Link soup, another couple months

[azurelunatic]

Don't Say Characters Lack "Agency." Here's Something Talk About Instead. • Buttondown
https://buttondown.email/charliejane/archive/i-dont-talk-about-agency-in-writing-heres-what-i/
I like this perspective.
(There's a tangent I might go on, about a stray comment I once read about agency; suffice to say that I am reluctant to compare a fictional character's "agency" in a hopeful story about fighting back vs. the actual actions of real humans who were ultimately unable to throw off their oppressors.)

Kashyap Patel, MD, Sees Link Between COVID-19 and Cancer Progression, Calls for More Biomarker Testing
https://www.ajmc.com/view/kashyap-patel-md-sees-link-between-covid-19-and-cancer-progression-calls-for-more-biomarker-testing
I'm pretty sure this plunked into my reading queue before May.


A pair of Startup Castle stories:
Former residents of the 'Startup Castle' are sharing their horror stories online
https://splinternews.com/former-residents-of-the-startup-castle-are-sharing-thei-1793847873

Silicon Valley's infamous 'Startup Castle' is getting evicted
https://splinternews.com/silicon-valleys-infamous-startup-castle-is-getting-evic-1793848345




Glaze: Protecting Artists from Style Mimicry
https://glaze.cs.uchicago.edu/index.html
https://glaze.cs.uchicago.edu/what-is-glaze.html
Human-invisibly fucking with art before posting it online, to protect newly posted art from AI image theft.

Chronos Vocal Ensemble - Choristers' Private Tears - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dITYiRI_L5U
HOW I WISH I WAS IN SHERBROOKE NOW

‘John Wick’ Guns: How the Franchise Balances Creativity and Safety | IndieWire
https://www.indiewire.com/2023/04/john-wick-4-guns-chad-stahelski-interview-1234823769/
Treating guns as dangerous equipment and the appropriate safeguards, and battle as dance choreography. The director was Brandon Lee's stunt double; while he doesn't talk about that, that sort of experience would make an impression on a person.

New Hollow-core Optical Fiber Is Clearer Than Glass - IEEE Spectrum
https://spectrum.ieee.org/new-hollow-core-optical-fiber-is-clearer-than-glass
Cool.

A Strange Tale of Fruitcakes and the Collin Street Bakery
https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/just-desserts/
Embezzlement on a grand scale

Sex Traffickers Used America's Favorite Family Safety App To Control Victims
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2023/04/06/sex-traffickers-use-parenting-apps-like-life360-to-spy-on-victims/?sh=cdb4c4264c3a

Emergency Prep 101: Go-Bags - A Digital Garden
https://jessmahler.com/emergency-prep-101-go-bags/
Normal emergency preparedness (snow storms? ER visits? Whatever sort of misadventure could reasonably happen in your area.)

A Princess With a Nose Three Ells Long - Fantasy Magazine
https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/fiction/a-princess-with-a-nose-three-ells-long/
This would fit in with the stories I read as a kid.

Ethical Source | Dimensions of Digital Coercion
https://ethicalsource.dev/publications/digital-coercion/

Effectivity of Saffron Extract (Saffr’Activ) on Treatment for Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A Clinical Effectivity Study - PMC
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9573091/



The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_Sleeps_Tonight
I wondered about the history of this song, and now I know more.

The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh) (Audio) - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQlByoPdG6c

Robert John - The Lion Sleeps Tonight (1972) - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n0uVCWqsZs




CAN Injection: keyless car theft | Dr. Ken Tindell
https://kentindell.github.io/2023/04/03/can-injection/
or, why a missing headlight on certain models of car means an attempted or actual car theft, and nonworking electronics on someone messing with your car might be a theft device, and steps the auto industry can take.

The owner of the Local Yarn Store, and another spy like her in this set:
Maria Tsalla Was Actually Irina Alexandrovna Smireva: The Russian Exposed By Greek Intelligence For Spying
https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/03/17/maria-tsalla-the-russian-caught/

Greek Intelligence Service Exposes Russian Spy Agent Posing As Deceased Woman
https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/03/17/greek-intelligence-service-russian/

The ‘ordinary’ family at No 35: suspected Russian spies await trial in Slovenia | Espionage | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/24/suspected-russian-spies-trial-slovenia



RT-AX89X｜WiFi Routers｜ASUS Canada
https://www.asus.com/ca-en/networking-iot-servers/wifi-routers/asus-gaming-routers/rt-ax89x/
Looks more like a spider than ever!


(Paywalled) Two pregnant women with PPROM were denied care after Florida banned abortion - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/10/pprom-florida-abortion-ban/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjM3OTM0MzkiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjgxMDk5MjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjgyMzk1MTk5LCJpYXQiOjE2ODEwOTkyMDAsImp0aSI6IjE2MjgwODNkLTliY2ItNDA1Yy04NzM5LTE1ZWYwNGRiZTVmMyIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDIzLzA0LzEwL3Bwcm9tLWZsb3JpZGEtYWJvcnRpb24tYmFuLyJ9.St1UkfEjXJUd-tYw1X4KE975kC3UN9ddqbKb21Mja7c

Conspiracy theorists made Tiffany Dover into an anti-vaccine icon. She’s finally ready to talk about it.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/misinformation/tiffany-dover-conspiracy-theorists-silence-rcna69401


https://www.tumblr.com/with-my-murder-flute/713700093774151680/today-in-the-locked-tomb-brainrot
hospital green, aka Seventh House color...

Another Old-School Wooton Design for Efficient Office Furniture: The Rotary Desk - Core77
https://www.core77.com/posts/63115/Another-Old-School-Wooton-Design-for-Efficient-Office-Furniture-The-Rotary-Desk
beautiful desk with integrated file cabinet features

Parler shuts down as new owner says conservative platform needs big revamp | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/04/parler-shuts-down-as-new-owner-says-conservative-platform-needs-big-revamp/
and as of now is still shut down: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parler


https://www.tumblr.com/andrewducker/714925238055583744/worth-beyond-a-number-scale-thoughtportal
Fat people in athletic championships, and anti-fat bias

Make the Golf Course a Public Sex Forest! – The New Inquiry
https://thenewinquiry.com/make-the-golf-course-a-public-sex-forest/

Harry Potter and the Interfering Professor - Chapter 1 - Marzipan77 - Multifandom [Archive of Our Own]
https://archiveofourown.org/works/17272121/chapters/40617779
in which Daniel Jackson goes around to provide his personal form of fixit to the Potterverse.

xkcd: Recipe Relativity
https://xkcd.com/2767/

A Simple Exercise to Strengthen the Lower Esophageal Sphincter and Eliminate Gastroesophageal Reflux: An Autobiographical Case Report - PMC
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9106553/
turns out in some cases you can strengthen the muscle that keeps the acid in the stomach, just by altering the angle one is swallowing at. On account of this patient just couldn't even with the bed wedge.

Brain Activity Decoder Can Reveal Stories in People’s Minds - UT News
https://news.utexas.edu/2023/05/01/brain-activity-decoder-can-reveal-stories-in-peoples-minds/
- Only works after training, doesn't work against active noncooperation, captures the gist, not the specific words; more of a proof of concept than a detailed tool.

What Happens When a Woman Walks Like a Man?
https://www.thecut.com/2015/01/manslamming-manspreading-microaggressions.html
- lots of physical collisions

2023 Pet Names Study: The Most Popular Pet Names of Every State | TrustedHousesitters.com
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/blog/pets/2023-pet-names-study/

If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You - Uncanny Magazine
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/if-you-find-yourself-speaking-to-god-address-god-with-the-informal-you/
A Superman who is not a race that the cops like.

ESC Insight | Let 3, A Dictator’s Worst Nightmare In Military Drag?
https://escinsight.com/2023/05/09/let-3-dictators-worst-nightmare-military-drag/
My favorite Eurovision act this year

Sex Ed Books Don't "Groom" Kids and Teens. They Protect Them.
https://bookriot.com/sex-ed-books-protect-kids/

Sufficiently Advanced Technology – Chris Farnell's Website
https://chrisfarnell.com/sufficiently-advanced-technology/
Technology in science fiction also is about what the author doesn't want to spend time belaboring

2022 Finalists :: Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards - Conservation through Competition
https://www.comedywildlifephoto.com/gallery/finalists/2022_finalists.php
My favorite is the winged bull

Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported - IEEE Spectrum
https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete
Now with a new owner for the technology, but no answers.

A measles vaccine delivered via sticker shows promising early results : Goats and Soda : NPR
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/05/26/1177678380/virtually-ouch-free-promising-early-data-on-a-measles-vaccine-delivered-via-stic
If you've used a microdart acne patch, you may have encountered a similar technology

Paralysed man walks again after AI system connects his thoughts to his legs
https://inews.co.uk/news/science/paralysed-man-walks-again-ai-system-connects-thoughts-legs-2363116
Good application of AI! Bridging the physical gap between brain and leg muscles, and retraining nerves SOMEHOW

The 'exploding' demand for giant heat pumps - BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65321487?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
Literally "waste heat management", what that department on Komarr ought to have been doing
Pulling heat out of treated wastewater is great because wastewater of different heat can change ecosystems

Inside the Barbie Dreamhouse, a Fuchsia Fantasy Inspired by Palm Springs | Architectural Digest
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/inside-the-barbie-dreamhouse-a-fuchsia-fantasy-inspired-by-palm-springs
The video was worth my time <3

Courtney Milan 🦖 on Twitter: "Awww who could have predicted that a chat bot trained on the entire internet would *checks notes* tell someone contacting an eating disorder hotline to cut 500 calories from their diet" / Twitter
https://twitter.com/courtneymilan/status/1663947654370586626

Not Gay As in Happy but Queer as in Please Talk to Me about The Locked Tomb - Lgbtq - T-Shirt | TeePublic
https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/46268813-not-gay-as-in-happy-talk-to-me-about-tlt

Superintelligence: The Idea That Eats Smart People
https://idlewords.com/talks/superintelligence.htm

Here's All The Titles Leaving Plex This Month Because My Hard Drive Is Full
https://hard-drive.net/hd/list/heres-all-the-titles-leaving-plex-this-month-because-my-hard-drive-is-full/
(satire)

TYR Corrective Optical Adult Goggles | TYR
https://www.tyr.com/corrective-optical-goggles.html
Swim goggles for nearsighted folks. (For different prescriptions in each eye, order one set in each prescription & combine.)

elf | Search Engines - not Google or Bing
https://elf.dreamwidth.org/863525.html
Elf's rundown of miscellaneous ones

White Supremacist Renounces Beliefs After Taking MDMA in Study
https://www.insider.com/white-supremacist-took-mdma-renounces-beliefs-study-2023-6
"However, MDMA doesn't have a political agenda and can't, by itself, solve racism."

Our Guard (a docu-holo sponsored by the Coruscant Communications Bureau) - Chapter 1 - FortinbrasFTW - Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types [Archive of Our Own]
https://archiveofourown.org/works/30627107/chapters/75559535
Additional Tags:
Comedy, Fix-It, Dead Sheev Palpatine, the what we do in the shadows meets fox accidentally kills his boss au, mockumentary, bail and fox are bros, Crack Treated Seriously, no ships really in this but kit and fox are def some kind of exes, every clone deserves a droid sidekick

WhoCanUse
https://www.whocanuse.com/?bg=ffffff&fg=000000&fs=16&fw=
Website color combination tool that simulates various vision disorders

New Cookbook Welcomes Disabled People into the Kitchen | Civil Eats
https://civileats.com/2023/06/13/new-cookbook-welcomes-disabled-people-into-the-kitchen/

‘We Never Stopped Applying Pressure’: Hard-Fought Success on Rail Sick Days
http://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid

There Is Always An Alternative. Remarks presented to York University’s… | by Cory Doctorow | Jun, 2023 | Medium
https://doctorow.medium.com/there-is-always-an-alternative-e55fd414d1fd

The Uselessness of Phenylephrine | Science | AAAS
https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/uselessness-phenylephrine
If non-pseudophederine decongestants leave you cold, this chemist explains why.

This Australian diner had a seagull problem — so it armed customers with water guns | CBC Radio
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.4674566/this-australian-diner-had-a-seagull-problem-so-it-armed-customers-with-water-guns-1.4674570
I can attest to the effectiveness of using squirtguns to address different problems

How come semi trucks in Europe look like “toot toot :)” and in North America they look like “HONK HOOOOOOOONK >:|”
https://azurelunatic.tumblr.com/post/716115147409752064/how-come-semi-trucks-in-europe-look-like-toot
Various musings on the breeding of working trucks

A Shortcut for Caring for Others (and Being Cared For Yourself)
https://annehelen.substack.com/p/a-shortcut-for-caring-for-others
Questions to prompt people to explain how to care for them to people who want to help

The Titan Submersible Implosion Was “an Accident Waiting to Happen” | The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/news/a-reporter-at-large/the-titan-submersible-was-an-accident-waiting-to-happen

Erotica Author Chuck Tingle Has Some of the Best Writing Advice | Tor.com
https://www.tor.com/2022/07/25/erotica-author-chuck-tingle-has-some-of-the-best-writing-advice/

Development of new analytical methods for the determination of caffeine content in aqueous solution of green coffee beans | BMC Chemistry | Full Text
https://bmcchem.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13065-017-0356-3#:~:text=HPLC%20is%20the%20method%20of,tea%20leaves%20and%20coffee%20beans.

Zoo asks visitors to stop showing phone videos to gorillas - UPI.com
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/07/10/canada-Toronto-Zoo-cellphone-videos-gorillas/8931689006966/

The Archetypical Injury - My NYE 2020 Benediction - Funranium Labs
https://www.funraniumlabs.com/2021/02/the-archetypical-injury-my-nye-2020-benediction/
A description of an injury waiting to happen. (For those unfamiliar with Funranium, think Derek Lowe (chemistry's Things I Won't Work With) with access to radiation.)

The looming demise of the 10x developer: Why an era of enthusiast programmers is coming to an end
https://blog.testdouble.com/posts/2023-07-12-the-looming-demise-of-the-10x-developer/

‘It was an accident’: the scientists who have turned humid air into renewable power | Science | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/02/it-was-an-accident-the-scientists-who-have-turned-humid-air-into-renewable-power

HTML Standard
https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/text-level-semantics.html#the-wbr-element
The cousin to the non-breaking space that I never realized existed: use <wbr> to separate individual words (or syllables) in a long line of text with no spaces, so it'll line wrap sensibly.

Inside the Secretive World of Penile Enlargement — ProPublica
https://www.propublica.org/article/penis-enlargement-enhancement-procedures-implants
One doctor too big for his britches, and the chaos he leaves behind him.

How big is the average penis? | Science | AAAS
https://www.science.org/content/article/how-big-average-penis

Fukushima’s Radioactive Water Is Going to Be Pumped Into the Ocean | WIRED
https://www.wired.com/story/fukushima-nuclear-disaster-radioactive-water-release/

Preparing My X-it | Whatever
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2023/07/24/preparing-my-x-it/

What I’ve learned about having sex with ADHD (and why you should never go nude trampolining)
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/sex-adhd-never-go-nude-trampolining-2493116

The new X button doesn't close the website · Issue #1876 · twitter/the-algorithm
https://github.com/twitter/the-algorithm/issues/1876
In which the open source community gets salty about the "X" brand

BMW uses autonomous cars for boring, repetitive tests | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/07/bmw-uses-autonomous-cars-for-boring-repetitive-tests/
This is so cool

Twitter tells brands to buy more ads or risk losing their verification - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/26/23808331/twitter-x-ads-advertising-incentives-verification-brands

What happened to Vivaldi Social? | Thomas Pike’s other blog
https://thomasp.vivaldi.net/2023/07/28/what-happened-to-vivaldi-social/

Worst Kept Secret: The Subwoolfer Documentary | Eurovision Song Contest - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak-YQncMMp4

Mastodon is easy and fun except when it isn’t - Erin Kissane's small internet website
https://erinkissane.com/mastodon-is-easy-and-fun-except-when-it-isnt

Free prison phone calls boost family ties, rehabilitation - Los Angeles Times
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-07-27/free-calls-restore-inmates-ties-with-the-outside-can-they-reform-californias-prisons-too

(Warning: Therac-25 is its own warning; horrifying radiation overdoses in the mid-1980s due to badly developed software without adequate hardware failsafes) The Therac-25: 30 Years Later
https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/co/2017/11/mco2017110008/13rRUxAStVR
Just about now I have been reading about the Therac-25 as comfort reading before stuff starts happening in my medical world.



Export Tabs - Chrome Web Store
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/export-tabs/odafagokkafdbbeojliiojjmimakacil/related?hl=en
- the tool I'm using for these roundups.

Comments

[senmut]

Phenom!

[alexseanchai]

oooo wbr I'm keeping that; I hope it has useful effects for screenreader accessibility too?

[azurelunatic]

I hope so!!!!

[kellan_the_tabby]

oh HELL yeah I'm gonna be trying that strengthen-the-LES exercise, THANK

(also CLONES FEELS)