Mastodon Feed: Posts

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz ("John Carlos Baez") wrote:

I'm struggling to become more like myself. So I was happy to read that Agatha Christie wrote:

"As life goes on, however, it becomes tiring to keep up the character you invented for yourself, and so you relapse into individuality and become more like yourself every day. This is sometimes disconcerting for those around you, but a great relief to the person concerned."

Thanks to @grimalkinUSA for pointing this out:

https://mathstodon.xyz/@grimalkinUSA@sfba.social/114881102342022998

For more on Jean Edmonds Kortum:

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Jean-Kortum-Key-figure-in-S-F-freeway-revolt-2498516.php

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
brianbilston@mastodon.online ("Brian Bilston") wrote:

Here’s a new poem called ‘Wild Weekend’.

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz ("John Carlos Baez") wrote:

Thanks to Noether, we now know that in classical mechanics, conserved quantities come from symmetries. For a planet orbiting the Sun, conservation of energy comes from time translation symmetry. Conservation of the angular momentum comes from rotation symmetry. But there's another, more mysterious conserved quantity: the eccentricity vector, which points along the long axis of the planet's elliptical orbit.

What symmetry gives *this* conserved quantity?

Symmetry under rotations in 4-dimensional space! These include the obvious rotations in 3-dimensional space which give angular momentum. The other 4-dimensional rotations act in a much less obvious way, and give the eccentricity vector.

But how does the 4th dimension get into the game?

In this article, I explain how a planet orbiting the Sun is secretly isomorphic to a particle moving around on a sphere in 4-dimensional space. This is a nice explanation of the 4-dimensional rotation symmetry.

But the planet is also isomorphic to a *massless* particle moving at the speed of light on a sphere in 4-dimensional space! This brings relativity into the story, and sets the stage for still more shocking developments.

https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2025/07/20/the-kepler-problem-part-4/

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

It's a good thing cars nowadays have engines rather than foot power.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/07/20/stir-crazy-2/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
Rachel_Thorn@queer.party ("Rachel Thorn 🍉🇺🇦🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈") wrote:

I don’t want a self-driving deathmobile. I don’t want plagiarizing autocomplete. I don’t want AI slop. I just want Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons to hang my laundry on a blistering hot day like today. Is that too much to ask?

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
RickiTarr@beige.party ("Ricki Bowie Knives Tarr") wrote:

One of the most realistic parts of Lord of the Rings is that almost no one wanted to get involved, until it was very nearly too late.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
f1sls@mastodon.radio ("STAN/F1SLS") wrote:

#AST plans to launch 243 more #satellites that will transmit continuously all over the 70 cm amateur band.

The whole #amateurradio #radioamateur community is concerned all over the world!

PLEASE SEND A COMMENT TO THE #FCC before tomorrow! Tell them to forbid this madness on the #70cm #hamradio band!

https://amsat-uk.org/2025/06/26/use-of-430-440-mhz-by-ast-spacemobile-constellation/

The comment link is here: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/express?proceeding[name]=25-201

Details on what is going on, here: https://community.libre.space/t/asts-bluebird-1-5/12255/27

Please boost this post 🙏

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
VE6LK@mastodon.hams.social wrote:

Watch for spots on www.pota.app! I'll be out around 1330z/0930ET on 40 and 20m from backcountry Alberta in Kananaskis Country, running CW and SSB QRP if weather permits and 100W if it doesn't :)
https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/kananaskis/sentinel-pra/information-facilities/day-use/sentinel/
https://www.google.ca/maps/@50.3905301,-114.5863332,186m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g%5Fep=EgoyMDI1MDcxNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
I hope to catch you for Support Your Parks Weekend!

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
stevefenton ("Steve Fenton ➜") wrote:

There's a vibe coding thread where developers are having an epiphany: maybe they should keep old versions of their code around, just in case their latest inspired hack turns everything into digital spaghetti.

Congratulations—they've just discovered their first professional software delivery practice: Version control. That's from 1972.

Next week, they'll revolutionize development by inventing "testing" after their app crashes in production. Again.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
UndisScot@mastodon.scot ("Undiscovered Scotland") wrote:

#Mastodon users beware: someone's using the platform as a phishing pond this morning...

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
EuromaidanPress ("Euromaidan Press") wrote:

The European Parliament declared that Georgia would not be able to join the European Union until its government abandons its authoritarian path

The authorities harshly suppressed protests that have continued for over eight months, employing repression against activists and political opponents
https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/07/19/eu-declares-georgias-path-to-bloc-effectively-frozen-until-free-elections-as-protests-rage-for-eighth-consecutive-month/

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
noelreports@mstdn.social ("NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦") wrote:

Zelensky: Ukraine has secured $6.9 billion in international arbitration wins against Russia and Gazprom—clear proof of accountability and the power of international law. We're now preparing concrete steps to recover these funds, with diplomats to receive new directives tomorrow.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
EuromaidanPress ("Euromaidan Press") wrote:

German general: Russia preparing to launch 2,000 drones simultaneously — Nachgefragt program.

Major General Christian Freuding said that using $5 million Patriot missiles against $50,000 Shahed drones creates an unsustainable cost burden.He suggested defensive systems costing just $2,000-4,000 per interception instead.
⤵️

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

Loops will ship with a Data Export feature, allowing you to take your account + content to another server or platform.

We do have Import and Account Migration planned too!

#loops

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
newsthump@mastodon.online ("NewsThump") wrote:

NEWS! CEO forced to resign after being caught on kiss cam wishing he'd just grabbed her by the pussy https://newsthump.com/2025/07/20/ceo-forced-to-resign-after-being-caught-on-kiss-cam-wishing-hed-just-grabbed-her-by-the-pussy/

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

Tidal locking

results in the Moon rotating about its axis in about the same time it takes to orbit the Earth. Except for libration effects, this results in it keeping the same face turned towards the Earth, as seen in the figure on the upper left. (The Moon is shown in polar view, and is not drawn to scale.)

+ Upper left:
> If the Moon didn't spin at all, then it would alternately show its near and far sides to the Earth while moving around our planet in orbit.

+ Upper right:
> If rotational frequency is larger than orbital frequency, a small torque counteracting the rotation arises, eventually locking the frequencies (situation depicted in green)

+ Down left:
> A simulation shows the variability in the portion of the Moon visible from Earth due to libration over the course of an orbit. Lighting phases from the Sun are not included.

+ Down right:
> Animation of the Moon as it cycles through its phases. The apparent wobbling of the Moon is known as libration

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CREDITS
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
* Stigmatella aurantiaca
* Jim McKeeth
* Tom Ruen
* Poopooman-ger

#space #moon #astrophotography #photography #science #astronomy #nature #NASA #ESA #education

Attachments:

• gifv: At left, the Moon rotates at the same rate it orbits the Earth, keeping the same face toward the planet. At right, if the Moon did not rotate then the face would change over the course of an orbit. Viewed from above; not to scale. CREDIT Stigmatella aurantiaca
• gifv: This simulation shows the variability in the portion of the Moon visible from Earth due to libration over the course of an orbit. Lighting phases from the Sun are not included. One anomalistic lunar cycle (Apogee to Apogee) for April 2007. No phase shown. CREDIT Tom Ruen - Own work, created with "Full Sky Observatory" Source bitmap for projection from Nasa's Clementine Spacecraft: USGS: Global simple cylindrical projection at 10 km/pixel. Software: "Full Sky Observatory", by Tom Ruen, described at File:FullSkyAstronomySoftwareLogo.png Source book: "Astronomical Formulae for Calculators, 4th edition", Jean Meeus, 1988, published by "Willmann-Bell, Inc" Chapter 30 "Position of the Moon"
• gifv: Animation of the Moon as it cycles through its phases. The apparent wobbling of the Moon is known as libration. CREDIT Poopooman-ger

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
g7izu@universeodon.com ("𝑮7𝑰𝙕𝑼 𝑹𝙍𝑫") wrote:

Radio Propagation

Sporadic-E: MUF >144 MHz over western Europe. Skip distances for my FM loggings have come down to ~1,000km indicating a strengthening Es cloud.

#radiopropagation
#amateurradio

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
lproven@vivaldi.net ("Liam Proven") wrote:

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment

https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/46-billion-years-on-the-sun-is-having-a-moment

In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

By Bill McKibben

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
beyondmachines1@infosec.exchange ("BeyondMachines :verified:") wrote:

To all the "optimizing" managers firing people and using LLMs:
Do you know what is the most common request your chatbot gets?

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
nasibov.me@bsky.brid.gy ("Ramin Nasibov") wrote:

😭

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

the simple truth

https://mastodon.social/@VeroniqueB99/114780953141475213

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
VeroniqueB99 ("Vee") wrote:

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
arstechnica ("Ars Technica") wrote:

Southwestern drought likely to continue through 2100, research finds
Weather patterns that drive drought in the Southwest may persist for several decades.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/07/southwestern-drought-likely-to-continue-through-2100-research-finds/?utm%5Fbrand=arstechnica&utm%5Fsocial-type=owned&utm%5Fsource=mastodon&utm%5Fmedium=social

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

Admins are going to love Loops (and Pages).

Want to add a sidebar link to your discord only visible to logged in users?

Or perhaps a Monthly Leaderboard challenge where you describe the rules and update the leaderboard table?

Last but not least, say you need to add an Impressum or the like in the footer.

You can do all of this from the Admin Dashboard, no command line required ✨

Loops Pages unlock endless possibilities for admins to embrace effortlessly.

#loops #loopsPages

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
dogzilla@masto.deluma.biz wrote:

This is regarding the WSJ publication of Trump’s “Pube Sig” cartoon for Epstein. They are apparently struggling with what a newspaper “Exclusive” means

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

Loops alpha release will not support the mobile app or federation, rather we will focus on testing and bug fixes for core features and then enable support for the app and federation in the beta phase.

We could be ready for the beta within the same week as the alpha though.

For the beta, it will take time to identify and fix any bugs from these new areas (mobile apis + federation).

We will then proceed towards release candidates after the beta feature freeze and towards the first stable v1 🚀

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
AlisonCreekside@mstdn.ca ("Alison Creekside") wrote:

"Talk about The Wire, Sopranos, Game of Thrones all you want, but the greatest US television program ever made is Sesame Street. It's not even close.
50+ years of treating kids across class, ethnicity, religion not as mini-consumers...but as citizens with a stake in this world."

~ ‪Christian Christensen‬, Professor of Journalism, Stockholm. Pillaged from BSky.

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
AlisonCreekside@mstdn.ca ("Alison Creekside") wrote:

No one *at all* including the UK & Israeli govs thinks an 81 year old retired magistrate holding a sign is a terrorist. No one.
#freepalestine

Boosted by jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein"):
uk@pubeurope.com ("UK") wrote:

https://www.europesays.com/uk/277183/ China Unicom announces big AI computing strategy #Computing #Technology #UK #UnitedKingdom

Boosted by jwz:
jwz wrote:

@lain Previously: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2024/01/hypertext-emerges-from-his-well-to-shame-the-tech-industry/