Nick @internic@social.cleverlibre.org

So apparently the term "patch" in software development comes from punch cards.

"Small corrections to the programmed sequence could be done by patching over portions of the paper tape and re-punching the holes in that section."

https://chsi.harvard.edu/harvard-ibm-mark-1-language

#til #computers #development #language #history

Dress code.

For the record, dear #Mastodon users, #Bluesky is NOT Jack Dorsey's pet project, nor does he even post there. He's too busy high-fiving his cryptobros on Nostr, a protocol that's ironically many times better than ATProto/Bsky but will probably never take off, so long as it is littered with cryptocurrency nonsense and remains devoid of anything even remotely educational or newsworthy. Nostr doesn't need your email or phone number. Too bad all that people ever do on Nostr is talk about crypto. 😩

We're still trying to close up the gap in digital subscriptions caused by Amazon shuttering their subscription program last year. If you are a former Amazon subscriber looking to sign back up or someone joining for the first time, your options can be found here:

https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/subscribe/

(We were unable to contact former subscribers because Amazon wouldn't tell us who they were. It made quite a mess for a lot of magazines.)

There are multiple American journalists imprisoned in Russia for carrying out the real job of being a journalist. And while they are wrongfully detained on decades long prison sentences, Tucker Carlson offers The Kremlin to interview Vladimir Putin, ask the questions Putin wants to hear, and branding this as “journalism” to the American people.

And Elon Musk is hosting it, trying to make money on Putin’s propaganda.

I really hope these two shameless grifters experience a serious case of karma.

Posted by a colleague - and it hits the spot:

At long last, the Thunderbird blog now has a "Share To Mastodon" button!

A hearty round of applause and eternal thanks to @micah, @oopsallnaps, and @devmount for making it happen 💙

#Mastodon #Community #OpenSource

The Matrix.org Foundation is pleased to share that today, alongside Mozilla, we have joined @OpenForumEurope as supporters.

OpenForum Europe has proven an effective convener and advocate for open source and open standards in Europe, and we’re glad to help further that work: https://openforumeurope.org/mozilla-and-the-matrix-org-foundation-join-ofe-as-supporters/

#Matrix #OpenSource #OpenStandards #EU

And here's what I wrote about from 2015 to 2024. Quite different: now I'm using category theory to set up compositional frameworks for different kinds of networks and systems - like Markov processes, Petri nets, and stock and flow diagrams. I'm applying this to epidemiology and chemistry... but yes, I also play around with things like the icosahedron, the icosidodecahedron and the Kuramato-Sivashinsky equation.

You can do this too, here:

https://shiny.rcg.sfu.ca/u/rdmorin/scholar_googler3/

but right now this site is overloaded.

(4/n, n = 4)

As William Gibson once wrote, "If they think you're crude, go technical. If they think you're technical, go crude." Combat voice deepfake scams with a family password. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/01/worried-about-ai-voice-clone-scams-create-family-password

I hear that Gmail has recently started objecting to more mail from non-Gmail senders than usual.

So if you use Gmail, it might be a good idea to keep a closer eye than usual on your spam folder. (And mark non-spam as non-spam.)

And if you don’t use Gmail, and you’re waiting an unusually long time for a response to something that you sent to a Gmail user, it might be worth contacting them via other channels to make sure the mail reached them.

Anti-abortion group’s studies retracted before Supreme Court mifepristone case

A large number of other, non-retracted studies find mifepristone to be very safe.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/02/anti-abortion-groups-studies-retracted-before-supreme-court-mifepristone-case/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Three students have won a $700,000 prize after using AI to read a 2,000-year-old scroll burnt during the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79AD, BBC News reports:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68221243

#ai #romanempire #juliuscaesar #mountvesuvius

Hope he can Klingon!

My word cloud from google scholar.
Make your own here:
https://shiny.rcg.sfu.ca/u/rdmorin/scholar_googler3/

Here's the preliminary report I've obtained from the NTSB regarding the missing bolts from the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet. http://tinyurl.com/mr2pu3tb

In the rare instances that parents of school shooters are prosecuted, they are normally charged with crimes such as neglect or failure to properly secure a firearm.

In this case, prosecutors made a manslaughter case stick.
https://theconversation.com/michigan-mother-convicted-of-manslaughter-for-school-shootings-by-her-son-after-buying-him-a-gun-and-letting-him-keep-it-unsecured-222731
#News #BreakingNews #GunControl

Seeing so many small businesses and organisations (especially the ethics-driven ones) close up for good is getting painful, and also exhausting and daunting as someone running one. Please please please think about shopping at small places whenever you can, it makes a very real difference to an actual person's life, and the likes of Bezos absolutely do not need our support. Almost everything can be bought better from somewhere small.

NEW: WhatsApp will soon make it possible to chat with people who use other messaging apps. It's revealed some more details on how that will work.

— Apps will need to sign an agreement with Meta, then connect to its servers.
— Meta wants people to use the Signal Protocol, but also says other encryption protocols can be used if they can meet WhatsApp's standards
— WhatsApp has been testing with Matrix in recent months, although nothing is agreed yet. Swiss app Threema says it won't become interoperable

https://www.wired.com/story/whatsapp-interoperability-messaging/ #tech #whatsapp #dma #infosec #news #technology

If you're using Thunderbird to access your @protonmail via their bridge for paid subscribers on Windows or Linux, don't forget to manually update to the newest version of Proton Mail Bridge. 🌉

This will re-enable automatic updates and increase reliability and security. 🔒

https://proton.me/mail/bridge