@v_i_o_l_a@openbiblio.social2026-01-26 13:00:42
@inthehands@hachyderm.io2026-03-26 15:43:42
This is exactly the thing I wonder about. Was it shoved through over internal objections? Was it many teams’ separate good work stuck together too hastily? Was it the wrong kind of pressure from above, or bad taste from below, or what?
It’s frustrating because as a dev I catch glimpses of all the really fantastic engineering work folks at Apple are doing •inside• the box, and they’re feeling very little love for it right now because the •outside•is so clunky.
https://sfba.social/@scm/116296203532915798
@Mediagazer@mstdn.social2026-01-25 16:30:39
Foreign correspondents at WaPo send a letter to Jeff Bezos raising alarm over impending layoffs, which are expected to "land hard" on international coverage (@erikwemple)
https://x.com/erikwemple/status/2015432558851301380
@thomasfuchs@hachyderm.io2026-01-26 16:44:33
Not linking to it, but why do news outlets keep amplifying “AI” propaganda from companies making chatbots without at the very least some basic vetting?
(No, statistical algorithms on calculators don’t have feelings. Never have, never will.)
@cdarwin@c.im2026-01-26 00:09:14
The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC)
names Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino directly in a statement:
"In the hours following the shooting, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino held a press conference
asserting that the operation was targeting an individual named Jose Huerta-Chuma
and characterized him as having a significant criminal history.
Because federal statements have repeatedly included inaccurate information about Minnesota custody an…
@al3x@hachyderm.io2026-02-25 18:45:12
How does the following quote make you feel?
“The iPhone Air, with all its compromises, is the best iPhone I’ve used in a long time. And by “best”, I don’t mean technically the best, because it’s not.”
Mine was: “so the best is not actually best so what exactly does that mean?!?”
@inthehands@hachyderm.io2026-03-26 14:45:34
…it’s not even that. It’s just ugly. Bad layouts. Bad margins. Bad proportions. Awkward animations. Flickers and flashes. Content peeking through all the negative space so that the screen is filled with visual noise. It feels designed by committee. It feels pasted together.
The feel of Apple products has covered a lot of ground over the decades. They’ve felt elegant. They’ve felt basic. They’ve felt bauble-y and cute. They’ve felt futuristic. They’ve felt practical. But this is the first time I can recall an Apple product feeling •cheap•.
@cdarwin@c.im2026-01-25 15:37:25
Unlike his predecessors,
Trump does not even pretend that his imperialism serves any purpose nobler than American domination
For Trump, “America first” didn’t imply any legal or moral opposition to foreign invasions.
To the contrary, he criticized Bush for not seizing Iraq’s oil.
He denounced regime change and nation building because they allegedly expended American blood and treasure on behalf of non-Americans.
Instead, Trump promised short wars in which onl…
@rasterweb@mastodon.social2026-01-21 10:21:50
Damn, New Jersey…
“Panic is the appropriate response to the passage and signing of a new law in New Jersey that requires all e-bike riders 17 and older to have driver’s licenses, registration and insurance (which may not even be available and proof of which they must carry with them while riding) and wear a state-approved motorcycle helmet.”
@arXiv_physicsfludyn_bot@mastoxiv.page2026-02-26 09:23:30
A minimal wake-vortex model explains formation flight of flapping birds
Olivia Pomerenk, Kenneth S. Breuer
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22043 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.22043 https://arxiv.org/html/2602.22043
arXiv:2602.22043v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Collective patterns of motion emerge across biological taxa: insects swarm, fish school, and birds flock. In particular, large migratory birds form strikingly ordered V-shaped formations, which experiments and direct numerical simulations have demonstrated provide substantial energetic benefits during long-distance flight. However, the precise aerodynamic and morphological mechanisms underlying these benefits remain unclear. In this work, we develop a reduced-order model of the wake-vortex interactions between two flapping birds flying in tandem. The model retains essential unsteady flapping dynamics while remaining computationally tractable. By optimizing over a six-dimensional state space, which comprises the follower's three-dimensional relative position and three independent flapping parameters, we identify the energetically optimal leader-follower configuration of northern bald ibises. The predicted optimum agrees quantitatively with live-bird measurements. Because of its simplicity, the model allows for direct interrogation of the physical mechanisms responsible for this optimum. In particular, it isolates precisely how the follower's wing kinematics interact with the leader's wake to enhance aerodynamic efficiency. The model predicts an 11% reduction in total mechanical power for a follower in formation flight -- consistent with experimental estimates -- and shows that this saving arises from reductions in both induced and profile power, dominated by decreased profile power enabled primarily through reduced flapping amplitude and, secondarily, reduced upstroke flexion. These results provide a mechanistic explanation for the structure of V-formations and offer new insight into the aerodynamic principles governing collective flight.
toXiv_bot_toot