@rdnielsen@floss.social
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

rdnielsen

@rdnielsen@floss.social

Environmental scientist (biology/oceanography), data analyst, data manager. Semi-retired.

Started programming in 1971 with FORTRAN and Basic. Started FOSS programming in the early 1980s. A trace of that work: http://www.kc85.info/index.php/magazines-mainmenu/morrow-owners-review-mainmenu-143/118-forever-z-scripts-a-loops-1.html. Now mostly working in Python; see packages 'mapdata' and 'execsql' on PyPI.

Moved from https://mastodon.online/@rdnielsen

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rdnielsen, to science
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

That jerk with the loud car (or motorcycle) probably is trying to annoy you:

https://www.psypost.org/psychopathy-and-sadism-drive-preference-for-loud-vehicles-study-suggests/

rdnielsen, to ArtificialIntelligence
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

A new algorithm uses randomness to simplify estimation of the number of distinct elements in a long list:

https://www.quantamagazine.org/computer-scientists-invent-an-efficient-new-way-to-count-20240516/

Teri_Kanefield, to random
@Teri_Kanefield@mastodon.social avatar

When the prosecution rests in the Manhattan case, I plan to read the transcripts so far looking for evidence that supports the elements of particular crimes.

This is my thing: Reading trial transcripts. My job was reading trial transcripts looking for appealable errors.

Shall I tell you my favorite moment in a transcript?

The defendant (yes, my client) walked in to court with baggy pants. The judge (a woman) was offended and angry. She thought the defendant was disrespecting her.

1/

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield

As a sometime-provider of litigation support on environmental matters, I have read a fair few transcripts, mostly depositions. My favorite moment was a case when the presumedly-polluting facility had been shut down so long ago that there were only a couple of past employees still alive. The prosecutor was badgering one of them, a welder who had nothing to do with the putatively-polluting processes. After several dozen questions about contaminant releases,

1/2

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield

all of which the welder answered unsatisfactorily, the questioner asked "Are you saying there's nothing about your work that produced any waste?", to which the welder, clearly fed up, replied "Well, if you stuck your hand in the torch, then there'd be hand waste."

2/2

grimalkina, to random
@grimalkina@mastodon.social avatar

"Randomized trials cannot address all causal questions of importance in medicine and health policy and may have limited generalizability; thus, investigators may need to use observational studies as a source of evidence to address causal questions. The challenge, then, is to balance the importance of addressing the causal questions for which observational studies are needed with caution regarding the reliance on strong assumptions to support causal conclusions."

A challenge of our time truly

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@grimalkina

"Many of us out here doing applied science have to entirely self-teach and un-learn poor statistics and poor methods training."

So true.

I see recent graduates with the same faulty NHST-based statistical education that I received decades ago. It's disappointing how poorly education has kept up with new and better statistical methods.

Teri_Kanefield, to random
@Teri_Kanefield@mastodon.social avatar

I am getting questions across a few soical media sites about the ongoing trials.

I gave some quick answers about the problems with this.

Maybe, for my next blog post, I should offer a more thoughtful and thorough answer about what a lawyer can actually say that is valuable as a trial progresses.

It will probably appeal to my geekiest readers and annoy everyone else.

Maybe I should call it: "Beware the Lawyers." (Like "beware the Ides of March" but worse.)

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield

Regardless of limits on what a lawyer can say, given the flexibility of language, there may be no limits on what a lawyer can imply or insinuate.

Or are there? If so, that would be an interesting topic.

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield

I was thinking of the courtroom context, not the commentary context -- very different.

rdnielsen, to science
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

Less mowing leads to more butterflies: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/butterflies-yardwork-grass-wildflower.

rdnielsen, to science
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

Inulin has been thought to promote healthy gut microflora, but a new study finds that it may increase gut inflammation: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240502/Inulin-fiber-exacerbates-inflammatory-bowel-disease-study-finds.aspx

#Science #Health #Diet #Inulin #IBD #IBS

grimalkina, to random
@grimalkina@mastodon.social avatar

Opening my personal laptop to remember the debris of many tabs open to interesting papers from two weeks ago on a totally different topic than what I'm doing now 😭

The intellectual whiplash you experience as a knowledge worker is so much sometimes. "Interruption" is way too weak a word. You have these entangled threads and building little architectures in your mind for weeks or months sometimes. Long-form novel drafting is the closest thing to some of it in my experience

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@grimalkina
I'm not disagreeing, but what do you see as the core questions or issues on which this science would be founded?

The phrase "psych has got to better rise to this challenge" implies that this new science would be a branch of psychology. What are the characteristics that distinguish it from other areas of psychological research?

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@grimalkina
Toxic and dysfunctional work practices aren't new. So how do they affect software developers differently than factory workers, accountants, and other workers? Stress, distraction? Do developers get into a 'flow' state that is truly unique and subject to distinct kinds of disruptions or support?

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@grimalkina
I don't know of the community-based methods that you reference, but have seen that different developers, in different contexts, need more or less collaboration. In some cases, collaboration is a distraction. What are the determinants of the optimum approaches to separating collaborative and individual work?

gamingonlinux, (edited ) to random
@gamingonlinux@mastodon.social avatar

I want to do a test on how much traffic and resources the Mastodon embed takes on my server, so boost this plz

Edit: all done, you can stop sharing now lol

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/05/steam-deck-most-played-for-april-2024-has-plenty-of-fallout/

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@gamingonlinux

Were you testing because of today's post on itsfoss.org saying "Please don't boost this on Mastodon"?

rdnielsen, to science
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

Anger, but not anxiety or sadness, results in impairment of blood vessel dilation for up to 40 minutes, potentially raising the risk of heart attack and stroke: https://scitechdaily.com/anger-and-arteries-surprising-link-uncovered-by-the-american-heart-association/.

#Science #Health #Anger #Stroke #HeartAttack

Teri_Kanefield, to random
@Teri_Kanefield@mastodon.social avatar

Okay, I finished this week's blog post.

This took me a long time.

About 3 hours ago, I was sure it made sense. Then I kept working. I hope it still makes sense LOL.

https://terikanefield.com/wheres-the-beef-trumps-manhattan-criminal-case-and-some-mind-bending-legal-puzzles/

I discuss the criminal liability for behaving like a gold-plated bucket of slime and offer a few mind-bending legal puzzles.

It's super fun, sort of.

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield
Does the agreement that Pecker/AMI signed with DOJ establish that federal election law was violated? If so, is there any legal or procedural reason why the prosecution cannot argue that the same law was also violated when Trump and Cohen did the same thing with respect to Daniels that Trump, Cohen, and Pecker did with respect to McDougal?

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield
I expect that defense attorneys will generally say that jurors have no latitude, and prosecutors will have a contrary viewpoint. But jurors, like legislators, will make their own judgments about what is bad. So, assuming they are inclined to do so, are there legal arguments to constrain them in jury instructions, or arguments that can be raised on appeal?

grimalkina, to random
@grimalkina@mastodon.social avatar

I want to see absolutely no sensible and practical advice here. What programming language should I start vaguely and in a chill way teaching myself if I just want to experience something fun or elegant or interesting in and of itself, assuming I have no goal for using it to do anything really (outside of learning)

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@grimalkina
Forth

Leo Brodie's book 'Thinking Forth' is one of the all-time best books for learning programming.

rdnielsen, to science
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

The nanoscale structure of waste from metal machining allows electrolytic hydrogen production with only one-tenth of the ordinary amount of platinum or cobalt catalysts: https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/turning-industrial-waste-into-clean-hydrogen-fuel/

pluralistic, to aitools
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

It was all downhill after 2018.

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@hazelnot @metin @pluralistic

The IBM PC was not the beginning of the personal computer: https://computerhistory.org/blog/fifty-years-of-the-personal-computer-operating-system/

rdnielsen, to statistics
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

The plotting, statistical, and data selection tools in the mapdata.py data explorer (https://pypi.org/project/mapdata/) can be used even if you don't have any map data. Just add dummy latitude and longitude values to the data table. Zeroes will do. The map and the dummy columns can both be hidden, and you can then explore the data table with the other available tools.

rdnielsen, to science
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

Organisms on planets around red suns may photosynthesize with retinal instead of chlorophyll: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sorry-little-green-men-alien-life-might-actually-be-purple/

rdnielsen, to Ukraine
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

Ukraine downs a TU-22M3: https://www.kyivpost.com/post/31356

Reputedly, with an S-200 missile.

Or are we already seeing (not actually seeing) the results of F-16s armed with AMRAAM missiles, perhaps flying with Su-29 transponders?

GottaLaff, to Alaska
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

administration bans drilling in nearly half of petroleum reserve in sweeping win for climate advocates

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/19/climate/alaska-drilling-ban-biden-climate?cid=ios_app

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@GottaLaff @ld

rdnielsen, to ukteachers
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

University students believe that AI and social media improve both mental wellbeing and academic performance: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024055543

However, academic performance was not objectively assessed. Only self-reported metrics were used. So AI helps students feel good about themselves.

GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Griftology.

Politico—The campaign is asking for down-ballot candidates who use his name, image and likeness in fundraising appeals to give at least 5 percent of the proceeds to the campaign.

rdnielsen,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@GottaLaff
Trump ought to be compensating them for being linked to his name: https://www.psypost.org/surprising-study-suggests-trumps-endorsements-influence-democrats-more-than-republicans/

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