Tootfinder

Here’s a mind-blowing experiment that you can try at home:
Gather some children’s blocks and place them on a table.
Take one block and slowly push it over the table’s edge, inch by inch, until it’s on the brink of falling.
If you possess patience and a steady hand, you should be able to balance it so that exactly half of it hangs off the edge.
Nudge it any farther, and gravity wins.
Now take two blocks and start over.
Stacking one on top of the other, how…

This Block-Stacking Math Problem Has a Preposterous Solution You Need to See to Believe — Scientific American
In principle, this impossible math allows for a glue-free bridge of stacked blocks that can stretch across the Grand Canyon—and into infinity Amanda Montañez Math Here’s a mind-blowing experiment that you can try at home: Gather some children’s blocks and place them on a table. Take one block and slowly push it over the table’s edge, inch by inch, until it’s on the brink of falling. If you possess patience and a steady hand, you should be able to balance it so that exactly half of it…

Hmmmm… here is a problem I did not anticipate.
Every time I empty the main pond hole of water, (the actual hole under the liner) water returns within an hour or two. I’ve done it 4 times now, and it keeps filling back up with water.
Obviously there is water underground infiltrating into the pond hole, and/or the water table itself is above the bottom of the hole. It is not coming from either of the other holes because they both have the same amount of water in them as they did this morning.
I have “watered” the blueberry patch and hazelnut tree a lot with the water that I have been cleaning the filter with… and we also had lots of water flying around outside the liners yesterday as I tested the pump. So it is quite possible that the ground around the pond is simply well saturated.
I think I am going to have to just keep removing the water (and putting it into the sewer) until it does not refill. We have a week of hot weather coming. Surely that will be enough time for everything to dry out completely.
Otherwise I might run into some issues if the rains return before I can anchor down the pond liner with gravel and get the plumbing in!
How is time already running short!?
Never underestimate the ability of water to find a place where it is not wanted. 😆
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy

Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit found dead in suspected suicide following dismissal: https://benborges.xyz/2025/07/07/russian-transport-minister-roman-starovoit.html

Crikey, just (finally) nailed the 'family photo gallery in a frame' functionality for my mum (with failing memory, in an assisted living situation) across the world. Can control it from here in Aotearoa (via screen share or ssh) with the extraordinarily handy 'RaspberryPi Connect' functionality. The key technologies are:
- Firefox (in kiosk mode),
- Immich (

Pushback against progressive mayoral candidate #Zohran #Mamdani has been fierce.
That includes the mainstream media, which is trying to brand him a socialist to negate his progressive and popular policy proposals.
Stephen Janis and Taya Graham analyze the CNN anchor’s takedown and show why her efforts are corp…

Corporate media is trying to take down Mamdani. This is why they’re failing.
Pushback against mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has been fierce. That includes the mainstream media, which is trying to brand him a socialist to negate his progressive and popular policy proposals.

D4 is a mess because of incoherent alliances.
Engardio won by courting both urbanists (who skew progressive) and conservatives (who are car-brained). Now conservatives feel betrayed because he backed car-free space, while progressive urbanists who like car-free spaces still aren't wild about *him*.
Thus, he's likely toast in the recall. 1/

Recalls now ‘a thing we live with,’ political insiders say at Mission Local event
The insiders said Engardio is in big trouble. They added that new money, especially from tech, fueling city politics is behind recent recalls.

More Belgian (Flemish?) households with solar panels, batteries or electric vehicles will be able to benefit from the flexibility they can offer the energy system as energy retailers Bolt and Trevion collaborate with VPP operator Powernaut.
https://powernaut.io/press/powernaut-a

Powernaut, Bolt, Trevion and Partners launch Belgium’s first energy contracts that pay consumers for grid support - Powernaut
Using Powernaut’s smart software, households with solar panels, home batteries, or EVs can now earn money by allowing their energy retailer to manage their devices intelligently. For example, devices may charge or reduce output during peak times to avoid grid overload. Retailers like Bolt and Trevion are offering these new contracts, allowing customers to benefit financially without sacrificing comfort. Partners such as Qbus and Innovoltus support the initiative, which is seen as a key step …

Hmm my #Fedora 42 is unhappy with yesterdays 6.15.9-201 - falling back to 8-200 is fine.
Got as far as 'basic target' but no further; it's not hung (caps lock and ctrl-alt-del work). Time to break out some systemd options to get some more debug. Nothing hit the logs on disk.

Car culture at its absolute worst meets an unjust legal system. Parents lose a son and are then convicted of a felony because they let him walk across the street. Gift link https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/opinion

Opinion | They Let Their Children Cross the Street and Now They’re Felons
They went to jail when their boy was killed. Why don’t road planners bear some guilt?

Car culture at its absolute worst meets an unjust legal system. Parents lose a son and are then convicted of a felony because they let him walk across the street. Gift link https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/opinion

Opinion | They Let Their Children Cross the Street and Now They’re Felons
They went to jail when their boy was killed. Why don’t road planners bear some guilt?