link dump #13

 

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my entire list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  As you can see, I find a lot of topics interesting.

It's difficult for experts to fully explain the innate knowledge which makes them so good in their fields.  Experience can be impossible to pass long when trying to create new experts.  I think this may make it impossible to train AI systems to replace experts.
https://cekrem.github.io/posts/the-tacit-dimension/

I'm generally not keen on AI use but if you can hide prompts to force LinkedIn recruiter bots to entertain you with their unwanted spam, it seems like a win to me.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/linkedin-recruitment-spam-becomes-olde-english-prose-after-user-hides-ai-prompt-injection-in-bio-bots-also-also-manipulated-to-address-user-as-my-lord

When I first switched from Windows PCs to Macs 25 years ago, I found that I loved Mac OS X.  It reminded me of the software environment I enjoyed on the Sun 3/80 Workstation I had on my desk while working at Sprint International (the division which developed the computer networking hardware and software for Sprint's packet switching network) in 1990.  That Sun was the machine which caused me to love Unix.  The combination of Unix, X Windows, and that fast Sun hardware was the most productive environment for software development I had seen at that time and I still have fond memories of it.  Lately Apple's software seems much buggier than it used to which frustrates me at time.  It's reassuring to see that I'm not the only one who has noticed this steady decline in software quality.
https://taoofmac.com/space/blog/2026/05/18/1320

Someone has created an animated version of Vincent van Gogh's painting The Starry Night and I found it entertaining to interact with various parts of the painting.
https://stillnight.joshua-garcia.com/

A study has found that playing the didgeridoo can help counteract the daytime sleepiness caused by sleep apnea.  I can't imagine many offices would be open to this type of therapy to treat affected employees.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1360393/

Finally there's  evidence for why the T-Rex had such tiny arms.  Sometimes evolution plays cruel tricks...
https://nautil.us/we-finally-have-the-answer-for-t-rexs-tiny-arms-1280997

There's no way I would agree to join a mission commanded by a billionaire rather than a fully trained astronaut/pilot.  Making an insane amount of money doesn't imply the ability to solve problems in stressful situations like a long space flight.  I'm curious to see how the radiation affects humans on this longer mission as it will be hard to shield the crew capsule adequately.  Shielding materials are heavy and extra weight is always hard to justify.
https://gizmodo.com/spacex-taps-crypto-billionaire-to-lead-first-crewed-mission-to-mars-2000762451

The Super El Niño predicted to form by winter could have devastating effects on both the world economy as well as our ability to keep the world's population fed.
https://respublicamgz.substack.com/p/a-super-el-nino-is-coming-the-last

It strikes me as horribly inefficient to have unique terms for groups of birds of different species.  Things like this make the English language both rich and difficult to master.
https://www.themarginalian.org/2024/01/04/brian-wildsmith-birds-company-terms/

link dump #7

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead I think collecting them in a blog post is a friendlier way to pass links along.

Given the fact that Microsoft is warning people that their CoPilot AI assistant is for entertainment purposes only and should not be trusted, this study showing people blindly trust AI results is disturbing.  I believe the results from this study since so many people fall for phishing emails which contain painfully obvious errors.
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/study-do-what-chatgpt-tells-us

Speaking of absurd beliefs, apparently some people think that blood banks maintain separate supplies from donors who have never been vaccinated.  I've been donating blood for over 50 years and have seen no evidence that separate blood supplies exist.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/more-people-requesting-unvaccinated-blood-themselves-or-their-children

This article about the memory devices used in the AGC (Apollo Guidance Computer) also contains detailed descriptions of other memory devices used during that time which were considered.  I remember these older technologies since I'm older than dirt.
https://2earth.github.io/website/20260304.html

I'm not surprised that repeated clonings from different generations of the same line of cloned mice has caused problems.  Entropy is a cruel mistress.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a70861443/scientists-cloned-a-mouse-for-58-generations-the-results-were-catastrophic/

Recently a magnetic tape containing source code for UNIX v4 was discovered.  I found the procedure used to extract the data from that old tape fascinating.  Stories about magnetic tape make me nostalgic for large computer rooms.  A row of tape drives constantly seeking and reading is a visual indication of a busy computer.  Tape drives were always my favorite peripheral devices to maintain.
https://irreal.org/blog/?p=13661

I'm not sure I would trust any Internet connection sufficiently to try using it to install directly from it to an SD card to boot Linux.  That being said, the technique is quite interesting.
https://astrid.tech/2026/03/24/0/curl-to-dev-sda/

Here's an account of the role which the Parkes Observatory in Australia played in monitoring the Apollo 11 mission.
https://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/

Too often people focus on negative stereotypes of people on the autism spectrum while ignoring their creativity and other gifts.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/positively-different/202601/what-the-world-got-wrong-about-autistic-people

It makes me happy to know that John Fogerty has regained control over his music catalog.  His songs are in many of my favorite playlists I have on my phone.  This NPR Tiny Desk Concert shows what I love about his music.
https://laughingsquid.com/john-fogerty-npr-tiny-desk/ 

Hazmat Modine

A couple months ago, my wife was reading the latest edition of the schedule of entertainment from our neighborhood community center. It's well worth doing because they always have some sort of program which we find entertaining. It turns out they had managed to attract one of my favorite new bands, Hazmat Modine, to perform near our house.

You might have heard them on NPR about a year ago. I didn't catch that program but a friend did and was so amazed by their music that he felt obliged to tell me about it. After listening to his CD, I had to buy a copy for myself.

As much as I like their CD, they were much better in person. I highly recommend seeing them if you get the chance. I can hardly wait for their next CD to be released. Yes, they're really that good.

You can search on YouTube for samples of their performances. Here's one to get you started.