@Roundtrip@federate.social
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

Roundtrip

@Roundtrip@federate.social

Old hypertext hand. President and co-founder Traction Software Inc • Electronic Book Technologies (EBT) • Mentor Graphics/Context • Ship Analytics • US Naval Research Lab • Drafted US Army • CS and Physics, Brown University “Everything is deeply intertwingled” ― Ted Nelson The hand in the 1969 Hypertext Editing System photo isn’t mine — the photo is

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thisisaaronland, to random
@thisisaaronland@orthis.social avatar

I have finally written up the notes from the talk I gave to a studies class at usf recently / this one is long even by standards and covers a lot of ground / it is titled "talking about the pen without talking about the pen" – https://www.aaronland.info/weblog/2024/04/26/matrix/#usf

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@thisisaaronland 🧵SFO art museum

“…one of things that makes a technology like ActivityPub interesting is that it provides a working implementation for the means by which that information, in all the curatorial files in all the museums, might be distributed. Crucially, it provides the means to do so without the Faustian bargains that we've seen the earlier social media platforms extract in exchange for reach and access.”

Roundtrip, to random
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

Brown Band at home football game (Sep 1968)

An overcast early fall afternoon at the Brown stadium, perhaps clearing after a brief shower. The Band waits before at the end of the home stands, then scrambles to center field.


photo by Greg Lloyd

Black and white photo of the Brown Band trombone section standing to play from the home stands of the football stadium. The afternoon sky is cloudy but clearing.

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

Sunday paper was delivered to my door this morning (I’m not a print subscriber). Spread myself out on the couch with it and a coffee for an hour just now. I’d forgotten just how much I enjoy and am rejuvenated by that simple weekend ritual.

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@mattblaze Yes. I read a printed newspaper — like the Sunday Times — much more thoroughly than any web edition. Even skimming the classifieds and sports scores I generally ignore.

65dBnoise, to space
@65dBnoise@mastodon.social avatar

Out of many boring news stories eulogizing or lamenting #Ingenuity, here is a fascinating piece by Eric Berger about how the #MarsHelicopter came to be.

It's always the visionary people who in spite of difficulties persevere and make those great leaps forward. And those visionaries include many non technical roles like managers, administrators, and indeed, politicians.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/02/before-ingenuity-ever-landed-on-mars-scientists-almost-managed-to-kill-it/

#Mars2020 #NASA #Solarocks #Space

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@65dBnoise @dangillmor

A great story, exceptionally well written! It’s ‘The Right Stuff’ for JPL and NASA mission management. I hope it’s also made into a movie. 🚀🚀🚀

Well done Eric Berger! @sciguyspace

Roundtrip, to random
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

Happy Year of the Dragon to all who celebrate!

mattblaze, to photography
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

meta-note: I've taken lately to posting (approximately) a photo a day, generally with a link to the full res version (on Flickr), followed by a short thread with technical details and a few thoughts on composition and subject.

My model is Ansel Adams's "Examples", in which he mixes technical detail with comments on the subject, his artistic goals, and the circumstances under which each photo was made.

I'm not my comparing work with his, of course, but I really like the format.

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@mattblaze I like your format and thread length. You ‘show your work’ in both senses.

snarkysteff, (edited ) to random
@snarkysteff@mastodon.online avatar

A complete stranger took my Kitchenaid mixer home, fixed it, & delivered it back to me, all for a $20 tube of degreaser and some thanks.

Repair Cafes are amazing, & they're all around the world — look in your community for RepairCafe.org by you for things you can't fix.

I'm so thrilled. It was a gift from my stepmom & my brother did an idiotic job of packing it when he shipped it to me, which broke shit.

Dude not only repaired things, but fabricated a new knob for me.

Most humans are good.

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@snarkysteff 🧵

Find a Repair Café
Start a Repair Café
Become a volunteer
Worldwide

https://www.repaircafe.org/en/

mattblaze, to photography
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

Washington ("Hinckley") Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC, 2023.

More pixels than VIPs at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53007102796

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@mattblaze A contemporary (2015) modernist/brutalist take using red brick accents.

Flyover video: https://youtu.be/pKehMbvu-zs?si=IrKMxZZxU5_AN86y

“The @iitgn campus has this interestingly "abbreviated brutalist" look, with lots of concrete but interspersed with brick. It's an interesting effect. Here's a lovely colonnade in the morning sun.”

https://mastodon.social/@shriramk/111867655802806815

Roundtrip, to random
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

Thanks to @Iconfactory for sending the world to celebrate their 20th anniversary and the 40th anniversary of the Mac!

See https://iconfactory.com/bc.html for product page and App Store download link.

“Use BitCam to post a photo of your current Mac” per https://mastodon.social/@bigzaphod/111818719304549255

carnage4life, to random
@carnage4life@mas.to avatar

It's incredible to me that years later we are dealing with another set of life threatening quality issues in Boeing 737 MAX planes which can all be traced to the company deciding to optimize for shareholder value instead of listening to its engineers.

https://www.fromdayone.co/2022/05/01/lessons-of-boeings-cultural-decline-and-how-it-can-recover/

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@carnage4life 🧵Boing culture shift

“Robison explained that the leadership focus was centered on cost containment. He looked at one engineer’s evaluation that said ideas are measured in dollars. Another engineer was given specific performance and time requirements tied to reducing costs. The culture became one stemming from the idea that corporate executives ultimately make the best decisions about allocating resources, and ultimately about safety.“

shoq, to random
@shoq@mastodon.social avatar

Documentaries about pre -20th century wars always speak of long troop marches from here to there almost as minor details in the story. Those marches sometimes took many months (or years) and in some cases, many died on them.

The logistics of moving any large infantry are very complicated.

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@shoq

‘The Last of the Mohicans’ (1992) is one of the few fictional movies that partially addresses that. It’s my favorite Michael Mann film - acting, cinematography, clever script, outstanding soundtrack and sound.

Roundtrip, to random
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

Pa. man’s massive Christmas display draws crowds and code office - pennlive.com

“Palmer Township Zoning Administrator Jim Raudenbush said Rotondo neglected to get a permit for the portable toilet he installed for visitors. After he got the permit, the township made him move it out of his front yard to a spot adjacent to his garage and away from a neighbor’s property.”

https://www.pennlive.com/life/2023/12/pa-mans-massive-christmas-display-draws-crowds-and-code-office.html

textfiles, to random
@textfiles@mastodon.archive.org avatar

Delighted that Cabel chose Internet Archive to host all these wonderful catalogs.

"DAK and the Golden Age of Gadget Catalogs"

https://cabel.com/2023/11/06/dak-and-the-golden-age-of-gadget-catalogs/

image/png
image/png
image/png

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@textfiles 🧵DAK catalog history

“The DAK Catalog was published by DAK Industries, a discount electronics importer in the United States, and was named after the initials of the company's owner, Drew Alan Kaplan.”

collection

https://archive.org/details/dak_catalogs

mcnees, to random
@mcnees@mastodon.social avatar

The X-10 graphite reactor at Oak Ridge went critical # OTD in 1943.

Built as part of the Manhattan Project, it was the second artificial nuclear reactor (after Fermi's Chicago Pile 1) and the first to operate continuously.

Photo: Ed Westcott

Roundtrip, (edited )
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@mcnees 🧵Oak Ridge reactors

It reminds me of ‘Tales from the Loop‘, the 2020 Amazon Prime series, and the scifi art book of the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhagn which inspired the series.

#SciFi #Series https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8741290/

Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Tales-From-the-Loop/Simon-Stalenhag/9781982150693

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

“The Literary Style of Alt-Text”

For years, I didn’t add alt-text to my online images

But I’ve started doing it all the time now — being on Mastodon is what showed me how important it is!

Along the way, I’ve started noticing …

…. what an oddly literary activity it is

Here’s an image I wrote alt-text for when I blogged a few weeks ago, below

My essay on alt-texting: https://clivethompson.medium.com/the-literary-style-of-alt-text-9f1595cd8f0c

A free “friend” link in case you don’t subscribe to Medium: https://clivethompson.medium.com/the-literary-style-of-alt-text-9f1595cd8f0c?sk=1d9cd685997cb08d8909da687a2d03cf

A screenshot of a story written by the author, describing how he wrote alt-text for the attached photo. I reads: And at first I just wrote a simple description, something like "a cyclist going down the street." Then I added more details, including that the cyclist is in the center of the picture, and behind them are a bus stop and a brightly lit store, and that the cyclist is moving quickly. But as I was writing that last clause - "the cyclist is moving quickly" - I realized something curious about the composition of the photo: The cyclist is crisp, while the background is blurred. That's not an easy effect for the photographer to achieve! And it' precisely what gives the image its power. So I wound up writing the alt-text thusly ... “A cyclist going rapidly down a city street. The photo is taken from the side, and the cyclist is in the center of the image, heading towards our right. In behind the cyclist we see a bus stop and a brightly lit store. Interestingly, despite the fact that the cyclist is moving quickly, they are unblurred and crisp in the photo - while the background is blurred. The ultimate effect is curious: It's as if the store were moving quickly, while the cyclist was standing still” One could critique this alt-text for being too damn long. Fair enough! And there's something a bit narcissistic about me focusing on the internal experience I have while puzzling over how best to describe this image.

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@clive 🧵alt-text practice +++

I also try to include a link at the end of the alt-text to the put the image in context or give the original source of any alt-text quoted text.

@samplereality uses his @1994clipart bot to publish Coral Gallery 1994 clip art images, each with a short description and longer ghost story.

https://botsin.space/@1994clipart/111292031715762624

stroughtonsmith, to random
@stroughtonsmith@mastodon.social avatar

Next year's Lego Modular, 'Natural History Museum’, certainly looks the part in this box art leak!

/via https://9to5toys.com/2023/10/29/lego-natural-history-museum-box-leak/

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@stroughtonsmith 🧵 Natural History Museum

A fine 14 minute guided tour video by its designer Chris Mcveigh

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/natural-history-museum-10326

johncarlosbaez, (edited ) to random
@johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz avatar

A grasshopper lands at a random point on a planar lawn of area one. It then jumps once, a fixed distance 𝑑, in a random direction. What shape should the lawn be to maximize the chance that the grasshopper lands on the lawn again?

Surprisingly, the lawn should never be shaped like a disk! Here's what it should look like for various choices of 𝑑. For larger values of 𝑑 it gets even weirder.

• Olga Goulko and Adrian Kent, The grasshopper problem, https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.07621.

Follow @esoterica to learn more surprising results in mathematics!

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@johncarlosbaez 🧵The Grasshopper Problem

“FIG. 12. Diagram of the different regimes and the corresponding maximal values found for P{s}(d) as a function of d.”

I like the three-bladed fan regime!

Teri_Kanefield, to random

Reporter Stephen Neukam confirmed that a "joint" speakership between Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan is currently being floated.

The Constitution provides that "The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers."

In four other places, "the speaker" is singular.

I don't know if "Speaker" can be two people.

I'm not sure how this would work in practice, whether it is even Constitutional, or how it would be challenged.

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@Teri_Kanefield

I’ve always thought The Orange One was responsible for leading the GOP into politics as WWE promotion and performance, but now tag teams?

ct_bergstrom, to random
@ct_bergstrom@fediscience.org avatar

Great news. I can't imagine a higher ROI investment to advance scientific research.

Kudos to the NSF and the Simons Foundation for recognizing the enormous value of what the arXiv provides us all.

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/10/research-repository-arxiv-receives-10m-upgrades

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@ct_bergstrom 🧵arXiv upgrade grants

Cloud and codebase transition and

“In parallel, faculty members in the Department of Computer Science, with funding provided by the NSF, will develop new search and recommendation techniques that can be tested and deployed on arXiv’s large and active user community, supported by state of the art privacy guarantees. In addition, arXiv will provide substantially better access to the visually impaired by producing HTML as well as PDF versions of its content.”

JenLucPiquant, to random

The Marimba Virtuoso’s Desktop Planetarium (orrery). Clair Omar Musser's invention showed the asteroid belt and "would also improve upon traditional orreries by adding the paths of well-known comets." https://spectrum.ieee.org/desktop-planetarium

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@JenLucPiquant @JamesGleick 🧵Musser polymath inventor musician

“performing Musser’s etudes for marimba is a rite of passage for percussion majors.

…Musser’s orrery in Seattle was decidedly second fiddle to his participation in the Chicago Century of Progress Exposition in 1933–34. There, nightly in the Hall of Science, Musser directed a 100-piece marimba orchestra. They played original compositions by Musser, as well as special arrangements of popular pieces.”

RuthMalan, to random
@RuthMalan@mastodon.social avatar

Still in a crisis of deciding whether to delete tweet history myself…

Went looking for a tweet about ideas, and found this from 2018 about finding a compliment from 2012. I have this tendency to eject positive feedback from taking up brainspace, so … it’s nice to stumble upon such kindnesses as if for the first time!

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@RuthMalan

You first might consider archiving your Tweet history in the @internetarchive

https://help.archive.org/help/how-to-archive-your-tweets-with-the-wayback-machine/

clive, to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

I was just thinking about how hilarious it was that in the original superman comics he was a reporter for a newspaper

That really dates things, doesn’t it?

It’s been so long since I read the comic that I’m wondering …

Did he ever … write anything? Did the comic, with any frequency, describe stories he’d filed, the reception of them … the execution of his job, as it were?

there have got to be Superman experts on Mastodon who know the answer to this question 😂

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@clive I found a Quora thread about stories where Clark Kent saved the day with his reporting — including a Chatbot reference to a story which may or may not exist.

https://www.quora.com/Has-there-been-a-story-where-Clark-Kent-saves-the-day-with-reporting-not-as-Superman

appleinsider, to random
@appleinsider@mastodon.social avatar

Sonoma puts the last nail in the coffin for PostScript on macOS
https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/09/27/sonoma-puts-the-last-nail-in-the-coffin-for-postscript-on-macos?utm_medium=rss

Roundtrip,
@Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

@appleinsider RIP macOS PostScript

"More recently, security researchers have drawn attention to the fact that it's a gift for anyone wishing to write and distribute malicious code," Oakley added. "As it's effectively an image format, embedding malware inside a PostScript file could enable that to be run without user interaction, as with some other graphics formats."

Teri_Kanefield, to random

deleted_by_author

    •
    Roundtrip,
    @Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

    @Teri_Kanefield

    He’ll do well at Brown 🐻

    Elucidating, to random
    @Elucidating@mastodon.social avatar

    Airbus open sourced their new cockpit font. Make it the default for all your embedded projects, because it's REALLY good and has real testing in difficult environments!

    https://b612-font.com/

    Roundtrip,
    @Roundtrip@federate.social avatar

    @Elucidating 🧵Airbus B622 font

    “In December 2018, B612 has been published on Google Fonts with an open source license (OFL) and the source has been put on Github.”

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