Tootfinder

Post shared with me by @… about twenty minutes ago when I last heard from her to know she’s alive.
(israel’s occupation forces have surrounded her neighbourhood with tanks and are firing on houses and tents. The israeli genocide of the Palestinian people is being live streamed by its victims.)

I'm dispositionally sceptical of falling sky prophesies and what Mr Schneier calls "movie plot threats".
But.
I can't deny I'm a bit nervous that all this noisy dancing up to the edge of disaster and back might be a deliberate scheme, intended to get European militaries locked up on the Eastern front from Finland to Romania, before China finally have a crack at Taiwan.
"Estonia seeks Nato consultation after Russian jets violate airspace"

Nato intercepts Russian warplanes violating Estonian airspace
Estonia says three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets remained in Estonian airspace for 12 minutes.

"U.S. total consumption of fossil fuels is no longer falling. Importantly, it should be clarified this pattern was already emerging before Trump took office. Another reminder: Trump has only been in office for 8 months. So, the vast majority of changes to fossil fuel use and decarbonization are yet to come."
Slipping into Darkness - by Gregor Macdonald

Slipping into Darkness
Monday 18 August 2025

OpenAI says ChatGPT now offers "gentle reminders" to take breaks during long sessions, and it is building tools to better detect signs of emotional distress (Ian Carlos Campbell/Engadget)
https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-will-n

ChatGPT will now remind you to take breaks, following mental health concerns
OpenAI is updating ChatGPT to remind users to take breaks if they chat with AI for a long period of time.

#Spearhead's #MichaelFranti played a concert last night at #SDSU as online rumblings grew about allegations from a female artist casting some unusually dark shadows over the positive vibes associated with ex-

No Sign of a Magnetar Remnant Following the Kilonova-Producing Long GRB 211211A $\sim 1.7~$Years Later
Genevieve Schroeder (Cornell), Ben Margalit, Brian D. Metzger, Wen-fai Fong, Benjamin P. Gompertz, Kate D. Alexander, Edo Berger, Tanmoy Laskar, Gavin P. Lamb, Andrew Levan, Charles D. Kilpatrick, Jillian C. Rastinejad
https://arxiv.org/a…

No Sign of a Magnetar Remnant Following the Kilonova-Producing Long GRB 211211A $\sim 1.7~$Years Later
In addition to a $γ$-ray burst (GRB), the merger of two neutron stars may produce a temporarily or indefinitely stable neutron star remnant with a strong magnetic field (a "magnetar"). As this magnetar remnant spins down, it can deposit its rotational energy into the surrounding kilonova ejecta, producing synchrotron emission that peaks in the radio bands $\sim$months-years after the merger ("boosted kilonova"). The nearby ($z=0.0763$) long-duration GRB 211211A, which has an apparent kilonova …

Holey sheets: Double-Threshold Rupture of Draining Liquid Films
Ayush K. Dixit, Chunheng Zhao, St\'ephane Zaleski, Detlef Lohse, Vatsal Sanjay
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.12789

Holey sheets: Double-Threshold Rupture of Draining Liquid Films
Classical rupture is attributed to molecular (van der Waals) forces acting at nanometric thicknesses. Nonetheless, micron-thick liquid sheets routinely perforate far above the scale where these molecular forces act, yet the mechanism that selects opening versus healing has remained unclear. Using direct numerical simulations of a draining sheet with an entrained air bubble (cavity), we show that irreversible rupture occurs only when a deterministic double-threshold is crossed: (i) the outward d…

Predicting stellar collision outcomes of main sequence stars
Pau Amaro Seoane
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.12352 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2509.12352

Predicting stellar collision outcomes of main sequence stars
Stellar collisions in dense galactic nuclei might play an important role in fueling supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and shaping their environments. The gas released during these collisions can contribute to SMBH accretion, influencing phenomena such as active galactic nuclei and tidal disruption events of the remnants. We address the challenge of rapidly and accurately predicting the outcomes of stellar collisionsincluding remnant masses and unbound gasacross a broad parameter space of initial…

For the first time in years, I’m not feeling any FOMO about not preordering anything on iPhone day.
I’ll pick up the new watch when Costco has them, might as well save a buck. My series 7 is starting to struggle with the battery.
But there’s absolutely no hype there, just a practical upgrade whenever.
Thanks for reminding me how much of a capitalist bootlicker you are Tim, otherwise the spell might not have broken.

Filings: the Dutch government seized Nexperia after the US warned it would not be removed from its export control list if Chinese CEO Zhang Xuezheng remained (Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/db019842-01a9-4488-a6a0-45d0e102536b