: Ocean Gate, NJ (shown here, serving the North Atlantic), Miami (serving the Caribbean and the Gulf), and Point Reyes, CA (serving the Pacific).

All the sites have by now been razed, either for redevelopment or as nature preserves. The antennas (including this one) are mostly gone now.

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Captured with a DSLR and a 24mm shifting lens.

During the 20th century, AT&T operated a shortwave "radiotelephone" service for vessels on the high seas. Ships could contact an operator, who could connect them with any landline telephone number they wished.

The North Atlantic station, callsign WOO, occupied expansive transmit and receive "antenna farms" in marshlands near the shore in central New Jersey.

Rendered obsolete by satellites, the service ceased operation on November 9, 1999.

mattblaze@federate.social ("Matt Blaze") wrote:

Shortwave "Discone" Antenna, Former AT&T High Seas Transmitter Site, Ocean Gate, NJ, 20009.

All the pixels, none of the static, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4141766569

#photography

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
MikeDunnAuthor@kolektiva.social wrote:

Today in Labor History April 5, 1989: The United Mine Workers launched their strike against Pittston Coal Co., eventually winning concessions by Pittston on February 20, 1990. The strike started in response to Pittston’s termination of health care for widows, retirees and disabled veteran miners. During the strike, there were 2,000 miners camped out daily at Camp Solidarity, and up to 40,000 total engaging in wild cat strikes, civil disobedience, picketing, occupations and sabotage. The strike reduced Pittston’s production by two-thirds, while over 4,000 strikers were arrested during the strike.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #pittston #coal #mining #strike #wildcat #disability #CivilDisobedience #sabotage #solidarity #police #healthcare

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markpesce%5Ftwenty-five-years-ago-today-we-lost-my-friend-activity-7313312208925405185-OUjg?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop&rcm=ACoAAAB7JkEBQCk8SY-mmP6rvpKfocI7TzIpqK4

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
rjay@ottawa.place ("Rick Beetham") wrote:

Original post: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lvms465ixldejj4s6qo7yaa5/post/3lkwgyjwk6c2b

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

Gray clouds softly weep,
Puddles dance on the sidewalk,
Spring sighs with the rain.

via https://arghstudios.com/

Boosted by keul@fosstodon.org ("Luca Fabbri"):
diffrentcolours@tech.lgbt ("Attractive Nuisance") wrote:

@VeryBadLlama

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

was able to on to the VM master console from here and restore the snapshot taken just before the failed upgrade started

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
bicmay@med-mastodon.com ("Bích-Mây Nguyễn :verified:") wrote:

"There was also not enough time for scientists to properly shut down the laboratories before they were locked out from their email systems and the building, two CDC officials said, with equipment still running and hazardous materials left unattended."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-cdc-labs-stds-hepatitis/

#PublicHealth #HHS #CDC #InfectiousDiseases #STI #chlamydia #gonorrhea #HIV #hepatitis #syphilis #laboratories #testing #surveillance #DOGE #USpol

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

from the "Murphy is in Charge of the Multiverse" Department:

in the middle of my sysadmin remotely upgrading the O/S of our production machine, the power went out. it is def a Law of the Multiverse that whatever can go wrong, will... and at the most inappropriate time.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
NearerAndFarther@techhub.social ("Trevor Burrows") wrote:

Showing up for a #HandsOff rally this morning --- our signs are boring and a bit shabby, we're a little tired and crabby, but we're showing up regardless!

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
wdlindsy@toad.social ("William Lindsey :toad:") wrote:

Clay Bennet's commentary on what "Liberation Day" actually turns out to mean for many Americans as we watch our retirement funds vanish

#Trump #tariffs #economy #crash #StockMarket #recession #inflation #destruction #LiberationDay
/10

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/5/2314404/-Cartoon-He-did-say-liberation

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Boundborg@troet.cafe ("Hans_Olo") wrote:

Siehst du, mein Sohn? Das ist der Mensch, den ich adoptiert habe..."

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
georgetakei@universeodon.com ("George Takei :verified: 🏳️‍🌈🖖🏽") wrote:

If you think this can’t happen, remember that of the 125,000 Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII for years without charge or trial, two-thirds were U.S. citizens. Including me.

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

upgrading the O/S on rocky, so https://arghstudios.com will be unstable for a few minutes

Boosted by adam@social.lol ("Adam Newbold"):
daveycraney@social.lol ("Davey Craney") wrote:

https://craney.uk/posts/microsoft-employee-protests

Boosted by adam@social.lol ("Adam Newbold"):
andyn@social.lol ("Andy") wrote:

Beach https://pics.thedent.net/67f0df3334c1a

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
ct_bergstrom@fediscience.org ("Carl T. Bergstrom") wrote:

Why is AI research so much sexier than education research? Sure it’s cool to study how machines learn but wait until you hear about PEOPLE.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
chad@mstdn.ca ("Chad :mstdn: 🇨🇦") wrote:

BREAKING: officials from MacDonald Islands released this image in response to Trump’s tariffs against the small, sovereign island.

Officials released this statement with the image: “Peace was never an option.”

#trump #tariffs #uspol

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
chad@mstdn.ca ("Chad :mstdn: 🇨🇦") wrote:

If you must go to the states, do so through a pre-clearance airport.
This means your last airport before departing for the US pre-clears your visa into the US.

Examples: YEG > YYZ > AUS: I did pre-clearance in Toronto
YEG > YYC > DFW > BRO: I did pre-clearance in Calgary

US Border Protection cannot detain or jail individuals seeking entrance into the US through pre-clearance points. If they cause you issues, you can simply walk away back into the airport, no questions asked.

#canpoli #cdnpoli

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

Today in History: Louis Spohr (German composer, violinist and conductor) born in Braunschweig, Germany, 1784

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
niconiconi@mk.absturztau.be wrote:

My first draft of the #openEMS tutorial First Lessons For Circuit Designers is now public. https://fasterems.github.io/openEMS-Project/python/openEMS/Tutorials/First%5FLessons.html #electronics

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

very strongly agree

https://mastodon.social/@jeffjarvis/114285205810558386