tingilinde

friends playing in jūrmala

Some highlights from a hard-fought beach volleyball world tour semifinal.  The winner goes on to the gold medal match tomorrow.  Sarah Pavan, one of the Canadian players, is a friend.  She's the blonde.  The Canadians lost the first set, built momentum half way through the second and owned the tie-breaker third set given them the win.  A good example of high level play.

a demand for musicians to speak up for women

Amanda Shires on abortion rights for women.

 

and Sukie notes this

 hat girls can look forward to under christo-authoritarian rule - of course they have some of that now, but it will only worsen

firearm responsibility

It won't change minds on the right, but perhaps "control" is too polarizing.

 

making wooden clogs

ancient 

the development project that nearly killed ibm

A brief history of the S/360 system.

snip

...

IBM had worse problems than its customers did. The 1401s were proving so popular that engineers in Endicott, N.Y., which had developed the system, resisted attempts by their counterparts in Poughkeepsie to build larger computers, leading to growing rivalry between the two groups. As one engineer recalled, “So intense was it that sometimes it seemed to exceed the rivalry with external competitors.” Systems made by Poughkeepsie would not run programs written for the 1400 series. Customers wanting to move from the smaller 1400s to the larger Poughkeepsie machines put increasing pressure on IBM to provide compatibility. Senior management had to contend with the expenses of sustaining R&D for a half-dozen incompatible product lines and training IBMers to sell and maintain so many systems.

Consensus grew that IBM needed to get down to one system to simplify production, reduce the cost of R&D, and be more competitive against a growing array of rivals. If customers had to upgrade in the early 1960s, they could just as easily move to a competitor’s machine, since they would have to rewrite their software anyway.

...

 

 

prolonged heatwaves?

You may not be able to power your AC and fridge..

 

yle on mass shootings

A must read by Katelyn Jetelina 

snip

...

In the aftermath of mass violence and the furor of the 24-hour news cycle, the words “mental illness” are often used to try to explain a perpetrator’s actions. In many cases, the assumption that mental illness had to be involved in these incidents drives the public debate about solutions.

This kind of coverage might raise awareness of how important mental health care is, but it is ultimately problematic because it too often it spreads inaccurate definitions of “mental illness,” it imposes further stigma on those who suffer from mental health conditions, and the limited scope solutions proposed will not achieve the intended results—to reduce mass shootings.

...

 

cyanide and early life

Was it important?

A fascinating discussion about the emergence of life with applied mathematician Steve Strogatz chatting with biochemist/molecular biologist Jack Szostak.  audio and transcript.

 

dracula proposes reducing blood loss

That may be a better title for this piece that talks about how online advertisers should be able to track you.

snip

...

Apple’s requirement that apps obtain user permission before tracking created a myriad of issues for large Fortune 500 companies and series-A startups alike. The company’s iOS14 update compelled mobile advertisers to make significant pivots in how they approach growth efforts. Apple’s iOS 15 update curtails data-sharing even more, putting a new scare in the advertising industry about the future of digital ads in the world of Apple devices.

...

a tip of the hat to Dave

 

 

first photo of the earth-moon system in a single frame

Voyager-1 on 18-Sept-1977 18.7 million km from Earth.