Flutterby™!

"Yeah, my Mac's in Prince mode, you know, purple accent." "Okay, but it's also dark mode, so I guess that's Dark Prince mode?"

Oh, interesting: First look I thought it was a 4 rotor configuration, and wondered how they were going to handle failures, but it's 8 rotors: Jetson One - Official Launch (YouTube video), an ultralight single- person homebuilt quadcopter, for $92k.

Jeson Aero

SPUR: Water for a Growing Bay Area:

This report — a collaboration between SPUR and Pacific Institute — shows that the Bay Area can add 2.1 million jobs, 6.8 million people and 2.2 million homes by 2070 and offset all water use from this growth in two ways: through modest improvements in water use efficiency and by locating new growth in areas that are already developed.

Twitter: Examining algorithmic amplification of political content on Twitter. We already knew this, but:

Right-leaning news outlets, as defined by the independent organizations listed above, see greater algorithmic amplification on Twitter compared to left-leaning news outlets.

Via Protocol: Twitter’s own research shows that it’s a megaphone for the right. But it’s complicated.

"We can see that it is happening. We are not entirely sure why it is happening. To be clear, some of it could be user-driven, people's actions on the platform, we are not sure what it is. It's just important that we share this information," Chowdhury said. The META team plans to conduct what she called a "root-cause analysis" to try to discover the "why," and that analysis will likely include creating testable hypotheses about how people use the platform that could help show whether it's the way users interact with Twitter or the algorithm itself that is causing this uneven amplification.

I suspect that some of it is just that the economic forces behind the "right wing" provide money for campaigns and efforts which exploit the algorithm.

Edit: The Guardian: Twitter admits bias in algorithm for rightwing politicians and news outlets

RT Barry Dorrans @blowdart

“What’s your Halloween outfit?”
“Supply chain problems”
“But that’s just your every day old clothes”
“Yes”

Strong evidence for the continued contribution of lead deposited during the 20th century to the atmospheric environment in London of today https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2102791118

Although leaded gasoline was banned at the end of the last century, lead (Pb) remains significantly enriched in airborne particles in large cities. The remobilization of historical Pb deposited in soils from atmospheric removal has been suggested as an important source providing evidence for the hypothetical long-term persistency of lead, and possibly other pollutants, in the urban environment. Here, we present data on Pb isotopic composition in airborne particles collected in London (2014 to 2018), which provide strong support that lead deposited via gasoline combustion still contributes significantly to the lead burden in present-day London.

Costs of IQ Loss from Leaded Aviation Gasoline Emissions https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b02910

In the United States, general aviation piston-driven aircraft are now the largest source of lead emitted to the atmosphere. Elevated lead concentrations impair children’s IQ and can lead to lower earnings potentials. This study is the first assessment of the nationwide annual costs of IQ losses from aircraft lead emissions. We develop a general aviation emissions inventory for the continental United States and model its impact on atmospheric concentrations using the community multi-scale air quality model (CMAQ). We use these concentrations to quantify the impacts of annual aviation lead emissions on the U.S. population using two methods: through static estimates of cohort-wide IQ deficits and through dynamic economy-wide effects using a computational general equilibrium model. We also examine the sensitivity of these damage estimates to different background lead concentrations, showing the impact of lead controls and regulations on marginal costs. We find that aircraft-attributable lead contributes to $1.06 billion 2006 USD ($0.01–$11.6) in annual damages from lifetime earnings reductions, and that dynamic economy-wide methods result in damage estimates that are 54% larger. Because the marginal costs of lead are dependent on background concentration, the costs of piston-driven aircraft lead emissions are expected to increase over time as regulations on other emissions sources are tightened.

Both via this Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/emollick/status/1450591638796087296

Roku tells customers it is unable to strike a deal with YouTube

So, uh, I have an old Roku. I have two new Chromecasts. I haven't pulled the Roku out of the back of the TV yet, but I'm not really sure what function it serves these days.

I think if I were Google I might put the app on Roku just to avoid anti-trust claims, but....

Scientists create a wooden knife three times sharper than a steel blade

Hardened wood as a renewable alternative to steel and plastic DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2021.09.020

Via https://researchbuzz.me/

Language Log: Passive voice: two out of three isn't good enough, which I got to by this Tweet about Lorry falls into water at Bristol harbour.

Elf Sternberg quoted a tweet with:

"In one study, subjects looked at photos of traffic. When shown a photo of a car they were more likely to identify the subject of a photo as a thing. When shown a bicyclist, they were more likely to use language describing a person."

and:

This gets at the heart of why drivers typically hate bicyclists. Drivers don't even think of themselves as human, but superhuman, wrapped in steel, and are annoyed to have to share the road with mere flesh and blood.

and:

This puts some interesting color on the post-humanism versus transhumanism debate. There are already transhumans in the world, and have been since the invention of the motorized vehicle. And they quickly adopted a language and attitude that puts ordinary people at risk.

Dr. Jen Gunter: PBS Scrubs Noted Anti-Vaxxer Dr. Christiane Northrup from their YouTube Channel

Last month I took you on a deep dive into the anti science, misogynistic, patient blaming, anti-Semitic teachings of Dr. Christiane Northrup. You can find that post here. I was shocked that Oprah and PBS had seen fit to make her a household name given what she has always promoted. I wondered if anyone in the media who had elevated her, and there were many who did, had actually read any of her work?

Via https://twitter.com/DrJenGunter/status/1451178590339354629

The Stranger: [Seattle] Unvaccinated, Unmasked, and Unemployed: Firefighters Drop Their Boots After a One-Off Community Breakfast to Show They “Still Care”

The firefighters, cops, and other supporters left after a prayer, a few tears, and another group picture. The shoes were snagged almost immediately. Within ten minutes of their departure a group of young people collected the shoes for mutual aid projects.

In a text message, a representative from the group said, "We’re glad we were able to save these shoes for people who actually need them instead of being wasted for some dramatic, egotistical display that would have been trashed overnight anyways."

Via https://twitter.com/hannahkrieg/status/1450549826333011969

RMI SHIFT Calculator — State Highway Induced Frequency of Travel

The calculator applies to roads with Federal Highway Administration functional facility classifications of 1, 2 or 3, corresponding to interstate highways, other freeways and expressways, and other principal arterials, respectively. The calculator generates a reasonable estimate for induced vehicle miles traveled at the appropriate order of magnitude for a given area. It is not intended as a substitute for more granular traffic modeling or simulations—but rather as a tool that can effectively translate well-established induced travel demand elasticities to analysis of roadway capacity expansion impacts.

Prediction: Cryptocurrencies and NFTs will lead to to the next depression as the stock bubble did to the 1929 crash.

Yeah, an email advertising a "Dick's flash sale"? I'm not opening that. I get enough of that on MeWe.

Why painted bike lanes are immoral in one video.

Content warning: Nobody gets hit, but holy shit. The video.

Bagheera can be kind of a dick https://youtu.be/1oYgmwChszA

There has to be an easy way to tell the Mac that, no, I don't want it restoring its very wrong notions of which applications were running previously when I restart it.

Wow. In theaters, at the same time...

So quick to assign guilt to non-police suspects, so unwilling to take responsibility when a cop kills a motorcyclist: RT ABC Action News @abcactionnews

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the trooper entered the path of the motorcyclist which led him to crash into the cruiser and become ejected. Troopers said the motorcyclist then fell into the road and was hit by a semi.

Motorcyclist killed after crash with FHP cruiser, semi on I-4

“If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength..." https://www.theatlantic.com/id...resignation-accelerating/620382/

Serious Q: is there any legitimate site for a China Post tracking number? We have a number given to us by a shipper that claims delivery in Petaluma on the top Google hits for "China post tracking", with nothing on the Ring cameras.

Other places manage to make automated trains that don't slam you around like a cut rate 1960s amusement park ride, why is the ride on SFO AirTrain so freakin' awful?

Other places manage to make automated trains that don't slam you around like a cut rate 1960s amusement park ride, why is the ride on SFO AirTrain so freakin' awful?

err: to ORD ..

TOL to PRD to PHX to SFO. Good morning, Chicago!

More end of season

End of the season

Wait, you don't have anything for me to eat!

I always aspired to be the creepy uncle, but ya teach the niece how to make glitter slime and suddenly you're the cool adult...

Blockchain just an acceleration to the end-game of "what hardware giveth, software taketh away".

I don't think I'm blowing any ongoing operations...

Going through old papers my mom saved. Apparently I was sending some pretty sensitive information...

Pondering the possible functions of this button

Biking out for a morning grocery store run, and fin the lady at the crosswalk watching car after car after school bus wasn't a harsh reminder that I'm in Ohio, this is:

Slept like shit, decided to get up before my alarm, differently on the SFO AirTran to my terminal 2:45 before my flight. Do I coffee or try to sleep on the plane?

'Shoot the tires': The violent early history of cars in Golden Gate Park

Despite that overt threat, the park leaders continued to resist. Finally, on July 4, 1907, Park Commissioner Metson let loose with his shotgun-to-the-tires suggestion. In a Chronicle article headlined “Buckshot for Speeding Autos,” McLaren himself spoke of his own recent incident of “rank indifference” from a motorist in violation of park rules who “refused to recognize the superintendent’s authority and rudely thrust him aside.”

Bring back buckshot for speeding autos.

Interesting look at standardized testing: Some final thoughts on the SAT and ACT

Still remember that long section I had in high school English about how to take standardized tests, and how many people I've talked to about test taking who never had that portion of their education.

Via https://twitter.com/JonBoeckenstedt/status/1447584690932629511

Came across the Bike Equity mailing list:

City looks to add 100 miles of bike lanes by end of 2022

Chicago Department of Transportation will spend $17 million over the next two years to add bike lanes across the city, with a focus on the South and West sides.

Equiticity Research Projects, including Biking where Black: Connecting transportation planning and infrastructure to disproportionate policing, Jesus M.Barajas.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2021.103027

Drove over to the east bay this afternoon to sit with a friend in hospice. I will never know if they knew we were there, but I know. Carefully consider in what order you eat dessert; life is finite.